A question I've been pondering for a while since I notice a lot of deals come up for home security cameras and there seem to be a lot of people here that have them… For those of you that have installed security cameras at your house, what are they for? Like what do you actually do with them? What problem are they solving?
Reading this back I know it sounds a bit like a wind-up but I'm genuinely curious; I've never thought I needed them for anything and am wondering why they're so popular.
Right, so if you don't live in a secure area, what does the camera do? Is it a deterrent? Or is it just so you've got footage of someone robbing your house? Like what do you actually do with the video that the camera produces?
Bit of column a, bit of column b
wont they just steal the cameras/footage /nvr
@mrkorrupt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BkPwxcPbgU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6gj3jUkiiQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hb2WQAtw9XI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjE9_exuRjU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzzMOCPbh8s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hk5QCrb4v-g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DUncUGK1bs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvU-k6fwmLY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7H8DK7oQbY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRapl3Y_BsY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oY_mXUOP6FE
@mrvaluepack: Every state has their derro suburb.
You get the same media from Melbourne and Sydney's western suburbs.
@mrkorrupt: Sure, they can easily dislodge and steal the cameras but any half decent setup has base station or cloud storage.
@sumyungguy: one business friend had this happen while I was there - the camera outside stopped working, he played back the recording and recognised a guy living in the boarding house upstairs, so went up and told the manager who got the camera back and evicted the guy there and then.
So a well-located camera will record the person stealing the camera.
actually do with the video that the camera produces?
Proof of whether items get delivered or not.
Yeah I hadn’t considered this. Seems like a common response.
My cameras flash red and blue lights if anyone enters my property and turns on spot lights to hopefully deter them. I have had a current affair use my camera footage after a neighbours car caught fire (car fault), same footage helped police quickly rule out arson (car was parked at end of my driveway, my cameras don’t point at neighbours houses). If my dogs go off at night I can check cameras from bed (usually a cat) rather than going outside to see what’s happening.
@mythreesons Sounds awesome! How do you set that up? i.e. what brand and equipment etc.
Do you have a link to the current affair car fire story?
Anyone not completely brain dead will skip right past a property with cameras, stickers at the front of the mailbox and on front and back door just add to that, even if they don't see the cameras initially it's still easier to skip the property once they see the stickers or signs.
Security cameras be an excellent deterrent.
Also checking things around the property (Whether I closed the garage door, if Uber eats has arrived, at work I can see if its raining at home etc)
I always thought so too, however the youth crime spree suggests otherwise. These morons just don’t give a crap.
The only thing is that it’s been good for providing some form of evidence to police, however you can rarely identify anyone from them as they are generally covered up.
It’s been more useful for following up failed delivery attempts where the courier insists they delivered to the correct address.
Good questions.
I've never convinced myself that I need one installed.
I have them for the following reason, to see which kid keeps leaving flaming poop bags at my front door and for the guy who keeps peeing on my lemon trees.
sorry but i need 2 pee and ur tree was the closest
I had to poop and get rid of some matches and bags and that seemed like the best way
poop bags … peeing on my lemon trees.
Free organic fertilizer and makes your lemon tastes better.
Actually legit advise. Asked my neighbour how to fertilise a lemon tree and they said pee on it. Thought they were pulling my leg but google agreed
Actually legit
adviseadvice
Further advice; only male urine helps in this regard.
You taking the peeish?
To check if the grass is greener other side?
I got my security cameras for security.
I installed security cameras so that if I'm in bed or out the back in the office and hear a weird noise I can check the cameras on my phone without having to walk to the front and open the curtains. It's basically laziness. I don't have any realistic expectation that they'll be of much use for actual security. Also, I like fiddling with tech. It's also fun to catch a view of wildlife passing through the yard.
Can you use them to track rats and possums in your garden? What placement is required, etc? Rough cost to just do this.
Possums for sure. I see possums all the time walking over the powerlines. Rats are small, snippy little buggers, but there's no reason you couldn't, for example, put one in your roof cavity to see what the critters were up to at night.
A simple camera powered over an ethernet cable (PoE) would be more than enough, so long as you can get an ethernet cable to the location you could set the camera pointing at the area you were interested in.
Any camera would do, really, the cheapest one you could find with some kind of motion trigger, since the resolution doesn't need to be enough to make out license plates.
Something like this, https://www.amazon.com.au/Security-Detection-Weatherproof-Re…
A PoE switch https://www.amazon.com.au/Mercusys-Desktop-Long-Range-Suppor…
and an ethernet cable of the relevant length would be well under $200. You'd just have to decide if you wanted to do the cabling yourself or pay someone else to install.
There's also dozens of wireless options that can be solar or battery powered.
You could also use something like this. https://www.jaycar.com.au/1080p-outdoor-trail-camera/p/QC806… The options are endless, really, depending on how much you are willing to spend.
There's plenty of sample user-submitted animal clips here under "pet stories" https://reolink.com/share-captured-videos/
RATS YES . They sure do. Out our back door I see there beady eyes setting off the camera at 2.00 am. Sneaky little characters..
