"Connected" camera with "Hotspot"?

mrvelous01

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I'm looking at some of the higher end dashcams that can connect to wifi and push notifications or videos when an event happens. I see that they can be a little pricey or limited with their monthly data limits and I'm sure I'd blow them away wanting to "peek" at the car all the time. I have a Dodge Charger with the SiriusXM/Uconnect stereo and of course they want to scalp me for a 4G wifi hotspot but I wonder if I could use it for the camera... and if it would stay online when the ignition was off? I'm also interested in Verizon's $10/mth hotspot device. It looks USB-C powered though it could probably hold a charge overnight, especially if there is not a lot of activity, and it doesn't need constant car power to run.

Any thoughts?
 

TonyR

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Consider the dashcam that only needs Wi-Fi, like from your house unless your vehicle is parked so far away from the house that a device inside of it cannot "see" the existing Wi-Fi inside your house (assuming you have some) ?

If you have decent house Wi-Fi in the house but it doesn't make it out to the car (can't see it on your phone out there, for example) and the house has reasonable LOS (Line Of Sight) to the car, you could point a high-powered Ubiquiti radio set to access point mode (plus a few configuration tweaks so non- Ubiquiti devices can operate off it) and all it will cost you is one-time expense for the radio ($80 for a 2.4GHz Nanostation or $50 for a smaller Loco). It plugs into one of your Internet router's LAN port.
 

mrvelous01

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I actually purchased the Netgear Nighthawk Mesh system about 2 weeks ago because I live in a Faraday cage (house built in the 1930's with plaster and lathe walls - damn near impenetrable by anything). The Netgear does make it to the car, and the house next door who pays me $10/mth for internet service :). My primary concern was when I was away from the house, i.e. parking lots, shopping, etc.
 
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