Never thought I'd ever have to worry but I need outdoor security cameras!

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VinnyinNJ

VinnyinNJ

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Jul 20, 2022
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New Jersey
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Some idiot(s) (and we think we know who did it) egged our garage and my son's truck last night. We are upset and my wife very much so and it's time that we use surveillance cameras around the house.

We have a Ring doorbell and I was planning on getting for the front of our house 2 wired Ring floodlight cameras over the garage and a solar Ring spotlight cam toward the side of the house. So far I haven't explored the backyard, we keep the gate locked but it's only a short chain link fence.

My question is does anyone have these and are they worth it?

Thanks!
 
I love the ring floodlight in the driveway. I often debate getting 2 more to watch the dogs in the back yard.

It links with the doorbell cam and it will tell you when they both pick up an event

I was sad to replace the obnoxious 3 LED floodlight I had over my garage but the Ring floodlight is equally as bright with only 2.
 
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I like the ring cameras. I have the solar versions set up in areas I want to keep an eye on and it works fine for us. Easy to set up and use.
You can also decide to go with wired cameras if you want to make sure you catch everything without pause. I only have my cameras turn on when motion is noticed so miss things now and then.
 
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I have wyze cams with sd cards in them as I am not really into paying a monthly subscription fee.
Not sure how the ring deal works with the fees - if its more for more cameras.
Personally I would not get a camera that is integrated with a flood light. They are quite pricey as well.
I say go separate so if one dies you don’t have to replace the whole thing.
I also don’t like all in one led flood light fixtures or other all in one led fixtures.
Let me explain…
When the led dies the fixture is trash & you must go through the trouble & expense of installing a new fixture.
Instead, You can simply buy dimmable led bulbs & put them in a basic flood light fixture. I like dusk to dawn with motion sensors personally.
Then mount your cameras wherever you want. They will need power but most have decently long cables. I simply added a weatherproof outlet to my eave for my cameras that is fed from the flood light box.
Note* many floods are on a switch so you can accidentally turn off your cameras if they are wired to the switchleg power.
There are workarounds for the ring flood cam when things start dying but they require some basic electrical knowledge.
 
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I would not do a subscription based setup. Get your own cameras with a base station hub that hooks up to your home WiFi. That way you control all the data that it collects. The subscription based systems make setup a little easier but if you read the fine print you have ZERO control over the images and data collected and the provider can hand over any data at any time to law enforcement. I’m not anti-LEO by any stretch of the imagination but I do believe heavily in privacy and control. It’s your home and your cameras therefore it’s your data and no one else should have access to it.
 
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I have the Ring Cameras and Ring security system and am very pleased with both. I like the neat integration of one app to control both systems (and monitor garage door status). Camera picture quality seems fine to me and motion detection is good.

I'm on a grandfathered plan at $100/year for unlimited number of cameras and professional monitoring on the security system, which is cheaper than anything else I could find and is more than offset by insurance discount for the alarm. I think from next year I'll pay $200/year, which is still pretty cheap for professional monitoring+ cameras.
 
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Mdragger88 said:
I have wyze cams with sd cards in them as I am not really into paying a monthly subscription fee.
Not sure how the ring deal works with the fees - if its more for more cameras.
Personally I would not get a camera that is integrated with a flood light. They are quite pricey as well.
I say go separate so if one dies you don’t have to replace the whole thing.
I also don’t like all in one led flood light fixtures or other all in one led fixtures.
Let me explain…
When the led dies the fixture is trash & you must go through the trouble & expense of installing a new fixture.
Instead, You can simply buy dimmable led bulbs & put them in a basic flood light fixture. I like dusk to dawn with motion sensors personally.
Then mount your cameras wherever you want. They will need power but most have decently long cables. I simply added a weatherproof outlet to my eave for my cameras that is fed from the flood light box.
Note* many floods are on a switch so you can accidentally turn off your cameras if they are wired to the switchleg power.
There are workarounds for the ring flood cam when things start dying but they require some basic electrical knowledge.
Click to expand...
Ring charges $100/year for any # of cameras, right now we pay $30 for just the Ring doorbell.

I'm not sure how long a LED fixture will last, we just replaced a 20 YO motion light on the deck with a LED fixture ... that last fixture saw better days! Since it's in our screen room the fixture is so much smaller than the old one and is a little bit less "there".

I'm trying to cover my whole front property easily and 1 floodlight with 1 camera won't work. If it lasts 5/6 years and I have to replace it, maybe the people who did it will be gone. Or we may be ready to move. I really don't want to make this a huge project, just trying to deter people from being stupid toward us. If they see the cameras, get blinded by the light and are on camera they should stop hopefully.

Our garage lights are on a timer and reading up we would need to keep the power on all the time which would be no big deal, luckily the on/off switch is located in the timer.
 
