diy home security camera system.

[jluv]

I now have six Zmodo cameras set up at the house. Five inside and one outside, with more outside cameras on the way. I dig them, and setup is a breeze now that I got it figured out. Two complaints though - if I have it setup to alert me of motion, I get alerts every couple of minutes. It’s non-fucking-stop. And there is no motion where these are. I just had to turn that shit off. Other issue is I get 4-5 messages every day about buying the stupid cloud recording packages. There’s got to be a way to turn that off, I hope. I just need to dig a little further.

[Gasser64]

Thanks for the recommendation, I'll give it a look. I would think that being able to look back for 1 full week would be plenty, but I like the fact that it's expandable. Then again I guess it depends on the program/app. Maybe it'll jump to points of movement for you if you just want to scroll through and take a look at what's been going on. It's been a long time since I got to fiddle around with a security program.

[Jose]

Hmm.. I guess all windows done to detect break in or even just being opened, same with the front doors. Cameras that can see in the dark to cover all approach angles. They also record on some network attached storage somewhere, and keep a week backlog before erasing it to save space. Sends something to your phone, or sets off external alarms or both if someone triggers the system and tries to get in after you arm it when you go to bed. As well as turns on all the motion sensor lights, which also cover anywhere vulnerable.

Imho this stuff would be pretty basic, but it looks like it could get pretty expensive to cover all or most of your bases. I'd like to get into home hardening but again, the expense.

Not familiar with other brands but the Netgear Arlo Pro 2 setup I have have cameras that have IR plus have audio microphones and speakers (I can listen in plus speak through them). Right now I'm just using the Cloud setup but I believe it also allows for local storage via a USB plug on the local WiFi hub that everything goes through.

The free Cloud storage allows for 5 attached cameras and 7 days of backup. From what I remember, adding additional cameras or storage was pretty minimal. Although I've had this setup since Spring (I think?) I haven't messed around with playing around with the settings much.

I was hoping for something you'd buy once, and monitor yourself. Maybe you pay for a land line so it calls the cops. Or maybe you don't, and you just keep your phone near you and it calls you. Then you call the cops. I'm just kind of tired of so many subscriptions I guess lol

Again not being familiar with other setups, the Arlo Pro 2 seems to have a lot of bases covered. Good app that's easy to access, fingerprint access, it alerts me to any motion or sound and records it, I'm able to speak through the cameras as well as sound an alarm. The only downside I see if the cost, because it's a "name brand" it isn't cheap. I was lucky to have picked my 4 camera setup on sale and planning on adding a 5'th camera to max up the free cloud access.

[bird_dog0347]

For the Arlo kit we bought there's no subscription fee unless you want it monitored or more than 5 cameras. It's just the base cost and you monitor it yourself.

[Gasser64]

I picked up an 4 camera Arlo Pro 2 kit earlier in the year on sale at Best Buy for under $500. Like you said, very easy to setup. The default subscription allows for 5 cameras to be used for free so I'm planning on picking up an extra one.

It wasn't cheap but has been pretty reliable. So far it's been worth what I paid.

I was hoping for something you'd buy once, and monitor yourself. Maybe you pay for a land line so it calls the cops. Or maybe you don't, and you just keep your phone near you and it calls you. Then you call the cops. I'm just kind of tired of so many subscriptions I guess lol

[Jose]

I've missed this thread entirely, but I got the Arlo Pro 2 kit with 3 cameras this summer for like $550ish I think. It's been great and was stupid easy to setup and use... I just need to get some power cables for the outdoor ones so I don't have to change the batteries and they can record all the time to the cloud.

I picked up an 4 camera Arlo Pro 2 kit earlier in the year on sale at Best Buy for under $500. Like you said, very easy to setup. The default subscription allows for 5 cameras to be used for free so I'm planning on picking up an extra one.

It wasn't cheap but has been pretty reliable. So far it's been worth what I paid.

[Gasser64]

Guess it would depend on what features you are wanting.

Hmm.. I guess all windows done to detect break in or even just being opened, same with the front doors. Cameras that can see in the dark to cover all approach angles. They also record on some network attached storage somewhere, and keep a week backlog before erasing it to save space. Sends something to your phone, or sets off external alarms or both if someone triggers the system and tries to get in after you arm it when you go to bed. As well as turns on all the motion sensor lights, which also cover anywhere vulnerable.

Imho this stuff would be pretty basic, but it looks like it could get pretty expensive to cover all or most of your bases. I'd like to get into home hardening but again, the expense.

[juiceweezl]

Damn, I'm glad you go it up and running, that's one thing is they do pick up the phone. The instructions do suck and I did everything online, I have Android based phone.

