I'd like to get some outdoor security cameras for our house this Christmas - maybe as many as 8, or as few as 2 depending on cost, installation difficulty, etc. I prefer wireless for ease of installation, and being able to access info from phones, iPads, etc. would be a plus.

My wife mentioned the Ring doorbell, but I want cameras on the front and back door at minimum, and perhaps a few more. If some of you have installed or researched a camera system, I'd appreciate your advice, recommendations, etc. on systems you think I should consider.

Thank you for your help...

Arlo is what we use. Easy set up, easy use and has 7 days recordings in the cloud included.

Ring does make other cameras beside the doorbell. They have some that look like your traditional driveway motion lights as well as other smaller ones as well. They even offer some that are truly wireless - with a rechargeable battery they claim will last 6 months at a time.
We just moved into a house that has the doorbell and I'm adding another above the driveway, mostly so I can see both with the same app.

I have a 3 camera Blink system. Front door, garage and back door. They were supposed to introduce a doorbell camera this year but nothing yet. I live by a creek and about 100 acres of woods. Didn't realize the amount of wildlife that comes around my place at night.
Pros: Took about a half hour to set up. Great video quality and low light illumination. AP works great. Live view with audio in is a nice feature.
Cons: If you leave them on 24/7 except you will be replacing your batteries every 2-3 weeks. There is usually someone home so I turn mine on only when I'm gone and at night. How you adjust your sensitivity levels and video quality also effects battery life. Usually 5-10 second delay from when the camera activates until you hear the alarm on your phone. My WI-FI isn't the best so that could be the reason. No audio out.

We have the basic Arlo system with 4 cameras. We have been pretty pleased with them. I really like the portability of them. Easy to move & hang. The batteries have a pretty decent life and I just ordered some rechargeable batteries and a charger. They are specifically made for Arlo so that should help in the long run concerning battery cost. I do want to upgrade/replace a couple of the cameras with their models that have a speaker & microphone so you can have conversations with people. This will help me out when I'm not home and my kids are f-ing around.

We have Blink also. I have 3 cameras. One on front door entrance, two in the back - (one on the garage doors and driveway, and another on the third garage that picks up the alley and back gate) I put them up in June, I still have the original batteries.

I'm pretty pleased with Arlo. I just added the Arlo doorbell and it is linked to my front porch camera and makes it work much better (triggers it faster to reduce lag time).

Hamburger Dan said:

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We have Blink also. I have 3 cameras. One on front door entrance, two in the back - (one on the garage doors and driveway, and another on the third garage that picks up the alley and back gate) I put them up in June, I still have the original batteries.

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Wow! I'm impressed. What batteries do you use and do you leave yours on 24/7?

Wyze cameras

My Arlo batteries tend to last 4-6 months. I keep them on the medium setting for resolution/battery life.

Thank you for your input. I'll read about the Arlo, Ring, Blink and Wyze cameras...

Did a lot of research and went with Ring. Will be installed today. Seemed the best bang for the buck.

I guess I'll be the voice of dissent on Arlo

- I can't get the sensitivity where I like it. If I set the sensitivity where it will pick up a person early, it will constantly be going off. Falling leaf, sun shadow, etc. sets it off. If I dial it back, there is too much lag time to get a clear picture of a person. Usually the recording will be the delivery person's back as they walk away.

- Overall image quality is not great (I have the top Pro 2 system). Would need ideal conditions to get a clear id and would be very hard to get a license plate

-Changing batteries gets to be a pain in the ass after about the 2nd time around

If I had a do-over, I'd have got a wired system with constant recording

I'm not a fan of the easy wireless cameras.
I spent many hours reading about the PoE vs wireless and the image quality drop off is significant.

The most important things to capture for surveillance is and clear face pic and license plate at 30-100' away. I went with a Lorex System. Bought for$950 or so a few weeks ago. Might still be on sale. I haven't set it up yet and I know running the wires will be a pain. But having the 4K video feed sent back to my 4K tv and seeing clear 8mb pics gives me peace of mind.


https://www.lorextechnology.com/4k-ip-camera-system/4k-ultra-hd-ip-nvr-security-camera-system-with-8-ip-cameras/4KHDIP822NV-1-p

I almost went with Ring but you can't really get a good angle for a license plate picture if the road is parallel to your door. I plan on installing one of my lorex 4K/ 8mb dome audio cameras about 8-9' high in my entryway.

Then I'll have a bullet camera on 2 corners on the house. One looking towards garage and the other looking down the street to capture vehicles coming and going.

Not to derail but my neighbor who I war with put up a few after someone stole his yeti cooler one night. I've had a lot of fun he gets an email every time it records so the first week I sprinkled birdseed every morning. Then I played fetch with the dog often. Filled that email up. Have fun with them

Can you share any night photos? thanks!

Wow, those are nice. I may ask my husband to take a look at those. We don't need too many cameras, but however many we end up with I would like something with easily identifiable people/plates.

If you have a light fixture outside close to where you want to mount it, Ring makes a couple of products that should work. Our garage had a couple of lights on either side I left on all the time anyway, and I converted one into a motion activated floodlight/camera combo. I got it on a Black Friday deal and installed it and the wired doorbell myself. So far I'm pretty pleased with them both. You do have to pay a small subscription fee to store/save videos, but it's only $10/month max for as many devices as you have. Just something to think about.


Ring Videos

Wow! third coast those are really good pictures! Thank you for your link. I'll read about the system.
Labmansid, after reading about replacing batteries on cameras, I also thought about replacing our front porch decorative lights with lights that have integrated cameras. So, those cameras could be hardwired and not need batteries.

I greatly appreciate everyone's thoughts on security cameras. A lot of people are adding them, and for good reason. Seems like most of you are pleased with your solutions.