We are looking to put a few outdoor security cameras around our house and wondering what the better cameras are. Sam's Club sells both an Arlo and a Swann package of wireless cameras. From my basic research so far, it looks like the Arlo cameras are quite a bit better?

We aren't looking for the absolute best in clarity, just something we can monitor the place with. Ideally I know the wired cameras are quite a bit better, but that's way above my pay grade to wire the home for wired cameras.

POE wired cameras are the way to go, and it's honestly super simple to wire.

Going wireless, I want something with no monthly fee that doesn't store the footage in the cloud. The only option there is Eufy. If you don't mind paying a fee, Arlo isn't a bad option.

Wyze also has a battery cam now. I've been pretty happy with their $25 USB powered cams.

https://wyze.com/wyze-cam-outdoor.html

Yeah, I don't really have much of an attic space to crawl into to run wiring to corners of the house. That would be ideal. Pretty much stuck with wireless I think.

I dumped Nest due to high cost and my internet isn't stable enough for it to be truely reliable so I went with this system. I upgraded the HD to a 6TB and its been great so far and easy setup.

https://www.amazon.com/Security-Camera-WOW2084-1TB-Outdoor-Cameras/dp/B07PKQBB3F/ref=sr_1_4?crid=269TOONMOK0NR&keywords=xmarto+wireless+security+camera+system&qid=1640968469&sprefix=xmarto%2Caps%2C151&sr=8-4

Runs on its own wifi so not utilizing your system and it can daisy chain cameras.

I am with whoever recommended PoE cams. I also tend to avoid purchasing network devices/cameras from generic or unknown brands on amazon or Alibaba

I did arlo for a while but got it got to be such a PIA changing batteries I just gave up. Now I have wired cameras to NVR

Player To Be Named Later said:

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Yeah, I don't really have much of an attic space to crawl into to run wiring to corners of the house. That would be ideal. Pretty much stuck with wireless I think.

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I definitely understand, and started with wireless cameras, but they have so many trade offs. My house is rural, and the Eufy cameras have to be set to near 100% sensitivity to cover the area I need, but then I get tons of false alarms. Wyze's person detection is significantly better than Eufy's. You also have issues where they detect motion late. Since they aren't recording all the time, you may miss the start/end of the motion. POE cameras hooked to an NVR or computer running BlueIris don't have those issues.

IIRC, you're moving to hotshot/OTR work. I want my cameras to be reliable with accurate alerts. I stopped paying attention to alerts from my wireless cameras b/c 99% were false. That negates the usefulness of the cameras.

I'm a big dude and hate doing attic work, but if you're installing on the soffits, a fiberglass fish pole will push through the insulation fairly easily and get you into a more open space. It can go quickly with a helper.

Checkout Lorex. I have 4 POE cameras and a NVR that came in a bundle and was pretty easy to setup.

I was talking to someone the other day who uses a trail camera that sends the image directly to his cell phone.

He said that the capability costs $5 per month.

wireless means you'll have to worry about charging/changing batteries... not worth the effort IMO.

stardustag said:

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wireless means you'll have to worry about charging/changing batteries... not worth the effort IMO.

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I was having to recharge monthly until I put solar panels on my wireless cams. Keeps them mostly topped off.

I have batter ring doorbell and 4 wireless ring cameras around the house. Overall very happy with the setup and ease of use. Bought on Amazon and bought certified refurbished.

I didn't want to mess with running wire etc.

Overall very happy. About quarterly I spend one weekend taking batteries out and charging. Not a huge deal but it is an added task.

With ring cameras (the ones with lights) allow for 2 battery packs and I would recommend buying 2 even though pricey and those can easily go 4 to 6 months depending on settings but I usually just charge everything at once.

App is easy to use. I think I pay $11 per month to be able to maintain history.

Quality is ok. None of these are movie quality video.

Overall, very happy.


Edit: as above poster you can buy solar to avoid recharging, I just haven't bothered.

Eufy eufyCam 2 Pro

https://us.eufylife.com/products/T88521D1

Purchased these in Jan 2021. I removed them one time to charge them in one year. As I type this they have these battery levels:

Front Door: 64%
Back Yard: 74%
Garage: 60%

They've averaged 31 events daily in the last week.

The App is intuitive and easy to use. All video is stored locally on the Homebase and is viewable from the phone App, so no subscription fees!

One of the best benefits is we immediately know when packages are delivered by so we can quickly retrieve them to prevent theft.

I would buy again and might add a few more cameras to my system.

Here are some same screen captures.

In the dark with no outside lighting:


Human face recognition. Thumbnail can be zoomed in the App:


Cat:


My license plate can easily be read when zooming in. However, plates cannot be read when cars drive down the alley due to motion and angle: