Light socket security cameras seem to be a convenient way to add a security camera to the house. But none of the big names (Google, Amazon, etc.) has made any. I would like to hear from those who have installed and used this sort of security cameras. Are they any good and any that you would recommend?
Light Socket Security Cameras - How Good Are They?
BendBridge on 30/06/2023 - 10:58
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Which model are you looking at? I found early gen ones had fisheye affect to get a 360 view.. which was cool .. in theory but distorted everything and footage was practically useless for security use unless you only wanted to check the house wasn’t on fire or something.
Nothing in particular really. Just Googled around and found they were surprisingly cheap. Could you share your experience about the ones you are happy with? I think the app design is important for this sort of application. I also prefer one that records videos locally on an SD card.
I bought one off AliEpress.
Video quality is OK in daylight, but it is incapable of seeing anything in the dark despite claims to the contrary by the seller.
It does OK if there is some external illumination, but the IR LED's are just not powerful enough to illuminate anything, even waving my hand 1m in front of the lens you barely see anything.
In addition to this, the tracking is fooled by any movement, even a leaf blowing across the lawn.
So the camera ends up pointing at nothing. Sometimes it returns to the "home", other times it seems perfectly happy to wait staring at nothing important.Depends on what you need though I guess.
If you just need a static camera, to notify you of someone at your front door in daytime (provided tracking is off and you're happy to get continual false "human detections"), then it could be fine for your needs.
Light socket security cameras seem to be a convenient way to add a security camera to the house.
Random no-brand security cameras strike me as a great way to compromise the security of your home network though.
There's loads of information on how even branded cameras are insecure, let alone totally unbranded stuff that will never get security updates.
WOuld always say put any security cams in a isolated vlan, and as restrictive firewall rules as possible.
Of course. But look at the original post and all the replies so far- this is not VLAN discussion territory. So I am leaving it as "think three times before installing cheap dodgy famously shit gear in your network"
I wonder how many of those 360 degree ones are installed in places they shouldn't be.
Bought an ali express 5MP 2k- 5G version.
Received a 1080(2mp), no sim cam.
For a 1080 cam, its great. Night (IR and led lit) and day mode clear, tracking works.well. App crashes a bit. But i wanted 2k..so asked for a refund. 2 weeks later (after sending in video to prove its 1080) Ali express want a video of me using my phone via the app showing its 1080. Impossible task.
They refunded me half. Need to work out how Paypal disputes work to get the.lot back.
If there actually is a 2k or 4k verion out there, it will likely be great.
Im going to use this one simply as a led light that follows you around the bbq at night.
Anyone found a good version yet?
https://youtu.be/uZCU8OUu0oc
This is an excellent comparison. You can find most of the Tuya ones on ali express around the $40 to $90 range.