Best Home Security & Surveillance
The Nest Cam Indoor is the perfect addition to any home. And the coolest part is that the Nest Cam can tell the difference between movement from say a hand getting into a cookie jar, and a person entering a room. SET IT UP ANYWHERE: The compact size of the Nest Cam makes installation a breeze. Nest Cam Indoor’s stand works in all kinds of homes, on all types of surfaces. Or you can unscrew the camera from the base and attach it to any standard tripod mount. Your Nest Secure can use your smart light bulbs to help get your attention in the event of an emergency; your smart washer and dryer can take the data from Nest and run the next load of laundry when energy demand is low.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The original review was made prior to the new app update, which really does an amazing job in increasing overall functionality of the camera as a whole. As you can see in my original review of the product, I was not happy with using the camera as a baby monitor. The previous version didn't make it conducive to having it in a baby's room due to limited notifications. I'd also mention that I really appreciate that Nest took the time to update a previous gen product. There's no load time / buffering when going back, I don't know how the engineers at Nest were able to do this, but their video compression algorithm is really top notch. --ORIGINAL REVIEW--. While the nest cam is "cool" and works as it should, I simply can't give it 5 stars. We purchased 2 thermostats, the smoke alarms and the nest cam. Small, attractive and website and app are very well designed and work great! Through the app, setup was done very quickly, and it starts working fast as well."
"I purchased the Nest Cam Security Camera 3-pack. Unfortunately, Nest only associated two of the licenses with two of my cameras, leaving the third camera without a storage ability, despite paying for it. The third license, according to my account, will be applied to my next camera purchase, essentially rendering one of my three cameras useless. Despite buying three cameras and three licenses, I have one camera which i useless one license which Nest are trying to get me to buy a fourth camera to use it."
"The reason for the 1 star review is that if you don't subscribe to their Nest aware that starts at $10 a month you will have to stare at a banner ad on all of your devices that you have the Nest app installed on nagging you to subscribe to it. I spent 30 minutes on the phone with Nest support this morning and was even transferred to a senior level tech who told me the only way to get rid of the banner ad was to subscribe to Nest aware."
"I signed up for the Aware subscription and it applied it to the the main camera and the camera we don't have setup right now! The camera does its job at high resolution, but the support software and components are AWFUL. Like the camera don't like my first experience with Nest and how they support these cameras."
The Nest Cam Outdoor is the perfect addition to any home. SECURITY HAS NEVER LOOKED SO GOOD: The Nest Cam Outdoor is here to help set your mind at ease. Nest Cam Outdoor is beautiful, weatherproof, and it plugs into power, so you never have to worry about dead batteries. Whether you're watching for the kids to get home from school, checking to see if your package has arrived, or scaring off a potential burglar, Nest Cam Outdoor is here to help! Nest Cam looks for motion and listens for loud sounds, like a boom or the crash from a window breaking.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Had a Christmas package stolen form my driveway, because of the camera we were able to identify the license plate and the thief which ultimately resulted in his arrest."
"We've had occasional situations where a camera has gone offline, but I attribute that to a flaky WiFi signal and not necessarily the camera. Regarding the Nest video recording service, we pay the monthly fee for all of our cameras. In the simplest of installations, you'd mount your camera in the desired location and then run the cord to an outdoor power outlet, securing the cord along the way with the included clips. I wanted to use this wiring so I was able to use a power over ethernet (POE) splitter and injector (bought on Amazon) to run power to the camera and then connected the splitter to the camera's power cable using a USB adapter. Because the cable is permanently attached to the camera itself (which isn't inherently a bad thing, and probably has to do with waterproofing), installations like mine which don't require the cable to span a long distance to connect to power end up with a long mess of extra cord. Aside from the physical installation, Nest makes it simple to connect and configure the camera to your home wifi. Using the app you can view your camera's live feed, view past motion events (still images if you don't subscribe to the Nest Aware service to record your video), configure settings like night vision, sound, etc., as well as turn the camera off and on (if you ever need to)."
"The problem is that they only offer 2 cloud storage option subscriptions to store your history with their Nest Aware cloud storage offering. Here is the break-down: Currently as of 10/24/2016: 1) 10 day - $100 per year per camera with a $50 discount for each additional camera. So for me - that would be $300 / year - to store 10 days of history for 5 of my cameras. OR - They also have: 2) 30 day - $300 per year / camera with a discount 50% discount per camera ($150 per year). This is ridiculous for home consumers who want simple home security. Nest - please make a subscription option for home security for owners to choose how much storage they want or offer and entry level package to store 1 or 2 days storage at a reasonable price."
"You will either get too many annoying alerts that aren't important or basically no alerts. You get (Some) snapshots of alerts. (This means you're probably going to get a lot of annoying alerts that don't matter to you, or you can basically not get any alerts). Since you only have picture snapshots, a lot of alerts won't even have anything in the picture because the motion detected it too late."
In addition to knowing when your dog is active, it can help you to identify separation anxiety through patterns such as constant pacing or licking feet. 3) Person Alert: Furbo will let you know when a human comes into view: whether a dog walker is scheduled to stop by or an intruder enters the home. Furbo uses DOG RECOGNITION TECHNOLOGY to send you Dog Activity Alert, Person Alert & Dog Selfie Alert.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The first night I had the Furbo I was awaken several times in the middle of the night by high pitched squealing and giggling of glee from my gf not being able to contain herself."
