Home/Garage Security

one piece crank said:
I’m still with Blink. Battery life is >1-year per camera.
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I have Blink, I do not like Blink at all.

Super laggy stream that takes almost 30 seconds to load....almost impossible to get the zones right so I get mostly car headlights and wind blowing things on my deck. Battery life is generally the only positive to it.
 
Cassinonorth said:
I have Blink, I do not like Blink at all.

Super laggy stream that takes almost 30 seconds to load....almost impossible to get the zones right so I get mostly car headlights and wind blowing things on my deck. Battery life is generally the only positive to it.
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Just checked two cameras at different locations, video feed popped up in 2 seconds. 🤷‍♂️

I had one camera, street facing, that triggered off garbage trucks and rainy headlights. I used the advanced zone settings (much finer grid) and knocked sensitivity down. No more problems.
 
To professionally install a camera system in NJ you need either a burglar alarm license or an electrical license. So you need to find either an alarm company or electrician.

Many electricians don't know enough about the different camera systems out there, just not their thing/primary focus so you get what you get.. Alarm companies will sell you the one system they make money on, typically a rebranded HikVision system.

Typically I recommend people stay away from the wifi/battery systems. yes they are cheaper to install and DIY but cameras are what I consider a "mission critical" item. If you have need for them, then you have need for them to work all the time. WiFi is not a mission critical platform and as long as WiFi operates in the unregulated frequencies spectrum it never will be.

Battery based systems have a single failure, human nature... "oh, gotta replace that battery soon...." 3..... months.... later...... "Oh crap, something happened, lets check the vid....CRAP!!!"

Then there's the issue of "affordable" camera systems getting constant false alarms from motion outside. Branches in the wind, shadows from the clouds, bird, insects, headlights...... you get so many false detections that you start ignoring them all together. Money wasted.

Higher end systems with good AI for detections that all but eliminate the false positives are not what most people consider "affordable" systems.

Then there's the issue of the affordable cloud based systems like ring and nest. I would NEVER put those systems in your house showing any part of your home interior. You don't control the data, video or sound, it belongs to Ring/Nest/Et el..... They're employees look at it, they freely give it over to law enforcement/govt agencies and sell the meta data. If you feel the need for interior cameras then you should have your own NVR system in your house that is secured from internet access.

And then there's the fun little tidbit that in NJ, video is not evidence in a court of law. You could have video of a guy breaking into your house, looking right into the camera with a big T-shirt on that says "Hi, my name is Steve Burglar!" while holding his drivers license up to the camera just before he steals all your stuff. Not permissible in court.

In order for the vid to be permissible as evidence you had to be recording it yourself as you witnessed, with your own eyes, the crime in progress...

the more you know......


EDIT: See below, apparently I have been mis-informed.
 
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one piece crank said:
Just checked two cameras at different locations, video feed popped up in 2 seconds. 🤷‍♂️

I had one camera, street facing, that triggered off garbage trucks and rainy headlights. I used the advanced zone settings (much finer grid) and knocked sensitivity down. No more problems.
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30 seconds was an exaggeration but it's easily 3-5 seconds which when you're trying to address something going on at said camera, seconds matters. A porch pirate is pretty much gone by then. It's certainly not our internet either. These cameras are within 20 ft of our router and our speeds are great.

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Dunno, I wasn't super happy with Ring either. Probably should just bite the bullet and hardwire something throughout our house but I'm lazy with doing work-like things at my own house. “The cobbler's children have no shoes” and all that.
 
Ashcor said:
To professionally install a camera system in NJ you need either a burglar alarm license or an electrical license. So you need to find either an alarm company or electrician.

Many electricians don't know enough about the different camera systems out there, just not their thing/primary focus so you get what you get.. Alarm companies will sell you the one system they make money on, typically a rebranded HikVision system.

Typically I recommend people stay away from the wifi/battery systems. yes they are cheaper to install and DIY but cameras are what I consider a "mission critical" item. If you have need for them, then you have need for them to work all the time. WiFi is not a mission critical platform and as long as WiFi operates in the unregulated frequencies spectrum it never will be.

Battery based systems have a single failure, human nature... "oh, gotta replace that battery soon...." 3..... months.... later...... "Oh crap, something happened, lets check the vid....CRAP!!!"

Then there's the issue of "affordable" camera systems getting constant false alarms from motion outside. Branches in the wind, shadows from the clouds, bird, insects, headlights...... you get so many false detections that you start ignoring them all together. Money wasted.

Higher end systems with good AI for detections that all but eliminate the false positives are not what most people consider "affordable" systems.

Then there's the issue of the affordable cloud based systems like ring and nest. I would NEVER put those systems in your house showing any part of your home interior. You don't control the data, video or sound, it belongs to Ring/Nest/Et el..... They're employees look at it, they freely give it over to law enforcement/govt agencies and sell the meta data. If you feel the need for interior cameras then you should have your own NVR system in your house that is secured from internet access.

And then there's the fun little tidbit that in NJ, video is not evidence in a court of law. You could have video of a guy breaking into your house, looking right into the camera with a big T-shirt on that says "Hi, my name is Steve Burglar!" while holding his drivers license up to the camera just before he steals all your stuff. Not permissible in court.

In order for the vid to be permissible as evidence you had to be recording it yourself as you witnessed, with your own eyes, the crime in progress...

the more you know......
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Thank you for the information.
 
iman29 said:
Like most other things in my life, this became less of a priority and I procrastinated and did nothing so I still have the same free arlo setup as previously mentioned.

