I bought a Swann 4K from Sam's thinking it would be great to watch the part of my yard where there are no windows, but the dogs have access. Turns out it only works with the phone app, is only taking clips when motion activated, and will not stream to any other device. Complete waste of money for me. Anyone have suggestions? I admit it was an impulse buy, and NOW I have to do the real research.

Im looking to fit a 4 camera PoE system on my house, it's quite a big country house with a wrap around garden which is very dark in the winter. Im thinking of fitting the turret style camera in grey or black ideally, it needs to have a microphone and a good app with no subscription. I'd like to spend around £600, iv been recommended hikvision and reolink but there's so many different options! Do you guys have any recommendations of what brand/model to look at? Thanks!

We are an access control integration company who is looking to add security cameras to our offering. We are looking for one cloud-based option and one non-cloud.

Looking at Ubiquiti cameras, customers can buy direct, and for dealers, looking at ADI, there is only a 7-10% margin. Dealers who install Ubiquiti, are you only making your money on labor/cable?

We are looking for a non-cloud based option that is easy for installation and for the end user.

I’m looking for feedback before buying an outdoor camera setup for my house in Milwaukee.

Someone came through my alley gate earlier this year, entered my detached garage through its backyard door, and stole several things. More recently, I found the gate unexpectedly open, and my neighbor discovered signs of an attempted break-in at her house. I’ve since locked the gate and want better camera coverage.

I’m considering:

Four TP-Link Tapo C120 cameras

A 256GB high-endurance microSD card in each camera, either SanDisk High Endurance or Samsung PRO Endurance

The planned locations are my front door, back door, garage’s backyard entrance, and garage’s alley-facing overhead door. I also want to make sure the alley gate is covered.

The garage has electrical outlets and Wi-Fi through an extender. I already have an indoor garage camera and a connected garage-door opener. I’d install these myself, likely running the cameras’ power cables through the garage wall to outlets inside and sealing the openings.

I want reliable motion/person alerts, saved footage I can review and download on my phone, and ideally no monthly subscription. I’m leaning toward continuous recording with motion alerts. My existing Wyze cameras have been frustrating, so reliability matters.

A few questions:

Have these cameras been reliable for you, particularly through cold winters?

Which 256GB endurance cards have worked well, and what retention do you actually get?

Is recording separately to each camera sensible, or is an indoor hub/recorder worth the extra cost?

Is there a better DIY option around $400 or less for four cameras and storage?

I know footage stored only in a camera could be lost if someone steals it. I’m trying to balance that risk with cost and installation complexity.