Camera recommendations

looking for camera recommendations, just tried a dropcam and it kept dropping off my wifi from 1 floor away. Would have like it if it stayed online.

any other good experiences out there?

1 Like

Have one Dropcam Pro in my family room that can cover nearly three rooms of the house. It works well with my Apple Airport Extreme on the wifi, but once the year subscription is over, I won’t be renewing. I’m taking my whole system IP - already installed two IP cams outside. Went with the Hikvision DS-2CD2032-I, (but not from that seller), a POE switch and run the Synology Surveillance Station software.

It ain’t cheap, but nothing ever is, is it? Haven’t looked back since.

@John_Esher : I have the Hikvision as well, not sure about model, its a 3MP POE model. Absolutely love it. Intend to order 2-3 more! :smile:

Just hope SmartThings comes up with a streamlined way to integrate it soon…

I see a lot of comments about that on the forums, but I can’t wrap my head around why. Now, granted not every use case is the same, but here’s what I’m doing:

Recording on motion detection (as processed by the camera) and stored on my Synology DS213j. I have it set for 7 days now, and that takes about 1/2 of my 2 TB drives. I tried two other software programs (Mac only environment) - Bensoftware’s Security Spy and Sighthound. I really like the idea of Sighthound’s continuous recording and analyzing on demand, but found that old iMac just wasn’t feasible 24/7. I do have a nagging feeling to try to duplicate that somehow with the Synology’s software. Thinking I might try recording 2 fps for 24/7 over as many days as I can get and maintain no more than 70% disk capacity. Not to mention, the Synology’s main purpose when purchased was for cameras. Although not a perfect software solution, the combination of software and hardware is hard to beat.

For live viewing on my iOS devices I’m using LiveCams Pro from eggmantechnologies.com and I love it. Tried a few others, but they don’t compare. For viewing of recorded clips, I use the DS Cam program from Synology. The only caveat with that program is that you can’t remotely view 3 MP clips, so I had to dial it down to 2 MP. Not much visible difference, at least until I need to capture a great face shot of some asshole doing something stupid.

So, to pull this back to ST, what sort of integration are you looking for and why?

Hey @John_Esher

Currently I use a Thecus NAS and am working on integrating the HikVision to write to it. Interestingly a coworker and I were talking about the Synology NAS just today… Ill have to keep an eye out on it.

Anyways, as for SmartThings, what I am looking for is that if everyone is away, it triggers recording on motion. Then perhaps notifies me through push, and then if I click on the camera on the SmartThings home, it will let me watch live. That’s just one sample of what it could be. That functionality would paly very well with the Alarm app that is actively being built by the community. Additionally, I would just like to watch the live stream :smile:

I know many have similar wishes, and the SmartThings team has mentioned they are working on it, so all I can do is cross my fingers that its not limited specific to DropCam (expensive for what you get) or Foscam (No real complaints from me, but if you can do POE, definitely go POE).

Just my .02$.

1 Like

I am using TrendNet cameras and am controlling them through my Synology NAS and am very happy with the DS Cam phone ap and can access my cameras from 3g in Afghanistan without issue just waiting for ST to have better IP camera support in their app. Gives me a larger selection of cameras to use just remember that the higher the MP the more data the camera has to send to the app.

That’s one idea that I don’t see the value of personally. Maybe it’s because of my two sons (ages 6 & 11) and their not so bright friends, or my line of work, but I don’t want to miss anything outside or in another portion of the house just because I’m home and the camera(s) aren’t recording.

Just my $.02 and I expect change since it might not be worth that to you or others :wink:

@John_Esher - Completely understand your point of view. Its all preference. For me, getting SmartThings to the point where I don’t require another program for access of all my resources (including irrigation, camera, etc) is my “dream”. That being said, I am not saying it will take full responsibility of a DVR or something. I have a huge NAS like you, so it makes sense for us to record more frequently. But for many, recording ONLY on motion is a requirement. shrug We will see. I definitely want to see streaming though. Maybe a push notification on motion, press the push, and see live video.

shrug

Anyone used this camera ?