Posted: 6/25/2026 8:01:20 AM EDT
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Is this the right place to ask advice about home security camera system? It seems like we used to have a home security section and I can’t se to find. It. |
Night ain’t scary when you don’t fear death. And you can’t suffocate when you don’t need breath. I’m chilling so hard the fire can’t fade me. Cause I’m all good with the one who made me.
| That forum is slow. GD is best and more entertaining. For cameras, Reolink is good budget 4K POE. Axis is tier one in camera game. Have 6 camera Reolink POE for years no issues. |
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Bacon grease, the Muslim approved .mil lubricant.
Bacon grease, the Muslim approved .mil lubricant.
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Another vote for Reolink. I have a mix of POE, WiFi, and one solar Reolink cameras. Really like them. I like the lack of monthly costs (although you can pay for cloud storage if you wish) and you don’t need a DVR unless you want one. They can store to the SD card in the camera. Most of my cameras store 2-3 weeks of videos and that’s plenty for a residential house. Some of my cameras that don’t record much can store for 4-6 weeks. I bought most of my cameras on eBay direct from Reolink. They have great deals on their cameras there. Just watch them for a bit. They go on sale regularly. https://www.ebay.com/itm/389327103682 https://www.ebay.com/itm/389326936890 https://www.ebay.com/itm/389662612408 https://www.ebay.com/itm/389336701564 I also have this one inside my garage https://www.ebay.com/itm/389329513666 Some people are concerned with video stored on the SD card on the camera. The idea is that if a suspect steals the camera, the video is gone. While that seems to be a valid possibility, in many years of LE experience, I’ve never seen cameras stolen. I’ve seen them spray painted and knocked down but never stolen. I HAVE seen DVRs stolen. It’s not common but I have seen it. If you think a burglary of your house is likely, put an old non working DVR in the house in an obvious place. Put a label on it like “House camera DVR”. Connect some cables to it and hide the fact that they run nowhere. Then, if the house gets burglarized, hopefully the suspect will steal the DVR thinking he’s taking all the evidence. Meanwhile your cameras are recording full time. Reolink does make a DVR and a hub that can store a lot more data. Personally, I just use the SD cards in the camera for data storage. But on that note, if you go with Reolink cameras you will need to buy SD cards since the cameras don’t come with them. |
"It behooves every man to remember that the work of the critic is of altogether secondary importance, and that, in the end, progress is accomplished by the man who does things."
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
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https://www.ar15.com/forums/Armory/Safes-andamp-Home-Security/46/ Used to have some active threads. May not these days |
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The home security forum is slow as mentioned. I'll add my setup here. Reolink 8 camera NVR. Two cams PTZ. I have my zones really dialed in to small areas where foot traffic cannot avoid. Only get an occasional moth now. And get a Webster cobweb duster on extension handle. Cleans your cams in minutes (spider webs, dust, etc.). This system works great on the app. I have this in a hall closet with a monitor setup. I do prefer the app except for setting zones. I'll stress again, set small zones where foot traffic is unavoidable. You will get way too many false alarms from shadows, cars, trees, bushes, bugs, etc. I recently updated my RING setup to augment the Reolink. Had the RING doorbell for about 5 years. Love it. Just installed two indoor cams for when we're gone, and a rear flood light cam. Both 1/2 off at Amazon now ($25 for indoor, $90 for floodlight). Install is stupid easy. I pay $100/year for cloud. Aga.in, the app is great Really happy with both systems Can make changes and see alerts anywhere we have cell service. The wife also finds them easy to use. |
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| I have a Ubiquiti NVR with cameras. It is a great setup but if you aren't already invested in Ubiquiti/UNIFI networking it may not work as well for you. If you want to go down the prosumer networking rabbit hole at the same time then give them a look. |
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Originally Posted By outdoorgb: The home security forum is slow as mentioned. I'll add my setup here. Reolink 8 camera NVR. Two cams PTZ. I have my zones really dialed in to small areas where foot traffic cannot avoid. Only get an occasional moth now. And get a Webster cobweb duster on extension handle. Cleans your cams in minutes (spider webs, dust, etc.). This system works great on the app. I have this in a hall closet with a monitor setup. I do prefer the app except for setting zones. I'll stress again, set small zones where foot traffic is unavoidable. You will get way too many false alarms from shadows, cars, trees, bushes, bugs, etc. I recently updated my RING setup to augment the Reolink. Had the RING doorbell for about 5 years. Love it. Just installed two indoor cams for when we're gone, and a rear flood light cam. Both 1/2 off at Amazon now ($25 for indoor, $90 for floodlight). Install is stupid easy. I pay $100/year for cloud. Aga.in, the app is great Really happy with both systems Can make changes and see alerts anywhere we have cell service. The wife also finds them easy to use. I’m wanting to add a doorbell camera or two eventually. They have to be battery powered. Any particular reason you went with Ring over Reolink doorbell cameras? I know Ring is easy to work with but so is Reolink. Ring has their neighborhood networks (some thing it’s great and some don’t!) and Reolink doesn’t. |
"It behooves every man to remember that the work of the critic is of altogether secondary importance, and that, in the end, progress is accomplished by the man who does things."
