Easy, portable, wireless camera for baby monitor. Does it exist?

[wantafastz28]

Looking for something preferably through dahua, that will act as a portable baby monitor... I need it to work with BI so the wife can view/hear through her phone. Any ideas? No time anymore to do research after having a kid, I worry about having a 2nd at this rate.

 

[bluestreak]

Maybe try an Amcrest (rebranded Dahua) wifi indoor IP cam? Its got two way audio with an onboard mic and speaker. It also runs on a USB power adapter (although the actual power cable is a USB to barrel plug cable)

https://amcrest.com/baby-monitors.html

Ignore the one that comes with a screen - it doesn't look to be a real IP cam. They're also readily available on Amazon.

I've got the 720p model and I'm pretty satisfied with it.

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I used HTML BBcode because the forum changes a url link is automatically into the target web page's title, making it look like an ad inserted into the middle of my reply...

 

[DavidDavid]

I would look for the cheapest ONVIF Wi-Fi camera with sound. I wouldn't worry too much about brand, unless you were planning on moving it to a permanent location after it's done with being a baby monitor.

 

[DavidDavid]

Maybe you could fit a base onto it that has the screw hole for a tripod. Then you could easily move it, raise/lower whatever for wherever you want to place it and buy a nice long extension cord for the days you want to let the kid roam a little pen in the yard or whatever.

 

[MrRalphMan]

If you're happy looking at other manufactures, I can recommend the camera here.

 

[wantafastz28]

I'm open to hikvision and dahua... i have an amcrest permanently mounted in the nursery now... it is okay, but is pale in comparison to the starlight 2mp dahua's I have... I suppose I don't NEED anything fancy...

 

[wantafastz28]

Decided to go with dahua A35. I'll see how it compares to the amcrest I have now.

 

[tangent]

There will be times you don't want to dedicate your phone or your wifes phone to being a baby monitor (which may drain the battery fairly quickly). You also need to prepare for less tech savvy baby sitters like your parents and in the case of teenage babysitters you may not want them on your network.

Here are two potential solutions:
get a basic audio baby monitor as a backup
buy 1 or more cheap android phones (but be mindful of the specs) or tablets to dedicate to baby monitor duty (prepaid phones work for this). There's a security setting on android that lets you "pin" an app so that the user can't close it or switch to anything else without a code.

 

[wantafastz28]

There will be times you don't want to dedicate your phone or your wifes phone to being a baby monitor (which may drain the battery fairly quickly). You also need to prepare for less tech savvy baby sitters like your parents and in the case of teenage babysitters you may not want them on your network.

Here are two potential solutions:
get a basic audio baby monitor as a backup
buy 1 or more cheap android phones (but be mindful of the specs) or tablets to dedicate to baby monitor duty (prepaid phones work for this). There's a security setting on android that lets you "pin" an app so that the user can't close it or switch to anything else without a code.

Good to know...I have an ipad that has sat in a drawer for 6 months that will be used( i have a s5 that might do the trick as well)... I looked at audio only options, and they all look like cheap junk... I'll continue trying to find one though. The idea was to re-purpose it when the kiddo gets of age to not need it. It is already ordered from Andy, so I'll see how it goes.

 

[DavidDavid]

If you are dedicating your phone to having the monitor on all the time for a little while... Tinycam has a cool "floating window" mode that puts a small window over everything else on your phone of one camera. I don't think audio works though... But it might be something to try out.

 

[alexvas]

If you are dedicating your phone to having the monitor on all the time for a little while... Tinycam has a cool "floating window" mode that puts a small window over everything else on your phone of one camera. I don't think audio works though... But it might be something to try out.

In tinyCam PRO app it is possible in app drawer in live switch on 'Background audio'. In this case audio will also work when watching floating window.

 

[wantafastz28]

If you are dedicating your phone to having the monitor on all the time for a little while... Tinycam has a cool "floating window" mode that puts a small window over everything else on your phone of one camera. I don't think audio works though... But it might be something to try out.

I've used this feature in the past on my previous phone before having an update, worked fine. Now all tinycam sees is my amcrest cam. I've focused on using BI's app or the web portal.