Looking for decent Wifi camera

BearGFR

n3wb
May 8, 2025
3
1
Parker County, Texas
Not sure if this is the right sub-section for this question, so here goes.


I'm new here, looking for gear recommendations better than what I already have.

So far the general recommendations I've seen here almost universally run towards, "Don't use wifi, don't use solar/battery, always use POE power and hard-wired ethernet connections." That's all fine and good, but for what I need it's not possible for me to follow that advice.

We live out in the country on 13+ acres and my primary need for camera monitoring is for wildlife - specifically feral hogs. I need to know when they show up so I can react before they start destroying stuff, something they're experts at doing. The areas I need to monitor do not have nearby electrical power or networking gear such as a switch or router, so unless I invest pretty heavily in running both power and networking to those locations which are currently a few hundred yards away from both plus building some sort of weather protection for both, my only options for camera monitoring are going to have to involve solar/battery powered Wifi connected cameras.

I don't need continuous surveillance. I just need real-time/near real-time motion detection and alerting (SMS and email), also event recording/capture and storage (preferably via FTP to my own server).

Not knowing any better, initially I deployed several different camera models from Reolink only to discover that the only thing worse than their software and equipment is their support. In my experience the gear and software both are fragile and unreliable, and dealing with their support is enough to make me want to find a monastery to join that's 1000 miles away from any kind of technology.

So, are there any solar/wifi systems out there that might work for what I need?

Thanks
 
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So far the general recommendations I've seen here almost universally run towards, "Don't use wifi, don't use solar/battery, always use POE power and hard-wired ethernet connections." That's all fine and good, but for what I need it's not possible for me to follow that advice.

We live out in the country on 13+ acres and my primary need for camera monitoring is for wildlife - specifically feral hogs. I need to know when they show up so I can react before they start destroying stuff, something they're experts at doing. The areas I need to monitor do not have nearby electrical power or networking gear such as a switch or router, so unless I invest pretty heavily in running both power and networking to those locations which are currently a few hundred yards away from both plus building some sort of weather protection for both, my only options for camera monitoring are going to have to involve solar/battery powered Wifi connected cameras.
You said don't like your Reolink cameras, but you haven't told us which models you purchased, or explained your WiFi setup, or told us how they are failing. WiFi cameras are very sensitive to bandwidth limits and signal drops, so folks around here don't recommend them. A different camera brand isn't going to help if your WiFi isn't strong. I have two completely reliable WiFi cameras, but they are both inside my house, where the signal is never a problem.

I want to add a camera at the back of my yard, where running power would be a hassle. My situation is different because I want continuous recording to Blue Iris, and most battery cameras only record motion. Since I couldn't find a budget-friendly commercial solution, I'm experimenting with building my own. I got a 25w 12v solar panel, a charge controller, and a 7AH lithium battery from Amazon last week. It's powering an Amcrest IP2M-841W at the moment, and producing enough power to stream 24-7-365. This works when it is 30' from my house, but I don't expect to get enough WiFi signal 100' away at my back fence. To make that work, I would need additional networking hardware. As the complexity rises, the cost may eventually creep past the simple and reliable run-a-CAT5 option.
 
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