surveillance cameras

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glalt
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surveillance cameras

Post by glalt » March 10, 2019, 12:18 pm

I wanted to put a camera to watch my front gate. I bought a WiFi package from D-Link. I spent a lot of money to be able to record as well and watch. I bought D-Link because supposedly everything worked together and it was supposedly easy to set up. It was NOT easy to set up. I did finally get everything working. It was a bad system from the start, continually dropping out. One day it all stopped working and D-Link was no help because they no longer support Thailand. Never again will I ever buy anything D-Link again.

Now the good part of the story. I found a Yi Outside WiFi Camera on AliExpress. Counting the 32 GB high endurance memory card plus the camera cost about $85. Not cheap but I decided to try it. It came yesterday. It is totally self contained. Once setup, just plug it in and it works wherever you put the camera. I mounted the camera on the front of my garage, plugged it in and away it went. It has options that I don't use except I did turn the sound on. I keep the icon on the task bar on my desktop and clicking on it brings the view on screen. I also put the program in my wife's phone as well as my phone. No complications, passwords or other crap. It simply works when you click the icon. It records on the memory card and you can access the memory card with the computer and phones. I think the 32 GB memory card saves at least 3 days before it overwrites and starts over. It's really a pleasure when everything is simple to use and works as it is supposed to.



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tamada
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Re: surveillance cameras

Post by tamada » March 10, 2019, 5:27 pm

Good find with Yi. Loads of YouTube's on it too so setting up for total noobs should be easy. Not sure what you paid on aliexpress but they're around 80 bucks on amazon so not too shabby.

I agree with D Link. Mate of mine invested in some of their wi-fi repeaters/extenders and he said the initial set up involved calling someone in Singapore! Every time I visited, maybe twice a month, one or other (or all) the repeaters had lost the plot and needed resetting which took about 3 minutes per repeater. Total rubbish.

I turned him on to TP-Link wi-fi hardware that I had used in Malaysia and was just coming available on the Thai market and he had no issues with their kit.

glalt
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Re: surveillance cameras

Post by glalt » March 10, 2019, 6:53 pm

I have to admit that I was a bit worried about the night time infrared. Now that it is dark, the night viewing is excellent. The D-Link infrared camera barely showed anything. This Yi camera is amazing. Night viewing is black and white but as clear as daytime.

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Stantheman
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Re: surveillance cameras

Post by Stantheman » March 10, 2019, 7:30 pm

Glalt, you mention no password, I hope there was some initial setup where you put in your own password so someone is not able to hack via wifi.

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Re: surveillance cameras

Post by glalt » March 10, 2019, 8:56 pm

Stantheman wrote:
March 10, 2019, 7:30 pm
Glalt, you mention no password, I hope there was some initial setup where you put in your own password so someone is not able to hack via wifi.
During the setup, you have to sign up for a Yi account and password. When you have that, you have to pair your device and put your WiFi password in. Once you have finished the setup, you still have to sign in with your desktop once a day. Once signed in, I put the icon in my task bar and click the icon. No need to sign in with the phones. Click the icon on the phones or desktop computer and the camera comes up. The camera actually talks to you during the setup and the voice tells you the next step. The setup uses a QR that the actual camera recognizes.

Hacking WiFi is no doubt possible but if someone wants to watch my gate, I don't care. I should add that cameras in my house are all cable but still connected to WiFi for remote viewing.

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sometimewoodworker
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Re: surveillance cameras

Post by sometimewoodworker » March 11, 2019, 1:57 pm

glalt wrote:
March 10, 2019, 8:56 pm


Hacking WiFi is no doubt possible but if someone wants to watch my gate, I don't care. I should add that cameras in my house are all cable but still connected to WiFi for remote viewing.
If they can hack the WiFi, unless you have a separate network for the camera and other IOT devices, then they have access to much more interesting things that you really do care about.
Jerome and Nui's new househttp://bit.ly/NJnewHouse

glalt
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Re: surveillance cameras

Post by glalt » March 11, 2019, 7:21 pm

sometimewoodworker wrote:
March 11, 2019, 1:57 pm
glalt wrote:
March 10, 2019, 8:56 pm


Hacking WiFi is no doubt possible but if someone wants to watch my gate, I don't care. I should add that cameras in my house are all cable but still connected to WiFi for remote viewing.
If they can hack the WiFi, unless you have a separate network for the camera and other IOT devices, then they have access to much more interesting things that you really do care about.
The front door, back door, porch, garage, and a second gate are monitored. There is no camera in the bedroom, not that that would be very interesting anyways. I made a mistake when I had the wired system installed. It only can use four cameras. Had I given it more thought I would have ordered a six camera system.

