newbie confused...

[tws]

greetings cam geeks,

i require an upgrade to my home security sentry lights in the form of a bulb camera if it is at all possible. my current (and old) setup is two lamps outward facing with a motion sensor in-between - see photos. this high point on the outside garage is also at OR beyond my home router wifi range. i am looking at this model bulb camera:

https://www.amazon.com/WOOLINK-Wire...t+bulb+security+camera,electronics,216&sr=1-3

i know absolutely nothing about these bulb cameras or their reliability so i was hoping someone on this forum might help. i require no cloud service just the ability to download via bluetooth? only the pertinent images or video. one issue i have is that my outside garage lights are operated with a light switch and when on the motion sensor (see images) trips the lights on when someone goes by at night. must i tape over the motion sensor if i wish the bulb camera to work. likewise should i remove one of the lights and just use one receptacle for a bulb camera? and also tape over the motion sensor? climbing up to retrieve a micro card is out of the question, so i do need a cam with the ability to transfer the data to at least my phone or tablet via bluetooth and maybe wifi though the range is suspect. another issue is the aspect of the lights, they are angled outward horizontally, will this effect the ability of a bulb camera to work?

hopefully someone here has been confronted with my particular dilemma and can advise me how to proceed, suggest a bulb camera etc. also what size socket are my garage sentry lights?

thanks for any thoughts/ideas and a great forum

tws

 

[Holbs]

I am sure with the 'search' button on this website you know what kind of image you will get with a camera up that high?

 

[tws]

what would your search parameter be?

 

[wittaj]

Yeah, not gonna happen LOL

Nobody here will recommend a lightbulb camera.

This site is more for people that want actual usable footage and none of those bulb cameras will provide that, in addition to the issue with your height among other factors...

 

[Holbs]

Abandon any hope that a bulb camera especially at that height will serve any function other than letting you know if the FedEx or UPS panel truck is in your neighborhood. Strongly consider alternatives. Which this form can gladly help with.

 

[mat200]

greetings cam geeks,

i require an upgrade to my home security sentry lights in the form of a bulb camera if it is at all possible. my current (and old) setup is two lamps outward facing with a motion sensor in-between - see photos. this high point on the outside garage is also at OR beyond my home router wifi range. i am looking at this model bulb camera:

https://www.amazon.com/WOOLINK-Wire...t+bulb+security+camera,electronics,216&sr=1-3

i know absolutely nothing about these bulb cameras or their reliability so i was hoping someone on this forum might help. i require no cloud service just the ability to download via bluetooth? only the pertinent images or video. one issue i have is that my outside garage lights are operated with a light switch and when on the motion sensor (see images) trips the lights on when someone goes by at night. must i tape over the motion sensor if i wish the bulb camera to work. likewise should i remove one of the lights and just use one receptacle for a bulb camera? and also tape over the motion sensor? climbing up to retrieve a micro card is out of the question, so i do need a cam with the ability to transfer the data to at least my phone or tablet via bluetooth and maybe wifi though the range is suspect. another issue is the aspect of the lights, they are angled outward horizontally, will this effect the ability of a bulb camera to work?

hopefully someone here has been confronted with my particular dilemma and can advise me how to proceed, suggest a bulb camera etc. also what size socket are my garage sentry lights?

thanks for any thoughts/ideas and a great forum

tws

Welcome @tws

Most of us here, have tried all sorts of cheaper / affordable wifi camera which we looked to solve our needs thinking the easiest least amount of cabling work is the way to go.

I will tell you, it is not, and if you need quality image captures - you will want to go with wired cameras, mounted at 6-8 feet if you are looking to get any decent potential for ID image capture of suspects.

If you are only looking to see if your parking spot is open or not, then mounting a camera as high as you suggest should work well.

Do feel free to buy this or a similar camera and share images you capture from it.

