I just had a break in that has made me want to ramp up my security. I would love some recommendations on how to set it up the best. Right now I’m looking at doing the following:
-buy a smartthings hub
buy a camera for the front and back door.
Possibly buy a Ring Doorbell for the front as well (though not sure if this is the best setup)
buy some cameras for inside to monitor the baby and different rooms
Buy a Kevo smartlock for the front door deadbolt.
I would love some recommendations on if this is a good setup and which equipment I should get.
For instance, should I get the Arlo Pro, the nest, Blink, or other outdoor cameras?
Is the ring doorbell worth it or would the other outdoor cameras be sufficient?
Can I watch the video feed from my outdoor cameras through the Smartthings hub?
Sorry, I know I’m a noob. All help would be appreciated.
Thanks!
Logan
Home Automation hub and security camera are completely unrelated.
Personally I use hardwired CCTV cameras and DVR for outside cameras with cloud back-up
Ring ( monthly fee) & Skybell ( No monthly fee) are the 2 main players in video doorbells. While they can send you alerts and offer live viewing. In the time it takes to get the alert, open the app, load the video feed anybody just coming up to your door is gone. However you can look at the alert history and see who/what triggered the alert. I have hardwired cameras covering driveway, yard and the entire porch. I still added SkyBell at the doors to get better " face shot" of people approaching. Cameras mounted above are easily defeated by that high tech device commonly referred to as “A HAT” . SkyBell/Ring are mounted low and shoot up, so a better chance of seeing their faces. You can get 4 hardwired HD cams with 1Tb DVR for <$500.
Interior camera will likely be LAN IP cams and there are good choices ( both with & without subscription fees) from $50-$200 per camera. Coincidentally it seems the more you spend on the camera, the higher the fee and the less useful features it actually has.
If looking for security I would look at Schlage locks over the Kevo. Just search YouTube for the Kevo locks security and how easy it is to get through them.
Whether or not you can view cam feed in ST app will depend entirely on what cameras you decide to go with.
ARLO PRO from what ive read and heard uses rechargeable batteries?
NEST OUTDOOR - is what i have. depending on how you set it up you may end up paying for
i do not think you can. i know if its a NEST OUTDOOR camera, youd have to login to your account. again this is not how i set-up mine. i have a camera software that integrates all my outdoor and indoor cameras and browse live feeds, get notified if motion has been triggered through my phone.
now if you were to search the webs regarding security cams. . youd probably be told IP CAMS are the way to go… i chose not to go that route as i did not want to drill holes and figure out my line drops. good thing about these IP cameras though is they do not send feeds to the cloud then back to a security camera software… feeds are within your network so no bandwidth wasting issues to consider.
It seems it is true that the more expensive the camera, the more they want per month for cloud storage and all sorts of other stuff.
I guess with the Smartthings I figured it would be nice to incorporate all the video with alarm sensors, dimmable lights, and other things that the Smartthings hub can help to monitor.
The Kevo doesn’t work with SmartThings. You’ll need a zwave or zigbee lock. I’d also do cameras through a separate system. I personally have a couple foscams and Blue Iris.
With the exception of viewing video in ST app, that is all possible. Nest cam can be viewed in ST, but
only if you unlock your cam feed for public viewing. Skybell does show latest grab & you can view live in ST.
Personally the Audio & Video from an $89 Foscam/Armcrest with $40 BlueIris program running local on an old computer is better than that of $150-$200 Nest, Canary, etc with the $10/Month per cam fees.
You can use the Foscam Armcrest cams as motion trigger for other things like lights etc as you mentioned.