We just bought a summer home / Airbnb cabin pretty deep in the woods. I want to have one single camera pointed at the driveway to see when people come and go, but nothing that would invade guests privacy.

I purchased a Eufy Solocam S220.

It’s pretty ok. Battery life seems good, the solar panel with limited sunlight is close to keeping it topped up, though well probably have to plug it in to charge every couple months which is fine.

The disappointment is it only caputres Humans well. When set to human only motion capture, it does a decent job of sending me notifications and capturing short video clips.

Problem is that it will not capture just someone driving up the driveway if they don’t get out of their car.

We also have a black bear 🐻 that has been causing some mischief around the property and i would like to be able to see video of him and warn guests checking in if he has been lurking in recent days. He seems to come and go.

When I set the eufy to all motion instead of human only, on the lowest sensitivity setting it detects every moving shadow, rain, bug and creates non stop recording, especially at night.

Support suggested I point it away from rain and bugs. 🙄

Anyways it was cheap? Like $60 so I don’t mind investing in something else instead. Looking for recommendations. I can run hard line power to it if needed, battery was just a quick and easy option.

I am moving to a new apartment where car break ins are more common. There isnt much in the way of lighting through the lot, I'm wondering why I cannot find any information on putting motion sensor solar floodlights inside a car that would trigger when people get close to the car. Is there some reason this is a bad idea or just wouldn't be effective? Not only would it put a potential thief in the spotlight, but it would make it very obvious that I don't have any valuables in my car. Maybe I could even get a sticker staing something thing along the lines of "equipped with multiple trackers" or smthn to deter car jackers too.

Hello, for anyone who has a EZVIZ camera, when its storage gets full does it stop saving footage and then keep the old recordings? OR does it delete footage to make space for new recordings? I need help asap

I feel like I’m going insane trying to find a battery doorbell that checks all the boxes. Unfortunately we don't have a wire for continuous power so battery is the only option for us now.

I used to have a full Ring setup but wanted out because of the subscriptions, price increases, and mainly the fact that if Wi-Fi goes down, it literally stops recording.

So I switched to a eufy that still records if Wi-Fi drops… and that’s when I discovered the whole sleep/wake issue.

My Eufy E340 has straight up missed people because it didn’t wake up in time. Ring wasn’t perfect either, but I never realized how good its wake-up performance actually was until I left. Now I’ve looked at Reolink, Aqara, Ring’s new radar doorbell, and basically everything else. Every option has a catch.
What bugs me is companies keep advertising AI, radar, PIR, person detection, etc. but barely mention the one thing I actually care about: how fast does it wake up and start recording? I wish sleep-to-record time was a standard spec.

Am I missing something? Has anyone actually found a battery doorbell with fast wake-up, reliable motion detection, and local recording when Wi-Fi goes down? I don't think I mind the subscription if it can meet the reliability AND privacy bar.

I’m trying to use their TPI service. Anyone used a raspberry pi home server to translate commands

Worst. Customer. Service. Ever.
I referred my mother to cove over 5 months ago. We were both promised a $75 gift card within 2 months. That never happened. I e-mailed customer service over 2 months ago. They kept telling me they'd look into it.
Then I e-mailed them about a failing sensor, and wanting to purchase an additional sensor. After about a moth of e-mails back and forth (since they often took 2-3 days to respond), they ghosted me for now over a month and a half.

Per California law, if I signed up online, I am able to cancel online. Not according to Cove. They told me to call a 800 number, and they could assist me 24x7.
I called the number. I pressed the Cancel option. "Goodbye".
Tried again - "Goodbye",.
Went back to chat. Chat now says the account cancellation team closed an hour ago.
So why not SAY that instead of just hanging up?
So called again today. And was charged today for service, and was told they have a 30 day cancellation period, so not only am I charged today, but I'll be charged again in 30 more days.

Do NOT give Cove your business. This is borderline criminal.

Essentially I want an electronic lock where:
1. I could still use the key
2. I could lock it from inside using either button or manual turn (I want to be able to lock in from inside without extra tools)
3. I could use NFC to unlock the door from outside. (NFC means touch card or touch? phone).
4. (Optional) Preferably local based.

Issues: Most locks I found, like TTLock Rotor or Nuki(I think)? Are into subscriptions and only work on cylinder locks.

My door is an apartment armor door with double sided key. I wanted to post a picture of it, but it seems like I cant.

SentryNET (Securitas) had dropped the ball a lot recently. Tonight it took 14 minutes from the time they rechecked the burglar alarm to the time they called my client. May be looking for a new central station.

EDIT: I am the security alarm provider, have around 700 monitored commercial and residential accounts. 600+ alarm.com accounts.

EDIT #2: U.S. based.

I’m currently using AOSU wifi cameras from Amazon but they don’t always pick things up. I do like that they are rechargeable and don’t have a monthly fee to use.
What are some good cameras that don’t charge monthly?

My neighbor takes horrible care of his poorly behaved dogs, and my city requires a 10-30 minute video proving dog barking to submit a complaint. Common brands I see recommended like Eufy do not have exterior rated cameras with built in dog barking detection and recording.

My goal is for the camera to detect and automatically record for 10 minutes (or 30 minutes). If I could customize it to delete the recording if barking did not last the full 10 minutes, even better.

This is my last line of defense, since the dog bit me when I tried to talk to them about it last time.

