WiFi Security Camera Recommendations?

YYZRC

Any recommendations for wifi home security cams? I need both indoor and outdoor, and as small as possible. I currently have Arlo which have been ok - very slow to load the live feed when you get a motion detection. I need to switch as they are no longer supporting my old cameras.

Would love to avoid paying monthly fees and I want all cams on one platform. 

Liberty44140

My only recommendation is to go with a decent brand. I have a Ring & Furbo (pet brand which shoots treats), which work well. Then I have some cheap off brand one that is now unplugged. When I upgraded my internet I started getting alerts that IP addresses in China, UK and Poland were trying to access the cheap one. I figure if once a week someone is trying to get in, it is vulnerable even if my provider is stopping it. No issues with Ring and Furbo though. 

YYZRC

Thanks @Liberty44140 - I'm happy with the Ring cam on my boat and leaning toward Ring for the house as well since I'm already paying monthly for the boat.

Lake_Bum

I also have Arlo, and they actually reversed what they originally said about archiving the older cameras. They'll continue to support them, and provide the free cloud service.  They sent me the updated policy maybe 6 weeks ago. 

YYZRC

That's huge news @Lake_Bum - thanks!

Cableguy Greg

I have multiple ring cameras around my house. Once you hit two cameras, it’s a flat rate two and more. One of my cameras has a solar panel on it and I have never had to charge the battery. 

LaRea

To avoid fees, you might be tempted to install a network video recorder (NVR) and keep the data in-house.  If so, forget Lorex.  They have nice cameras and good advertising, but their NVRs are downright primitive.  The software technology is 15-20 years old, and Lorex tech support is worthless.  

Ian

I have Blink on the boat and very happy - free for 1. But unlimited numbers for $100 a year if I recall and thinking of going that way for home too.

DanW

I have Arlo at home and on the boat. I’m happy with them. 

Dan

J3ff

wyze.. and pay the monthly fee. There is no better or more "smart" camera out there. 

Aqua_Aura

I use wyze and subscribe to the cam plus lite and choose the option to pay $0. They are inexpensive and I use the ones that plugin to power so I get continuous recording. 

Lake_Bum

The biggest reason I went with the Arlo system, is all the cameras are wireless.  They all connect to Wifi via the base station, that is a secure connection to my router.   The absolute easiest installation EVER for cameras!  Free cloud storage is a plus too

Cableguy Greg

LaRea said:

To avoid fees, you might be tempted to install a network video recorder (NVR) and keep the data in-house.  If so, forget Lorex.  They have nice cameras and good advertising, but their NVRs are downright primitive.  The software technology is 15-20 years old, and Lorex tech support is worthless.  

I had a Night Owl system on my last house. It worked great for 3 years then out of the blue, the dvr quit working. Fortunately I moved about 3 months later. I did like the continuous recording when I had it. 

diggin2day1

I had (8) Arlo Ultra cameras with (3) base stations… I was roped in by their claims of 3 month battery life, 4k video and clearest BLAH BLAH BLAH. Absolutely hated that they had to be within range of their weak base stations, super slow connection and high price of the system. I switched over to Ring last year and I am very happy with the performance. It’s definitely not a “professional” solution and you can’t zoom in on a license plate from 100yds out… but it’s super simple install and app are great. Connects directly to your Wifi and is much faster than the Arlo. I have ORBI Wifi system and installed an exterior Wifi satellite and the range is phenomenal. Currently have 11 cameras ranging from doorbell, wired spotlight cameras, wireless spotlight cameras, floodlight cameras and wireless “stick up” cameras. Another reason for me to switch to Ring was because they’re Amazon… they’re not going out of business anytime soon. 

LaRea

Yes, continuous recording is useful.  Sometimes you need to see events that would not have triggered a Ring to record.  Examples for me:  the jacka$$ Mustang driver up the street doing donuts at 2AM, and the mail truck backing into my fence.  

Image quality matters too.  When you need video, it's usually because something bad happened.  You'll always wish for better cameras.  Even a 4k camera is only as good as the lens and the method of video compression.  

Perfect world, all the cameras are power-over-ethernet to an NVR with minimal compression.  But retrofitting cables to an existing home is a real pain.  

Cableguy Greg

I agree with @LaRea. We had someone breaking into cars in our cul de sac about 6 years ago. I was able to see the guy go from house to house on my cameras. A ring camera wouldn’t have detected the motion. I was able to put the video on a thumb drive and drop off at the local police station. I also agree that retrofitting an existing home is no fun.