I'm about to order a DB camera and 4 outside camera unit(s). This Vivint shit is OK, but I'm done paying for a monthly monitored syetem that in my 4 yrs I never once needed or used, the internet out here sucks so most of the time when someone rang the doorbell it didn't work, they didn't software update me when they installed the updated main box and I haven't had recorded data, for two months and I had to call back again, so fuck'em, I'm leaving the shit here and just using self monitoring like the Z-modo stuff.

To answer one of your questions Jared, the first 36 hrs. recorded data is free and after that you can subscribe for a monthly fee for more, but I have been rolling with the free stuff and its enough for me, I believe the extra is for business' and people that are out of town or need remote viewing. I like that they have their own servers (or access to) and even with my bullshit internet it works better than the Vivint stuff, anyway, I'm glad you got it up and running and hopefully it works for you. I know there is a lot of other companies out there, but I like their cameras, I've had my units for about 4 years and they still work, once I did get a some condensation on one the cameras and I had to crack it open and clean and readjust the rubber gasket, but other than that they works great.

I installed ZMODO at my in-laws a few years ago and they still work great. I have their doorbell cam and have 3 outdoor cams ready to be installed at home now. Their stuff works great.

[lincolnboy]

Hire some guys to take camera off newer cars. Those are small good quality cameras.

[bird_dog0347]

I've missed this thread entirely, but I got the Arlo Pro 2 kit with 3 cameras this summer for like $550ish I think. It's been great and was stupid easy to setup and use... I just need to get some power cables for the outdoor ones so I don't have to change the batteries and they can record all the time to the cloud.

[Rick Modena]

Damn, I'm glad you go it up and running, that's one thing is they do pick up the phone. The instructions do suck and I did everything online, I have Android based phone.

I'm about to order a DB camera and 4 outside camera unit(s). This Vivint shit is OK, but I'm done paying for a monthly monitored syetem that in my 4 yrs I never once needed or used, the internet out here sucks so most of the time when someone rang the doorbell it didn't work, they didn't software update me when they installed the updated main box and I haven't had recorded data, for two months and I had to call back again, so fuck'em, I'm leaving the shit here and just using self monitoring like the Z-modo stuff.

To answer one of your questions Jared, the first 36 hrs. recorded data is free and after that you can subscribe for a monthly fee for more, but I have been rolling with the free stuff and its enough for me, I believe the extra is for business' and people that are out of town or need remote viewing. I like that they have their own servers (or access to) and even with my bullshit internet it works better than the Vivint stuff, anyway, I'm glad you got it up and running and hopefully it works for you. I know there is a lot of other companies out there, but I like their cameras, I've had my units for about 4 years and they still work, once I did get a some condensation on one the cameras and I had to crack it open and clean and readjust the rubber gasket, but other than that they works great.

[jluv]

So I ordered a few Zmodo cameras based on this thread. The Pivot came yesterday, and the rest are arriving today. I just opened this thing and am trying to set it up, and nothing's working. The tiny instruction pamphlet that came with it is worthless. The app has a button to "start setup", but that just takes me out of the app and into to my iPhone settings. There are no other options other than that button. WTF?

I'm currently on hold with Zmodo tech support. 28 minutes and counting...

I'm real close to boxing it back up and sending it back.

Question - if by some miracle I do get it working, what are the subscriptions for? They list the features, but they don't explain what those features mean/do, and they don't tell you what you get for free.

This whole setup is Chinese bullshit!

EDIT: Got it working. Finally got a pretty solid tech guy on the phone. He said mine came with an outdated pamphlet, and that the instructions are different for a iPhone. We still had to go through the setup a few times before it started working. All good now.

[FastFord19]

I got rid of all my Axis cameras years ago and have been running Hikvision. I don't think you can beat the price for the quality.

[Rick Modena]

I have a system in my house, so the door bell and indoor camera in the window facing outside. They work OK anf the DB has sound and mic.

I recently bought a ZModo 1080p outdoor with 95ft night vision with motion detection it was right at $80.00 and they give you 36 hrs of free footage since they have their own servers. Of course if you need more they charge you per month, you download their APP to your phone and it alerts you if you turn on that function.
I've had it about a year and haven't needed more than the free coverage. Great picture and the night vision is great, they do need a power source and Wifi. They have all kinds on their website, indoor, outdoor, 720p/1080p, sound, pan/zoom, etc.

[hxbernal]

Re: Arlo Pro Cameras

I ended up selling a 2 camera system yesterday so I reconfigured my listings.

https://dallas.craigslist.org/search/sss?query=2143942302+arlo+pro&sort=rel

If you're looking for an entry level system that you can add to later the 1 camera system is a good place to start.

https://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/ele/d/new-arlo-pro-security-camera/6651939727.html

I have 3 of these available