At-Home Security Systems

[Dandy]

Our family recently purchased and moved into an acreage just outside of town. We are strongly considering installing security cameras.

Right now we have Starlink satellite Internet. Fiber should be installed in the next six months or so.

What brands/systems are you using? Likes or dislikes? Pros and cons? What would you have done differently, if anything? Easy to self install?

Looking for recommendations! Thanks in advance, everyone!

 

[nrg4isu]

I feel like the first question is what are you trying to capture? How many cameras? Beyond cameras are there any other features you're looking for (window/door sensors, etc). Obviously price comes into play as well.

 

[ackatch]

We have SimpliSafe and like it. It's pretty easy to use, the setup was easy, and I think we pay about $35/month for monitoring. We have 2 cameras outside, the doorbell camera, and an interior camera, along with smoke detectors/glass breaks/water sensors and door sensors on all the doors. We've had it for probably 5-6 years now. Probably spent... $500 on equipment total, and I'd love to have a few more cameras, but am waiting.

 

[Dandy]

I feel like the first question is what are you trying to capture? How many cameras? Beyond cameras are there any other features you're looking for (window/door sensors, etc). Obviously price comes into play as well.

Starting from scratch and looking for any advice. Mostly cameras, other sensors like doors and windows we aren't worried about right now. Probably 3-4 cameras.

 

[BCClone]

First thing I’d get is a full size dog. Not an ankle biter. You’d be surprised how well they protect. Plus they keep vermin away.

 

[Cychl82]

We have SimpliSafe and like it. It's pretty easy to use, the setup was easy, and I think we pay about $35/month for monitoring. We have 2 cameras outside, the doorbell camera, and an interior camera, along with smoke detectors/glass breaks/water sensors and door sensors on all the doors. We've had it for probably 5-6 years now. Probably spent... $500 on equipment total, and I'd love to have a few more cameras, but am waiting.

Just looked at this today, might have to invest in this.

 

[psycln11]

Meet Smith & Wesson!!

 

[NWICY]

A full sized barky dog and a shotgun

 

[Agclone91]

If you're truly looking for security from a camera system, you're going to want something wired at least, and 24/7 recording would be nice. The wireless systems are nice (we have blink), but I consider them to be more of a convenience monitoring thing.

 

[CYdTracked]

If you're truly looking for security from a camera system, you're going to want something wired at least, and 24/7 recording would be nice. The wireless systems are nice (we have blink), but I consider them to be more of a convenience monitoring thing.

I'm not a not and expert in this but will give you thoughts on what I use. I use Blink cameras in town, they are affordable and easy to setup and pretty good quality as long as you have good lighting. They are just motion detection capture though so if someone was wanting continuous recording they wouldn't fit that need. They'd essentially be like setting up a trail cam, they start recording when they detect motion and save about a 30-60 second clip depending on what you have your settings at.

Your biggest issue with cameras in a rural area are going to be night time lighting. If you want any decent quality for recording you need the areas they are installed at well lit so you can make out faces or vehicles if someone was messing around. My Blink cameras have a night vision feature but the quality sucks. I installed new fixtures outside my house and put daylight bulbs in them which is a brighter light than your standard soft white bulbs. My drive and doorway are well light so If someone pulls up in my drive at night I can clearly get the plate number and a good picture of a face in the recording. This probably would be your biggest challenge in a rural area is there probably is not a lot of lighting if you don't have nearby neighbors.

So yeah, if you are just wanting some cheap motion capture recording there are plenty of options like Blink Ring Google and Arlo that are easy to setup and cheaper to purchase and subscribe to a service. If you want continuous recording would probably research some companies that specialize in that and possibly get some bids.

 

[1100011CS]

I have a Simplisafe system I'll sell you really cheap. We bought it to monitor a house we bought in the country before we moved in. It works really well and the monitoring service is reasonable. Just don't use it anymore. Now we have two dogs and blink cameras.

One indoor camera and a bunch of sensors and the base and keypad. Obviously, you can add exterior cameras. PM me if interested. I was going to put it on eBay this week.

