Why are so many security cameras wireless only?

[Red Squirrel]

You have to run power to them anyway. Why not just make them POE? Been looking at cameras and it seems only a small fraction are wired and POE. Just seems odd. Not to mention the security implications of wireless. Once someone manages to find a way to quickly crack WPA2 it will render all of these obsolete. Been looking at security cameras and not finding much as far as wired POE.

 

[Imp]

I'm assuming it's mainly consumer models that are portable. People hate the inconvenience of having to route wires everywhere. Easier to find an outlet.

Regarding security, there was some site a while back that posted a bunch of feeds from household IP cameras around the world...

 

[mmntech]

They're out there, they just tend to be more expensive for some reason. Newegg has quite a few though. Go nuts.
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Produc...58&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&Order=PRICE&PageSize=30

 

[NikolaeVarius]

Because power outlets tend to be much more common than routers and hubs?

 

[Kaido]

Consumer = wireless (ex. Dropcam)

Professional = wired with edge storage (ex. AXIS with local SD backup recording)

A Dropcam is $99 or $199. A good AXIS camera is $500 on up. Running wires in your house is a pain; wireless is easy. Find an outlet, plug in the camera, sync up wireless, voila - NVR.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Because power outlets tend to be much more common than routers and hubs?

But you still have to route it to a central location that has a UPS, so you can't exactly just use any outlet unless you redo the wiring.

Seems there's no happy medium between consumer and pro. I should be able to use a consumer camera with POE and still setup a centralized storage system without having to pay an arm and a leg for each camera. There is SOME though so I'd probably go with those, it's just irking to see that 90% of em are wireless, which completely defeats any purpose of being used for security. Newegg.ca does seem to have a much wider selection than the other sites I was looking.

 

[Ruptga]

Because power outlets tend to be much more common than routers and hubs?

This is a valid point, but ethernet over power is almost always an option.

 

[boomhower]

I've got a Swann POE system and love it. Works great and was easy to install. Even getting it woking on my phone was simple. Sure there are higher quality cameras out there but for home use it gets the job done.

 

[Carson Dyle]

Most people today have completely given up on running Ethernet cabling in their homes, because they think wireless is a miracle technology that does everything. Getting them to run Ethernet cabling for a few security cameras ain't going to happen. POE cameras are certainly available, but I'm betting that the vast majority of cameras installed in homes are wireless.

 

[DrPizza]

Because the security cameras are useless if all a thief has to do is follow a wire to where the video is recorded?

 

[bradley]

Wireless security camera is an oxymoron. Insecure security creates way more problems than solved. Why do people install them? Because they are cheap and widely available. As I write this two of my neighbors cameras are wide open.

 

[OutHouse]

But you still have to route it to a central location that has a UPS, so you can't exactly just use any outlet unless you redo the wiring.

No you don't

 

[Zim Hosein]

Because the security cameras are useless if all a thief has to do is follow a wire to where the video is recorded?

My thoughts exactly, an added deterrent IMHO.

 

[Carson Dyle]

There is SOME though so I'd probably go with those, it's just irking to see that 90% of em are wireless, which completely defeats any purpose of being used for security.

Why would that be? I'm trying to follow your logic, but having a difficult time.

If it's about power, there's no reason you can't have individual UPSs for each camera. They sip power, so a small UPS will keep a camera going for a very long time. No, it's not as elegant as POE and having a UPS in your rack powering every camera in your house, but if burglars were going to cut a home's power, they probably have a good idea that there's centralized security system and will easily find it. One thing for sure - make sure your UPSs don't have alarms that go off, or the burglars will zoom in on them like hummingbirds to sugar water.

 

[mnewsham]

No you don't

I was thinking the same thing...


OP is paranoid. :hmm:

 

[Carson Dyle]

Because the security cameras are useless if all a thief has to do is follow a wire to where the video is recorded?

My thoughts exactly, an added deterrent IMHO.

I didn't even think that was a serious answer (missing the *bazinga*?). How would they follow in-wall wiring, short of ripping it out of the walls themselves?

You guys watch way too many bad movies. Nobody is stealing the Pink Panther or a Monet or untraceable securities from my house. They're not looking to outwit motion detectors or hot-wire a burglar alarm. They're going to bust a window, take a computer and a TV, some jewelry, maybe find the emergency cash in my sock drawer. In and out in 10 minutes, with the cameras (if I had any) rolling.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Because the security cameras are useless if all a thief has to do is follow a wire to where the video is recorded?

Yeah but that is kind of hard to do if it's installed properly and the wiring not just loose everywhere. Of course you don't want the wiring to be exposed so that they can cut it though. I've been kind of thinking of how I'd install it, and I'd probably run the wiring in the soffits but to get to the server room I'm not sure how I'd do it yet. Easiest would be to have EMT conduit coming down behind the house but that leaves it open to being cut, of course if that EMT is within view of a camera it does not really matter, I already got the evidence I needed.

