Am I expecting or asking for too much from an IP Camera?

[nayr]

get the first one w/IR; it will perform a bit better than the Mini-Dome I reviewed because it lacked IR

 

[Aristotle]

Assuming you own the property and aren't renting, I don't think they could prevent you from getting an alarm system. However the association could probably prevent you from having a big yard sign. Some HOAs have rules against/requiring approval for cameras. So for signage, stick with some small stickers on your windows / front door.

It's also worth mentioning that ADT is arguably one of the worst alarm companies out there from a value perspective. ADT == Another Dumb Technician.

Got married and brought a small townhome, had to save for a few years to get a bigger home. On track with the plan, brought a home last dec, the builders building the entire plot/development ground up and moving this year end. At my current place the Townhome association does not allow any kind of camera's outdoors, nor do they allow any third party monitoring.
I do have Z-Wave sensors enabled door and windows, refrigerator (the toddler gets inquisitive and opens it and thenleaves it open), and garages. We get notified over our phones if the garage ever opens up by itself (it did), and we are able to remotely shut it down.
However what do u do when u are away, how does the alarm siren help if you are not home?
I realize this is a security cam thread... oh well.

My brother in law raves about ADT, they had an incident two years back at their house.. however the story is funny, a cat accidently bumped into their door as it was chased by another cat, thus triggering the alarm, and they werent home, probably on a cruise in Hawaii, the cops showed up, ADT called his cell, the cops called.. fun as hell while they were freaking out on their vacation away from home. lol

back to camera's...

 

[Ryan00]

Got married and brought a small townhome, had to save for a few years to get a bigger home. On track with the plan, brought a home last dec, the builders building the entire plot/development ground up and moving this year end. The Townhome association does not allow any kind of camera's outdoors, nor do they allow any third party monitoring.
I do have Z-Wave sensors enabled door and windows, refrigerator (the toddler gets inquisitive and opens it and thenleaves it open), and garages. We get notified over our phones if the garage ever opens up by itself (it did), and we are able to remotely shut it down.
However what do u do when u are away, how does the alarm siren help if you are not home?
I realize this is a security cam thread... oh well.

My brother in law raves about ADT, they had an incident two years back at their house.. however the story is funny, a cat accidently bumped into their door as it was chased by another cat, thus triggering the alarm, and they werent home, probably on a cruise in Hawaii, the cops showed up, ADT called his cell, the cops called.. it was funny scene while they were freaking out on their vacation away from home. lol

back to camera's...

I hate ADT their monthly fees are ridiculous and half the people that install the system never actually tested in real life situations. Oh and you have to have a contract which is crazy talk.

 

[Aristotle]

get the first one w/IR; it will perform a bit better than the Mini-Dome I reviewed because it lacked IR

Thanks, i feel so humbly obliged i came here, and got help from you guys.
I was regretting my decision on sending the nest back, then later yesterday the sales rep at fry's was trying to sell me dlink and few other shiny box big brand cameras for close to half a grand.
I dont mind spending, but not here in this townhome. I'd do something better later this year when we move to a bigger house.

 

[nayr]

carefully read the verdicts in both the mini-bullet and the turret reviews please.. I said most all this once already; yet alot more elegantly.

 

[tangent]

At my current place the Townhome association does not allow any kind of camera's outdoors, nor do they allow any third party monitoring.
...
However what do u do when u are away, how does the alarm siren help if you are not home?
...
My brother in law raves about ADT, they had an incident two years back at their house.. however the story is funny, a cat accidently bumped into their door as it was chased by another cat, thus triggering the alarm, and they werent home, probably on a cruise in Hawaii, the cops showed up, ADT called his cell, the cops called.. fun as hell while they were freaking out on their vacation away from home.

The association can prevent you from putting up cameras outside, but I'm pretty confident they couldn't legally prevent you from having an alarm system. You've been misinformed or they simply have some covenants that aren't legally valid. Almost sounds like they want people to get alarm monitoring from an on-site security company.

A siren can help scare somebody off or reduce the amount of time they spend in your house whether you're home or not. Does more good if you can hear it outside the house.