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kul said:
I like the ring cameras. I have the solar versions set up in areas I want to keep an eye on and it works fine for us. Easy to set up and use.
You can also decide to go with wired cameras if you want to make sure you catch everything without pause. I only have my cameras turn on when motion is noticed so miss things now and then.
Click to expand...
I am thinking about solar for one side of the house where there is no power and if need be my backyard. My wife wanted to put motion detector lights out the back but there's no power back there by the house. She isn't interested in having a pipe for the power and I'm not interested in having electricians poke holes into my walls to conceal the power to the outside.
 
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JoyfulNoise said:
I would not do a subscription based setup. Get your own cameras with a base station hub that hooks up to your home WiFi. That way you control all the data that it collects. The subscription based systems make setup a little easier but if you read the fine print you have ZERO control over the images and data collected and the provider can hand over any data at any time to law enforcement. I’m not anti-LEO by any stretch of the imagination but I do believe heavily in privacy and control. It’s your home and your cameras therefore it’s your data and no one else should have access to it.
Click to expand...
It personally don't care if law enforcement needs my videos, they're not going to get me on anything. The cameras would be pointing to the street and if I put cameras in the backyard I can turn them off when we use it. I'm not looking to make this a huge project, just trying to deter people. My house doesn't have power around the outside except the front lights and my backyard doesn't have power except in our screen room. I don't want to do strictly battery and I have to think about solar since there are trees in my backyard close to the house.
 
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Check out the blink cameras from Amazon. They check a lot of your boxes including:
- battery powered (I have to change mine every ~6 months)
- connect to your home wifi
- have options for local storage via a USB device that plugs in a power outlet (what I use) but you can also get subscription based cloud storage for a fee.

Here is a simple starter pack with 2 outdoor cameras, 1 indoor, and the base for $179. They have many configurations and you can easily add cameras after the fact.


I've never used them but there are also options for solar powered mounts if you do not want to change the batteries.
 
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kul said:
That’s where I have one of my solar ones set up and it works great.
Click to expand...
From my perspective I would like to cover the whole front walkway, I would prefer the blinding light of the floodlights but no power there. My neighbors' houses are about 20-25 feet away from mine and I would like to capture my property line. The eggs were thrown from the side of the house where I can put the blinding flood lights! We plan on keeping the AC lights on all the time at night and then if any motion/person is detected it can record who's there.
 
gkw4815 said:
I have the Ring Cameras and Ring security system and am very pleased with both. I like the neat integration of one app to control both systems (and monitor garage door status). Camera picture quality seems fine to me and motion detection is good.

I'm on a grandfathered plan at $100/year for unlimited number of cameras and professional monitoring on the security system, which is cheaper than anything else I could find and is more than offset by insurance discount for the alarm. I think from next year I'll pay $200/year, which is still pretty cheap for professional monitoring+ cameras.
Click to expand...
We just have the Ring doorbell and we like it. We are missing some coverage because of the location we had to put it in so it is blocked by bricks. Ring claims their cameras capture 140 to 150 degrees of horizontal coverage so putting 3 up on the house would work for our front. The doorbell has 3 zones you can program to alert us, I'm assuming the other cameras do the same which would be great to not activate when one of our neighbors is on their property.
 
JJ_Tex said:
Check out the blink cameras from Amazon. They check a lot of your boxes including:
- battery powered (I have to change mine every ~6 months)
- connect to your home wifi
- have options for local storage via a USB device that plugs in a power outlet (what I use) but you can also get subscription based cloud storage for a fee.

Here is a simple starter pack with 2 outdoor cameras, 1 indoor, and the base for $179. They have many configurations and you can easily add cameras after the fact.


I've never used them but there are also options for solar powered mounts if you do not want to change the batteries.
Click to expand...
I need one with lights, not just a camera. Our side yards are dark, actually our whole neighborhood is darkish so need a bright light to illuminate the areas.
 
Do you want deterrence or prosecution?

If you want deterrence then lights around the property and dummy cameras that are very visible should let the perps think they are being recorded. No power needed for dummy cameras to be visible.

If you want prosecution then you need cameras with enough pixels and properly positioned to get useful face pics of the perps. You also want cameras monitoring the street that can identify any vehicles they use.
 
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Also note that many cameras see in the dark just fine and do not need a light. Luckily as Allen pointed out, you have lots of options for wired/wireless cameras and lights to fit whatever suites your needs the best.
 
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Deceptive Deterrence: A Comprehensive Guide to Dummy Cameras

Dummy cameras have become increasingly popular security solutions for homes and businesses, offering a cost-effective and visually deterrent method against potential intruders. While they may not be actual surveillance cameras, their realistic appearance
www.stunster.com www.stunster.com
 
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