Recommend an outdoor security camera?

[wahoowad]

Bought mom an outdoor security camera but didn't realize you also needed to pay the monthly fee to them view the video it takes, unless of course you happen to be watching the live feed.

There is a dizzying number of cameras and systems out there - drinking from a firehose at the moment trying to make sense of all the features. I'd like an outdoor camera that:

• uses 120v, not battery
• outdoor/night motion
• can write to a network drive (USB drive attached to her router) or to a free cloud account like OneDrive/Google Drive
• can send alerts + images based upon motion (don't need to view video remotely)

Anybody know enough about these cameras to recommend one that will do this? The thing I want to avoid is paying for a new cloud service.

 

[stee6043]

You're going to get a lot of different opinions on this. It is the internet, after all.

I will be (finally) investing in my first round of outdoor cameras in January. I've gone back and forth on two very different offerings - Nest Outdoor and Arlo Pro.

I assume you have the Nest. Many folks don't like their subscription requirement. I'd suggest you look at the Arlo cameras instead. The newest models can be fully wireless or wired for power (if you want) and you do not have to pay a fee to use them. The downside (my opinion) - what they record is activity based. So you don't get 24/7 recorded content. You'll get snapshots of what it recorded based on motion or other events.

I'll be going with the Nest because I'd like to have access 24/7 to the video. I finally convinced myself I didn't want to miss anything if I'm going to make the investment in the cameras. And I like the idea of everything being on a cloud and not in my house, on a drive or SD card.

My two cents only.

 

[stee6043]

This is the Arlo with the optional wired power:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075P84FH2/?tag=hearthamazon-20

 

[Bad LP]

Arlo. Mine is wireless and dumps email to my phone and a message direct from Arlo. No monthly fees.

I know what time my roofer showed up and left today for shoveling the roof.

 

[HappyTrails]

If you change your mind down the road, or if your needs change, then I would highly recommend alarm.com. I would also recommend Power over Ethernet (PoE) cameras.