IP camaras

[MH Hawker]

A question for you guys, I have started hearing a lot of unusual noises here at my apartment at night. Haven't had any thing walk off yet but i would like to keep a eye on things and i have been looking at several of the inferred outdoor style IP cameras, i even ordered one from apexis and it was a piece of total crap, so it was sent back and now i am looking for one any suggestions, some thing in the 150 to 200 range with tilt and pan and zoom would be nice but not necessary.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: IP camaras

Well...... I have seen interior cameras that are wireless and stream to your smartphone and even send a notification when activated.

I saw a burglary case that was solved as a result of a video this past year and the burglar even stole the camera..... he looked right at it as he was tearing off the corner of the ceiling and the video had already been streamed out. The camera system was about $180 but it proved it's worth.

Now on the other hand it could be Paranormal Activity !!!!! Paranormal Home Inspectors

 

[MH Hawker]

Re: IP camaras

I ordered a foscam and enclosure today.

 

[Splat]

Re: IP camaras

I'm curious which one you went with?

I have several wireless ones in my home. They work pretty well. One thing I did do though was set up a entirely different wireless network just for the cameras. That way they don't eat up my bandwidth for normal day to day activities. They only bottle neck my high speed internet (minimal) when they are being viewed remotely.

 

[thumpar]

Re: IP camaras

Costco sells some nice kits. They have 4 cameras and an 8 channel dvr so you can upgrade later if needed.

 

[Augoose]

Re: IP camaras

Just throwing this out there as well - I use several wired cameras which run to a DVR card in the back of my old PC tower. The PC tower then hosts a "wireless" network, thereby allowing me to see my wired cameras through other networked computers or my Phone - at home or away- as if they were IP cams. My particular DVR software allows for a browser webcam viewer, so I just type in the IP address of my host PC and viola - view my cameras. When outside my home network I use a simple and free VPN. The cost of the cams were about $45 to $65 each.

Just a suggestion for those who can't afford IP cam's even though the price has come way down or for those who don't mind running a few wires to their cameras.

 

[nwcove]

Re: IP camaras

have to agree with Bob, call ghost busters !

 

[bruceb58]

Re: IP camaras

I have a Foscam that points out the front window of a cabin we have up in the mountains. They are nice easy to use cameras for how little they cost.

Here is a snapshot from it.

 

[MH Hawker]

Re: IP camaras

I got it in and set up and so far its fine and it hasn't had the reboot issue I have had in the past with others.

 

[tallcanadian]

Re: IP camaras

As an alarm/cctv technician, I personally don't like ip cameras, yet. The internet is still too unstable. As far as your situation, maybe try one of those tree cams, it records video or pictures on motion. Or go with analog cameras and a dvr. Either way,it will cost a few bucks. Good luck .

 

[bruceb58]

Re: IP camaras

The internet is still too unstable.

Care to explain that?

I have a couple IP cams and they work perfectly on the internet. One is a $70 camera and one is a $1200 camera.

 

[thumpar]

Re: IP camaras

Maybe the problem is related to location. I get 50mb down and 15mb up and that is the slow internet here.

 

[tallcanadian]

Re: IP camaras

Care to explain that?

I have a couple IP cams and they work perfectly on the internet. One is a $70 camera and one is a $1200 camera.

As do I. But I would not recommend IP cameras for Commercial use, at least around here. It's the same as alarm systems monitored by an internet device. I am constantly updating my IP address, as it is always changing. Phone lines around here are too unstable. It's okay for a back up but I would not rely on it for a primary line. We use, for alarm systems if the customer doesnt' have a land line, a cell dialer. Much more reliable than IP. As far as cameras go, if the internet goes down, then you have nothing. If you have analog, then it doesn't matter how often the internet fails.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: IP camaras

I am constantly updating my IP address, as it is always changing.

That's why you get a static IP address.

 

[tallcanadian]

Re: IP camaras

That's why you get a static IP address.

That would be great if I wanted to pay approx. 100 bucks a month for a static ip address. I won't pay that nor will most of my customers. I do have customers that have no issue paying for that, but the overall average household and small business won't. Which leaves me no choice but to stay with analog.

 

[thumpar]

Re: IP camaras

That would be great if I wanted to pay approx. 100 bucks a month for a static ip address. I won't pay that nor will most of my customers. I do have customers that have no issue paying for that, but the overall average household and small business won't. Which leaves me no choice but to stay with analog.

Wow that is crazy. We can get a block of 5 usable for $25 here. I run a few exchange servers on static IPs.

 

[tallcanadian]

Re: IP camaras

Wow that is crazy. We can get a block of 5 usable for $25 here. I run a few exchange servers on static IPs.

It is crazy, actually insulting. We don't have any competition here as far as phone lines go. It's expensive and not very viable. An also it's hard to get a companies IT department to open ports or let us do it. It's next to impossible, especially in Government offices. They require it to be installed in quotes but won't give or let anyone open ports to use it....

 

[bruceb58]

Re: IP camaras

That would be great if I wanted to pay approx. 100 bucks a month for a static ip address. I won't pay that nor will most of my customers. I do have customers that have no issue paying for that, but the overall average household and small business won't. Which leaves me no choice but to stay with analog.

For a household customer here, the IP address rarely changes. The IP address of each of 3 houses I have hasn't changed in over 5 years.

We are talking household here...not commercial.

 

[thumpar]

Re: IP camaras

I IP stays the same unless I change out equipment which is often for testing purposes. Tallcanadian, sounds like Australia. High prices and not that great of service or speed. We can get 105mb (that is not an up to speed but at least) for $90 a month.

 

[Idlespeedonly]

Re: IP camaras

[URL=http://s251.photobucket.com/user/randy0048/media/IPCamera_zps96ff8da1.jpg.html] [/URL]
This is from a few minutes ago. This is a tenvis cam. Around 50 dollars on ebay. It works pretty well. If you dont want to do the static ip, you can go with a DDNS service. They will allow you to use one. Any cam that you can view over the internet will need a static ip or the DDNS service( I believe). We are well pleased with it. And planning on adding a couple more.