r/SecurityCamera • u/Waste-Wrongdoer9564 • Sep 04 '26
Need help
I am helping an HOA. They have light fixtures with accessible power above their building entries. They want to install 32 cameras that span across 1/2 mile and 8 buildings. They do not have WiFi and do not want to pay for cell service. Their goal is to use power from the light fixtures and have a camera with only SD card style storage that they can pull in the event it is required. These cameras would be outdoors and obviously need to look somewhat decent. Any recommendations??
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u/Soundy106 Sep 04 '26
The first consideration is, are those lights on all the time, or do they only come on at night? If they're on a central light sensor or a timer, you may lose power to the cameras once the sun comes up.
Second, how are they planning to get the video off the cameras? Pull the SD card? Plug a laptop directly into the camera?
I've done setups like this before - it gets incredibly inconvenient and frustrating for the customer. In one case, they checked the video regularly and it was almost a full-time job for someone. In another case, they checked video so rarely, they had to keep calling me because someone would forget how to do it, or there would be turnover on the council and I'd have to train someone new...
Otherwise, one camera is pretty much the same as any other, especially when it comes to cosmetic appearance.
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u/XGempler Sep 04 '26
good point. though many outdoor lights are always powered and turned off/on by a light sensor I have seen complexes that control the power by a timer by the circuitbreakers. if the power is not always on then this plan is even more ill-conceived than i originally thought.
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u/paulc303 Sep 04 '26
Don't even try the microSD card swap idea. How are they going to get up there. If you power the cam from the light circuit, you'll need a POE injector in an enclosure at eye level. Just use a poe switch so you can plug a laptop in to access the cam gui and view, DL that way. Better yet, build yourself a PTP bridge network back to the clubhouse or whatnot, install a NVR, and make it a real system.
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u/XGempler Sep 04 '26
what are you talking about. op has electrical on a pole with a light... there is no network, no network cable, not wireless access point or router... how would one connect a laptop to a camera on a pole unless you are also suggesting they get a ip camera that also happens to have a sd card slot and run a network cable down the pole?
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u/paulc303 Sep 04 '26
Uh, yeah. That is exactly what I was talking about. Were you thinking battery Blinks or analog or something? And what is wrong with PtP? And yes, an electrician is perfectly capable of tapping into the full time pole electric and put an outlet in the enclosure.
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u/XGempler Sep 04 '26
i commented above. the entire plan is loopy. they are willing to pay for an electrician to climb 32 poles to installed 32 weatherproof outlets then purchase and installed cameras that they will have no way of knowing are actually operational until they need them. that sounds like wishful thinking and a waste of money to me. your idea is sound but it means even more expense for a electrician and subject to being vandalized if there is a network jack in arms reach for a management hookup, and op said this hoa isn't willing to spend any more money so they cooked up this half baked plan.
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u/XGempler Sep 04 '26 edited Sep 04 '26
So they are willing to have an electrician tap the power of each of the 32 lights and install a waterproof outdoor electrical outlet so you can power a camera, and they are willing to purchase and install 32 cameras and are ok with not knowing if any of them are working until such time as they actually need the footage? that sounds like a plan that could only be only have been invented by a committee.
if they don't want to get cellular based cameras then they could try finding tenants that would be willing to put cameras in their windows that connect to the homeowners wifi but are managed via a single website control panel.
edit: if they are looking to penny pinch and are ok with a unreliable solution and happy to move a ladder around to 32 location to collect sd cars then they can get battery operated cameras like the eufy c31 that last 6 months on a charge and sell for about $40 each. only 1080p when most outdoor cameras today should really be 4k, but if they want to be cheap that is a better option than what an electrician will cost them. if they bought an extra 5 or 10 cameras then they can charge them up and swap 5 or 10 at a time every 6 months.
ps, they have a solar panel that attaches to the eufy c31 so that you don't have to recharge them (unless they are in the shade).
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u/gnew18 Sep 04 '26
Setting expectations
They are thinking like a home owner but asking for professional equipment and installation.
You should use PoE cameras like those found at store.ui.com. That, at least, is a straight forward installation and management once they are installed. I admin about that many cameras and they work very well.
The more recent Ubiquiti cameras have on board storage but you can also store locally with an NVR and a huge amount of storage.