Wireless security camera is an oxymoron. Insecure security creates way more problems than solved. Why do people install them? Because they are cheap and widely available. As I write this two of my neighbors cameras are wide open.

Yeah exactly, there's multiple problems with lot of consumer camears.

1: cloud based ones... if the cloud gets hacked or goes down

2: people who are idiots and leave their wifi open or worse, put them directly on the internet (that's the user's fault, not really the technology)

3: wireless signals can be remotely captured and/or jammed. While WPA2 is still considered very secure, so was WEP. Now anything that uses WEP is completely obsolete. I'd never put anything security related on wifi.

No you don't

Yes you do, unless you're a moron and have a wire hanging from the soffit or outside wall plugged into an extension running all the way to wherever an outside plug is. Not only will this be super easy for a thief to disable, if the power goes out the camera dies. Or if you're using an outside plug, which should be GFCI protected, it could trip due to another reason, and also takeout the camera. The wiring should be going from the camera directly inside the house or at very least outside of plain view. So you have to drill holes and run power anyway. May as well just make it cat5/6 and have it run to a POE switch that is on UPS power. Much cleaner install too and a centralized point.

If you spend time and money on security, you have to do it right. When a thief is scouting your house, he is looking for the easiest way in.

 

[Carson Dyle]

Yeah but that is kind of hard to do if it's installed properly and the wiring not just loose everywhere. Of course you don't want the wiring to be exposed so that they can cut it though.

Why cut wiring when you can smash the camera or just spray paint the camera lens?

I've been kind of thinking of how I'd install it, and I'd probably run the wiring in the soffits but to get to the server room I'm not sure how I'd do it yet. Easiest would be to have EMT conduit coming down behind the house but that leaves it open to being cut, of course if that EMT is within view of a camera it does not really matter, I already got the evidence I needed.

Server room? So, the same room that thieves are going to strip bare of valuable electronics is where you plan to record your security feed? And where your POE switches and UPSs will be? Might want to give that a rethink.

 

[mikeymikec]

Once someone manages to find a way to quickly crack WPA2 it will render all of these obsolete.

I'm pretty sure that the last thing that most manufacturers want is to sell you a product that you don't need to replace for decades.

Because the security cameras are useless if all a thief has to do is follow a wire to where the video is recorded?

Two points here:

1 - couldn't a WAP be traced possibly easier than a wire (a wire can go through a wall, or meet up with a load of other wires)? Even then, let's say that the thief then needs to trace from the WAP to the CCTV unit, but surely the same logic applies considering that the thief will probably then have to trace the cable to a patch panel.

2 - If you're counting on a thief trying to trace the location of the main CCTV unit, why not have a second one in place with cameras along probable trace points, especially somewhere where hardly anyone ever needs to go and have it motion-activated?

Admittedly cutting the camera's feed seems easier than tracing, if a thief intends to clear a place out, then going for the main CCTV unit and disabling it seems wise. I would have thought that disabling a single camera would be just as easy with a wifi or wired cam, the former would just need something like a layer of tin foil wrapped around it I would think.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Server room? So, the same room that thieves are going to strip bare of valuable electronics is where you plan to record your security feed? And where your POE switches and UPSs will be? Might want to give that a rethink.

Well it has to go somewhere. Once the server room is done it will be the most secure room in the house. I could easily put a couple CO2 tanks in there too as a "fire suppressant system" that is activated by alarm. Of course if I really wanted to I could also have a storage mirror in the crawlspace under my garage. No matter what, the DVR has to be somewhere that has battery backup and network available, so not sure what your point is.

The camera system would also be an extra layer of security on top of the existing alarm system, so basically the thieves have two things they have to try to disable and do it within 30 seconds. first step is a signal jammer, that will kill the GSM feed for the alarm system, and any other wireless device. The system will probably be going haywire because it loses track of all it's sensors which are unfortunately wireless. (I was in a pinch and there was a good deal and went with a non DIY system) but then the camera feeds will still be working fine so if I'm at work watching it I'll catch them and then call the cops. My alarm company would probably call me too as they would lose signal to alarm panel so I could then VPN in and check on cameras.

 

[Carson Dyle]

Well it has to go somewhere. Once the server room is done it will be the most secure room in the house.

If I were a thief I'd target whatever was in that "secure" room. Must be valuable.

I could easily put a couple CO2 tanks in there too as a "fire suppressant system" that is activated by alarm. Of course if I really wanted to I could also have a storage mirror in the crawlspace under my garage. No matter what, the DVR has to be somewhere that has battery backup and network available, so not sure what your point is.

You could put a dedicated server, POE switch and UPS anywhere in the house that _isn't_ the server room. Preferably one that either isn't in a living space or (at least) not easily found.

You're spinning your wheels worrying about someone hacking your wireless network or cutting network cabling when all somebody needs to do is walk off with the computer storing the video.

 

[Mixolydian]

Because the security cameras are useless if all a thief has to do is follow a wire to where the video is recorded?