EUFY S120 solar camera could do this for you anywhere you have 1) 2 hours of sunlight a day and 2) WiFi. No wires or PoE required. There's a current deal on here for them.
With the right settings (not just using the AI to pick up humans only, which it does very well) we're picking up neighbours cats, possums, the worlds fattest bluetonguie lizard, and bandicoots digging up the lawn at night. It's quite interesting!
Just wish we had it installed the day a Peregrine Falcon demolished a mynah from above at 330km/h and left nothing behind but the skuil. We saw it attack out of the window, but would have been so much better with video footage!
Yeah that's another reason I have one at the front. If I have my speakers blasting I don't hear the doorbell.
Lazy posties and dodgy porch thieves abound in my area. Also great if you have a dog that barks at a fart, so you're not constantly checking out the front door
Right so if the postie chucked it on your porch and someone flogged it you’d have proof that they didn’t put it somewhere safe. Makes sense.
If someone breaks in while I'm away, I can call security to go up and give them a hand.
Front and back of house. Back mostly to check what my dog is up to during the day. Front mostly as a deterrent for criminals. Both would capture thieves if our house was burgled though as there's no access points on the sides of the house.
They've become accessibly low-cost and I rate them as modest deterrent. You can review parcel deliveries and random people and pets on your property. On one occasion the cops requested I upload a clip as evidence. The night time image quality was poor but it alllowed them to time-stamp some nefarious activity in my 'hood. I had been using them as motion sensors for smart lighting automations but now use a Philips Hue sensor. Some models can do fall detection.
Google nest doorbell, so I know when parcels arrive so I can tell them to leave it at the door, etc.
Eneloops - to use them and safeguard them
I have front facing security cameras on my home to check for deliveries from Australia Post and Amazon. Cam has detection enabled so sends me a push notification each time someone moves to the front of my home. Helps in cases where Amazon or Auspost delivers to the wrong home and won't take accountability.
I got mine so I can see/hear the pizza guy at the door, when im out the back listening to music and getting drunk every weekend.
What Have You Got Security Cameras for
Around $600 I believe.
So you can laugh as Dan the Impaler falls down your booby trapped front stairs?
watch out for dog while I am away.
Two houses on my street have had cars broken into, but not my car. Maybe it's something to do with the prominently visible security cameras facing the car, maybe not. After the break ins I have noticed several more houses on the street now have cameras too.
Family owned security company. We have cameras, alarms, etc
No point having them. Have crimsafe instead.
Every layer of security is a layer that must be penetrated. More layers is more protection.
That's why I don't stop at crimsafe doors, camera or roller shutters, I installed moats, turrets, dogs, bees, dogs with bees in their mouth and when they bark they shoot bees at you.
dogs with bees in their mouth and when they bark they shoot bees at you.
Robotic Richard Simmons is also an effective deterrent.
you forgot piranha inside the aquarium under the front door floors that I heard someone installed and keep the cover open when they go away.
Would hate to forget to put back the cover back on and walk in the front door while on the phone.
No sharks with friken lazer beams???
Two(ish) cases - cameras inside and those outside.
Inside and the main use case is to be able to spy on your abode from a distance (say on holiday) to check things are still OK, or to set up an alert to ping you if it detects movement where there should be none. It can also be used for intelligent movement detection (eg you can set it up to detect and ignore a cat, whereas it will alert on humans). AI is particularly useful here, and indeed AI recognition of people and presence detection can be a usecase that can, say, turn on lights at a low level if it detects you getting out of bed in the middle of the night.
Outside can be mainly security, detecting people where people shouldn't be, and again AI can help with false alarm rates over simple PIR. It can also track cars leaving a garage (and switching secure mode for the home), detecting the postie, etc. The dividing line is on the doorbell and people approaching the front door, where doorbell camera can provide you with two way come ("chuck it over the side fence mate"). Finally, they can help present evidence to the police on a break in or theft of a parcel (which the police can then ignore because they are useless).
Not really used them in anger, but my next door neighbour would have loved it if I had had a camera in the right place to video the miscreants who hopped over my fence into his yard to break in and steal from him.
Your gross generalisation of saying police are useless makes me feel like going to the penalty box to describe what you are.
I'm sure the boys in blue will make finding @sane's neighbours stereo a top priority.
Cops ARE useless. Take a report and leave. They're only useful when making a claim to your insurance. They have NO constitutional obligation to protect you.
We've jumped to the constitutional obligation now?
you can set it up to detect and ignore a cat, whereas it will alert on humans
Cats are dodgy as well, probably be scoping out the place. Ever heard of the cat burglar.
Same reason i have my multiple burner phones…
Not fooling anyone POPO
Deterrents
2 way voice comms for delivery people
Find out which owner was letting their dog poop all over my lawn and not clean up
My cameras also have inbuilt light so act as motion activated path lights
Precisely, widely underrated factor - deterrent.
