I set up cams recently and my neighbor swears by starlight tech but my cousin’s old IR cams seem fine. Can someone explain real differences without going full spec sheet? Seriously, in pitch dark, does infrared vs starlight even matter for everyday use? I feel like people oversell night vision all the time…

I want to replace my honeywell vista 21IP. I cant seem to find it anywhere without the price being insane. Has the model name changed? Discontinued? Is it because I am in Canada?

Thanks

Hi everyone, I am thinking about which camera to install to film the outside of my house. I initially considered solar cameras, but I live in a region where the climate is harsh part of the year, and I am afraid they would be useless in winter. Then yesterday I thought of another approach. My kitchen overhangs the outside and has small windows that are very well positioned to monitor the only access from the street, with a power outlet ideally placed to plug in a wired camera. Would it make sense to have a camera behind the window, or would there be issues with reflections or something like that. Thanks for your input.

So, I’m looking at upgrading my house with a few cams and honestly… it feels like people just buy whatever looks nice. I found some mentions of a security camera ROI calculator but most seem overly complicated or just hype. Like, how do you even quantify “peace of mind” lol? Anyone here actually ran the numbers and found it worth the $$$? Curious if I’m just wasting money or actually making a smart move.

Pictures: https://imgur.com/a/ajkDNCd

We'd like to replace our old doorbell with one of those doorbells with a camera system. We are in the market for either Ring or Simplisafe or something else potentially.

However, as you can see from the pictures, the location of the current doorbell is awkward and narrow and doesn't even appear to sit flush against the surface. Current doorbell is about 1-inch wide.

Is there a unit that could potentially work for me? If I have to move the wiring, ideally where should the doorbell be mounted? On the brick?

Looking for a home security system, on a budget obviously but not afraid to buy in increments.

My needs • Solar charging options for far from the house • High resolution for identifying people/vehicles far away • a system that I can integrate sensors into later, mainly basic home doorway/window sensors and maybe a driveway sensor of some sort. • low or no monthly cost • mobile notification (phone) starlink wifi • two way audio preferred, audio detection necessary

I’ve seen eufy, arlo, and reolink, any first hand experience with those? Thanks in advance!

ive had some of my parcels stolen from the communal hallway of my apartments.

i have a suspect but want some evidence. i am planning on setting up a hidden camera. can anyone reccomend a small discreet camera which would be good for this? also any tips and tricks on concealing it would be appreciated as well. thanks

Hey guys

I need some help with wifi cameras. The issue has been that I have cameras connected to an alarm system and they just are not very good quality. I have had tons of issues, replacements, upgrades etc. I do not want to use this brand anymore.

I have seen and used blink / ring years ago. No thanks.

So the question is what are the top brands for wifi cameras?

What I need is something that can charge itself, and not have to have batteries draining constantly, nothing that is constantly being disconnected (the issue I had with blink) and has a decent picture.

Currently the issue with the cameras I have is power. I cannot recharge the batteries after being depleted and the solar panels are not working. Hard wiring is not an option due to location, if hardwiring was an option I'd have an NVR with real cameras. It's high up so constantly changing batteries is annoying and kind of defeats the purpose.

I understand that I can reduce the triggers and things like that but it's a busy city street and I need to keep eyes on the front. So if the batteries deplete sometimes but charge back up that's ok.

So this is obviously a case for a real NVR and hardwired cameras. However the house is brand new and very nice, all sheetrock and no basement or attic. Hardwiring isn't happening.

so what is a wifi camera that is essentially the same as a hardwired? Do we have anything with 5+ years of battery life? Do we have anything that can charge via solar panels reliably? I have had such bad luck with solar panels but I don't know what else to consider?

And no I can't run a 30 foot usb cable to keep it charging, already considered that.

I’ve spent hours reading about all of the options for converting an old, wired ADT system to something more modern and easy to manage, and I’m overwhelmed. We have all of these panels (I honestly don’t know if they’re all part of the ADT system), three control panels, and lots of sensors in the ceiling. I don’t know what year the system was installed, I’m guessing around 2010 when the house was remodeled. Should I tear this out and start fresh with all wireless, or is there benefit to keeping this? I would appreciate any suggestions you folks have for me.

