RFI: WiFi/IP Security Cameras

[randyho]

I would encourage anyone running these, or any other internet of things... things to run them off of a separate portion of your network. By that, I mean pick up another router from which you can segment and run your devices, those that are not something on which you might be doing your taxes. Plug IOT router into a wired port of of your existing isp router and connect your IOT devices to it. Your IOT devices will then not know that your pc's, phones, things which may contain personally sensitive data, even exist. This is what you want. The why being that IOT devices, including those falling within the security realm, are sorta notorious for having vulnerabilities outta the box and then continuing to have problems.

More thorough explanation of segmentation here: https://www.ckd3.com/blog/2018/10/15...in-the-iot-era

[Chance]

We've had the Blink XT2s up and running for several days and I like them thus far. My only complaints are idiosyncrasies with the motion sensors and there's not much to be done about that due to the laws of physics, or whatever.

I'm very skeptical the batteries are going to last for as long as advertised, but I guess there's one way to find out. I'll report back in a few months and see how things have played out.

[RevolverRob]

We've had the Blink XT2s up and running for several days and I like them thus far. My only complaints are idiosyncrasies with the motion sensors and there's not much to be done about that due to the laws of physics, or whatever.

I'm very skeptical the batteries are going to last for as long as advertised, but I guess there's one way to find out. I'll report back in a few months and see how things have played out.

The Arlos I installed on my parents house definitely did not meet battery expectations, due to the motion detection coming on frequently. Rechargeables are definitely your friend here.

Once you get a sense of where the motion happens the most and how, you can do things like cut branches and things that are in the sight line and reduce activation frequency.

Personally, I prefer to err on the side of more sensitive activation than less, but the trade off is definitely battery life.

I like the Blink 2-way audio features. When we finally move out of a multi-unit building into a condo or house, I will look hard at these.

[Chance]

Does anyone have any solutions with keeping bugs away from these things? We have a wasp that has fallen in love with the gate camera and triggers it multiple times a day. I've tried to run out and catch the thing in the act, but I'm never fast enough. I've patrolled for wasps nests and found nothing.

The bug only seems to come around mid-afternoon, so I'm thinking there's a glint coming off the camera or something.

[John Hearne]

I have an Arlo Pro at work and it is OK. My last purchase was from Reolink. I bought their cellular based camara and once I got it on the cell network, I really like it. They seem to have better battery life in testing than the Arlo products.

I'm about to try their wi-fi offerings since they were on sale this week. I bought the Argus 2 with solar panel for an install away from the house and some Argus Pro's for an interior application.

Sale link:https://www.amazon.com/stores/node/1...eb_12589763011

[Erik]

Bumping this up to the top since I am looking into replacing my blink XT2 system. It's gotten glitchy over time, I've never been completely satisfied with the responsiveness or consistency of getting alerts and now one of the cameras has decided that it doesn't want to communicate with the base station any more. I like the basic feature set, but not the performance. My criteria are essentially the same as the OP. I don't want to pay a subscription fee and I'd just as soon have local storage instead of cloud storage for no especially strong reason except that I'm increasingly uncomfortable with the idea of the footage residing somewhere forever. Thanks in advance.

[fatdog]

As cited earlier in the thread, I have three of the reolink Argus camera's. They are solar powered, wifi driven that have run continuously and reliably for 2+ years now. Good motion sensing capture of video, good night vision and built in IR lights. I am of course just lucky on the lightning front to date, but nothing else seems to stop them so far. I have always used the rubber raincoat they came with and all three live on top of fence posts 75-150' from the house/wifi source, no shelter. I tried a couple of other solar powered units before these and none lived a full year in our environment.

[olstyn]

The Arlos I installed on my parents house definitely did not meet battery expectations, due to the motion detection coming on frequently. Rechargeables are definitely your friend here.

Agreed on the rechargeable batteries, but plain old 3.0v RCR123s won't cut it, at least in my experience. Tenergy makes a setup that is specifically intended for the Arlo cameras which I have been quite happy with. I was running my previous VueZone cameras on "normal" RCR123 batteries, and when I tried to swap those into the Arlo cameras, I found that the battery life was unacceptably short. The Arlo-specific batteries have higher capacity, and output 3.7 volts vs 3.0. They last months at a time even in outdoor MN winter conditions, even with the fact that they're frequently triggered by squirrels that like to run across our patio.

[RevolverRob]

Agreed on the rechargeable batteries, but plain old 3.0v RCR123s won't cut it, at least in my experience. Tenergy makes a setup that is specifically intended for the Arlo cameras which I have been quite happy with. I was running my previous VueZone cameras on "normal" RCR123 batteries, and when I tried to swap those into the Arlo cameras, I found that the battery life was unacceptably short. The Arlo-specific batteries have higher capacity, and output 3.7 volts vs 3.0. They last months at a time even in outdoor MN winter conditions, even with the fact that they're frequently triggered by squirrels that like to run across our patio.

Bought those exact batteries to keep my parents cameras running. Mom is still using them after 2.5-3 years. She's the grandma on the block not to fuck with. Dog, four cameras, couple of .38s, and she's Mexican so, la chancla.

[Erik]

Thanks. It sounds like people are pretty happy with Reolink Argus and the various Arlo systems both, still. Much appreciated.