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

[VinnyinNJ]

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.

I missed this before! I was thinking they all linked together glad to now they do.

 

[VinnyinNJ]

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.

I actually want both, I'm greedy! Actually I want to be able to prosecute if the person or persons are too stupid if/when the cameras are up. We think we know who did it but without proof it's just an accusation. I figured paying $500 for active cameras may be worth it. I was planning on capturing the street as well, not sure if Ring cameras can trigger lights & camera when it detects people vs just motion. I know I can get and do get notices when the doorbell detects people, don't know if the lights are a little more sophisticated.

 

[VinnyinNJ]

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.

My doorbell sees better now that I put in a brighter LED porch light. The infrared (?) technology in the doorbell is kind of weak and barely goes 8 ft, the porch light gets it out to about to about 10 to 12.

 

[Leebo]

By any chance do you use Apple? I’ve used Eufy and Aqara cameras with Homekit Secure Video for awhile now with good results. Mine mostly cover areas that are out of the elements so I’ve used “indoor” cameras to save some cash, but I know there’s several good outdoor ones too, including some with lights.

 

[Mdragger88]

I have several solar motion activated floods & they do great. We joke that they are brighter than the house wired ones!
Most newer cams have pretty great night vision as well. Maybe for the distant areas a battery op cam & a solar flood would work well. If you go with all ring stuff you’ll only need the one app/one fee which is nice- one less thing.

I’m gonna go all @Dirk on you
Here’s my setup:
One cam points towards the carport & one towards the driveway
Floods on each corner of the carport.
When the floods detect motion they come on & it always sets off the cams.



They are pretty high up so one would need a ladder to unplug them or something.

Then i have another that points at the patio door and the carport from another angle & one that points at the pool & shop



These are all $20/$25 cameras- the oldest ones in the back are 6 years old Funlux brand from amazon. They just use an sd card too so no subscription. The one for the pool is a little discolored now as it gets a bit of sun exposure.
I can only imagine how good the picture would look on newer ones.
Once you start thinking about where you’ll put them you think you need several more!
Its a sickness lol
I have wyze battery operated one but its not that great for a high traffic area as it runs the battery down quickly - it was a beta 1st edition model so they may have gotten better by now. It used to be for the dog pen if I had to use it but now I put it in my pool equipment area when i go on vacation.

As part of my security I also have a driveway alarm- my driveway is really long & it’s sensor is placed near the road to give me time to get to the door before someone is already there, put the dog up for a delivery or whatever. It has alerted me of coyotes, dogs, deer, & even lost travelers & a sheriff in the middle of the night.
The sensor is battery operated and it lasts at least a year.
The base (that makes the noise) is plugged in on top of my fridge. Its not wifi or anything but It’s been invaluable.

*I feel I must warn you if you look at the wyze cams - there are also roku cams now which seem very attractive and they are like wyze cam carbon copies in almost every way except 2 things: they will show up on your roku tv which is super cool (wyze cams only show on firetvs/alexa)
but unlike wyze, to see more than a small clip you must pay for cloud service even if you use an sd card. To view your sd card you must pull it from the cam and put it in the computer! Many wyze fans were excited about their introduction until they realized this.

Good luck on your search! Its a rabbit hole I tell ya!

 

[VinnyinNJ]

By any chance do you use Apple? I’ve used Eufy and Aqara cameras with Homekit Secure Video for awhile now with good results. Mine mostly cover areas that are out of the elements so I’ve used “indoor” cameras to save some cash, but I know there’s several good outdoor ones too, including some with lights.

Unfortunately I'm a Windows guy!

 

[Mdragger88]

By any chance do you use Apple? I’ve used Eufy and Aqara cameras with Homekit Secure Video for awhile now with good results. Mine mostly cover areas that are out of the elements so I’ve used “indoor” cameras to save some cash, but I know there’s several good outdoor ones too, including some with lights.

All my wyze cams are indoor ones- as that’s all they used to have but I placed them in little aftermarket birdhouse things off amazon designed to protect them from the weather. Not sure if those are available for other brands of cams or not.

 

[VinnyinNJ]

I have several solar motion activated floods & they do great. We joke that they are brighter than the house wired ones!
Most newer cams have pretty great night vision as well. Maybe for the distant areas a battery op cam & a solar flood would work well. If you go with all ring stuff you’ll only need the one app/one fee which is nice- one less thing.