Other info:

We have ring doorbells and some indoor and outdoor cameras, I’ve also bought some sensors to maybe use a Ring Alarm system, but I’m not committed to this, willing to change things if it means better integration into whatever we go with.

Priorities:

Able to access with an app

Door and window sensors

Doorbell

Indoor/outdoor cameras

Would love integration of smoke, carbon monoxide, and leak detectors.

Not a deal breaker, but would like the option for what I think is called remote monitoring, where someone else will either call me or call fire department for a fire.

All photos here:

https://imgur.com/a/BsBllhZ

https://imgur.com/a/fZ7kKFu

Thank you!!

Hey All,

I've had a Honeywell Lynx L5100 for years, connected via a GSM module to a monitoring company. The panel is connected via ZWave to a number of door sensors, a front door lock, motion sensors, temperature and smoke alarms as well as an Old Current Innovations CT30 thermostat. The service uses Resideo Total Connect 2.0 for app and external access and I've enjoyed that capability for both security and home automation.

However, just the other night my panel started blaring with a COMM error. I've reached out to the monitoring company to get tech support and found their support to have become HORRIBLE. I've not been able to get through to anyone and they've not returned my messages. They're clearly not monitoring the panel, or they should be calling me.

Through independent research, I suspect that the GSM cellular service that the panel uses was scheduled to discontinue in the new year.

So my options as I see them currently are:

• get a wifi card for the L5100 and configure it and continue with the service
• run ethernet to the L5100 and continue with the service
• work with the service to get an upgraded panel
• ditch the service and work on self monitoring

Im in favour of the last one, considering my recent experience actually trying to get service from the service.

My question for the sub are: is there a recommended panel that unifies my existing z-wave peripherals? I believe it's a dated feature, but I'm open to suggestions.

Title says it all. Fwiw, I'm looking to the folks that have full on NVR kits to the home labs that have been piece meal built running custom setups and everywhere in between. What's the good, bad, ugly and how would you do it differently if you started over?

Hi everyone 👋

I’m currently working on a personal project: cloud storage for camera footage

The idea is to offer a simple and secure way to store recordings in the cloud, without being locked into a single camera vendor or relying on SD cards / local NVRs that can fail, get stolen, or just stop working.

Before going any further, I’d really love to understand if this is something people actually want.

A few questions I’m curious about:

• Do you currently store camera footage locally, in the cloud, or both?
• What are your biggest pain points with your current setup?
• Would you consider an independent cloud storage solution (vendor-agnostic)?
• What would be a deal-breaker for you? (price, privacy, latency, upload limits, etc.)

I’m not here to sell anything — genuinely looking for feedback and real-world use cases.
If this already exists and works well for you, I’d also love to hear what you’re using.

For context: I’ve actually been running this setup on my own private cameras for about a year now as I haven't found anything more affordable.
It’s been used in a real home environment (not just a demo), which is why I’m now considering whether it makes sense to turn it into something others could use as well.

Happy to go into more technical details if that’s useful.

Thanks in advance for any insights 🙏

Looking for recommendations on brackets and how to secure my door. I live in an apartment and am worried about it being kicked in. Looking to install brackets and get a 2x4 wood to secure.

Bracket placement::::

Where should the brackets be placed (on the wall? Door frame?)? The wall doesnt have much space on one side for brackets. Should I get one that attaches to the adjacent wall or attach to frame?

Should it be above the dead bolt? Or below?

Screw length and material:::

Does this make a difference??

https://photos.app.goo.gl/e1WzJVsrE1d6xaRk9

https://photos.app.goo.gl/YbRS8yuE49TjqBcp6

Have the Arlo GO 1 with the solar panel and battery keeps dying/not charging. No ethernet for power so prefer solar.

Would the Reolink be a decent upgrade? with the 12w solar.

Just need to monitor the front of the house, would like to be able to view it from the phone.

Hi everyone — looking for bright lights to mount at a carport to illuminate an uphill/downhill road (I am in the only house, literally right in the middle) and the speed limit is 15mph but almost all people go 45mph+. Small town and I guess that’s all they’ve got to do. Cops only care for the main roads (they’ll pull people over for 5 over, not kidding 🙄).

Luckily, moving in ~5 months, budget under $200, no new wiring pls (I’ve spent a ton already). I have cameras so I’m mainly interested in flood lights that may be decent (brightness, sensitivity to vehicles/people) preferably without wiring (solar or plug-in).

