Outdoor security cameras

[Ready]

I’ve been wanting to upgrade our web cameras to provide better coverage outside of our home. I currently have the Arlo Pro battery powered cameras covering the front door and garage. They are convenient but I have to recharge the batteries every few weeks, and they only record when there is motion. Continuous recording isn’t possible with battery powered cameras.

I just received a Wyze V3 indoor/outdoor camera. I got it for free when I purchased their robot vacuum. I’m very impressed with the features and quality, considering they sell for $20. So I just ordered five of them.

I also ordered two outdoor floodlights from Wasserstein (https://wasserstein-home.com/collec...nto-a-powerful-floodlight-camera-not-included).

These floodlights are specifically designed to integrate with the Wyze V3 cameras and provide power to them, along with motion detection lighting. I wasn’t able to find any reviews on this specific model but I went ahead and ordered two of them. They are returnable if they don’t work out.

My only concern is with mounting the floodlight above the garage. It would require a tall ladder for me to access the camera. In the past my Arlo cameras got really dirty from the rain, wind and salt in the air. I need to clean the lenses off every few weeks to keep the video looking sharp. I’m not thrilled about having to climb on a ladder every few weeks to do this so I’m not sure how well this is going to work out.

Has anyone else installed cameras outside the home, and have you integrated floodlights with the cameras? I’m curious to hear how it has worked out and what problems you ran into.

 

[jazz4cash]

No but this is a timely thread for me. I am committed to installing a system with 4-6 cameras plus a doorbell. I’m leaning towards wireless cameras with local storage.

How high up do you need to mount your cameras? Is it possible you could use a brush with a long handle to clean the camera? They do make solar panels to power a camera that is not convenient.

 

[Ready]

No but this is a timely thread for me. I am committed to installing a system with 4-6 cameras plus a doorbell. I’m leaning towards wireless cameras with local storage.

How high up do you need to mount your cameras? Is it possible you could use a brush with a long handle to clean the camera? They do make solar panels to power a camera that is not convenient.

My outdoor cameras get so filthy that I need to take them down and rinse them with soap and water. It’s just part of the nature of being outdoors. I just hope I only have to do it once every couple of months.

Height is not that important depending on what you are trying to record. I can capture my entire garage with a camera mounted about 3 feet above the floor. For the front door my camera is about five feet off the ground and has a very wide view.

I would avoid battery powered cameras if at all possible. I’ve lived with them for five years now and they are OK but you only get very short clips and only when it detects motion. With powered cameras you install a small microSD card (32GB Samsung cards sell for $11) and that’s good for continuous recording of several days worth of video.

 

[Ronstar]

I've had Wyze cameras outside for more than a year, and I've never had to clean the lenses. That said, I'm in the midwest without much wind, no salt, and average rain. And mine are under overhangs. I don't think that integrating a floodlight with the cameras would cause the cameras to get dirty.

I haven't integrated mine with floodlights - didn't know that the Wyze compatible floodlights existed. But after seeing your post, I'm going to pick up a couple of floodlights.

I recently bought 3 Wyze 3's and I don't have power where I want to put them. But I do have old floodlights at these locations. So I'll swap out the lights to the new Wyze compatible lights and plug the new Wyze cameras into them. Will save me a lot of work in the attic running power to them.

 

[Jerry1]

I would think it would be pretty easy to rig up a pole with a rag and/or squeegee to be able to clean a lens from the ground.

 

[Retch The Grate]

Just put in 5 Hikvision DS-2CD2385G1-I 4k night vision cameras on our new house. Haven't actually seen the output yet, but the router saw them connecting when I got the POE switch hooked up finally. Still working through the network but looking forward to seeing what they are capturing.

 

[skyking1]

For linux geeks only, there is an application called Zoneminder. it is open source and works with a plethora of hardware. I have it running on a low power home file server.

 

[Ronstar]

I would think it would be pretty easy to rig up a pole with a rag and/or squeegee to be able to clean a lens from the ground.

Probably wouldn't work too well. The lens is about 1/2" diameter and somewhat recessed. And the camera housing / view would probably be altered by the attempted clean by pole.

 

[skyking1]

I have a running battle with spiders on my night vision cameras with IR illumination. The IR brings in the bugs to the spiders.
I will be turning off the IR LEDs and provide some side light where the bugs and spiders can play.

 

[Ronstar]

I really like the look of the Wasserstein floodlights that OP references, but reviews indicate that the lights cannot be mounted horizontally under soffit/eaves. So I'll need to find something else

 

[Jerry1]

Probably wouldn't work too well. The lens is about 1/2" diameter and somewhat recessed. And the camera housing / view would probably be altered by the attempted clean by pole.

Depends how high it is. The further away from your body, the harder to control. If it was just a few feet, you could literally tape a q-tip to a stick and handle it. If it’s ten feet up, much harder, if not impossible to have enough to control to do it effectively.

 

[Sunset]

I'm really impressed with my Wyze 3 , even at night without spot lights, it picks up a lot from the regular lights. Compared to my eufy and Wyze 2 cameras.

I have a year of the Wyze cam plus and the person detection really works well and reduces false alarms.

 

[Bamaman]

My security eyes are called Zena the Rottweiler. No one wants to mess with her.

We live 10 miles from home in a very quiet neighborhood, and our neighborhood has cameras mounted on telephone poles.

Thieves are very wary of security cameras, especially when they're mounted low where they can take them. I'm on a Stolen Stuff website, and I'm amazed at the number of criminals that have been ID'd with CCTV and fixed picture cameras. There are thieves in most places that don't work and just troll looking for anything to steal for the adrenalin high.

 

[JoeWras]

There really is no substitute for a true NVR system with IP 4k cameras. But it sounds like you are not looking for that.