ADT is a rip off they charge obscene amounts for monitoring. You can get monitoring for less than $15/mo with a bit more up front cost. ADT installers are like a box of bitter unsweetened chocolates, you never know if you're going to get a drunk who dropped out of middle school or occasionally somebody who knows their shit... no matter what though it's going to leave a bad taste in your mouth.

You can probably set up your zwave automation gear to function like an alarm. There are zwave sirens.

 

[Ryan00]

The key is a home alarm system should always be ran local and never in the cloud. So many companies these days want I do the cloud crap and it's terribly unreliable . Also get loud sirens outside, in my system I have 4 140 decimal sirens outside and when my alarm goes off it will wake the whole neighborhood. But I never had a flase alert in over 2 years only had the system for 2 in a half

 

[tangent]

The key is a home alarm system should always be ran local and never in the cloud. So many companies these days want I do the cloud crap and it's terribly unreliable . Also get loud sirens outside, in my system I have 4 140 decimal sirens outside and when my alarm goes off it will wake the whole neighborhood. But I never had a flase alert in over 2 years only had the system for 2 in a half

I wouldn't say there are that many true 'cloud based' alarms peddled by security companies. There are cloud based things like piper for sale on amazon, best buy, etc.

Your typical professionally installed alarms do sometimes have internet monitoring options that use your internet connection, usually these setups have a cellular radio as backup. The alarm companies like this because it slashes their M2M comm budget.

 

[hmjgriffon]

you should have an ID of anyone inside your house by putting cameras externally on doors.. PTZ's are for watching big open areas, not tight spots.. you can get the cameras with various optical lengths; this is why the varifocal turret is suggested is it comes with a zoom motor so you can adjust the FOV to whatever you need.

Also cameras inside that point at doors, the way my place is I'm gonna have a starlight turret watching the front door from the inside from about I dunno, 8' away maybe and one watching the back sliding glass door from the inside, I will then probably put another turret above the front door outside lol.

 

[hmjgriffon]

The model you are talking about I am surely gonna get that one, but for my garage. Its already in my aliexpress cart as we speak. But for my room, the spot i am looking to place this camera is really far away from my av rack, and other than this location there is not much i can do about it, its a small room, and at 90 degree fov, it wont serve the purpose. Its really a small townhome. Next year when we move to a bigger house i'll have multiple of these non-ptz camera's. Hopefully technology only will get better and 4k becomes cheaper..
For nw for this tight spot i really am concerned. We had a break in the neighbourhood few days back, and its already freaking my wife out. The association doesnt allow us ADT in the townhome premises.

More HOA crap telling YOU what to do with YOUR house, got to love it lol.

 

[hmjgriffon]

You don't need ADT, there are plenty of ways to setup an alarm on your doors without any Alarm co.

Amazon.com: security alarms for windows and doors

You need a plan and a safe room. Practice that plan until you can do it literally in your sleep.

You need a plan and a 12 gauge. - fixed that for ya looney lol.

 

[hmjgriffon]

Got married and brought a small townhome, had to save for a few years to get a bigger home. On track with the plan, brought a home last dec, the builders building the entire plot/development ground up and moving this year end. At my current place the Townhome association does not allow any kind of camera's outdoors, nor do they allow any third party monitoring.
I do have Z-Wave sensors enabled door and windows, refrigerator (the toddler gets inquisitive and opens it and thenleaves it open), and garages. We get notified over our phones if the garage ever opens up by itself (it did), and we are able to remotely shut it down.
However what do u do when u are away, how does the alarm siren help if you are not home?
I realize this is a security cam thread... oh well.

My brother in law raves about ADT, they had an incident two years back at their house.. however the story is funny, a cat accidently bumped into their door as it was chased by another cat, thus triggering the alarm, and they werent home, probably on a cruise in Hawaii, the cops showed up, ADT called his cell, the cops called.. fun as hell while they were freaking out on their vacation away from home. lol

back to camera's...

so they don't allow you to secure yourself, do they have 24/7 armed guards that patrol the place? sounds like a wannabe utopia.