I’m gonna go all @Dirk on you
Here’s my setup:
One cam points towards the carport & one towards the driveway
Floods on each corner of the carport.
When the floods detect motion they come on & it always sets off the cams.
View attachment 562980
View attachment 562981
View attachment 562982View attachment 562983
They are pretty high up so one would need a ladder to unplug them or something.

Then i have another that points at the patio door and the carport from another angle & one that points at the pool & shop
View attachment 562984

View attachment 562989
These are all $20/$25 cameras- the oldest ones in the back are 6 years old Funlux brand from amazon. They just use an sd card too so no subscription. The one for the pool is a little discolored now as it gets a bit of sun exposure.
I can only imagine how good the picture would look on newer ones.
Once you start thinking about where you’ll put them you think you need several more!
Its a sickness lol
I have wyze battery operated one but its not that great for a high traffic area as it runs the battery down quickly - it was a beta 1st edition model so they may have gotten better by now. It used to be for the dog pen if I had to use it but now I put it in my pool equipment area when i go on vacation.

As part of my security I also have a driveway alarm- my driveway is really long & it’s sensor is placed near the road to give me time to get to the door before someone is already there, put the dog up for a delivery or whatever. It has alerted me of coyotes, dogs, deer, & even lost travelers & a sheriff in the middle of the night.
The sensor is battery operated and it lasts at least a year.
The base (that makes the noise) is plugged in on top of my fridge. Its not wifi or anything but It’s been invaluable.

*I feel I must warn you if you look at the wyze cams - there are also roku cams now which seem very attractive and they are like wyze cam carbon copies in almost every way except 2 things: they will show up on your roku tv which is super cool (wyze cams only show on firetvs/alexa)
but unlike wyze, to see more than a small clip you must pay for cloud service even if you use an sd card. To view your sd card you must pull it from the cam and put it in the computer! Many wyze fans were excited about their introduction until they realized this.

Good luck on your search! Its a rabbit hole I tell ya!

I originally wanted to mount solar lights on our trees last year in the back yard, I can mount them high enough to project light out to the back of the yard and low enough as to not worry about the tree canapy ... living in NJ means I don't have a yard like yours! But my wife didn't like that idea so I didn't go any further. I do not want to run electricity to the back eves through the house and my wife didn't want to have electrical conduit running outside the house. Of course after this I probably lost that argument. I was hoping not to do a lot of work in the beginning of retirement, putting up wifi cameras is no big thing, patching holes in the wall can be. Unfortunately she is besides herself about this, I'm hoping it was just a random event a one and done type of thing but who knows?

Nothing wrong with using the technology available to you and yes I'm afraid of that rabbit hole,

 

[ajw22]

I was hoping not to do a lot of work in the beginning of retirement, ....

Ha...Haha....Hahahahaha ..... welcome to retirement!

 

[JamesW]

Using a combination of day vision, night vision and thermal imaging is useful for comprehensive surveillance.

You should also do wireless device ID logging to record the device IDs for any wireless device that uses Bluetooth, WIFI etc.

Everyone has at least one wireless device on them at all times, so you can cross reference the device IDs to identify the person who was close to the property.

Get software with facial recognition that can identify individuals who are seen on video.

 

[JamesW]

There are also several good robots that can patrol the property and investigate any suspicious activity.

There are Humanoid style robots as well as dog style and many others that are very effective.

 

[JamesW]

If you have overlapping security cameras, you can combine the images using interferometry to significantly improve the resolution of the images.

Upscaling software can also help improve resolution.

If you add radar and lidar, you can create a 3 dimensional digital twin of the environment and everything in the environment.

You can use ai to identify suspicious activity including audio, video, thermal etc.

 

[Dirk]

I went all POE (power over ethernet). Run one wire to each cam, and that wire carries the video and the power for the cam. No batteries. No WiFi. Wouldn't have it any other way. No exposed wires, and cams are encased in wooden boxes that protect them from sun and animals and shenanigans (to some degree). You cannot really protect a cam all that well. No matter how you protect them physically, they have to be able to see, which means a $5 can of spray paint will take them out in seconds, no muss, no fuss. The only way to really protect them is to have enough cams to cover your exterior redundantly, including the other cams! It's a slippery slope.