I am increasingly getting annoyed by the grainy video quality and the laggy companion app though.

If I had a blank check I'd probably go with Ring or Wyze.

I dont think you need to necessarily hard wire anything, but if you use battery cameras and wifi you would certainly need to recharge them periodically. My current ones last about 3 weeks or so and then I have to grab a step ladder to take them down and charge the batteries. If I was keeping this setup long term for certain i would get extra batteries and a charger.
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Why didn't you install them near a window so you don't need a ladder?
 
Ashcor said:
Then there's the issue of the affordable cloud based systems like ring and nest. I would NEVER put those systems in your house showing any part of your home interior. You don't control the data, video or sound, it belongs to Ring/Nest/Et el..... They're employees look at it, they freely give it over to law enforcement/govt agencies and sell the meta data. If you feel the need for interior cameras then you should have your own NVR system in your house that is secured from internet access.
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This 1000%, and it’s why my cameras are still mostly in the box. Another option is hardwired IP cams fed to a dedicated computer running a software like blue iris to record. But see previous comment about stuff still in the box.


Ashcor said:
And then there's the fun little tidbit that in NJ, video is not evidence in a court of law. You could have video of a guy breaking into your house, looking right into the camera with a big T-shirt on that says "Hi, my name is Steve Burglar!" while holding his drivers license up to the camera just before he steals all your stuff. Not permissible in court.

In order for the vid to be permissible as evidence you had to be recording it yourself as you witnessed, with your own eyes, the crime in progress...
Click to expand...
No time to google it now but is there any citation for this? @Carson?
 
rlb said:
This 1000%, and it’s why my cameras are still mostly in the box. Another option is hardwired IP cams fed to a dedicated computer running a software like blue iris to record. But see previous comment about stuff still in the box.



No time to google it now but is there any citation for this? @Carson?
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This is what I've been told by law enforcement. Specifically our lake club was having some vandalism issues and called myself and another member (sheriff's officer) to discuss cameras. I gave them an estimate of what it would cost just in materials and questioned their expectations for what these cameras would do for them. At that point the Sheriff's office chimed in and informed them that any video they get would likely be inadmissible in court as it's not considered evidence by itself in NJ.
 
Ashcor said:
This is what I've been told by law enforcement. Specifically our lake club was having some vandalism issues and called myself and another member (sheriff's officer) to discuss cameras. I gave them an estimate of what it would cost just in materials and questioned their expectations for what these cameras would do for them. At that point the Sheriff's office chimed in and informed them that any video they get would likely be inadmissible in court as it's not considered evidence by itself in NJ.
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@rlb

So this is generally false. Video surveillance is generally admissible in court. I've testified in cases where video surveillance was part of the record. There are exceptions, like hidden cameras, audio recordings of two parties, recording where there is an expecation of privacy. But generally, you can record anywhere you can see with your field of vision, even if that includes someone else's private property. You cannot harass, intimidate, or blackmail, obviously.

The VALUE of a video recording can be debated, but it is considered to have evidentiary value on its face.

This Sheriff's officer needs to open a book.
 
A friend of mine has a camera system and when you get near the house there is an audible warning that you are being recorded. Maybe that is related to being admissible as evidence? Or those signs you'll see about "Video Recording in Use" or something?
 
Carson said:
@rlb

So this is generally false. Video surveillance is generally admissible in court. I've testified in cases where video surveillance was part of the record. There are exceptions, like hidden cameras, audio recordings of two parties, recording where there is an expecation of privacy. But generally, you can record anywhere you can see with your field of vision, even if that includes someone else's private property. You cannot harass, intimidate, or blackmail, obviously.

The VALUE of a video recording can be debated, but it is considered to have evidentiary value on its face.

This Sheriff's officer needs to open a book.
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My understanding, and I can only go by what I've been told, is that if YOU recorded it yourself and can testify that you saw the "event" with your own eyes and the recording is evidence of your testimony then it's admissible.

If it was an unmanned surveillance system and you're pulling a recording of an event that nobody actually witnessed IRL, it's not admissible.

Again, just what I've been told, if that's not true then cool!
 
Ian F said:
A friend of mine has a camera system and when you get near the house there is an audible warning that you are being recorded. Maybe that is related to being admissible as evidence? Or those signs you'll see about "Video Recording in Use" or something?
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No that's just a deterrent. Not a requirement.
 
Ashcor said:
My understanding, and I can only go by what I've been told, is that if YOU recorded it yourself and can testify that you saw the "event" with your own eyes and the recording is evidence of your testimony then it's admissible.

If it was an unmanned surveillance system and you're pulling a recording of an event that nobody actually witnessed IRL, it's not admissible.

Again, just what I've been told, if that's not true then cool!
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No, you can't testify that you saw the video IRL if it was unmanned. You can however testify that you installed said camera and set it to record.

Yes the video can be admitted into evidence. Or used to help identify a suspect. Or shown to a suspect during interrogation.
 
Glenn Rides After 4 PM CST said:
The past month has brought on some late night door bell ringing and someone trying to enter my front door..
Any new recommendations?
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Just stay away from Simplisafe. I had the system installed and rip it out for full return. Had nothing but problems with sensors going offline in the middle of night or sensor showing in closed state when windows/doors were open.

Waiting for Ring setup to arrive. Foe now I have Blink floodlight camera and door bell installed.
 
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