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
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@ColtRifle My path to security around the house, and this will most likely show I'm still a noob. Bought house in 1998. Had a wired old-school alarm system. It worked but older. I replaced all doors and windows and reusing that stuff was a pain. Eventually removed the whole system.\ Fast forward to about 15 years ago, I bought a Lorex system from Costco on a whim. It worked for a while but it was crap. From the ARFCOM security forum, I went with recommendations for the Reolink. Have had this for 8-11 years and have only upgraded some cams to PTZ. We put a Ring doorbell in three years ago - Didn't know Reolink had a similar set up. And, just added the indoor and rear floodlight cams. Again, both are functioning well on the apps and the Mrs. is happy. |
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Originally Posted By outdoorgb: @ColtRifle My path to security around the house, and this will most likely show I'm still a noob. Bought house in 1998. Had a wired old-school alarm system. It worked but older. I replaced all doors and windows and reusing that stuff was a pain. Eventually removed the whole system. Fast forward to about 15 years ago, I bought a Lorex system from Costco on a whim. It worked for a while but it was crap. From the ARFCOM security forum, I went with recommendations for the Reolink. Have had this for 8-11 years and have only upgraded some cams to PTZ. We put a Ring doorbell in three years ago - Didn't know Reolink had a similar set up. And, just added the indoor and rear floodlight cams. Again, both are functioning well on the apps and the Mrs. is happy. Gotcha. Makes sense. I really like my Reolink cameras but haven’t used the Reolink doorbell cameras so don’t know if they work great or not. If they are like everything else Reolink makes, surely they are good. |
"It behooves every man to remember that the work of the critic is of altogether secondary importance, and that, in the end, progress is accomplished by the man who does things."
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
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Wyse is the quickest and easiest to set up. You can buy 1 or 100 cams. Just buy a two pack and see if they work out for you. You don't need to pay for the app if you don't need all the features and cloud storage. I am up to 10 of them now. They supplement 8 hardwired C-MOS cams that are connected to a 24/7 recorder unit. |
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Originally Posted By wildearp: Wyse is the quickest and easiest to set up. You can buy 1 or 100 cams. Just buy a two pack and see if they work out for you. You don't need to pay for the app if you don't need all the features and cloud storage. I am up to 10 of them now. They supplement 8 hardwired C-MOS cams that are connected to a 24/7 recorder unit. What are you using for the recordings? Blue iris or something else? |
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@TREETOP @ColtRifle From my post above, I recently updated my RING setup to augment the Reolink. Had the RING doorbell for about 5 years. Love it. Just installed two indoor cams for when we're gone, and a rear flood light cam. Both 1/2 off at Amazon now ($25 for indoor, $90 for floodlight). Install is stupid easy. I pay $100/year for cloud. Again, the app is great. Update 8/6/2026: Now I just purchased the RING 14 Piece System. $330 now but was on sale at $200. Base station, two keypads, two motion sensors, 8 sensors, one range extender. Perfect for my 3/2 one level home. Would be great for a two story home also. Less ground floor windows in general. Super easy, plug and play from the RING app. I put the extender in a far away room and now have a sensor on my workshop door. The app and keypads are super easy to use for arm, disarm. For about $400 total, I have a pretty decent system, wife is pleased as it's easy to use. |
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Originally Posted By outdoorgb: @TREETOP @ColtRifle From my post above, I recently updated my RING setup to augment the Reolink. Had the RING doorbell for about 5 years. Love it. Just installed two indoor cams for when we're gone, and a rear flood light cam. Both 1/2 off at Amazon now ($25 for indoor, $90 for floodlight). Install is stupid easy. I pay $100/year for cloud. Again, the app is great. Update 8/6/2026: Now I just purchased the RING 14 Piece System. $330 now but was on sale at $200. Base station, two keypads, two motion sensors, 8 sensors, one range extender. Perfect for my 3/2 one level home. Would be great for a two story home also. Less ground floor windows in general. Super easy, plug and play from the RING app. I put the extender in a far away room and now have a sensor on my workshop door. The app and keypads are super easy to use for arm, disarm. For about $400 total, I have a pretty decent system, wife is pleased as it's easy to use. 
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"It behooves every man to remember that the work of the critic is of altogether secondary importance, and that, in the end, progress is accomplished by the man who does things."
