Internet Camera

Interesting, these apps have been out for a while but I just noticed them.

Basically, they turn your old (or current) iPhones and iPads into internet cameras:

www.manything.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SDrCgvAkbg

www.presencepro.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwYy3M-oYfo

They both basically do the same thing, are free apps, and have similar features but  they have some differentiating sub features (for example, in Manything, you can set motion zones in the video and for Presence there are rules you can create on when to monitor).

Both also have a small amount of free cloud storage (you can pay for more).

Presence also has some add-on accessories like a motion stand that lets you rotate your iPhone around for a larger field of vision.

I'm going to give both a try and see which one is better (I have an old 3GS, iPad 2 and a 4 somewhere).
 
Had the dropcam for a month, have to say it was the easiest camera setup.  Foscams took hours, dropcam took minutes.  Not pannable but the fisheye lense gives a nice broad image.  I'm still debating whether to subscribe to the cvr service. 

Funny was over at friends new place and found out he has issues with setting up his foscams, told him to go with dropcams since setup was a bitch with Internet cameras.  My IT friend overheard and said setting up a foscam should take minutes only.  Well he tried to set it up that night, 1hr and no luck.  Knew he was in trouble when he had to ask for a paper clip for a factory reset of the foscam, been there done that.

If dropcams ever go on sale, I'll probably pick up another one.
 
The dropcams rarely go on sale. I have three, two dropcam pros I bought at full price and then picked up a regular dropcam for 100 on thanksgiving weekend when it was $50 off, so got it for $100.

I gave the cvr service on all three cameras. It's great because I have been able to record a lot of things my daughter has done for the first time. The activity feed is great to see when there has been any movement. A couple of times out daughter has started crying while we were in the kitchen and we were able to rewind to see what happened. In general though I would recommend the pro vs the hd. The extra $50 is worth it for the wider angle and clearer picture.
 
Anybody tried Netgear's Arlo ?  Looks similar to dropcam but they have the basic plan for free (1GB storage for 7 days)

Found a deal from Amazon for a free $100 gift card when you buy the 4 packs (so net $399+tax):
http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=amb_link_432386842_3?ie=UTF8&docId=1003004161&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=hero-quick-promo&pf_rd_r=1W8ACEW8KAZAX1P9T724&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_p=2090325742&pf_rd_i=B00P7EVST6

I don't really need all 4 cameras, but was thinking I can sell the unused ones in ebay and would still be a good deal  (Each add-on camera is $160 in amazon, but can probably sell new for $130 or so in ebay based on sold listings).

My dlink outdoor camera is becoming very unreliable lately (due probably to the rain and all because the indoor models ones  are working fine) 

 
Yes, that is what I have. Started small, thinking we wouldn't need that many but ended up buying more & more cameras. My advice is to buy more than you think you will need. They come in handy. We have some set up in pairs so that the second one doesn't start recording unless the first one is triggered. You'll learn as you go. I like the system a lot. I get notifications and check them from my phone.
 
SoCal said:
Yes, that is what I have. Started small, thinking we wouldn't need that many but ended up buying more & more cameras. My advice is to buy more than you think you will need. They come in handy. We have some set up in pairs so that the second one doesn't start recording unless the first one is triggered. You'll learn as you go. I like the system a lot. I get notifications and check them from my phone.
Click to expand...

hhmm.. I really only need one (or two at most) to replace the outdoor ones.  My indoor dlink camera all works very well and way much cheaper :)

Curious, why do you need the tandem ?  is it to extend the recording time beyond the 30 second limit ? does it have significant gaps in the recording if you only have one ?
 
irvinehomeowner said:
The Mrs. is dead set against using an Internet cam.

She's afraid someone can hack in and spy on our children or us.
Click to expand...

Tell the wifey, people would  be wiling to pay for the IHO view  ;)
 
GH said:
hhmm.. I really only need one (or two at most) to replace the outdoor ones.  My indoor dlink camera all works very well and way much cheaper :)

Curious, why do you need the tandem ?  is it to extend the recording time beyond the 30 second limit ? does it have significant gaps in the recording if you only have one ?
Click to expand...

Mainly because it takes a little bit for the camera to connect to the internet. So, if you tell Camera 2 to begin recording when Camera 1 is triggered, it will capture everything instead of having a few seconds of delay. Otherwise, if the intruder is really quick, it may only get a split second of them. The other reason is, since we are using these outdoors, sometimes you have interference from birds or windy branches. We have 2 birds' nests near one of our cameras. The camera was coming on every time they flew in and out of their nests. So, we turned that censor off and had it start recording only when another camera before it was triggered, coming up our walkway. You also have the option of adjusting the sensitivity. So, that is something else to take into account. If it's too sensitive, it could record every passing car. If it's not sensitive enough, you will miss someone egging your house.

It's only a 30 second time span if that's what you want. It will record for any length of time you want. I have mine set to 1 minute. 

Speaking of nests. If you want to watch the development, you can focus a camera into the nest. Two baby bunnies began living in my yard. I go to the store and buy them celery. I lay two stalks out every night, in front of a camera. Then I can watch their growth and development and see which food they like me to give them.
 