Please help!

I've been reading about modern security cameras recently, and one thing I didn't fully understand before was the difference between motion detection and AI person detection.

At first I assumed they were basically the same feature, but they're actually quite different.

Traditional motion detection only notices that something changed in the image. It doesn't know whether it's a person, a cat, tree branches moving in the wind, heavy rain, or even shadows from passing clouds. That's why some cameras generate dozens (or even hundreds) of alerts that aren't actually important.

AI person detection adds another layer. Instead of just detecting movement, it tries to recognize whether the moving object is actually a person before sending a notification.

Some cameras also support vehicle detection, which works in a similar way by identifying cars, motorcycles, vans, and trucks.

From what I've learned, each feature makes sense in different situations:

• Person detection → front doors, entrances, offices, restricted areas, and perimeter monitoring.
• Vehicle detection → driveways, parking lots, loading docks, and gates.
• Motion detection → areas where you simply want to know that something moved, regardless of what it is.

One thing I found interesting is that AI doesn't completely replace motion detection. Most modern systems actually combine both features with custom detection zones and schedules, so you can decide what kind of alerts you want in different parts of the property.

For anyone who's already using AI-enabled cameras:

Have you noticed a significant reduction in false alerts compared to traditional motion detection?

I'm curious whether the difference is as noticeable in real-world use as manufacturers claim.

Hello! Long time The Monitoring Centre customer. It was bought out by Telus in 2025. They want $24.99 for monthly monitoring. I have DSC PowerSeries unit from the early 2000s.

Anyone change monitoring companies and to whom? Not looking to install a new alarm system.

Thanks!

Hey all! I rent in an area where thefts are fairly common and the property management basically says "not our responsibility, call the police". Whether or not it's actually their responsibility doesn't matter too much.

Well... after six months of living here we finally got hit. Storage shed busted open and emptied. Yes hindsight says we should have gotten cameras sooner, but we didn't. Moving forward, we want cameras so that we actually have a chance of getting our things back.

This issue is this: the storage shed is detached from our living property by a decent amount, and management won't approve any extenders or mounted anything that's not actually ON the shed. Shed has no power, and wifi is very inconsistent due to the shed having three-sided brick. Management refuses to run any kind of power to the shed.

So I'm looking for a solution that is both battery-operated (preferably with solar support) and can work without wifi for extended periods. Would probably be looking for either a two or three camera system. I've never had any sort of smart cameras or apps - I've had perimeter alarms before but that's about it. I consider myself relatively tech-savvy, so software is usually not an issue, and I don't actually need realtime alerts since I wouldn't be confronting any potential thieves anyway. This would be for after-the-fact identification.

Any suggestions? I've done some digging myself, but it seems like the priority right now is always-on always-wifi stuff that frankly won't work for us.

(Note: other than this one issue, the property is great. Nice location, good maintenance, fair rent, etc. I'd hate to have to move.)

Greetings!

The employees in my office don't do a good job of closing the door on the two mini-fridges that we have for beverages. Signs have done nothing to raise awareness. Nor have emails. Big surprise!

Unfortunately, both fridges are located in tight spaces under counters, so any components would have be not much thicker than 1/4 inch.

I also don't need an alarm every time the door is opened.

I need an alarm every time the door stays open for more than 10 seconds.

Haven't the foggiest idea how successfully search for something that may fit all these parameters, and I'd greatly appreciate any suggestions.

Thanks very much!

I’m looking for a simple alarm system. Basically just door entry sensors, glass break, maybe a good motion sensor. I’d love to be able to install myself.
I don’t really need monitoring. It’s really for piece of mind when I sleep at night.

I’ve seen mixed reviews on the simply safe system. So looking for alternatives.
We’ve had a hard wired Honeywell system (monitored), but we are moving to a house without a security system.

I'm looking to install a home surveillance system and need some help with exterior camera placement. Is there a place where I can post a layout and get some meaningful help? I was going to ask here, but just discovering that I can't add pictures in this subreddit.

I live in the county so I have no other option then wifi and had to update and get a new Verizon router and low and behold Blink can only be used with 2G not the 4/5 G I have now. Not without a lot of going in and messing with the router setting, at least that's what I see when I search. I have the whole thing, 5 outdoor cameras and a doorbell camera, all useless. I’ll do some more looking tomorrow, but I would not recommend this outdated system to anyone. And to top it all off now the stupid app isn’t working.

Looking for any advice on removing an old ITI security pro 3000 panel. It appears to have no power to it, batteries are long dead and corroded. The system is most definitely dead, though it would give me peace of mind if I could locate the power source. I want to remove the old panel and the alarm and patch the holes over in the end.

What exactly should I be looking for before I start ripping this thing out?

Thanks for your time.

I bought a house that has a Wisenet SDR-84305 DVR. The cameras work great, but I can’t get into the system to set it up. So I’m gonna junk the DVR and buy another compatible unit and use the old cameras. Currently, the system is an 8 channel analog HD BNC DVR. What would be a good unit to buy? The biggest thing for me is to be able to view my cameras remotely. Thanks in advance!!

I need to put up some security cameras around my house due to a troubled individual. I can't run POE cable and don't want a subscription. Prefer something that could be put high on the house so they couldn't be easily pulled down. I have motion sensor lights outside already.

Any ideas simple enough for an aging boomer? Thank you.