 

[clone4life82]

If you're truly looking for security from a camera system, you're going to want something wired at least, and 24/7 recording would be nice. The wireless systems are nice (we have blink), but I consider them to be more of a convenience monitoring thing.

This! We have three blink cameras, one wired, two battery powered. The batteries don’t last more than a couple months. I would recommend looking at how long of time it will record for too! Ours is only set up to do short clips. While ok, it’s not what I really imagined when we first dove in. For us it’s comfort knowing our kids are home from school.

 

[CYDJ]

Our family recently purchased and moved into an acreage just outside of town. We are strongly considering installing security cameras.

Right now we have Starlink satellite Internet. Fiber should be installed in the next six months or so.

What brands/systems are you using? Likes or dislikes? Pros and cons? What would you have done differently, if anything? Easy to self install?

Looking for recommendations! Thanks in advance, everyone!

I live in your exact situation. Look into Reolink. The NVR and cameras work really well. You don't have to be connected to the internet for it to work and you can upgrade the hard drive to get more storage.

The motion detection is pretty good as well.

I like being independent of the Internet for all of my control and security systems, so that is something to keep in mind when considering my opinions.

Good luck!

 

[enisthemenace]

View attachment 136987

Meet Smith & Wesson!!

Absolutely love this! If I had my way, I’d have these two dogs (or similar) and build each a spot for them to just sit/lay menacingly on either side of our driveway. I’m still trying to convince the wife though.

 

[FLYINGCYCLONE]

A sheriff told me the camera must be good enough to read the license plates. That is the most important information you can give them.

 

[CoachHines3]

Our family recently purchased and moved into an acreage just outside of town. We are strongly considering installing security cameras.

Right now we have Starlink satellite Internet. Fiber should be installed in the next six months or so.

What brands/systems are you using? Likes or dislikes? Pros and cons? What would you have done differently, if anything? Easy to self install?

Looking for recommendations! Thanks in advance, everyone!

hows your starlink been?

fwiw, i put up a few ring cameras on our house on our acreage.

i also have a couple of boxers that will alert anyone in the house when the smallest of leaves blow by in the back.

 

[nrg4isu]

I live in your exact situation. Look into Reolink. The NVR and cameras work really well. You don't have to be connected to the internet for it to work and you can upgrade the hard drive to get more storage.

The motion detection is pretty good as well.

I like being independent of the Internet for all of my control and security systems, so that is something to keep in mind when considering my opinions.

Good luck!

I agree with this.

NVR (network video recorder) with POE (power over ethernet) cameras is the way I would try to go. Distances might be your biggest issue trying to go with POE. These are what a lot of commercial buildings would use, but there's plenty of "prosumer" options as well.

If you're not tech savvy it might sound daunting, but some of the systems are mostly plug and play. POE means only one cable for both power and data. This method also lets you pick a super wide variety of cameras for different purposes. You can have some that are wide angle, some that are zoomed in to a specific area, some that are better at night vision, etc.

Reolink, ubiquity, Hikvision, dahua, etc. all have "off the shelf" systems or you can pick and choose.

Most of these types of systems are not monthly subscriptions also.

 

[Dandy]

hows your starlink been?

fwiw, i put up a few ring cameras on our house on our acreage.

i also have a couple of boxers that will alert anyone in the house when the smallest of leaves blow by in the back.

It was incredibly easy to set-up. And their app is amazing. Easily 200 Mbps download. It would be even better if I mounted it on the roof but since this is temporary until fiber it is just siting on a stand in the yard.

 

[TheCaptain]

Good suggestions. I use a combination of SimpliSafe and Blink, a big dog and a few guns at the ready.

 

[CoachHines3]

It was incredibly easy to set-up. And their app is amazing. Easily 200 Mbps download. It would be even better if I mounted it on the roof but since this is temporary until fiber it is just siting on a stand in the yard.

This is what I want to do, but won't you essentially be out the money for the equipment?

we're supposed to get fiber this fall, but it's looking like that isn't going to happen so won't be until next year. Thought about doing the starlink as an in between but not sure I want to risk it, I guess.

What i have now is OK. Fixed-wireless.

maybe youre my new neighbor