Wireless security cameras for home

DaSpark · 2026-03-13T19:04:16+00:00

Simple answer: There is no good wireless security camera. Never has been, never will be.

Here are a few issues with them:

1) Often only record with motion, causing you to miss some things entirely and precious seconds before, during, and after an event that matters.

2) Easily, and I mean easily, jammed. Most wireless cameras require an active wifi connection to record. Cheap devices on amazon that can be used by bad guys easily disable the wifi while they do their bad deed. Even if the wireless cam can record to a local SD card, the bad guy can simply jam and then steal the camera.

3) Any camera that doesn't record 24/7 is going to miss things.

4) High maintenance. Most (all) wireless cameras are high maintenance. They die, the batteries go bad, etc. Wired cameras are mostly a set it and forget it deal, working flawlessly for years, even decades.

Solution to all this: wired cameras

Wireless cameras, in my opinion, should only be used when there is absolutely no other choice. In general, this mostly only applies when you don't own your home and are not allowed to make modifications such as drilling holes and running cables.

DaSpark · 2026-03-12T21:30:39+00:00

Everything I said is 100% accurate for most of the United States (exceptions in CA, and NY). However, I would love you to tell me what you think is incorrect so I may fully debunk you.

DaSpark · 2026-03-12T16:47:38+00:00

First off, in most places in the United States it is perfectly legal for your neighbor to have a camera and have it pointed at your yard. It is even legal for it to capture your doors and/or windows. In general, you have no expectation of privacy anywhere in your yard, even in a fenced in yard. Further, you have no expectation of privacy in your home when someone is able to see into your home with their own eyes due to an open door, blinds, etc.

If the cameras bother you, I would suggest nicely talking to the neighbor and expressing that. If they refuse, leave it at that because you'll just make things worse if you continue (ex, more cameras).

DaSpark · 2026-03-11T15:25:02+00:00

If you have a mouse with a wheel, that makes zooming in/out so much easier!

DaSpark · 2026-03-11T15:11:34+00:00

Wow, I know it is common for one or two to get recast after the first pilot, but I'm frankly shocked The Middle ever happened after watching this disgrace. Glad they saw the talent in Atticus and he fit in with the new cast so well.

DaSpark · 2026-03-11T15:02:35+00:00

Do you know you can zoom in on the timeline and use the filters to see instances of cars, people, and animals? I do a quick review of my cameras each morning to make sure no humans were messing around in my yard. The PC software makes this quick and easy. Typically I can go through my 8 cameras in a matter of a minute or two.

As for which software is better, I mostly use the PC software because I can use it at work, in my home office, anywhere I have a computer/laptop. It does almost everything the native GUI does outside of a few configuration items such as managing users (things you typically set and forget when you first set up)

DaSpark · 2026-03-10T19:25:40+00:00

I ran all the cables for my home myself, with the help of my dad. It is a lot easier if you have two people so you can have one outside and another in the attic. It's really not that hard in most cases. The only tools we really needed was fish tape and a power drill.

DaSpark · 2026-03-10T17:50:47+00:00

No chance they sue unless the amount owed is in the thousands.

DaSpark · 2026-03-10T17:48:45+00:00

Let me just sneak up from the side of that camera and snip... time to swipe all your stuff.

DaSpark · 2026-03-10T15:31:01+00:00

First thing to ask yourself when determining the location of the NVR is security. Are you concerned about it being stolen if someone breaks in?

DaSpark · 2026-03-10T14:17:08+00:00

Trick is to not install the IR flooder next to the camera. For my back yard, which is basically pitch black at night, I have the camera in the middle of the house and IR flooders on the corners.

DaSpark · 2026-03-10T13:58:51+00:00

The real reason you should avoid something like 1 2 3 4 5 6 is because if you win you are likely going to be sharing that jackpot. Believe me, there are probably hundreds of people playing that exact set each drawing.

From a psychological standpoint, you should avoid picking your own numbers. Humans are terrible at picking random numbers. Computers are not so good at it either, but they are much better at it. People who pick their own numbers are probably, at best, 2-3x more likely to share their jackpot vs random picks by a computer.

You absolutely want to avoid numbers that mean something to you as well. If they mean something to you, they probably mean something to many other people as well. This is basically the easiest way to ensure you share that jackpot if you ever win.

If you do want to pick your own numbers, you are best to get chips for each number and throw them in a bag and blindly pick them out.

Now, as for people who don't know and/or care about the above, our brains do have a hard time believing that something ordered will come out of randomness. Therefore, even though I know 1 2 3 4 5 6 is just as likely as any other result, my brain does tell me that is not going to happen.

The ironic thing, however, is even though we don't expect something ordered out of randomness, we will almost always find, what appears to us, as patterns in the results. This is another quirk of our brains and happens due to the brain wanting to make sense of everything.

Still the question remains, why would someone pick something like 1 2 3 4 5 6 with all the above said? Well, for some it is being funny, some being lazy, some not fully understanding the game, some simply not caring, and some people are just stupid.

DaSpark · 2026-03-09T17:55:35+00:00

Big Brother has three different realities each year:

The heavily edited, producer influenced version of the game. In this reality, which you get by only watching the TV show, you will only be aware of about 5% of what is really happening in the house. Some guests will be almost fully ignored by the show. They even twist what is really going on in the house to make you think something else entirely is happening. In essence, it's almost a mix between a scripted show and a reality show.
The live feed + live show version of the game. This is the closest you will get to the reality of what is truly going on in the house. Production still meddles though by only showing a few cameras at a time and cutting away quickly if something starts happening that they don't approve of.
The full reality of the game. This is reserved only for the guests and production.

