Best outdoor security camera?

jeepinmatt said:
They will be either under a porch or in an enclosure. At $20, it almost doesn't matter if they last.

I've seriously been considering the Arlo because its weatherproof and battery powered. Went to Bestbuy this afternoon to buy the 4 pack that was on sale for $300, but the sale ended last night, go figure... I would really like to get the Arlo Pro 2 for the 1080p video instead of 720p of the first gen Arlo. @Fabrik8 how's the video quality at ~40-50ft? Any chance of reading a tag or reasonably identifying a person?
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I'll post a screen shot tomorrow if I remember. I have the Arlo Pros and not Pro 2, so 720p. I bought a 4 camera system and the cost difference was pretty massive between the two types.
 
RatLabGuy said:
This means that feed HAS to be going through some other third party's server.
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Not necessarily. With the Synology, the app is connecting directly to the server at the house, no MITM.
 
Fabrik8 said:
I'll post a screen shot tomorrow if I remember. I have the Arlo Pros and not Pro 2, so 720p. I bought a 4 camera system and the cost difference was pretty massive between the two types.
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That would be appreciated.
 
Lankford said:
At those prices (4 for 300) I’d look into something better. I bought some Sibell series cameras from security camera king.com. Cameras were about 80 bucks each. Cost comes in with NVR and storage. Cameras are power over enthernet so they’re all wired but they work really well. Can be monitored over an app too, just have to have WiFi at the house.
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What is the advantage? Price sounds like its about the same, but they have to have a power cable.

RatLabGuy said:
Am I the only one that has trust issues with the notion of cloud storage for home security cameras?
Or really if you think about it, any case where you can get a video feed to your phone while away from home.
This means that feed HAS to be going through some other third party's server. Who knows what they are retaining or even selling it to. I'd be particularly paranoid about any case where you are not paying a notable fee for that service.

I'm not generally a tin foil hat kind of guy, but I've learned enough about the sale/trading of information to know this is dangerous. You especially won't find me tying it all together with a Nest, Echo, etc.
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Regardless of whatever fancy stuff Shawn said, I agree. If they were facing my house or inside of my house, no way. But these will be on the driveway and a construction project to make sure materials don't walk away.
 
Bringing this back up... our trashy neighbors have opened their arms to several other trashy transients and my shit needs to stay mine.

Since we have such a large area to cover out front, thinking 4k will be needed to capture a face/plate zoomed with enough clarity to satisfy LEOs?
 
Caver Dave said:
Bringing this back up... our trashy neighbors have opened their arms to several other trashy transients and my shit needs to stay mine.

Since we have such a large area to cover out front, thinking 4k will be needed to capture a face/plate zoomed with enough clarity to satisfy LEOs?
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After a few weeks with the regular 720p Arlo's, I really like them. But the video quality is not good enough to read a tag or recognize a face on a moving object. And I'm not convinced that 1080p or 4k would be any better. It's a distance and image stabilization issue. A zoom lens would help, but then you would get the wide area. Mine are wireless, and I don't know if that is part of the problem also. I would think they would store the video locally and then send the file wirelessly, but if they are streaming wirelessly, that might explain the pixellation, etc.
 
jeepinmatt said:
And I'm not convinced that 1080p or 4k would be any better. It's a distance and image stabilization issue.
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My current camera's are similar to yours (720p... wireless...) and comparing them to similar 1080p, there's a noticeable difference in clarity when zooming in to capture "details". Given the distances out the front door, I think 4k is gonna be needed?
 
I've got Arlo pro's. Totally wireless, 30 minute install. Battery really does last 3+ months , The mounts are slick and really easy. The range of the cameras is unreal. I've got two more than 100+ yards away from the base. Instant message when they see motion, sensitivity is adjustable. Free support for up to 6 cameras. We've got 10 and pay just a small amount for cloud storage on the additional ones. Like the feature that voice is two way, I can ask someone anywhere near one WTF they are doing even if I'm 5 states away. I've had them for a year or so and would buy more in a minute, they've done everything they claim to do . I liked the fact, much like my simply safe alarm system, it is geared for non-techy people.
 
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The 2 way audio is the one thing that I wish Blink cameras had that Arlo has. the picture quality I think is a little better with Blink though.
And the price is a lot better. And overall, I'm cheap. But yea, tag numbers aren't really readable with any type of consistency.
Previously I had a pan/tilt camera that had the same issue with plates. If you were inside of 30' they were crystal clear, but most of my driveway is further than that. so it was hit or miss if you could read a plate. and usually took lots of pause and look to get all the numbers.
 
BIGWOODY said:
The range of the cameras is unreal. I've got two more than 100+ yards away from the base.
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I have a location further down the drive/yard, say 150' away from the house (clear line of sight), that gives me a much better vantage than mounted on/at the house... Unless you meant feet & not "yards", please tell me more!
 
Caver Dave said:
I have a location further down the drive/yard, say 150' away from the house (clear line of sight), that gives me a much better vantage than mounted on/at the house... Unless you meant feet & not "yards", please tell me more!
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I have two that are about 100yards from the base station also. No issues with connection.
 
Just had the freshly powder coated wheels for my dodge stolen from the bed of a truck parked 3ft from my side door in the middle of the day. So looks like I'm in the market too.
 
I went with the Arlo Pro 2 (1080p) twin pack. Range appears to border what @jeepinmatt & @BIGWOODY stated.
Still working on best placement... field of view, accessible power (I want the "Advanced features" like 3 second prior to motion & masking) before the 2nd pair are ordered
 
Ok bringing up an old thread. I sent up some Arlo pro 4's at the office. So far I like what I see. Only been up a week. However there seems to be a small problem. 18 wheelers are setting them off. I killed the mic and set motion zones and even lowered motion sensitivity but traffic on 151 is still setting them off. Any thoughts or suggestions?
 
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