Wow, thank you all for the amazing help! @erktrek ya I know its not preventing the robbery but my wife and I just got a new house(our first one) and were doing some remodeling and I just dont want to spend money on an alarm system that cant be integrated to a smarthub like the HE.
@mcneelyworld thanks for the tip on the Blueiris, i will be looking into that today! Do they offer local storage? I need a system that I can store video local and not to a cloud. Help in return, for the 4g idea you said. I have an Att 4g modem, it also has integrated battery. Get a managed switch router with 2 wan ports. One for your home internet, the other for the 4g modem (mine also has a lan port) and you just have to program it to prioritize the home lan port and incase it doesnt has internet connection (i.e. doesnt ping to 8.8.8.8 thats google, then use secondary lan port (4g modem) that way you dont ever lose your security if they cut the power, even your internet provider cable!
SOmeone has heard about the new Arlo Ultra cameras, I know theyre on the expensive side
So I have the older Arlo Pro cameras and I have to say I have not had great experiences with them. The 7 day free video retention is nice but I had issues with having to re-pair my cameras constantly after changing the batteries or an update. Most likely this has changed though.
I would also say that 7-day retention is not enough. I had my bike stolen out of our garage last early spring and did not realize it until June and by then it was too late. Interestingly I WAS able to go back 3 months on my Ring Pro Doorbell but sadly did not see anything (it was a lot of video).
Have since installed Ring floodlights in our backyard/driveway areas which have replaced most of the Arlos.
Yes! BlueIris is all about local storage but it also has the ability to back your footage up to a NAS or even the cloud if you choose. Just be aware that a proper BlueIris system needs it's own dedicated PC that is on 24/7, but there are loads of good options out there in the used market on ebay for Dell Optiplex small form factor systems with i7 processors for 2-300 dollars, with 8 gigs of ram and 1TB drives that work beautifully for BlueIris. It is also pretty well supported on IPcamTalk.com and also the blueiris forum @ Blue Iris User-User Forum - Index page
It is a little bit intimidating at first, but once you get it set up, it is really easy to maintain. I ran it for the first 4 years that I had it using only wireless IP cameras and almost never had an issue, and that was on a shared 6 year old computer. Just stay away from high megapixel cameras and you will be fine. Anything over 4MP and the night vision capabilities start to go way down unless you spend big dough on cameras or blast a lot of light all over the place.