They could also cut the wire supplying power to a wireless camera.

 

[MarkXIX]

I'm leaning toward these cameras:

http://www.amazon.com/Hikvision-Bui...30746468&sr=8-21&keywords=hikvision+ip+camera

I prefer running Ethernet cable through the house. Having an UPS on a POE switch in the basement is ideal. Each camera also has it's own SD card, so that complicates things for a thief because they would essentially have to remove/damage/destroy every camera and the central video storage system.

Also helps to place those cameras and supporting systems discretely in the household.

 

[DrPizza]

I didn't even think that was a serious answer (missing the *bazinga*?). How would they follow in-wall wiring, short of ripping it out of the walls themselves?

You guys watch way too many bad movies. Nobody is stealing the Pink Panther or a Monet or untraceable securities from my house. They're not looking to outwit motion detectors or hot-wire a burglar alarm. They're going to bust a window, take a computer and a TV, some jewelry, maybe find the emergency cash in my sock drawer. In and out in 10 minutes, with the cameras (if I had any) rolling.

That's pretty much my point. These aren't high tech state of the art security systems. If I draw a Venn diagram, with two sets: thieves who rob typical houses, and people who are savvy enough to hack a wifi camera system, it's two disjoint circles with no overlap. And, since the vast majority of people who install these security cameras for a little added security aren't housing a Monet, they're probably not inclined to spend an extra few grand on a professionally wired system with the majority of wires within the walls. Remember, 99% of these are retrofitted systems; not people who have these systems wired and installed before the sheet rock goes up. Thus, if they have a lot of wiring, it's likely to be surface wiring, else not well concealed (inside a drop ceiling). If you're worried about catching burglars, as pointed out to Squirrel, you don't put the box that records all the security video in a location that thieves are going to find.

They could also cut the wire supplying power to a wireless camera.

I've never really spent a lot of time looking at these cameras, but it seems that an internal rechargeable battery that's connected to a power source is the way to go. In addition to cutting wire supplying power, they could cut the wire for a wired system. Though, either requires some bit of finesse, since the person needs a tool capable of cutting wire. Simply ripping the camera down and smashing it to pieces is a little less civilized, but I don't think the average person engaged in such activities is too worried about it. (Or, more likely, if they see the camera, the rip it down and put it in their bag of "loot" that they've stolen. Now, to find the system that records the video.

We purchased a security system to protect us from theft. The first thing stolen was our security camera
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rk_VJ_DsHc

 

[RossMAN]

I'm leaning toward these cameras:

http://www.amazon.com/Hikvision-Bui...30746468&sr=8-21&keywords=hikvision+ip+camera

I prefer running Ethernet cable through the house. Having an UPS on a POE switch in the basement is ideal. Each camera also has it's own SD card, so that complicates things for a thief because they would essentially have to remove/damage/destroy every camera and the central video storage system.

Also helps to place those cameras and supporting systems discretely in the household.

I'm also in the same boat but also have my eyes on the following model as well:

Ubiquiti unveiled their own wireless mini camera: (UniFi Video Camera Micro, p/n UVC-Micro)

https://www.ubnt.com/unifi-video/unifi-video-camera-micro/

* $99 (no monthly fees b/c no cloud storage)
* 720p @ 30fps
* Infrared LEDs (with automatic IR cut filter) for nightmode
* Built-in speaker and microphone
* Size of a golf ball
* Magnetic mount (provides power & positioning)
* Mounts to anything: metal (magnetic), wood (screw mount), laminate (adhesive sticker), glass(adhesive sticker), brick (screw)
* 16' power cable
* iOS app available (Android app due at the end of April 2015)
* Package includes: Camera, base, power adapter, flat base plate, corner base plate, mounting tape, 5 screws, 5 screw anchors, 6 cable clips

Intro video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_9fcMq6MJo

Quick Start Guide: (PDF)

http://dl.ubnt.com/guides/unifivideo/UVC-Micro_QSG.pdf

Link to iOS app: (app reviews are excellent, and as usual for Ubiquiti, the GUI looks awesome)

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/unifi-video/id964967062?mt=8

Link to NVR software: (UniFi Video -> UniFi NVR)

https://www.ubnt.com/download/

They sell a standalone 500-gig DVR for $330, or you can just fire it up on Linux or Windows computer (support for Debian 7, Ubuntu 12, Windows 7 64b, and Windows 8 64b). That's pretty awesome...720p with a great mounting system & no monthly fees for $99. Right now I have a Foscam as a babycam (cheapo unit but works fine) and recently purchased a very inexpensive D-link camera for a patio grill cam, but the D-link's software is pretty terrible, so I may have to pick one of these up to replace it. Remote access is done via the NVR software (PC or their NVR). Software has tons of neat features:

http://dl.ubnt.com/datasheets/unifi/UniFI_Video_DS.pdf

I like this a lot...budget-friendly, good-quality, great user interface, expansion options, kit includes everything you need (mounting hardware, long power cable, etc.), etc.