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sometimewoodworker
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Re: surveillance cameras

Post by sometimewoodworker » March 11, 2019, 11:33 pm

It would not be the cameras that they would be interested in, but anything else on the network like computers, routers etc.
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pipoz4444
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Re: surveillance cameras

Post by pipoz4444 » March 12, 2019, 1:19 am

glalt wrote:
March 10, 2019, 8:56 pm
Stantheman wrote:
March 10, 2019, 7:30 pm
Glalt, you mention no password, I hope there was some initial setup where you put in your own password so someone is not able to hack via wifi.
During the setup, you have to sign up for a Yi account and password. When you have that, you have to pair your device and put your WiFi password in. Once you have finished the setup, you still have to sign in with your desktop once a day. Once signed in, I put the icon in my task bar and click the icon. No need to sign in with the phones. Click the icon on the phones or desktop computer and the camera comes up. The camera actually talks to you during the setup and the voice tells you the next step. The setup uses a QR that the actual camera recognizes.

Hacking WiFi is no doubt possible but if someone wants to watch my gate, I don't care. I should add that cameras in my house are all cable but still connected to WiFi for remote viewing.
Not knowing anything about the YI system, but I presume you are referring to the YI Outdoor Security Camera 1080p Cloud Cam? Can I ask, do you need to plug each Camera into a 240V GPO


YI Outdoor Security Camera 1080p Cloud Cam 2.4G Wireless IP US 80.jpg
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tamada
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Re: surveillance cameras

Post by tamada » March 12, 2019, 9:27 am

According to the manufacturer's website, each camera comes with a 5 V DC 1 A plug-in power supply with a 9' cord. A purchasers review on amazon suggests that the actual power connector is a standard USB plug on the cord and matching socket on the camera.

They are totally wireless so no option for power via LAN connection nor are there internal batteries.
Last edited by tamada on March 12, 2019, 9:44 am, edited 1 time in total.

glalt
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Re: surveillance cameras

Post by glalt » March 12, 2019, 9:39 am

pipoz4444 wrote:
March 12, 2019, 1:19 am
glalt wrote:
March 10, 2019, 8:56 pm
Stantheman wrote:
March 10, 2019, 7:30 pm
Glalt, you mention no password, I hope there was some initial setup where you put in your own password so someone is not able to hack via wifi.
During the setup, you have to sign up for a Yi account and password. When you have that, you have to pair your device and put your WiFi password in. Once you have finished the setup, you still have to sign in with your desktop once a day. Once signed in, I put the icon in my task bar and click the icon. No need to sign in with the phones. Click the icon on the phones or desktop computer and the camera comes up. The camera actually talks to you during the setup and the voice tells you the next step. The setup uses a QR that the actual camera recognizes.

Hacking WiFi is no doubt possible but if someone wants to watch my gate, I don't care. I should add that cameras in my house are all cable but still connected to WiFi for remote viewing.
Not knowing anything about the YI system, but I presume you are referring to the YI Outdoor Security Camera 1080p Cloud Cam? Can I ask, do you need to plug each Camera into a 240V GPO



YI Outdoor Security Camera 1080p Cloud Cam 2.4G Wireless IP US 80.jpg

pipoz4444
The Yi WiFi camera needs to be plugged in wherever you locate the camera. The hard wired system cameras also need to be plugged in but they get power through the recording box cable that is beside the router. That four camera system and recorder run off my solar electric system and is on 24/7. The power block transformer for the recorder crapped out but I discovered that it is 12 volt so I hooked the recorder directly to the battery bank and eliminated the power block. I'll do the same with the 12 volt cameras if their power blocks fail.

The Yi camera goes off when the grid power goes off. The Yi camera is smart enough that it comes back on by itself when the power comes back on without having to do anything. That's unlike the crap D-Link camera that needed reset and passwords put back in after a power failure.

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pipoz4444
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Re: surveillance cameras

Post by pipoz4444 » March 12, 2019, 8:43 pm

Thanks glalt

So the Yi Wifi Outdoor Security Camera 1080p Cloud Cam in my Picture above, runs off a 12 Volt Power System? is that correct

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Re: surveillance cameras

Post by glalt » March 13, 2019, 9:59 pm

pipoz4444 wrote:
March 12, 2019, 8:43 pm
Thanks glalt

So the Yi Wifi Outdoor Security Camera 1080p Cloud Cam in my Picture above, runs off a 12 Volt Power System? is that correct

pipoz4444
No, it uses a regular 220-230 volt outlet. My hard wired camera system can use 12 volt, not the Yi camera. And yes, the picture is what I have.

