Intended use and requirements:
I have done some research. The outdoor foscam on amazon looks like it would work for me but the reviews scare me off. I have no idea the quality differences among brands and even types of cameras, thus hoping this wonderful forum can steer me with their wealth of knowledge based on my above stated use and requirements.
Thanks so much in advance for any and all input!!
- Location:
- Camera will be mounted on an existing galvanized pole that extends out of the roof near the corner of the house.
- I am an engineer and have no problem customizing the mount and building a watertight ebox to house electronics if necessary.
- I will run power and cat5 to the attic where there is an AC outlet and router is in the room immediately below where camera is mounted - less than 30' from camera to router including twists and turns (more like 17' line of sight if you could see through the ceiling and roof).
- Camera will be about 25' above ground with 270° of horizon range (remaining 90% blocked by roof).
- Waterfront (saltwater) environment
- Intended use:
- Manual remote monitoring of the property grounds. I want to keep an eye on the weather, the water, dock, boat, driveway, foot traffic, street, etc. Our house is in a commercial area with lots of activity. Everything I want to see is within 270° of camera view. No trees.
- PTZ is a must
- Additional requirements
- Connectivity - wired via 30' cat5/6 cable direct to router. Wireless cam access is not required.
- Motion detection - NOT required. While nice, we are in a high traffic area including nearly constant large birds (seagulls, herons, pelicans, etc.), parking lot next door with much car traffic, boats on the water, etc. Motion detection is not a practical option for me for this camera.
- Audio - NOT required. I will use my imagination.
- Local computer requirements - I prefer not to require one but if necessary I have a laptop that stays at this house. I would prefer the camera communicate with the cloud via my router with no local PC required.
- Smart phone remote access - yes definitely
- PC/web remote access - yes definitely
- Router configuration - I am tech savvy enough to port forward and any other required settings.
- Security - we have nothing secure to protect on our network or within camera view. Our router is open and neighbors use it. It is basically considered a public network. I will setup a secure password for the camera but frankly if it is ever compromised and someone was able to access the camera, I wouldn't care. I have nothing to hide at this location on our network or in our yard. Both are very public places.
- Picture quality: as high as possible. Optical zoom is a must. If someone is on my dock I want to be able to zoom in and see who it is.
- Stability - very important. I don't mean camera stability (anti-shake) but hw/sw/connectivity stability. We are away from this house for a month at a time often and a camera that requires a manual reboot with any regularity would be useless. I need to be able to install and configure everything once - and then have it run stable for months at a time including recovery after power outages (which are not uncommon - we're on an island).
- Budget. Less than $300 preferably but if there is a significant quality difference between the $270 unit that would work for me, and the $600 unit, then I would certianly consider that.
I have done some research. The outdoor foscam on amazon looks like it would work for me but the reviews scare me off. I have no idea the quality differences among brands and even types of cameras, thus hoping this wonderful forum can steer me with their wealth of knowledge based on my above stated use and requirements.
Thanks so much in advance for any and all input!!
I know this sounds bad. This is really simple, PM me and I'll help you out.