Whether it’s to keep burglars at bay, control your castle or look after loved ones
when you are away, security cameras are one of those pieces of tech that really make life
tangibly better - but what kind is best for you?
Let’s find out!
I’m Trisha Hershberger and you are watching DIY in 5.
Welcome back, my security-minded friends.
If you’ve been considering investing in a camera or two to monitor your home,
you’ve undoubtedly noticed the plethora of options available.
Live feed or recorded video?
Outdoor or Indoor?
Wired or Wireless?
Apps, AI, etc etc.
Not to worry, I’m here to break it down into easily digestible bites.
Let’s go over everything you need to know when shopping for home security cameras.
Probably the biggest consideration when looking at smart security cameras is determining
how you’d like your footage stored - in the cloud or locally.
While local recording is certainly the most secure,
how much storage is available and at what extra cost?
And do you have the option to see the footage when you are away from home?
Cloud storage - video stored on a remote server - usually comes at a price as well with plans
from Nest charging $5/month, although there are cameras that offer free limited
cloud storage like Arlo, Canary Flex, Flir FX and others.
Some cameras give you both local and cloud storage if you’d prefer to have both.
Arlo, for example, offers limited free cloud storage and gives you the option
to record locally as a backup using an SD Card or USB thumb drive.
I’d base this decision on whether you want a constant live feed,
which will require storing a lot of data,
or if you just want video recorded when motion is detected which may require less.
This will depend on your specific needs.
You’ll also need to determine where you’d like to place your camera.
If you are looking to place a camera outdoors, you’ll want something weatherproof
that can securely mount to a surface so the camera itself can’t be easily stolen.
Also, if your camera placement is outdoors and not near an outlet,
you may be considering wireless camera options.
While you won’t have to worry about being tethered to a power source, you will have
to worry about replacing or charging batteries.
The other thing to consider with wireless cameras is the network connection.
Many home security cameras now connect over your home wifi, which is great until your
wifi goes down or you need to place a camera just out of your wifi’s range.
If you are going to go wired, I’d recommend you look for a PoE - or Power over Ethernet - camera setup.
This technology allows both a network connection and power to flow through one cable,
making setup and management a bit easier.
Next let’s talk camera features.
Do you need to see in the dark?
How wide a field of view would you like the camera to see?
Would you like to hear audio as well or even be able to communicate back?
Hey, delivery guy?
Hi.
Yeah, it’s me, at the camera.
That’s an Infinity Gauntlet oven mitt, can you just be careful with that?
What about getting a notification on your phone whenever motion is sensed?
These are all possible with features like night vision, wide angle, two-way audio
and various compatible and proprietary apps.
There are even camera systems with face recognition, so you are alerted exactly who is in your home.
Let’s briefly look at some of the more popular options out there right now.
Google Nest offers outdoor and indoor cameras with 24/7 live video, two-way audio, night vision,
1080p and up to 4k HD resolution and alerts on your phone.
The footage you’ll capture from a Nest is super clear and many tout it as
the highest tier in home security, but it’s not cheap to purchase and the cloud storage options
range from $5 to $30 per month, depending how many days of footage you’d like stored at a time.
Amazon has its own line of home security products: The Ring Doorbell,
which captures video each time the doorbell is pressed,
Blink XT, a budget-friendly outdoor and indoor home camera system,
and Amazon Cloud Cam, a solid indoor camera that plays nicely with other Amazon products.
The Ring and Cloud Cam each have monthly subscription plans as well as free options.
For example, the Ring doorbell offers a live video feed every time someone rings the bell for free,
but if you want to have your videos stored or have a Ring professional watch for any funny business,
that’ll run you anywhere from $3to 10 per month.
The Blink XT has no monthly fee at all but only gives you two hours of motion-activated video
stored on the cloud before it starts erasing your data.
Then we have the Netgear Arlo line.
Fun fact: this is my the camera that I have in my home!
And this specifically is the Arlo Q Plus.
It’s got Night Vision, Two-Way Audio, Wide Angle 1080p video
and that PoE connectivity we discussed earlier.
Arlo offers 7 day cloud recording for motion and sound triggered events for up to 5 cameras,
and a monthly subscription if you want to add more than that.
This model also has a microSD local backup option
and I’m using the brand new Kingston High Endurance microSD
that was just announced a few weeks ago at CES!
The perks of making a show for a hardware manufacturer...
So, as you can see, there are a ton of options out there for just about every use case.
As I mentioned earlier, I personally use Arlo
mostly because I’m a big fan of 7 days storage with no monthly fee.
#NOTSPONSORED, I just like it.
Are you using a smart security camera right now that I didn’t bring up in this video?
Tell us about it in the comments.
Until next time DIYers, I’m watching you.