Anywho, no subscriptions for me. Footage goes up to the cloud (my own FTP server), so the chances of me getting some good images before my cams are disabled is pretty good.

The bottom line is what I have written here before, many times. If someone wants in, or wants to cause damage or harm, they're going to. Unless you want to live in a stronghold underground, that is just a reality. The real purpose of cams (and most other security measures) is to make your neighbors' houses look like easier targets. That's it. That's about all I'm willing to do, anyway.

 

[VinnyinNJ]

Using a combination of day vision, night vision and thermal imaging is useful for comprehensive surveillance.

You should also do wireless device ID logging to record the device IDs for any wireless device that uses Bluetooth, WIFI etc.

Everyone has at least one wireless device on them at all times, so you can cross reference the device IDs to identify the person who was close to the property.

Get software with facial recognition that can identify individuals who are seen on video.

I'm not protecting Area 51, I'm trying to just stop an idiot or idiots from targeting us for whatever reason they might be.. Although putting a sniper on the roof could solve the problem!

 

[VinnyinNJ]

I went all POE (power over ethernet). Run one wire to each cam, and that wire carries the video and the power for the cam. No batteries. No WiFi. Wouldn't have it any other way. No exposed wires, and cams are encased in wooden boxes that protect them from sun and animals and shenanigans (to some degree). You cannot really protect a cam all that well. No matter how you protect them physically, they have to be able to see, which means a $5 can of spray paint will take them out in seconds, no muss, no fuss. The only way to really protect them is to have enough cams to cover your exterior redundantly, including the other cams! It's a slippery slope.

Anywho, no subscriptions for me. Footage goes up to the cloud (my own FTP server), so the chances of me getting some good images before my cams are disabled is pretty good.

The bottom line is what I have written here before, many times. If someone wants in, or wants to cause damage or harm, they're going to. Unless you want to live in a stronghold underground, that is just a reality. The real purpose of cams (and most other security measures) is to make your neighbors' houses look like easier targets. That's it. That's about all I'm willing to do, anyway.

I'm looking for more of a deterrent with proof if need be. I'm not paranoid and realize if someone wants in, they can get in. Ski masks stop facial recognition and if they walk up to the house, no vehicle to identify. All I can do is monitor and record the front of the house and/or back of the house and hopefully that'll be enough. I'm not looking to spend the time and money to wire my house to be wifi free monitoring. I don't live in a mansion, don't drive expensive cars and live in the middle of a neighborhood. We were just a victim of idiot(s) that could be a one time issue, or could be a target of these idiots for whatever reason.

 

[JJ_Tex]

We were just a victim of idiot(s) that could be a one time issue, or could be a target of these idiots for whatever reason.

We got our cameras after a similar incident. My daughter was named captain of her highschool squad, and the girls responded with TPing and forking our yard. Fairly harmless, but some of the girls who thought they should be captain brought eggs too. Luckily the other girls talked them out of actually throwing them.

Regardless, I didn't want to take any chances with our house or my son's car who parks in the driveway. I setup the cameras and made it known I was doing so. 2 years later and we are incident free. Hopefully you have a similar experience.

I would still do the cameras as I've gotten used to advanced warnings for the Amazon guy's seeming daily deliveries. It at least gives me enough time to mute the zoom call before the dog sees the Amazon guy. A few times we also captured cool wildlife on the cameras including a bobcat and coyotes.

 

[Newdude]

It at least gives me enough time to mute the zoom call before the dog sees the Amazon guy.

I give them fair warning on top of the Ring.

 

[Mdragger88]

I have one of these right at the end of my driveway on a tree so even pedestrians (or someone who might want to peek in my mailbox) can see it. Cheap detterent. They don’t know where the cameras may be.

I know this incident makes you feel violated & exposed but
- if this was teens, which it likely was, they may “out” themselves before long! People talk, & nowadays they record themselves doing everything- even stupid stuff & incriminate themselves! If you can find out who it was send em a bill for paint correction! Even if it doesn’t get paid hopefully the parents will take some action.
If your house is close to others ask your neighbors for footage.
Not saying you don’t need cams- i think they’re a great idea, just not the only part of the system.

 

[JamesW]

How about just one Killer “Terminator” Style Robot that can patrol your property with lasers and machine guns?

 

[kul]

@JamesW that’s risky. It can turn on him!