Security Cameras (Home Setups)

get two mean dogs, one outside and one inside. Nobody going to mess with Jaws!
 
those were tame dogs-just:flame: get the junk yard dog-they are real mean and not feed too well!
 
bootyluvr said:
I saw Amazon Prime Day had the Blink XT2 Wireless Camera System on-sale so I ended up picking it up. It should be here tomorrow.

I :rotfl: at the 2-year battery life. I have a few friends that have the Blink XT (original) and they say they get a decent amount of battery life but not 2-years. They said maybe if you didn't have it recording all the time or had the minimum setting selected it would last 2-years.
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bootyluvr said:
I'm pleasantly surprised with the quality of the Blink XT2 cameras. I mounted one of the cameras on the tree outside my house and it's working out well.

I'll have to upload a video to YouTube to post in here.
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Update: Ordered on July 15, 2019

I'm not a fan of the Blink XT2 camera system... I just like the wireless/battery features of the cameras.

* I've had to replace the batteries multiple times in all 3 of the cameras.
* I've never realized how busy my street is with vehicles until I installed the cameras which causes the horrible battery life. I've changed the sensitivity multiple times and spoke with Amazon Customer Service who had me reset the cameras, change the batteries (provided free batteries) and also replace the cameras (2 of them with brand new ones)

I just like that I can put these cameras basically anywhere without having to run power/connection to them... Dang

Gitrdone42 said:
I was going to ask you how you liked these. I'm thinking about getting some. I've got 2 Arlo cameras now but they are expensive to add on
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@Gitrdone42 - Did you get more Arlo cameras or go a different route?
 
bootyluvr said:
Update: Ordered on July 15, 2019

I'm not a fan of the Blink XT2 camera system... I just like the wireless/battery features of the cameras.

* I've had to replace the batteries multiple times in all 3 of the cameras.
* I've never realized how busy my street is with vehicles until I installed the cameras which causes the horrible battery life. I've changed the sensitivity multiple times and spoke with Amazon Customer Service who had me reset the cameras, change the batteries (provided free batteries) and also replace the cameras (2 of them with brand new ones)

I just like that I can put these cameras basically anywhere without having to run power/connection to them... Dang



@Gitrdone42 - Did you get more Arlo cameras or go a different route?
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I ended up going with the blink system. I got 5 cameras. Took some adjusting on the activity zones to keep them from coming on way too much. So far they are working pretty good.

I like each system for what they are. Each one has its pluses and minuses.
 
Blink XT2 Update:

Yesterday morning (Monday) I checked the cameras and was unable to view the Live Feed... So I tried to check the past videos and the last one that was showing was from Saturday afternoon/evening... I'm like weird. WiFi was working fine at home so it wasn't that. I forced closed the Blink app on my phone and same issue. Restarted my phone and same issue. I was at work so I didn't have time to mess with it much. Later yesterday after lunch time I checked the Blink app again on my phone and there were all the videos from Saturday until yesterday afternoon. So weird.

This isn't the first time this has happened to me. Blink Support last time said it was probably a WiFi issue but I told them I have Google WiFi Mesh and can see my home network via the app. They said restart the Blink module last time which didn't resolve the issue.

Not that I need the old footage right away or need to check Live feed but it's so annoying. Between that and going through the batteries like water... I'm going to take down the system and sell it.
 
bootyluvr said:
Blink XT2 Update:

Yesterday morning (Monday) I checked the cameras and was unable to view the Live Feed... So I tried to check the past videos and the last one that was showing was from Saturday afternoon/evening... I'm like weird. WiFi was working fine at home so it wasn't that. I forced closed the Blink app on my phone and same issue. Restarted my phone and same issue. I was at work so I didn't have time to mess with it much. Later yesterday after lunch time I checked the Blink app again on my phone and there were all the videos from Saturday until yesterday afternoon. So weird.

This isn't the first time this has happened to me. Blink Support last time said it was probably a WiFi issue but I told them I have Google WiFi Mesh and can see my home network via the app. They said restart the Blink module last time which didn't resolve the issue.

