I've decided I want the perks of cloud based solution. I'm running two IP cams with
blue Iris on my only desktop machine but it really bogs down that machine. Rather than build a new machine just for blue iris, I'd like to explore cloud options. I'm looking at Nest and Arlo Pro. I don't mind pricing, it's a bit steep but seems to have real intelligence behind it. My only concern is I spend a bunch of money on cams and then down the road I decide I want to explore other options which might include giving in and building my own.
So ... does anyone have any recommendations for a cloud-based solution that works with any IP cam (Onvif?) that offers similar features as NEST or Arlo?
Welcome Winterminute,
Fenderman listed numerous good point, Cloud cameras are just not reliable - and their associated cloud service have had significant recent outages in just the last weeks and months, thus I wanted to share my following notes with you:
Security Camera System Minimal Viable Product requirements:
- 1) It must be Reliable.
- 2) It must be able to capture good enough images to potentially ID suspects.
- 3) It must be useful for evidence. [ thus date and time stamps are critical ]
What does this mean in practical terms?
Wired systems with local storage will be the most reliable. While some maybe able to get wifi cameras to work well enough it requires a significant investment in building and maintaining a quality wifi network, which most people are unwilling to learn and spend the resources to do. Wifi is also subject to interference ( common ) and even possible jamming ( less common ).
Quality cameras are required. 1080p+ The best way to determine if a camera is good is to test it and compare it to others. Megapixels is only one factor to look at, and does not in itself determine the quality of the image. That said, your search should avoid 720p and poorer spec'ed cameras, they tend to be the cheaper cameras and provide poorer results. Test both day time and night time.
Few consumer marketed cameras have date and time stamps. This is critical if you plan to use your video images for evidence.
[ good wired camera = In general either PoE ( Power over Ethernet ) using
cat5e/cat6 cable for digital, OR coax wire with power wires and BNC connectors for analog based systems. ]
..
Arlo / Arlo Pro - why they make poor security cameras: ( a lot of this also applies to the
Ring cameras )
There are a number of reasons, which apply to many consumer wire free products.
The Arlo / Arlo Pro system fail in 2 of the 3 minimal viable product categories for security cameras, and in the 3rd one does a poor job ( ID distance very short, night image poor ).
1) Poor resolution and wide FOV make for short ID distances
2) Poor reliability, cameras will disconnect from base station, base station needs periodic reboots, cloud service auth failures
3) Lag with cloud service
4) Issues with reliability of motion detection
5) Issues to lag before recording
6) Poor night vision
7) No embedded time stamp - thus videos are poor for evidence. ( Arlo, Ring, and Nest fail here )
8) Difficult to manage multiple clips for downloading from the cloud service.
9) Lag to access live view
10) Cameras do not have local storage - thus when disconnected to the base station they are unable to record events.
Note: Arlo base station has USB ports which were intended for future options, however reportedly Netgear did not enable local attached storage until the Arlo Pro base station came out. Arlo Pro 2 improves on the Arlo / Arlo Pro with 1080p resolution, which helps. However the system still suffers from numerous faults similar to it's prior versions, and only when the cameras are wired do you see significant functional improvements. At which point you may want to just install a PoE system.
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