Thieves fear, above all, being recognised. Well placed cameras act as a good deterrent, similar to dogs
Officer: Recognise anyone here from the night of the crime?
Baxter: Rrr-woof!
Officer: I need backup! Send in the K9 unit
Got for peace of mind when on holiday.
Hopefully a good deterrent to the dodgy.
Plus a better replacement for an old broken sensor light.
Easy to install myself.
Click notification, open app, talk to person at the door.
Would be hard to go back to not having one.
Previously broken into 3 times by a meth head (Previous address)
Cops wont do jack without footage
Own guns 🔫
Have more expensive art and collectables on site now
It's one layer in a multi layered security system
Previously broken into 3 times by a meth head
You should be fine now that he has resigned…
Last night I came home and there was a balloon in my driveway. WTF is that balloon doing in my driveway? The camera showed it was a gift from the heavens. Just fell out of the sky.
So there's that.
I have a security camera so that if I accidentally fall into the backrooms, there will be a record of it.
To confirm which kid hit who first…and therefore which kid was lying.
The primary Reason is a set of eyes while WFH. The dog is barking, why? Look at the 42" TV, "Oh, the AusPost van is here". Go and meet the bloke at the front door. Just feel more comfortable able to see what is going on around the house, front and back. My house backs onto a bit of a main street which has rear access, so I like to know that is secure for my trailer and caravan.
What are my security cameras for?…
Not a single one used for anything directly to do with security (I count the garage thing as an indirect security measure as I still need to drive home to close that damn door if it was left open). I normally invest in security screens and better locks for actual security.
Lots of silly answers here, but here's some real ones:
- For reduced insurance premiums (having a monitored security system reduces them).
- To see when packages arrive.
- Preventing paranoia about the garage actually being closed.
- For automation via motion/person detection.
And one bonus silly one:
- So that I can do time-lapses like this and this.
I'm glad my wife and I aren't the only ones paranoid about our garage door being opened.
I will have to remember the reduced premiums one… I don't think I have that on my home contents insurance policy as we didn't have any cameras when I signed up.
It'll vary based on the insurer. My policy doesn't give a reduced premium if you have security cameras, but it does if you have a monitored alarm system.
Re Garage door being opened by remote. Solution suggested to me which has worked great was to install a smart plug https://www.amazon.com.au/TP-Link-Tapo-Smart-Wi-Fi-Socket/dp…
Works a treat for me. Set to turn off at night and turn on in morning plus you can override with your phone.
This is great, I am going to use our camera for this now too, in addition to all the other reasons one uses cameras.
KFC for lunch at 00:29. Hope you used OzB for a deal?! And the second vide, love the dance that the table and two chairs are doing, what do you call that? Is it a conteporary threesome, "tap" dance inspired by your Holman hose who seems to be dancing with them?
It's the being chased by a bear analogy…you don't have to be faster than the bear just faster than others being chased by the bear. Security cameras make your house less appealing than your neighbours.
Pretty much why I got them, it was a shit Swann $600 DIY job.
They haven't worked in years (Swann is terrible, don't bother), but I left the cameras up as a deterrent.
Crims can go steal from my neighbours, they're rich and have lots of nice toys.
I hear both pros and cons. It's less appealing to some thieves. To others, they start thinking… "What have you got in there that makes it worthwhile setting up security cameras?".
We're damned if we do, and we're damned if we don't.
I think it still gives people more peace of mind to think they have a chance of seeing and catching those people which is made easier by the cameras
Using it to monitor our cat while traveling. Whenever our cat passes through the living area, it sends a push notification.
It turns out a neighbourhood cat wanders around our house when we're away.
My house borders a park so obviously i have security cameras for dogging
I had a neighbour take a dislike to a tenant in my house. He smashed an expensive glass door one morning. Police didn't give a shit, didn't care about his foot prints in the garden, … neighbour denied it. So then i got 6 security cameras and now anyone who feels like doing anything wrong around our house will think twice. It's also come in handy a few times to see what happened to things like missing bin lids, missing trees etc… or entertaining to review parking mishaps, or looking at your house when away…
i have only a door bell camera for not at home door knocks
adding cameras tells people that you have something of value so you usually get hit first, cameras dont stop anything, its just so you can replay the footage to see your living areas getting violated over and over
need one in me backyard to see where these half chomped mice are coming from
What you don't know would scare you.
Things I've seen over 5 years:
1. Dodgy junkies trying to get into my side gate.
2. Neighbour a few doors up chasing down teenage intruders down the street.
3. Car attempted break in once (trying for open doors).
4. Car attemped break in twice (same as above, but scared off by car across the road alarm going off).
5. Car across the road break in. Also wound back a few days and spotted the guy doing a reccie.
6. Dodgy guy looking through cars walking down the street.
7. Postie taking a piss in the reserve next to us.
Most if not all of those we would have been oblivious to if there weren't cameras to capture the incident. We're in what would be considered a low crime area too.
Not everyone lives in a secure area? Might want to keep watch over pets outside etc?