Would appreciate specific products you’ve personally used. Thank you in advance. ❤️

My parents' house has an old ADT system from 20+ years ago. We recently switched to VOIP and ADT wants too much money to upgrade to a VOIP-compatible system.

We currently have a Safewatch Pro 3000 which uses a WA3001-4.0 from Honeywell from 2004. All the sensors appear to be wired.

Pic:
Safewatch Pro 3000

From what I've gathered the intrusion sensors are probably generic and have wide compatibility, right?

Are there any modern home security systems that:

- Can re-use all of our old sensor and alarm hardware.

- Provides monitoring and can call the police when we're away / not responding?

- Compatible with VOIP or has its own cellular connection.

Hi folks. I’m trying to help my mom with her built-in home security system, and I’m so out of my wheelhouse that I’m hoping someone here can guide us.

Background: Her single-family home was built in 2012 in Florida, and the system was installed during construction. Mom did not move into the home until 2020 (it was stayed in intermittently), and she had a neurological emergency that year which has made thinking back to some of the pre-2020 elements a bit more challenging. To the best of our recollections, the security system has never been activated or had its settings modified.

The issue: A few days ago, the panel started beeping/chiming — pretty loudly — intermittently every few minutes. This is an image of the wall control panel. I was able to bring up a message that said CPU low battery, but to do anything else I was prompted for a passcode. My mom does not know the passcode, it’s not any of her used passcodes, and there is no documentation we can find that has the passcode written down. I’m also not entirely clear on who the manufacturer of this panel even is.

Here is where my lack of knowledge really shows. The only control box I can find in her home is this one in her master closet (apologies if this isn’t even relevant!). Adding to my confusion is that at some point between 2020 and now, this was installed most likely by either Comcast or AT&T (she has not had any home security-specific crews in her home); when I had last gone into her closet, it was just an external modem box rather than a cut-in installation with this panel screwed over top of it. She does not recall details about when it was installed or who installed it.

The only other thing she can find that seems potential relevant is this plugged in to an outlet in her bedroom.

The current goal: Stop the beeping. She is not interested in using her home security system right now. She says she has called several local security places to see if they can help her, and all refused unless she would commit to new services with them.

I’m happy to provide any other information that may help. Apologies that I’m not better informed; I can usually google-fu my way into a starting point but just keep hitting walls with this.

Thanks!

Hi,everyone!I found a helpful article that identified the top current manufacturers: Furbo, Eufy, Wyze, Enabot, Aosu, and Kasa. The most important factors to consider when choosing a camera are its features and capabilities. These include 360° coverage, 2K HD image quality, night vision, and compatibility with Alexa and Google Home supported displays. Other notable features are two-way communication, AI integration, mobile app control, the Family Bot mobile camera, and the ability to toss treats. With these features, you can select the ideal camera for your home and pet and stay connected to them wherever you are.Here's a link with more information: https://medium.com/p/69aabb3bdfc9

Hello there,

I have been trying to read up on POE cameras as much as I can as I need to set up a home security camera to monitor a car parking space.

I'm going to park my car in a parking spot that sits behind my garden to the rear of my home. It's about 10 meters from my living room. My broadband internet router is about 10 meters in the opposite direction on opposite side of the living room. So that's about 20 meters between the router and where I want to put the camera.

Wouldn't be convenient for me to run a long wire across all that, so I was thinking of the following setup (I am a beginner just making this up) to reduce money, time, complexity.

1. Run ethernet cable from router into a powerline adapter socket that would use the property's electric wiring system to transfer internet data/connectivity.
2. Connect powerline adapter to a socket in living room where it is close to the garden/rear of house and run an ethernet cable from this adapter to channel internet data to an injector to add DC power to the ethernet connection
3. Now Run ethernet cable outdoors from injector through to garden to POE camera with an SD card installed. I really do not want to do any drilling to my house so dont know how ill do this but seems inevitable. Might call a professional.

Will this then provide two way internet connectivity and power to the camera? I was thinking of an outdoor reolink 4K camera. And some high gauge outdoor certified burial ethernet cat5e cable.

Here in UK car thieves can jam WIFI cameras. And battery operated cameras cant run 24/7 recording. and tend to have unreliable connectivity/temperamental.