Submitted by jgreene1423 t3_10mwamz in pittsburgh
We live on an active street in the east end we wanted to get a security camera. Something more serious than a doorbell camera we want something that can mount to the corner of our house to monitor our cars (on the street) and front porch.
Any suggestions? Should we hire a security company or electrician for install or just grab one from Amazon?
Depends ? Do You want to have a record of your stuff being stolen or do you want to protect your family ?
I use the Blink xt2 cameras with a 16GB USB stick plugged into the sync module, and solar panels to power them. No subscriptions, no changing out batteries, easy phone viewing at any time, two way talking, etc. I love them.
Nice try Mr. Cat Burglar
Wyze cameras. They are cheap, resolution is plenty good enough, simple to set up, and secure enough for regular household. Easy to use app. You don't need to have a subscription fee if you don't want to. You can just add a memory card into the camera and it'll just record on the card in a loop. So if you get home and you see something happen pull the card and then it won't record over it and then you have basically a copy of what happened. A cheap 32 GB card will record a few days on a loop. That's usually plenty enough to catch anything unless you're on like a week long vacation. I have 128 gig card in the camera that faces our driveway and catches our front door. That way on the loop it records it records for about a week plus on that camera. That's kind of the main one.
Ring permits warrantless disclosures still
Our mailman got hit by a car. Our car was sideswiped by a neighbor car but no evidence. Plus we had a dog bite incident that required going to court. Footage would have helped in all the situations so it’s just time to get a camera set up. Thanks for all the tips.
I’m a big fan of Aqara but they don’t have outdoor camera yet. There is a doorbell coming sometime this year. Eve makes a good spotlight camera.
I also installed a blink system at my moms house and it has been pretty solid, although I fear that it’s probably the most easily defeated system. (Can just grab cameras if they in reach, not very securely mounted)
If you have the ability to run cat 5, you can get 4k cameras with color night vison from Amcrest for under 100 bucks. They can store footage on sd cards within the cameras, or you can pair them with an nvr. Feel free to DM if you have any questions.
Just got some very cheap Amazon blink mini cameras. We set them up inside against the window so if you have lights on inside they aren’t great. But if there’s no reflections they have surprising quality at night. You can get notifications when there’s motion too. We live near the break ins recently in Bloomfield and it’s nice to have some eyes on the street.
Google Nest makes some pretty good Products that we use. Very easy interface but there is a subscription if you want to view videos after 3 hrs if recording.
Ubiquiti -no subscription, but not cheap
We use Reolink :)
What does that mean ?
We use SimplySafe, had it for a few years and we are pretty happy about it. Yeah unfortunately someone side swiped us in front of our house but the camera didn’t pick up movement all the way on the street, let’s just say we park on a side street now . Good luck
> Our mailman got hit by a car
Swissvale-?
Ubiquiti user here. Expensive as hell, but delivers on that high price in terms of quality and reliability and zero chance of my footage ending up somewhere else. Feel very happy despite the thinner wallet.
I have been using Netvue outdoor cameras for two years. They require power but use Wi-Fi and I pay $14.99 a month for continuous recording video and sound on two cameras. The notifications go right to my phone and the quality is excellent. I highly recommend!
Amazon will hand over footage from your camera to the police even if there isn't a judge's order.
Arlo user, I have it scoped to my door/porch/yard. Street is too busy to capture every car motion every 10-15 seconds. I have my “property” covered but if something happened in the street iffy if I have it. Try to follow common privacy laws, no audio recording etc. Storage isn’t an issue we get X for free but could also expand with SD card.
Amcrest system here in the 'ville. Footage from our place was used to help catch those 2 brothers that were breaking into houses back in '19. Pretty decent quality for the price if you go with their 1080p nvr system but as with select things, $$ = quality. Could help with setup if needed too
Do you know if any that you can recommend?
At that range youd pick up every passing car if it was set up for that.
Exactly, too many notifications
Just so you know, Swissvale isn't in the East End.
I sell enterprise grade cameras for a living. My advice would be if you can afford spending a little more than the cheapest options, Ubiquiti is a great way to go. For install, that really depends on how comfortable you are doing it yourself and how professional you want it to look (especially if you go with a wired unit). If you’re pulling cable you’ll need to make some external penetrations that aren’t difficult but you way want to leave to a pro. Any low voltage electrician should be able to help you out.
Sounds like there is a debate about “what the east end is” going back years.
https://www.reddit.com/r/pittsburgh/comments/2tzixk/what_neighborhoods_make_of_the_east_end/
No, but if you do get wyze cams.
I have 4 google nest cameras and they’re amazing. Only $12/month for the subscription and it holds 10 days worth of high quality footage. Add as many cameras as you like and it’s still only $12/month
Eufy is one suggestion here. No subscription and all of your data lives in your base station in your house.
Though there are some security concerns that have been raised recently: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022/12/eufy-publicly-acknowledges-some-parts-of-its-no-clouds-controversy/
We got one that screws into the porch light. We have one mounted as well. They both send notifications to out cell phones. No subscription needed.
You have any particular recommendations?
Honestly. YouTube.
Set-up the cameras to stream to a private steam that you know the link to. There's about a 5-8 second delay but it records constantly on YouTube and a mini PC can easily handle 4 USB cameras and with software you can combine all 4 into 1 video that can be streamed to YouTube.
Why pay for anything else. It works. 24/7 live stream with instant rewind and unlimited storage
So you're opposed to helping provide information to the police in the act of a crime? Weird flex.
I use a Wyze camera and keep it stored on a memory card. No subscription needed.
There are a ton of ways to approach and discuss this, but if you want to boil it down to something easy to digest this opens the door to alot of new and emerging information sharing platforms creating a panopticon worldview.
The East End has always referred to city neighborhoods. I also didn't see any mention of Swissvale in that thread
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Swissvale is right there in Regent Square. I would think at least that northernmost part counts.
Why are you trying to gatekeep such a thing?
Depends on the crime.
The choice is either watch my stuff be stolen or have to physically fend off a violent invader? Hmm, no other options?
Ring is great, even the mounted not doorbell option (my doorbell is oddly low). It’s great to just know what’s going on when you aren’t home. I actually caught someone on my street messing with car door handles late At night
Hahaha! Butterfly
Gatekeeping? More like using accurate terms.
vanderbeek21 t1_j65i9vy wrote
Don't get any that require a subscription if it can be avoided