wireless home security camera system

[hotreds]

Recently had stuff stolen from the barn. Probably just kids, but got me thinking that if they were on camera I could make life unpleasant for them!

Anybody here well versed in camera security systems that don't cost an arm and a leg? Maybe something that I can check while traveling as well? Overwhelming amount of stuff on the 'bay and downright confusing. Also have no idea if it's any good. Need the help of my BOTLs on this one!

TIA!

[CigarNut]

I do not know anything about these systems but I do see a 6 or 7 camera system for DIY projects offered frequently on WOOT...

[HollywoodQue]

Not sure of a brand, but check Sams Club online or Costco. I have seem them in the store for a couple hundred bucks. I always read the reviews before purchase. Good Luck brother

[equetefue]

I have Foscam wireless cameras in my house. They work great and can remote access them once i created a port forward in my router. Since I have a server at home I can also save pics and video from motion to my server.

They are relatively inexpensive and there are enough online tutorials and videos to help you get setup.

Good luck

[T.G]

It's been a number of years since I looked into security video surveillance systems, I don't know whether this is still the case or not, but at the time, low cost (anything under about $1500-1700) systems were best avoided if you were serious about it.

A lot of this stuff, even the cheaper systems, looks ok on the in-store demo where everything is brightly lit and the camera is trained on objects only a short distance away, which is great if you want to video in your retail store, but that's not your real-world.

The cheap cameras typically don't give a clear enough picture, especially at distance and/or under lower light conditions, to identify someone and the lower end DVRs don't record at a high enough resolution to zoom in on playback. Good low light & no-light cameras will also cost you a bit more.

Something else to look at is the DVR's ability to offload the data in a useable format. Does it have a DVD burner built in or not, can it transfer files to your computer, do you need proprietary viewing software or is it a standard mpeg-4, etc...

Lastly, remember to check local laws about security camera footage and it's admissibility. You might have to meet certain conditions, ie: put up signs indicating that security video is being recorded, if you expect to be able to use the footage in a legal matter.

[stearns]

While I have never used their security systems, I have had luck with some of the other home automation products from the company "X10." I also know they have real people you can talk with or chat online with through their website, who helped me with some minor home automation I did a couple years ago. Might be worth a look if you want to build a system using components (they have kits too, but I just picked the different stuff I wanted, it all worked together)

[G G]

This one aint wireless because after researching, you can't really go over 4 cameras on wireless without getting interference. This one is awesome. It has a DVR and it records in D1 Resolution which is surely good enough to indentify and it has night vision that works great as well. Swann also has an app for my iphone that I can tap in anytime and view all the cameras. There is also software for my laptop that allows the same thing. I lucked up and have a friend who installed it for me at $25.00 a camera which is super cheap, as some charge anywhere from $100 to $250 per camera for install. I have about $950 in the whole thing and have been very pleased with it for over a year.

[hotreds]

Which one, Greg?

[T.G]

This one, Hugh.

[hotreds]

Am I not seeing links for some reason?

[G G]

Originally Posted by hotreds

Which one, Greg?

Sorry must have got preoccupied and forgot the post the link.

http://swann.com/s/products/view/?product=1403

coulda got the one with 540 tv lines but chose the better one with 640. You can identify someone from these very easily. I have three inside and 5 outside.

[Devanmc]

There are some that use wifi but they can be a bit complex to setup. They would fit the bill well though. They may also have security risks like remote access from outside users, but i doubt your barn has stuff where someone would be looking to hack your security camera. Remote access camera are very easy to find just with google(Ill let everyone else do the looking), so if you go that route, please set it up carefully.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...9SIA2U20Y31595

[SSDVC]

supercirciuts.com

They have something to fit most price points and they have educational pages as well.

[G G]

And I forgot to say that the one I have has a usb port for offloading the video, or you can just download it to your computer through the monitoring software. Swann also has it's own dns servers or you can use dyndns.org for remote viewing and the customer service is great helping you set it all up if you don't know how.

[Conch Republican]

This is timely...woke up to this on the morning news...I bring it up so you can see the vidoe and understand the differences in quality of picture.

http://www.13wham.com/news/features/...era-7573.shtml

[AdamJoshua]

Good review and article on the Dropcam Pro, easy set up and use one nice thing is the motion / event activated alerts it can send out.

http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/...itoring-system