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Re: surveillance cameras

Post by glalt » April 26, 2019, 8:26 pm

I have purchased and received my second Yi outdoor camera. This morning I found that a dog had killed one of the wife's ducks. She had been accusing my dog until I showed her the neighbors dog carrying the killed duck and eating it right in the view of the camera.

I don't get up that early but the camera recorded it at 6:04 in the morning.

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tamada
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Re: surveillance cameras

Post by tamada » April 26, 2019, 8:57 pm

glalt wrote:
March 13, 2019, 9:59 pm
pipoz4444 wrote:
March 12, 2019, 8:43 pm
Thanks glalt

So the Yi Wifi Outdoor Security Camera 1080p Cloud Cam in my Picture above, runs off a 12 Volt Power System? is that correct

pipoz4444
No, it uses a regular 220-230 volt outlet. My hard wired camera system can use 12 volt, not the Yi camera. And yes, the picture is what I have.
This Yi camera has a single power cord with a two-pin plug on the end? Looks like they've bundled the AC-DC converter inside then. Neat.

How long is the power cord?

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Re: surveillance cameras

Post by glalt » April 26, 2019, 9:31 pm

tamada wrote:
April 26, 2019, 8:57 pm
glalt wrote:
March 13, 2019, 9:59 pm
pipoz4444 wrote:
March 12, 2019, 8:43 pm
Thanks glalt

So the Yi Wifi Outdoor Security Camera 1080p Cloud Cam in my Picture above, runs off a 12 Volt Power System? is that correct

pipoz4444
No, it uses a regular 220-230 volt outlet. My hard wired camera system can use 12 volt, not the Yi camera. And yes, the picture is what I have.
This Yi camera has a single power cord with a two-pin plug on the end? Looks like they've bundled the AC-DC converter inside then. Neat.

How long is the power cord?
I think the cord is 3 meters long. The cord is directly permanently attached to the camera, no plug. The other end is USB that plugs into the adapter. You can get a European or a US plug.The grid power here really stinks and when the power goes off, so do the cameras. I'm in the process of setting up a small solar powered system. Right now I'm running three cameras off a battery with a battery charger. the charger runs constantly so that's a poor setup. The battery is too small for a long grid power outage but when the power goes off for a minute or two, (often) it works OK.

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tamada
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Re: surveillance cameras

Post by tamada » April 27, 2019, 6:25 am

^ Maybe you could run the Yi's power supplies (adapters) off their own UPS, say 1000 W. Being only 5V and maybe around 0.5 A, I reckon the city power would need to be off for a fair amount of time before the UPS runs out of juice.

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Re: surveillance cameras

Post by glalt » April 27, 2019, 8:59 am

My wife has a computer in the living room, no solar power in that room. Since she rarely uses the computer, I took her UPS and tried it. It's not huge, two 7 AH batteries. The next morning after a lengthly power outage the cameras were off-line. They don't come back on-line by themselves when the power comes back on. I have to use the computer to turn them back on. I have come to the conclusion that solar is the only reliable way. It's going to end up costing me more money than if I had bought a cable system that runs on 12 volts from the house solar systems. Then again, I'm not sure my battery bank is big enough.

All these problems because of the totally unreliable grid power. Rather than getting better it is getting worse.

As a side note, the grid power has gone off four time in the last hour and is off now.

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Re: surveillance cameras

Post by ajarnudon » October 1, 2019, 11:28 pm

tamada wrote:
April 27, 2019, 6:25 am
^ Maybe you could run the Yi's power supplies (adapters) off their own UPS, say 1000 W. Being only 5V and maybe around 0.5 A, I reckon the city power would need to be off for a fair amount of time before the UPS runs out of juice.
If your assumption of 0.5A drain is close, then it would use 2.5 Watts. A 30,000 mAh mobile phone power bank should power one camera for a day and a half, or six cameras for 6 hours.

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Re: surveillance cameras

Post by glalt » October 2, 2019, 11:00 am

I have gone ahead and built another small solar system for only the garage. One solar panel, (165 W) one gel sealed battery, (125 AH) an MPPT small 10 watt charge controller and a 500 watt inverter. (oversized). A 300 watt would be plenty big enough. It works flawlessly 24/7 and I never have to touch it. It runs three cameras and provides emergency lighting for in the garage.

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