SoCal said:
GH said:
hhmm.. I really only need one (or two at most) to replace the outdoor ones.  My indoor dlink camera all works very well and way much cheaper :)

Curious, why do you need the tandem ?  is it to extend the recording time beyond the 30 second limit ? does it have significant gaps in the recording if you only have one ?
Click to expand...

Mainly because it takes a little bit for the camera to connect to the internet. So, if you tell Camera 2 to begin recording when Camera 1 is triggered, it will capture everything instead of having a few seconds of delay. Otherwise, if the intruder is really quick, it may only get a split second of them. The other reason is, since we are using these outdoors, sometimes you have interference from birds or windy branches. We have 2 birds' nests near one of our cameras. The camera was coming on every time they flew in and out of their nests. So, we turned that censor off and had it start recording only when another camera before it was triggered, coming up our walkway. You also have the option of adjusting the sensitivity. So, that is something else to take into account. If it's too sensitive, it could record every passing car. If it's not sensitive enough, you will miss someone egging your house.

It's only a 30 second time span if that's what you want. It will record for any length of time you want. I have mine set to 1 minute. 

Speaking of nests. If you want to watch the development, you can focus a camera into the nest. Two baby bunnies began living in my yard. I go to the store and buy them celery. I lay two stalks out every night, in front of a camera. Then I can watch their growth and development and see which food they like me to give them.
Click to expand...

thanks.  the tandem to ignore leaves blowing is a good idea so that it does record unnecessary movements.  My current setup right now is it saves to an SD card and a NAS drive, so I don't really have issue with storage space, but if I move to Arlo, space would become an issue as I only have 1 GB i think if I want the free subscription.
 
irvinehomeowner said:
The Mrs. is dead set against using an Internet cam.

She's afraid someone can hack in and spy on our children or us.
Click to expand...

If you use Arlo without a subscription, it only saves a week's worth of videos. That is what I do. I only have them outside but if you wanted to use Arlo inside as, say, a nanny-cam, you can also set up a schedule so they only come on at certain times. If somebody is really afraid of a camera being hacked and spying on them then they should probably also not use a laptop with a camera, a TV with a camera, or heck, even their cell phone which has a camera.
 
I have mine setup sort of tandem as well.  Dropcam right next to Foscam.  Dropcam detects sound/movement and triggers my phone.  Foscam records for free on my laptop and I don't pay the Dropcam monthly CVR fee :)  I also watch the recordings thru the Blue Iris app on my phone.
 
SoCal said:
irvinehomeowner said:
The Mrs. is dead set against using an Internet cam.

She's afraid someone can hack in and spy on our children or us.
Click to expand...

If you use Arlo without a subscription, it only saves a week's worth of videos. That is what I do. I only have them outside but if you wanted to use Arlo inside as, say, a nanny-cam, you can also set up a schedule so they only come on at certain times. If somebody is really afraid of a camera being hacked and spying on them then they should probably also not use a laptop with a camera, a TV with a camera, or heck, even their cell phone which has a camera.
Click to expand...

How's the Arlo cam working for you?  Thinking of getting one to aim at my front porch.
 
ps9 said:
SoCal said:
irvinehomeowner said:
The Mrs. is dead set against using an Internet cam.

She's afraid someone can hack in and spy on our children or us.
Click to expand...

If you use Arlo without a subscription, it only saves a week's worth of videos. That is what I do. I only have them outside but if you wanted to use Arlo inside as, say, a nanny-cam, you can also set up a schedule so they only come on at certain times. If somebody is really afraid of a camera being hacked and spying on them then they should probably also not use a laptop with a camera, a TV with a camera, or heck, even their cell phone which has a camera.
Click to expand...

How's the Arlo cam working for you?  Thinking of getting one to aim at my front porch.
Click to expand...
You previously said:
"nothing better than watching your shit getting taken...pass the popcorn"

 
ps9 said:
SoCal said:
irvinehomeowner said:
The Mrs. is dead set against using an Internet cam.

She's afraid someone can hack in and spy on our children or us.
Click to expand...

If you use Arlo without a subscription, it only saves a week's worth of videos. That is what I do. I only have them outside but if you wanted to use Arlo inside as, say, a nanny-cam, you can also set up a schedule so they only come on at certain times. If somebody is really afraid of a camera being hacked and spying on them then they should probably also not use a laptop with a camera, a TV with a camera, or heck, even their cell phone which has a camera.
Click to expand...

How's the Arlo cam working for you?  Thinking of getting one to aim at my front porch.
Click to expand...

Love it. Got it in March so we could keep an eye on the house while we were away on a week-long cruise last spring. It's been 8 months now. I moved. I will continue to use Arlo. The only complaint I can think of is the delay in recording once it's triggered. However, nothing else. It was also a successful deterrent for the neighbor kid doing ding-dong-ditch. That, alone, was worth it.
 
Bestbuy has it for $400 for the 4 camera kit,  still kinda on the wall, what if someone snatches the camera?
 
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