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
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Originally Posted By Saker13: I have a Ubiquiti NVR with cameras. It is a great setup but if you aren't already invested in Ubiquiti/UNIFI networking it may not work as well for you. If you want to go down the prosumer networking rabbit hole at the same time then give them a look. This. Plug and play. |
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It always amuses me how people that are concerned about security go and recommend CCTV that probably isn’t closed circuit because it’s Chinese made. If you’re interested in cameras, first identify what you want them to do for you. If they’re going to act as a kind of alarm system, know that you’re going to get a fair amount of false alarms until you work it out, and then there’s the risk that you get false negatives. If you’re looking to use it to ID someone after a crime, don’t have high expectations. Even if you get decent resolution, it isn’t going to show the persons name, address, and social security number. Someone still has to recognize them. Though the prevalence of cameras has improved the likelihood of being able to track them to find something useable. But now you’re getting into flock territory and I thought that was rather unpopular here (as it should be). Anyway, technology has made camera systems more affordable, more friendly with analytics, but you still need to have reasonable expectations. And don’t get PTZ unless you have a very specific reason. Even then it should be an additional camera, not replacing a static one. |
| We are satisfied with the Euphy system, but would like to get a few cameras for monitoring remote areas without Wi-Fi, but good cell service. Will be in the weather. Any suggestions? Looking at Tactacam so far. |
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
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Originally Posted By BuddyChryst: It always amuses me how people that are concerned about security go and recommend CCTV that probably isn’t closed circuit because it’s Chinese made. If you’re interested in cameras, first identify what you want them to do for you. If they’re going to act as a kind of alarm system, know that you’re going to get a fair amount of false alarms until you work it out, and then there’s the risk that you get false negatives. If you’re looking to use it to ID someone after a crime, don’t have high expectations. Even if you get decent resolution, it isn’t going to show the persons name, address, and social security number. Someone still has to recognize them. Though the prevalence of cameras has improved the likelihood of being able to track them to find something useable. But now you’re getting into flock territory and I thought that was rather unpopular here (as it should be). Anyway, technology has made camera systems more affordable, more friendly with analytics, but you still need to have reasonable expectations. And don’t get PTZ unless you have a very specific reason. Even then it should be an additional camera, not replacing a static one.  It would take less words if you would have said “I don’t know much about camera systems today and what is available to buy.” Then, read and learn. |
"It behooves every man to remember that the work of the critic is of altogether secondary importance, and that, in the end, progress is accomplished by the man who does things."
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
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Originally Posted By ColtRifle: It would take less words if you would have said “I don’t know much about camera systems today and what is available to buy.” Then, read and learn. Originally Posted By ColtRifle: Originally Posted By BuddyChryst: It always amuses me how people that are concerned about security go and recommend CCTV that probably isn’t closed circuit because it’s Chinese made. If you’re interested in cameras, first identify what you want them to do for you. If they’re going to act as a kind of alarm system, know that you’re going to get a fair amount of false alarms until you work it out, and then there’s the risk that you get false negatives. If you’re looking to use it to ID someone after a crime, don’t have high expectations. Even if you get decent resolution, it isn’t going to show the persons name, address, and social security number. Someone still has to recognize them. Though the prevalence of cameras has improved the likelihood of being able to track them to find something useable. But now you’re getting into flock territory and I thought that was rather unpopular here (as it should be). Anyway, technology has made camera systems more affordable, more friendly with analytics, but you still need to have reasonable expectations. And don’t get PTZ unless you have a very specific reason. Even then it should be an additional camera, not replacing a static one. It would take less words if you would have said “I don’t know much about camera systems today and what is available to buy.” Then, read and learn. ROFL. You so funny. |
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I appreciate your guys’ replies. In my last residence I had 7 Ring cameras, I liked their ease of setup but didn’t like that they required an annual membership and occasional charging, and that they were limited to 30 second clips based solely on motion. I got a cheap Amazon one that uses a micro SD card to hold me over (just for the entrance) until I decide on a full wired system, and I’ve been pretty impressed with it so far.   Failed To Load Product Data |
Night ain’t scary when you don’t fear death. And you can’t suffocate when you don’t need breath. I’m chilling so hard the fire can’t fade me. Cause I’m all good with the one who made me.
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Originally Posted By TREETOP: I appreciate your guys' replies. In my last residence I had 7 Ring cameras, I liked their ease of setup but didn't like that they required an annual membership and occasional charging, and that they were limited to 30 second clips based solely on motion. I got a cheap Amazon one that uses a micro SD card to hold me over (just for the entrance) until I decide on a full wired system, and I've been pretty impressed with it so far. www.amazon.com/dp/B0H3NRD158 |
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Originally Posted By Saker13: The cost of SD cards hurts the value here. I'm seeing ~$100 for name brand 512MB micro sd cards on Amazon. The price for memory has skyrocketed. The 256MB I bought last year for under $20 each are now over $60 each.. |
"It behooves every man to remember that the work of the critic is of altogether secondary importance, and that, in the end, progress is accomplished by the man who does things."
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
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Originally Posted By ColtRifle: The price for memory has skyrocketed. The 256MB I bought last year for under $20 each are now over $60 each.. |
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Originally Posted By Saker13: Look at 8TB to 20TB hard drives. I'm praying my NAS and NVR don't have drive issues anytime soon... I don’t need that much storage….thankfully!! |
"It behooves every man to remember that the work of the critic is of altogether secondary importance, and that, in the end, progress is accomplished by the man who does things."
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
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I've got a Reolink system 12 mp cameras, POE, 9 cameras, spotlights, DVR, WIFI, Lot's of features I can see my cameras from anywhere on my phone live At home my cameras are viewed on two 42" LED TV's I also have a second system, Savance 4 cameras 360* coverage of my property Reolink is one of the easiest systems to set up |
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Originally Posted By ColtRifle: I don't need that much storage .thankfully!! |
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