My IP cameras have a little "visor" on top which stops most of the dirt issues. Maybe some of the newer web cameras have the same?

BTW, the downside to my NVR system is that the company went out of business last month due to the pandemic. It no longer can send notifications, although I have a work-around by having the camera send an email on motion detection.

 

[Ronstar]

There really is no substitute for a true NVR system with IP 4k cameras. But it sounds like you are not looking for that.

My IP cameras have a little "visor" on top which stops most of the dirt issues. Maybe some of the newer web cameras have the same?

BTW, the downside to my NVR system is that the company went out of business last month due to the pandemic. It no longer can send notifications, although I have a work-around by having the camera send an email on motion detection.

I had (still have) an IP camera system, and it worked great for several years. But my software provider charged more money for software if I wanted to add cameras. And my cameras were hard wired - some POE. This was a hassle so I went with Wyze - wireless and $0 for viewing software. And I can use Alexa voice commands to view my cameras.

 

[Ready]

There really is no substitute for a true NVR system with IP 4k cameras. But it sounds like you are not looking for that.

My IP cameras have a little "visor" on top which stops most of the dirt issues. Maybe some of the newer web cameras have the same?

BTW, the downside to my NVR system is that the company went out of business last month due to the pandemic. It no longer can send notifications, although I have a work-around by having the camera send an email on motion detection.

I’m not familiar with NVR systems. Are you referring to a system that is hardwired back to a central hub that handles the recording? It would be very difficult for me to run wires to individual cameras throughout my home. I’m not sure what the benefit would be over a Wyze system, which records both to the cloud as well as to a micro SD storage card.

 

[JoeWras]

I’m not familiar with NVR systems. Are you referring to a system that is hardwired back to a central hub that handles the recording? It would be very difficult for me to run wires to individual cameras throughout my home. I’m not sure what the benefit would be over a Wyze system, which records both to the cloud as well as to a micro SD storage card.

Yes. Hardwired over POE. If you can run ethernet cable, you are done with install. Running a cable is a showstopper in many cases. I get it.

There are benefits and drawbacks to both. Although I said there is "no substitute for a true NVR system", I'll also say "there is no substitute for an easy to use cloud based wireless system."

 

[Jerry1]

Yes. Hardwired over POE. If you can run ethernet cable, you are done with install. Running a cable is a showstopper in many cases. I get it.

There are benefits and drawbacks to both. Although I said there is "no substitute for a true NVR system", I'll also say "there is no substitute for an easy to use cloud based wireless system."

I’ve been thinking about a POE setup with the recording device in my house. Isn’t it possible to view a home based system over the internet just like a cloud based system?

 

[JoeWras]

I’ve been thinking about a POE setup with the recording device in my house. Isn’t it possible to view a home based system over the internet just like a cloud based system?

Yes. I can access my recordings and live cameras remotely.

The biggest issue is if the thieves steal the NVR after the break in. I slightly mitigate that by having it send me an email with a snapshot on motion detected.

 

[Ready]

With the Wyze system the camera records continuously to a microSD card and also records all motion and sound events to the cloud. Basic cloud recording only provides 12 second clips with a five minute cool down period. But with their Cam Plus upgrade you can record one minute clips with no cool down, so effectively continuous recording of all motion and sound related events. They charge $1.25/month per camera for the upgraded cloud service, which seems like a reasonable price.

With the combination of cloud and local storage I think this provides a good overall solution to a thief attempting to steal the cameras to remove any evidence.

 

[JoeWras]

$1.25 is good. Ring was more per month for motion activated only (sometimes starting after the event), and I found Ring products not reliable if they get a lot of heat such as direct sun.

My requirement is no charging required. I had a Ring stick up cam, and charging was a hassle. I got the solar panel for it, and it worked well for about 2 years, then something went wrong and it couldn't keep a charge. The panel was also a bit unsightly.

 

[Markola]

With the Wyze system the camera records continuously to a microSD card and also records all motion and sound events to the cloud. Basic cloud recording only provides 12 second clips with a five minute cool down period. But with their Cam Plus upgrade you can record one minute clips with no cool down, so effectively continuous recording of all motion and sound related events. They charge $1.25/month per camera for the upgraded cloud service, which seems like a reasonable price.

With the combination of cloud and local storage I think this provides a good overall solution to a thief attempting to steal the cameras to remove any evidence.

Thanks for his helpful summary.

 

[braumeister]

I've been very happy with the Nest outdoor camera (formerly called Dropcam). Great image quality and very reliable.

If you search a bit, you'll find a number of threads about security cameras here.

 

[Chuckanut]

I recently bought 3 Wyze 3's and I don't have power where I want to put them. But I do have old floodlights at these locations. So I'll swap out the lights to the new Wyze compatible lights and plug the new Wyze cameras into them. Will save me a lot of work in the attic running power to them.

You can plug a Wyze camera into a Wyze light?

 

[Ready]

If you search a bit, you'll find a number of threads about security cameras here.

I did a search before starting this post and found a thread on home security systems from 2020, but anything specific to cameras was back to 2018. The tech changes so frequently that any thread that is more than three months old is probably outdated. Even the Wyze V3 cameras have only been out for about a month or two.

Where things get a little complicated is comparing a home security “system” to security cameras. The systems usually include door and window sensors and typically an alarm that connects to a monitoring station. Where the cameras simply monitor the area and provide video surveillance and notifications when they detect movement or sound.

For me I’m comfortable with just the cameras. I find the traditional alarm type systems have too many false alarms and take too much effort to maintain. Wyze is coming out with a true home security system in another month or so where they give you the equipment for free in return for $60 to cover the first year of monitoring service, and then $5/month after that. I’m probably not going to purchase it though.