Audio / Video exterior surveillance system?

[GFOviedo]

I was wondering if anyone here has use any exterior surveillance camera system that can do audio and video? If so, what brand, model and cost? At the moment, I am currently looking at the Netgear Arlo Pro system, which is wireless. Any help on this would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Sonnie]

I have also been considering getting a couple of cameras setup at our home... at least one outside. I heard a commercial on Sirius XM during College Football Media Days from Nest https://nest.com/cameras/ ... but I have not investigated, yet I heard them mention being able to talk thru the system and phone notification.

There another one that I've heard advertised a lot, but the name is drawing a blank with me right now. It's more like a doorbell camera system that you use with your phone and can also talk thru it.

 

[GFOviedo]

I have also been considering getting a couple of cameras setup at our home... at least one outside. I heard a commercial on Sirius XM during College Football Media Days from Nest https://nest.com/cameras/ ... but I have not investigated, yet I heard them mention being able to talk thru the system and phone notification.

There another one that I've heard advertised a lot, but the name is drawing a blank with me right now. It's more like a doorbell camera system that you use with your phone and can also talk thru it.

I've heard that the talk through the system option isn't the best for Arlo. However, I pretty much need something that is good to decent quality for recording. A few days ago, someone went into my backyard and stole my weed eater. My first weed eater was taken from my garage. I left my garage opened while I went inside to use the bathroom. So, I'm pretty much tired of this, and I just want to at least have something in place that will help me catch whomever is doing this if it happens again.

I had a talked with XFinity about their surveillance system, and it isn't worth it. I've better off spending $$$ on my own surveillance system. I'm thinking of giving Arlo a try and see how it works out. I'm going to get it from CostCo just in case I need to return it.

 

[Sonnie]

https://ring.com/ is the other one I was trying to think of. While it has the doorbell style camera, it also has other cameras you can install around the house and view with your phone.

 

[phillihp23]

When it comes to surveillance camera's the market is full of product. The hard part is finding something that lasts and works for you (how you want to use it). I went with POE cameras to ensure stable connect and strong feed, this also allowed me to eliminate the need for power outlets. Also consider the resolution of the camera. The higher the resolution of camera feed the more complicated it can become to get a feed remotely on a device such as a phone. My system works well, but not without a hiccup or two.

I also purchased a neat device called GogoGate. Gogogate allows you to remotely open and shut your garage, coupled with a compatible camera it records for a set period of time each time the garage door opens or closes.

 

[GFOviedo]

When it comes to surveillance camera's the market is full of product. The hard part is finding something that lasts and works for you (how you want to use it). I went with POE cameras to ensure stable connect and strong feed, this also allowed me to eliminate the need for power outlets. Also consider the resolution of the camera. The higher the resolution of camera feed the more complicated it can become to get a feed remotely on a device such as a phone. My system works well, but not without a hiccup or two.

I also purchased a neat device called GogoGate. Gogogate allows you to remotely open and shut your garage, coupled with a compatible camera it records for a set period of time each time the garage door opens or closes.

What's the brand/model of your surveillance camera's? Also what switch are you using for POE?

 

[phillihp23]

Here is the one I have Foscam or amazon it includes the DVR/POE switch and ethernet runs (FN3108XE-B8-2T). I purchased a roll of cat cable and made my own custom lengths for my install. They are 720P $530. They are currently also selling a 1080P version for $900. I have had them installed for about a year now without issue. We get a lot of rain, didn't know how that would effect them or possible lens fogging. They also work pretty great in my opinion in the dark. They do not have sound. (Depending on your state it may be illegal to record without consent). They do not have a mobile app for Windows phone 8.1 and the NVR site won't work due to Java script etc. on my mobile phone. So I can not say how the android / IPhone apps work. I ended up running blue iris on a computer and adding the camera feeds to access my cameras remotely from my phone. All my TV's in the house are networked, so I simply put the default home page on the tv web app to the blue iris server IP. Now no matter what room I am in I can open the web app on the tv and view all my camera's.

So I am currently using Gogogate with a wireless foscam PTZ camera (FI8910W) inside my garage to operate the garage and record every time it opens or shuts. I can access it through a foscam app on my phone. Photo 5 shows the gogogate app open on the phone. Photo 6 shows the Gogogate and wireless foscam PTZ in garage. Photo 7 shows the hardwire gogogate garage sensor. You wire the gogogate module to the push button garage door opener. You wire the gogogate door sensor to the gogogate module and then run and place the sensor on garage door. Electrical plug in the gogogate module. Install wireless camera and setup. Input camera ip into gogogate setup.

I have the foscam DVR and 8 720P POE cameras (FN3108XE-B8-2T) around the house perimeter. The DVR is mounted in my master closet and hdmi to my tv in the master bedroom. Photo 1 is the DVR in closet. Photo 2 is the DVR footage hdmi to my tv in bedroom.

I have a foscam PTZ camera over Ethernet ( FI8910E) on the main floor ( open floor plan) Photo 8. I can access it also through a foscam app on my phone. Photo 9 shows the foscam app open.

I have a wireless foscam PTZ camera (FI8910W) on my front porch. I can access it also through a foscam app on my phone.

All my camera feeds are loaded in blue iris and can be viewed by TV's throughout my house or through the blue iris app on my phone. Photo 3 below.

Photo 4 shows the gogogate app/ foscam app/ blue iris app on phone tile from left to right.

As you will notice on some screen shots two of my cameras are currently down. The one on my porch is down due to an electrical issue with the porch outlet. I am currently looking into a means to run cat5 and install a POE camera for greater reliability and as I am yet to look into re-wiring the outlet. I will clearly state that the wireless cameras will drop connection occasionally, when this happens you are not able to always reboot remotely. A lot of the time you need to physically unplug them and re-plug them in to an electrical source to get them to cycle. One of the reason I will eventually replace the wireless cams with POE. One of the cameras in the back yard is down as I removed it when I was recently painting the house. One of these days I will get around to re-installing it. You know how it is with the to do lists....

 

[phillihp23]

I have considered installing something like the ring on the front porch. It would come in handy to instruct delivery services to place things in the garage when I'm not home. I could open the garage for the delivery and then close it after the package is dropped with gogogate.

 

[Sonnie]

That's a pretty neat setup... similar to what we have at our shop, although we have 16 cameras with 6TB of recording storage. And I can pull up the cameras at anytime on my phone. However, that's a fairly expensive system. IP cameras are on the pricey side of the scale, or least they were a couple of years ago.

 

[GFOviedo]

So, I haven't bought any surveillance cameras yet since things haven't been stolen from our home anymore. However, lately there has been someone at night ringing the bell for no apparent reason. It doesn't happen all the time, but when it does is while I am at work.

I was thinking of giving the Ring a try, but I am not sure about two things:
1) The location where my current door bell is located is probably not the best location for the Ring. I know the ring can be use with its battery, but I think possibly relocating the cable to go to the door frame would be best? What do you guys think? I am including a picture of the front door area so you can see what I am talking about.

2) The cost? I guess Ring only gives you 1 year of free recording and thereafter you have to pay $100 a year for their full service. Is this worth it?

P.S. Please do not mind the dirt and spider webs on the front door.