I’m new here and hope for some home security camera advice. I’d like to find a DIY (no monthly fee) home security camera that uses limited data.
Where I live, the ONLY internet service available is through AT&T’s cell phone service. I therefore have a Unite 770S hotspot that gives me wi-fi, but my monthly cell data plan is limited to 5GB.
Does anyone have an educated estimate of how much data a wi-fi camera will use per month – if it is used ONLY when motion is detected and notifications are sent to two cell phone numbers, and video is recorded in the camera’s flash drive (not in the Cloud, because of limited data on my plan)?
If a wi-fi camera is likely to use up too much data, would a camera that sends notifications via a SIM card use any cell phone data? I have unlimited talk minutes on my cell phone plan.
Thanks for any information and suggestions…
I recommend spending a little more on the camera to get one with software that will face detect, and setting it up to send you a notification with a single frame including the face as a photo (which will use data, but only as much as one still image, so likely not expensive for a months worth of alerts, especially if the software can recognize faces of known common people meant to be there, which some like “Nest cam IQ” do)… no need to put the video online on a wifi camera, just accross your network to a DVR pc . This computer needs good network connection (I would run ethernet to your switch or AP at minimum) but otherwise can be pretty low spec to support up to 8 or so cameras, aside obviously from that will need decent hard drive capacity in order to both write fast enough to support all cameras and store for a decent duration as if something happens while your away you don’t want that footage overwritten before you can flag it important, so do your research regarding how many cameras\what bitrates you can support, and I’d recommend getting a bigger DVR that you need, avoids headaches and allows you to add cameras in future. After all security cameras are more often used to provide evidence once something has been done than actually allow you to stop it… also if you get a long range network access ponit (the Ubiquitiy LR is great) you can be pretty far from your house and still on the home network, thus able to stream cameras without using data.
Have a read of the P2P IP camera info below.
Hikvision cameras were quite popular but they are moving away from selling direct to public so I would recommend looking at Reolink cameras on Amazon. From basic record only to SD recording and Wifi capable versions up to their very affordable RLC-423 motorised, zoom, face following camera etc.
Basically I just plugged two cameras in to a PoE (Power Over Ethernet) 5 port (1 upload port) Netgear switch and plugged that into my broadband router. All you need is the unique UID from each camera to find them via P2P (Reolink client) and get an instant stream to your Smartphone or desktop. It’s a pull system so you only use bandwidth when you view. With the Reolink cameras at 1440p capable you go super high quality down to 480p with say 1 fps. Software allows movement triggering zones and schedules etc. plus alerts. I’ve currently set them to 720p with 8 fps being on broadband and that’s more enough quality to see and night vision is good too.
Reolink have decent website and more importantly are supported by QNAP & Sysnology for example just in case you wanted to use a NAS for the surveillance centre. Or just buy a Reolink bundle with included NVR. So local recording like an SD card in each camera and no bandwidth used unless you want a live stream or review recordings.
I couldn’t believe how simple it was to setup the cameras and access them over the net once I’d done the hard bit of running PoE cable around my house. I’m intending to buy a NAS in the near future (I have a PC based XPEnology one but not for 24/7) and will maybe add a single internal camera. I’ll also consider putting the cameras in a separate VLAN or physical network for more security seeing as they do technically allow traffic in and out of my LAN.
Example bundle.
https://www.amazon.com/Reolink-Security-Megapixels-2560x1440-RLK8-410B2D2/dp/B010UH3NQ0/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1509617426&sr=8-2-spons&keywords=reolink%2Bnvr&th=1