I’m trying to find a security camera for an apartment. I don’t need anything fancy; even just a camera that I could point at the door and would sense/record motion would be fine.

Eufy and Wyze looked promising at first, but I really don’t trust them after reading about the vulnerabilities they’ve had. I’m not so sure about wireless options in general, as they seem pretty vulnerable to jamming or deauth attacks.

So I’m leaning towards a wired DVR or PVR. Any suggestions? I’d be fine with something that doesn’t even send alerts to your phone, as long as it had some kind of indicator I could check when I return home.

I tried a Night Owl PVR but spent over an hour with their tech support just trying to get my account created because it said my phone number was already associated with another account (which turned out to not even be true), followed by trying to get the PVR’s initial setup to not crash. Which we weren’t successful in, so I wound up just having to return it.

I’m working on a new construction residential project for myself. We are framing now, so I need to start making some decisions.

I’m going to meet with a few local installers, but I’d like to get an idea of what I want…

This is about 8000 sqft main house, with a 1000 sqft guest house. Does the size mean I just need to wire everything to make my life easier?

My wife wants to be able to pull up cameras on a monitor/tv, as opposed to only being able to use a smart phone. I’m not even sure where to start here without going super old school. I’d prefer expandable newer tech without having to do those clunky onsite DVRs.

Any suggestions?

Hi everyone,

I need some advice on some indoor cameras. They likely won’t actually be part of any home security system, but I thought this subreddit would have a lot of applicable knowledge.

I going to need 4 indoor cameras: one for each child’s room (2), one for the playroom, and one for the backyard. They don’t necessarily need to all be the same, but it would probably be easiest to be from the same company to make sure features are the same.

The capabilities I need are:

1. Background audio support. One kid’s room is upstairs so having audio without requiring an app open/phone unlocked is key.
2. Speaker and microphone. Need to be able to talk back and forth to the kids.
3. Simultaneous video streaming from all 4 cameras to a tablet, phone, smart screen, etc.
4. Night vision.

A few nice to have’s:

1. PoE, would make the camera for the back yard easier to set-up
2. Weather sealing, mostly for the backyard
3. Tilt/pan/zoom. Again, for the backyard

Any advice would be extremely appreciated, thanks!!

I was tricked into switching to Brinks and cannot get out of the contract.

I had security service through ADT. Three years ago, a Brinks representative came to my door and informed me that ADT had been purchased by Brinks and that he had to switch my account/equipment over. (This was really gullible of me, I know, and I should have questioned the whole procedure.) I let this guy into my house to switch over the equipment and signed the contract on his tablet.

I recently found out that ADT has NOT been purchased by Brinks and that I was tricked into switching my service. Today, I called Brinks to cancel my service. The representative informed me that when they switched me, I had signed a five year contract and would have to pay over $1,000 to get out of the contract. I explained that I had been lied to and tricked into switching service. She then actually told me that it was true that Brinks had purchased ADT! She lied directly to me.

I called ADT and explained the situation and verified that Brinks had not purchased ADT and that Brinks had lied in order to get my service. I called Brinks again, even more upset since their phone representative had ALSO lied to me. I was again told that they were so sorry that this happened to me, but that there is nothing I could do except pay the remaining two years’ balance of the contract. I can’t even find my contract details in my email or on their customer site.

My husband potentially has the ability to buy a new system at cost from his employer, since they are authorized sellers of 3XL products. However, I am not sure what we would be looking at in terms of price as I can’t find accurate info on base pricing, not including markup. Browsed Ebay and the newer models are $199+ for a brand new basic dome cam, and various types of DVRS ranging in price.

Can you provide insight on your system? Which brand do you like more for wired?

I can say I am leaning towards 3XL or AXIS; the former more than the latter. Not interested in Hikvision at all.

Thank you!

I’m looking for a self-monitored wireless system because wiring world be to painful. Looking for wireless sensors on about 3-4 doors and 1 motion sensor and perhaps a smoke sensor. I thought I had a system configured out in my mind, Vista20P, with 6160RF keypad and the Envislink4 for remote access via Internet.

Then I heard from one of the alarm companies/stores that Honeywell is not the way to go but go with a DSC system.. Any thoughts. My key features are wireless sensors with remote access.

Thoughts?
Thanks
Jim

I’d just bought the Dual Camera Video Doorbell when the news broke in late 2022 about Eufy uploading data without users’ knowledge. This would be bad enough on a US-based server, but the idea that the video/audio might be uploaded to some Chinese server is even worse.

I’m thinking of returning the Eufy and buying an Amcrest AD410 instead. Has anyone used both doorbells and able to compare them? Any issues using the AD410 in Canada?

I have Wyze v3 cams but neither a home security system nor video doorbell, and would like to get these next (ideally not requiring another separate app, but not a deal breaker).