In particular we like to see moving suspects in low light conditions.

note: this camera ad does not indicate much in terms of technical specifications which many of us prefer to see. ( example FOV, sensor size, .. )

 

[tws]

thanks all,

think i'll stick with a game cam from the side

 

[TonyR]

It appears from the 2 photos that your house is of ideal construction to run CAT-5e cable from the garage or attic to locations outside, perhaps either side of the garage door or under the eaves, to provide decent images.

You could start with a single POE-powered camera and a POE NVR or a PC to run Blue Iris and a POE switch. Be advised that once you have one good cam up and going you'll very likely want another...and another. The beauty of buying a 8 channel POE NVR or a 8 port POE switch when you only want 1 cam is that you're all set to expand later, just buy another POE cam and run some CAT cable.

Do you have an initial budget?

 

[looney2ns]

Study this: Cliff Notes

The goal of a surveillance camera is to see who did it, not just what happened.
Mounting any camera higher than 7-8ft off the ground will only capture tops of heads, not faces.
From your shot, you would need two real cameras one mounted on each side of the garage door, no higher than the brick mold on the garage door.
And no one will recommend any wifi cams, wifi is not reliable for security cams.

Read this: SebastianTombs Cam Tips

 

[Teken]

The first thing I'll suggest is you replace that old school motion flood light with a LED equivalent. Not only will it be a lot brighter, reliable, but save you tons of money. I am pretty sure you have dozens of incandescent / florescent bulbs too - get rid of them!

Besides all the benefits I just listed up above another important factor is - Heat.

I'm sure you can relate to Oregon heat in the summer so this will reduce your cooling bills during those months. As it relates to any new video security I'll affirm all the feedback thus far by the other members.

- Define what your goals are vs reality

- Budget: Once you understand what you need vs want the financial outlay will quickly be known

- DIY / Pro: If you're handy and relativity fit almost everything relating to video security can be done by the average DIY. Anything you can't do or is out of your wheel house just hire it out. Going this route can save you money and possible damage to the homes infrastructure. Even if all you did was hire them to run the power & data cables in the hardest places that is win for you because all you need to do is install the cameras and hook them up to the NVR / VMS.

- Wired / Wireless: If you're looking for the most reliable and quality video security. Hard wiring the video security is really the only way to go. It costs more upfront to do but once done its never going fail you unless something changes in the environment / bad initial installation.

There is a time and place for wireless as it relates to video security . . .

In the Enterprise / Commercial environment or those who have physical / financial limitations wireless offers lots of benefits and solves other problems too. More specifically a location where its near impossible to trench and bring in 120 VAC, low voltage data & power cable. There may be a situation where you need to have absolute isolation to guard against lightning / network threats.

So running an isolated network and video security while being powered by solar battery provides such a solution. These video security systems transmit using either cellular, RF (RF Bridge), and in the extreme cases use WiFi Access Point (AP).

Getting back to budget . . .

Start off small and buy quality hardware and add on when finances allow. If your on a limited budget and just want everything but get really nothing just buy any blue light special from Amazon, eBay, Costco. Nothing wrong with that as it lets you dip your toes into the video security realm. You might just stop there because its good enough!

As with anything once a person gets a taste of something great they simply want more. If your only reference is a $39.XX blue light special the bar is set pretty low and anything above that dollar amount will come across as - Great!

Buy once - Cry Once . . .

Take a few weeks to read all the resource links provided by the other forum members. Continue to ask questions until all of the answers are known. Review your local yellow pages and call around for a low voltage installer to get a feel as to the current market prices to install 1~10 network drops. Again, you might have enough (initial budget) for just two runs but those will be the most difficult ones you really weren't able to do anyways!

I'll quickly close by saying regardless of how you get the wiring infrastructure done (DIY / Pro Install) insure you run both CAT-6 Ethernet and 16-2 / 18-2 power cable. Doing so will allow you to power almost anything from a speaker, microphone, IR emitter, sensors. Last but not least any location that is extremely hard to access always try to run multiple pairs of spare cable because you can use it for another camera or back up in case something should ever happen to the existing one.

Good Luck . . .