Security Cameras 2026

jeepinmatt

jeepinmatt

Old, fat, and grumpy.
Moderator
Joined
Mar 24, 2005
Location
Stanley, NC
We’ve had Arlo’s for about 8 years, and they keep getting progressively worse, so it’s time to move into the 2020’s. Looking through other threads, Reolink and Lorex seem to have lots of recommendations, but some of those threads are from 2024. Not gonna pay a subscription, but a local drive with app access is good. At least 2 of the cameras need to be wireless due to distance from the house, which is why I’ve stuck with the Arlo’s for so long (wireless, battery powered, and they work 300ft from the base station). What’s the hot ticket these days?
 
jeepinmatt said:
We’ve had Arlo’s for about 8 years, and they keep getting progressively worse, so it’s time to move into the 2020’s. Looking through other threads, Reolink and Lorex seem to have lots of recommendations, but some of those threads are from 2024. Not gonna pay a subscription, but a local drive with app access is good. At least 2 of the cameras need to be wireless due to distance from the house, which is why I’ve stuck with the Arlo’s for so long (wireless, battery powered, and they work 300ft from the base station). What’s the hot ticket these days?
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Gonna pay attention to this. I have a Lorex setup. 4 cameras to a dvr hooked into my mesh. They are good but pretty darn old. The resolution is surprisingly good for the age of the system. Also, it was free. Neighbor ordered it and they sent two. Didn’t want the other system back so I got it. Now that they have been up for a while when I upgrade I either need to adjust a couple for FOV or find something with a better built in FOV. DVR has space for 8. 4 WiFi 4 wired. I don’t want to go through the asspain of wired. App has been pretty good (given the age of the system).
 
Still using and very happy with my Reolink. All of mine are Poe and have an sd card in the then also a backup Reolink nvr for storage as well. I have 5? I think cameras outside. I really like their dual lens cameras that have 180* fov

can you put a solar charger on where the cameras will be? That would be the ideal setup if they get some sun. Or if you are really only 300 feet you should be able to do Poe

Pm if if you want more details.
 
Instead of having analysis paralysis, I decided to have execution dilution! :D
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jeepinmatt said:
I ended up with 1 opened and connected Argus PT and about a half dozen unopened boxes so far. Between baseball and scouts and everything else, we haven't even sat down at the table in 3 days!
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Reolink. Got it. My Arlo's are still going strong. Just curious on what's out there now.
 
ghost said:
Reolink. Got it. My Arlo's are still going strong. Just curious on what's out there now.
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Ah, yes, I ended up ordering the Reolink cameras, but haven't really tried them yet. For me there were 2 big selling points, that unfortunately don't go together.
1. Their Atlas series has constant recording so you can get video of something like 10-20 seconds in advance of an event trigger.
2. Their Argus series has infrared lighting on SOME of the cameras. All of the modern cameras have some form of "night vision", but most of them rely heavily on their being sufficient ambient light. The cameras on our driveway are in the woods in the dark with no ambient light from the house, so light gathering was not going to work, and we didn't want the spotlights on the camera to turn on when a car or animal went by. So infrared was the best option. Unfortunately, for the battery and wifi camera options, the Atlas doesn't have infrared, and the Argus doesn't have continuous recording for pre-event video.

Other makers have some or both of those features, but none well integrated in a battery & wifi camera that also has a good interface and is recommended by actual people I know (friends or NC4x4).
 
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