Not that I need the old footage right away or need to check Live feed but it's so annoying. Between that and going through the batteries like water... I'm going to take down the system and sell it.
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How long have your batteries been lasting?
 
Gitrdone42 said:
How long have your batteries been lasting?
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Depends on the activity... (I've had these cameras for almost a year)

Backyard camera (not much activity) - Replaced batteries once
Door Camera (it picks up traffic from the road) - replaced batteries 2-3 times already
Tree Camera (it picks up people walking up to the house/on the porch) - replaced batteries 2-3 times already
 
I thought about going with Blink a few times, but I can't get passed the battery thing. And you just solidified that for me. A battery replacement every 3 to 4 months is still more often than I'd wanna do it.

What are you gonna do for the tree cam? You have means to get power out to the tree?
 
fahnix said:
I thought about going with Blink a few times, but I can't get passed the battery thing. And you just solidified that for me. A battery replacement every 3 to 4 months is still more often than I'd wanna do it.

What are you gonna do for the tree cam? You have means to get power out to the tree?
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It's funny how Blink says "2-year battery life"... That camera must be in an area with none to barely any activity. Blink Customer Support was very good. When I complained to them they sent me a box of lithium ion batteries (for free).

To be honest I'm not sure what I'm going to be doing. The "tree camera" was just so convenient with putting it there. I might just not put any system up for a while until I figure something out :shrug:

Running wires/drilling/ect just doesn't appeal to me. If I had a door bell then I think I would just use a single doorbell/ring type camera but I don't and don't feel like dealing with all of that.
 
bootyluvr said:
It's funny how Blink says "2-year battery life"... That camera must be in an area with none to barely any activity. Blink Customer Support was very good. When I complained to them they sent me a box of lithium ion batteries (for free).

To be honest I'm not sure what I'm going to be doing. The "tree camera" was just so convenient with putting it there. I might just not put any system up for a while until I figure something out :shrug:

Running wires/drilling/ect just doesn't appeal to me. If I had a door bell then I think I would just use a single doorbell/ring type camera but I don't and don't feel like dealing with all of that.
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I hear that. That's cool that they sent a box of batteries though. That lessens the frustration of repeatedly replacing the batteries.
 
fahnix said:
I hear that. That's cool that they sent a box of batteries though. That lessens the frustration of repeatedly replacing the batteries.
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Yeah but I found some before they sent me replacements... **** it might be more than 2-3 times I've replaced the batteries. I've lost count to be honest.

Gitrdone42 said:
I've had mine up since end of February and haven't had to replace any yet.
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You must live on a road/area that isn't that busy. Or my cameras are ****** up..

I've messed with the sensitivity/settings but then if I lower it too low then I miss ****.
 
bootyluvr said:
Yeah but I found some before they sent me replacements... **** it might be more than 2-3 times I've replaced the batteries. I've lost count to be honest.



You must live on a road/area that isn't that busy. Or my cameras are ****** up..

I've messed with the sensitivity/settings but then if I lower it too low then I miss ****.
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Have you added the activity zones on them? You can block out sections you don't want it to pick up on. Here's a pic of my driveway where I've blocked out the road so it doesn't pick anything up. The gray area is where it's blocked.
 

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Gitrdone42 said:
Have you added the activity zones on them? You can block out sections you don't want it to pick up on. Here's a pic of my driveway where I've blocked out the road so it doesn't pick anything up. The gray area is where it's blocked.
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Yeah I blocked out some of the road but I don't have a driveway/garage so I can't block it all off or I won't see activity around my cars on the street.. :(
 
bootyluvr said:
Yeah I blocked out some of the road but I don't have a driveway/garage so I can't block it all off or I won't see activity around my cars on the street.. :(
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Gotcha. Yeah that can be a pain. The biggest false alarms on mine are shadows from trees or at night the headlights and shadows from cars driving through the neighborhood.
 
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