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Featured Replies

Ring is Amazon.  AND, teams up with Flock and other law-enforcement spying outfits, so....no thanks.  That said, wouldn't mind some sort of remote monitoring system, both for our main home here and our flat in Scotland.  Any recommendations for a simple system that provides functionality like a Ring does, but without Ring's baggage and negatives?

Maybe Blink. That’s what I have. Don’t think they share without consent but not sure

I mentioned it elsewhere, but I have been impressed with a couple of Wyze cameras we bought to surveil the back yard.

Apparently some former Amazon tech people.

Not connected to any nefarious shit, AFAIK, and cheap.

If we get anymore "smart" shit, it's highly likely to be Wyze.

How deep down the rabbit hole do you want to go?

Are we talking cloud/wifi shit, or real PoE cams with local storage and backup?

Don't use vivint, we use them and I'm just not impressed with thier product. Support is extremely limited for older models and the upsell hassle gets old. 

Edited by Mother mopar
Spelling is hard

1 hour ago, Updawg said:

Maybe Blink. That’s what I have. Don’t think they share without consent but not sure

Blink is also amazon, but we chose them because there is an option for local storage.

I use the Nest one and it works fine.  Google has its own issues anymore, and I think like pretty much all of them they can be exploited by LE for "emergencies," but they haven't done any of the "voluntary partnership" bullshit that Ring has. 

Mostly I just wanted to say that Flock can get fucked.

I use the Nest one and it works fine.  Google has its own issues anymore, and I think like pretty much all of them they can be exploited by LE for "emergencies," but they haven't done any of the "voluntary partnership" bullshit that Ring has. 

Mostly I just wanted to say that Flock can get fucked.

b181564b0d576f1410d1ee6d8bcb45bf.jpg

If you want an alarm, we've been quite content with our Simplisafe stuff.  Cheap, works, decent interface.  Not as cheap as Wyze and actually probably not as good as far as the pure camera tech.  Not sure if they have alarm parts of their system.

If that hijacking thing is a big concern, holler. I’ll hold the rope down the rabbit hole. 

I’m team Blink. I think the new mini blink 4k has better picture and cheaper than wyze for the extra video quality. Very easy to set up. We have about 20. 

6 minutes ago, UT_OB1 said:

I’m team Blink. I think the new mini blink 4k has better picture and cheaper than wyze for the extra video quality. Very easy to set up. We have about 20. 

19 of the 20 are focused on his bed. 

  • Author

Groovy. Got the boy looking at some of the options yall have suggested here.

17 hours ago, Mother mopar said:

Don't use vivint, we use them and I'm just not impressed with thier product. Support is extremely limited for older models and the upsell hassle gets old. 

I wouldn't touch any service (alarm, cams) that are centered on high, monthly subscription plans for "active" monitoring. The profit margins must be ridiculous.

UI if you want something a bit more pro, but you really only benefit if you also use them for your wifi. Also does cameras, access control, etc.

11 minutes ago, Sam Lin said:

UI if you want something a bit more pro, but you really only benefit if you also use them for your wifi. Also does cameras, access control, etc.

 

It looks like I should have got more rope for the rabbit hole.

Do you need 24/7 recordings? Almost every doorbell cam will store video snippets, triggered by movement, on the cloud. Very few cams will store 24/7. 

We use the Google Nest doorbell.  We also have a few Nest cameras.  One thing I liked is that Google's Nest Aware subscription gives you storage for all their devices on a single plan.  Trying to figure out the storage/recording options on these different products was a pain.

1 hour ago, zman13 said:

Do you need 24/7 recordings? Almost every doorbell cam will store video snippets, triggered by movement, on the cloud. Very few cams will store 24/7. 

 

Many cams store 24/7. Ultra-cheap wi-fi shit will not.

 

Edited by thunderlounge

We got the Google "Hello" (currently Nest) mostly because our doorbell chime was broken, we have the Google Home speakers, and that doorbell would chime the Home speakers when someone rings the bell.  I've had to replace the button/camera once, but it was cheap, snapped into place, and was easy to set up as a replacement.  Featurewise, it's been solid.

I think my FIL uses Arlo. He likes it afaik. 

I’ve toyed with getting a bunch of Arlo stuff for the house. Haven’t done it yet, because I’d prefer it to be hardwired, and I don’t feel like getting in the attic.
7 hours ago, Jkwellborn said:


I’ve toyed with getting a bunch of Arlo stuff for the house. Haven’t done it yet, because I’d prefer it to be hardwired, and I don’t feel like getting in the attic.

 

I can’t get in my attic. But that’s ok. I’ll make an electrician do it. While they’re at it, they can terminate the bastards too.