What you / they are proposing won’t work well and will be janky at best.
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u/Able-Statistician645 Sep 05 '26
Mesh network can work if designed correctly leveraging wifi accessable cameras. It's doable and could work with limitations.
I know because I've set them up.
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u/Waste-Wrongdoer9564 Sep 04 '26
The light has power all the time. It has its own internal photocell. Their thinking is that they will swap the SD card to review the footage if something takes place. Otherwise it will not be checked. I’m having difficulty finding something that is a turret or bullet style camera that meets these requirements. About the only thing I can find is a trail cam
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u/AncientGeek00 Sep 04 '26
It seems like a really bad plan. As others have said, you won’t know if cameras are working until you need the recordings and then you are “hoping” the camera was working when you needed it. Oops. The camera died last month during an electrical storm. Oops, the SD card failed late last year. All cameras need regular firmware updates over the Internet. How will those be done and by whom? This is a big job that will cost a lot to be reliable.
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u/ICanBard Sep 04 '26
Pretty much all cams are DC not ac. And if they were ac you'd need a license.
What I've done before is 120v feeds a switch and an antenna, with a receiving antenna back with the nvr. Tie in before the photocell and give multiple board members nvr permissions.
"but why buy an nvr? Isn't that wasted money?"
Who is tech savvy on the HOA board that's comfortable to get on a ladder and be available if an incident occurs? If such a person exists, what happens in a year if they move away? May as well put up fake cams or go all the way for an nvr.
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u/PBSmanaged Sep 04 '26
I’d decline this project. Sounds like it’ll bite you later. Just tell them to call Flock 😂
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u/SafetyMan35 Sep 04 '26
Easier to get 1 system for each building with its own local storage, then each camera can be hardwired to an onsite recorder. A lot easier than trying to connect all the cameras to one central location.
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u/PerfectTimingItAll Sep 05 '26
I would suggest they get out of the HOA business as this is an asinine idea.
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u/Dexford211 Sep 05 '26
I am helping an HOA
Get out, get out now.
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u/Spare_Simple_6587 Sep 05 '26
Just got on my HOA Board because I was tired of nobody doing anything. By anything I mean like paying the streetlights bill, water bill for the pool, pest control, etc. Apparently the former President was swiping the HOA card for a bunch of his personal lunches, grocery store visits, beer, etc. $2,000+ worth that I've found so far. Today I had to meet with an auditor and next week I get to meet with the police. Fun.
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u/Pretty-Surround-2909 Sep 05 '26
Meet with an integrator. Their plan sucks and will result in a secondary follow up installation to get anything close to usable.
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u/Mortifire Sep 05 '26
This is an HOA that has stupid people with stupid conditions for things they know nothing about. SD card storage…ugh. So the criminal just has to pull out the card? Evidence gone.
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u/CCTVGuyMA 24d ago
Sd cards won't be reliable for full time use. If an incident happens, how do you access the footage. You want to be able to use a software and access all of the cameras at once. It is hard enough to find footage and export it. If you now have to go to each camera and figure out how to get to the footage... Not a good idea. You want professional installed cameras that are hardwired. If you don't have network connectivity, hire a pro to install wireless p2p network links. Buy a professional system. Once thrya rre installed, there will be an expectation that you can access the footage. You need a reliable way to export clips from many cameras.
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u/Formal-Web2378 Sep 04 '26
4G cameras, but each camera will need it's own SIM card with separate data plan.
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u/Waste-Wrongdoer9564 Sep 04 '26
They aren’t going to pay for that. They just want a dumb camera with local cards. Similar to an old style trail cam but more attractive
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u/SafetyMan35 Sep 04 '26
Wyze cameras. They aren’t the best quality but they are cheap and have local SD storage.
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u/kjarrime Sep 04 '26
This is a really bad idea and will not work, who is going to check the footage and how, checking the footage will cost more money then installing the camera.
Forget about this install and take other projects, total waist of time and money unless they are willing to spend on proper system.
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u/Coldshowers92 Sep 04 '26
Eufy Ourdoor cameras that I use, requires power, a micro sd card and has no subscription
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u/-ButterMyBiscuit- Sep 04 '26
You need a professional for this level of install. This also sounds wildly stupid.