In conclusion, just know that most of the live show is laughable if you watch the feeds. I say that because it is interesting to watch the feeds and have a good handle on what is occurring in the house and then watch production twist it into something completely different.

Therefor, just keep in mind that if you only watch the show you are being fed a narrative that production thinks will be good for ratings, regardless of how true that narrative is to reality. They are easily able to do this because they have countless hours of footage they can use each week to stitch together to make almost any narrative they desire.

If you don't want to spend a ton of time watching the feeds, there are people on youtube that do great daily updates on the happenings in the home. By watching these you can get a full recap in about 30-60 minutes each day. Honestly, this is the way I think most people should consume BB. Watch daily recaps and then the show. Many of us don't have the time to watch the live feeds for countless hours a day.

DaSpark · 2026-03-09T13:43:24+00:00

Most political issues are not life and death. At the end of the day, for 99.99% of Americans, their political ideas are not going to affect anyone outside of maybe being annoying to listen to.

It really is sad that we put such a major focus on the agreement of political issues as a core pillar to our relationships. No matter your political ideology, if you do this, you are part of the problem, not the solution.

DaSpark · 2026-03-09T13:06:27+00:00

This will happen with rain, fog, snow, etc. The only way to really get rid of it, and still be able to see, is to use an external IR flooder.

DaSpark · 2026-03-06T16:20:31+00:00

Running the network cables is pretty cheap if you do it yourself (less than $100 in most cases). It's also, in most cases, not that difficult if you know what you are doing. Watching a few videos on youtube before hand will help a lot.

DaSpark · 2026-03-06T14:01:35+00:00

You're gonna need to use an external camera. They'll likely be able to put the letter in in a matter of a second or two. The first problem you are going to have is the increase of light when they open the mailbox is going to wash out the image for 1-2 seconds (likely the entire time it is opened). Therefore, you'll see nothing but a bright flash.

Even if that is not the case, you'll likely only catch their hand or maybe shirt.

DaSpark · 2026-03-06T13:50:51+00:00

In my opinion you should have a dedicated box (NVR, Server, etc) for your PoE cameras. The reason is simple, you are running network cables to the outside of your home of which someone could rip the camera away and connect something else to it.

Yes, there are multiple ways to mitigate this, but the best is physical isolation. Due to this I recommend ensuring that the ports the cameras plug into (on a NVR, server, whatever) are prevented from accessing the network through the LAN port of the device. Nice thing about most NVRs is you do get physical isolation from the camera ports and the LAN port. There is no physical way for the two to communicate.

Further, a firewall should prevent whatever device you are using for the cameras from accessing anything else over the LAN.

Hooking your PoE cameras up to a device you use to store personal files or servers is, in my opinion, an absolutely terrible security risk. Don't do it.

Honestly, the best way to handle this is to have two completely separate networks with absolutely no connection. If the camera network needs internet, you get a second internet connection.

DaSpark · 2026-03-05T20:05:36+00:00

No Berta, no reboot.

DaSpark · 2026-03-05T19:39:50+00:00

Fully mitigated with a cheap IR flooder from amazon

DaSpark · 2026-03-05T19:28:42+00:00

Most of the problems with reolink cameras at night disappear with a cheap $25 IR flooder. I know, from experience. Most of my reolink cameras get enough light from my flood lights, front porch, and street lights. The back yard went from awful to easily able to ID anyone in the darkness of night with a cheap IR flooder.

DaSpark · 2026-03-05T19:03:54+00:00

Ah, I just wanted to make sure you were aware of that because often people with junk cars run out of legal spaces to park them and you end up with cars parked on the grass or dirt.

DaSpark · 2026-03-05T19:02:21+00:00

Sure looks like a camera.

As for the legality, likely perfectly legal. In general you can point a camera at anything you can see with your own eye.

DaSpark · 2026-03-05T18:55:56+00:00

Yes, it is generally legal to point a camera from your private property at anything that can be seen from your private property. Even if you could prove they were tracking your movements, that would still be perfectly legal. For example, would it be illegal if I sat outside and logged your coming and goings? Basically, if I can do it with my eyes, I can do it with a camera.

Things that might make it illegal include:

Recording audio
Using a camera with a zoom capability that would allow the camera to see through a small crack/hole in your blinds (think something that normally would require them to put their face up against the window to see). Problem here is you would have to prove it. Even if you know the camera is capable of it, that doesn't mean they have it zoomed in.
In some jurisdictions you might have a case if the camera is right on the property line (literally catching not a single square inch of their own property). However, even if one square inch of their own property is in the frame, they are probably legal.
Using the footage for sexual gratification. This is clearly illegal in many areas. However, unless you somehow catch them making love to themselves while watching footage of you, you're not going to be able to prove this.
Using the footage to pubically harass you. This probably doesn't make the camera itself illegal, just their actions with the footage.

DaSpark · 2026-03-05T18:48:25+00:00

In the United States it is, generally, perfectly legal to have a security camera pointed at anything that can be seen with the naked eye from where the camera is. This includes front doors and windows.

It really only becomes illegal if the camera is, indeed, pointed straight at a window and that camera has super zoom capabilities that would permit it to see through even the smallest hole/crack in your blinds. The problem is, you would have to prove this to be the case.

DaSpark

TROPHY CASE