Oh, and while they’re fucking around, they can add a few more drops to places I couldn’t get to through the basement. 

I use Blink and the only complaint I have is the inability to speak through cameras that are active. It's literally impossible to do while it's recording so I have 2 cameras at the front: one to speak through and another to detect people. 

3 hours ago, HRSchenker said:

I use Blink and the only complaint I have is the inability to speak through cameras that are active. It's literally impossible to do while it's recording so I have 2 cameras at the front: one to speak through and another to detect people. 

Which version of camera do you have? I was noticing that Amazon has Black Friday deals with the Blink outdoor 4 cameras.

 

14 hours ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Which version of camera do you have? I was noticing that Amazon has Black Friday deals with the Blink outdoor 4 cameras.

 

I think they're branded as the XT2. The camera works fine for motion detection and the two way communication is good, I just can't do both at the same time on 1 camera. If the newer one fixes this bug I might have to upgrade. 

On 11/23/2025 at 8:22 PM, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Which version of camera do you have? I was noticing that Amazon has Black Friday deals with the Blink outdoor 4 cameras.

 

I think the “outdoor” camera is just the mini with a battery. I use lots of the minis outside, mostly no issues. Get the mini 2 4k while in sale for about $24 each. I just got 2 and it’s an upgrade over the regular mini2, which was a huge improvement over the first mini. 

Fucking hate Ring. 

I did not realize the extent to which the device is just a platform to upsell on endless subscriptions and accessories. It seems every other functionality is locked behind tiers and there's constantly prodding on the app and through emails to buy new Ring shit.

I don't care at all for monitoring the house while away. I just wanted to see who's ringing the door. Thinking about putting in a vanilla security camera above the door and just whipping out to view the footage on-demand.

16 minutes ago, 52-80 said:

Fucking hate Ring. 

I did not realize the extent to which the device is just a platform to upsell on endless subscriptions and accessories. It seems every other functionality is locked behind tiers and there's constantly prodding on the app and through emails to buy new Ring shit.

I don't care at all for monitoring the house while away. I just wanted to see who's ringing the door. Thinking about putting in a vanilla security camera above the door and just whipping out to view the footage on-demand.

Interesting strategy...

I'm considering the Blink camera due to the simplicity of a battery operated camera and a relatively small monthly subscription cost. $4 for 1 camera, $11 for unlimited.  Cameras are not free.

I don't have a security issue but I imagine that I will mainly see cats, raccoons or possums walking around at night.

I don’t have any electricity outside at my front door. I got a battery operated Eufy. It has a plug in wireless doorbell with an SD card to store the events. Does most everything the subscription models do. And it’s cheap, like me.

On 11/25/2025 at 8:21 AM, 52-80 said:

Fucking hate Ring. 

I did not realize the extent to which the device is just a platform to upsell on endless subscriptions and accessories. It seems every other functionality is locked behind tiers and there's constantly prodding on the app and through emails to buy new Ring shit.

Maybe it is because I paid a bit more for a Ring "Pro" model from a dealer (installed along with internet, cameras, etc. as part of a new build), but I pay no fees, and get no solicitations for products, subscriptions, etc.

Edited by Tonesky

Having an issue where my blink gadgets won’t stay online, though my hub does.  Disabled router band switching thinking that was it but no joy.  Doorbell will instantly reconnect when the button is pushed though. 

22 hours ago, TexPx said:

I don’t have any electricity outside at my front door. I got a battery operated Eufy. It has a plug in wireless doorbell with an SD card to store the events. Does most everything the subscription models do. And it’s cheap, like me.

Yep. Came to recommend Eufy.

I didn't need wireless but I needed on board SD card recording and no cloud BS or subscriptions, and it fits the bill nicely.

Records on motion or sound with app love monitoring, camera control and clip playback.

Pulled the trigger on a Blink outdoor system today with the Amazon specials. Decided to go with the non-subscription option and added a microsd card to keep the recordings. 
 

EDIT: first day review. Very simple set up and install. I am slightly disappointed that blink cameras only accept 2.4ghz WiFi when 5ghz has extended ranges. Two of my cameras are far enough where the WiFi is weak (according to Blink)  so I had to connect the cameras using Blink’s XR tech (whatever that is) and it’s limited to 2 cameras only with that connection. For now, no additional cameras. I may test other configs of my WiFi antennas to see if that helps or even an WiFi extender.

At night the infrared is reflecting off the house effectively blinding the night vision of my yard. I will need to change the camera position and angle so the house wall is not on camera.

Edited by Nice Guy Eddie

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