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Webcam / Affordable home secuirty options?
Hensler
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I have a small second apartment close to where I work, and I'm looking at security options for it. The area isn't too bad, but I don't trust some of my fellow tenants. Now that I'm keeping some more expensive things there, I'd like to put in some sort of security camera. And I keep a laptop with an internet connection there, so I'm wondering if there are any webcams that would be viable for this? I'm not there on the weekends at all. I don't really need to be able to access the images online, so it would be fine if it just saved them on the hard drive. Since I don't need it recording all the time, are there any webcams that have motion-sensing software or will just save the images when something changes? What would you reccomend?
Hensler on
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There are network based cameras that will do that, but it sounds like you're just looking for a webcam and that just won't work. The lenses for them generally have a focal length set only a few few from the lens itself.
What exactly is going to stop them from stealing the laptop with all your saved images?
I have a safe locker built into one wall - big enough for a laptop and a few other things, but not for things like my consoles, TV, speakers, etc.
Maybe i'm just being dense, but how is the laptop going to protect the consoles, TV, speakers, etc. if it's inside the safe? Even if you kept the laptop in the safe but ran a cable from it out to a camera elsewhere, you'd have to hope it gets a decent picture before the burglar waltzes over to cut the cable and/or smash the camera to tiny bits - and what if they're wearing a ski mask or something? Are you still going to be able to ID them if you can't make out their face?
About the only setup I could see working is maybe if you built a camera inside the door of the safe itself and connected to the laptop also in the safe somehow, assuming that's even possible.
I have a sneaking suspicion that a homebrew solution just isn't going to cut it here - especially if all you have to work with is a laptop and a webcam.
Anyways, if someone has a better idea for an affordable monitoring or any simple, affordable system for the apartment, I'd love to hear it. I rent and can't put in an actual hard security system from someplace like Brinks; I've already checked into that.
And if you leave your laptop running in the safe, it will die a death of heat. Second. How are you going to get the information to the laptop from the camera if the walls of a safe?
What is your budget? There are some solutions that can work but it's not a $50 project.
Want to make sure the laptop has a source of power like a wall plug inside the safe or whatnot, but i'm sure you considered that already.
EDIT: As someone mentioned above though, heat could very well be a problem - I don't imagine the safe has much ventilation?
If you start considering Vandal-resistant domes in the IP world, the price goes up and goes up quite a bit.