"When I got my Furbo I had problems making my smart phone work with it-NOTHING to do with the Furbo-but the Furbo people were extremely wonderful and helped me know what to do! I was an hour away from home through this so I connected, and it was sooooo wonderful to see my dogs and know they were doing ok! They went and laid back down and I watched them sleep happily while my husband drove us home!"
"Furbo sends your phone alerts when your dog is barking or when their are loud noises in your house- i.e. when your CO detector is going off!"
"I bought the Furbo as a family Christmas gift so that our kids who are away at school could watch their two dogs at home at pop them treats for fun. I'm out of town for work right now, and the last two nights I've connected and been able to watch the dogs on my smartphone as I shoot them treats which they love. We have to unplug and replug-in the device to start it up again regularly which takes about a minute or two (at home), and/or close the Furbo app and reopen it remotely."
"I was hesitant at 1st thinking my 2 yr old 115lb german shepherd would just plow it over when he first heard my voice but thanks to the training video and advice on how to introduce your pet to it that didnt happen."
"Furbo sent me notifications to my phone when he was crying, so I would log on and talk to him right away."
"So far so good...I just got it yesterday and it's been working everywhere I go, as long as I have 4G."
"10 days after the return window closes, our treat dispenser dies."
Best Security & Surveillance Biometrics
Door Chime Operation. Press the push button on the doorbell once, a sounding wireless signal will be sent to the receiver. Sound and Flash. There is a switch at left on the back of the Receiver. Press it to adjust the sound volume to be high, medium and low. Specifications A. Doorbell. Power: 1 x 3 Volts CR2032 battery (included). B. Receiver. Power: 2 x 1.5 Volts AA alkaline batteries (not included). Operating Temperature: -30¡æ to +40¡æ. Operating Distance: 300 feet in the open air. Selectable Tone: 36 Polyphonic Melodies. Digital Code Type: Auto-learning. DIY Expandability - Expand this system to fit your needs by pairing up to 5 push buttons to your receiver. Each push button can also be paired with multiple receivers to increase the notification coverage area.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I definitely recommend this doorbell, battery last for a long time ( I haven't changed it since I bought it), I love that I can move my doorbell around from upstairs to outside."
"The default is really the only regular doorbell-ish sound I found, but I honestly just got tired of cycling through all the songs."
"I appreciate the fact that i was able to choose the ring tone to something that was not startling because my father is elderly."
"I installed this in a playhouse our grandsons have when the original one died."
"The wireless doorbell kit is well made, and adds. a little spice to the décor."
"I work in an office suite in a large building and my office door is around the corner from the suite door."
"I like that this doorbell was wireless it made install a breeze."
"Works well but neighbors keyfod to unlock their car sets it off."
Best Complete Surveillance Systems
Weather-resistant - Arlo Pro cameras are Weather-resistant so you can place them anywhere-indoors and out.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I had some locations outside far from power outlets where I wanted surveillance, purchased and Arlo Pro system for this coverage. The image quality is slightly poorer, but the functionality is easier, there is free cloud recording, the app interface is cleaner, and the wireless feature means I can place these in spots the others can't go. Works out of the box, recent app update lets you scroll through video feed in time-lapse fashion. A small hiccup in that a recent app update seemed to wipe camera settings, but afterward everything else has been fine. From personal experience I will say the cost doesn't sound so bad at first, but after 3 years of paying it I'm realizing using Nest cameras has become a multiple thousand dollar system for us. No cloud option; SD card stores video locally, app on phone allows you to view feed in real time. In my experience, Samsung's zoom is crisper and its night vision is superior than Nest. Night vision is on par with Nest, but if you buy the Arlo Pro skins (sold separately), they actually reflect off the IR in the corners of the screen and wash out the image. If you use it to monitor & talk to a baby or pet, the lag is considerable and you cannot hear yourself on the other end. Fantastic audio quality, and it's true two-way so both sides can speak and hear each other at the same time (like a cell phone). Samsung Smartcam can also double as a baby monitor by playing lullaby music and a few other songs. I used to have a Nest cam in my detached garage but I had to bring it back in the house as it was dropping signal multiple times per day. But it has worked every time I've called on it, connects fast, doesn't drop video for me, and is currently located farther from my router than my Nest cams. And in this winter's 30 degree weather, my Arlo Pro cameras had no problems recording clips while my outdoor Nest cam fell offline several times. Recording sometimes takes too long to start (i.e. 2-3 seconds after motion first detected), which means I get a lot of clips where I see the tail end of something moving across the screen. I have the cameras perpendicular to the area they are monitoring so objects go across the screen, if you use them head-on the motion sensing is poor. For me, the positives easily outweigh the negatives: Ease of use, everything working out of the box, and the wireless capability is a combination of features the other systems don't have. If you're still on the fence, the one thing I'd circle back to are Nest cam's long term costs for cloud storage. UPDATE: Less than a month into ownership, some of the shine has come off the Netgear Arlo Pro. None of these issues started until after a week or two after deployment, the cameras worked well out of the box but began to show warts soon after. The biggest disappoint has been Netgear tech support, they never did help me and left my trouble ticket with the answer that a new app will be coming out soon and that should resolve things. When the cameras record video clips, I get large green stripes blocking the field of view. During the Spring and Summer we had no green blotches and the cameras properly reported power levels. If the cameras make it through the winter without doing the green blotch thing and I can pull up the feed on command, I'll raise the rating again. I do like the system, the app and cameras, but the niggling issues (and the fact it still doesn't pick up everything) have kept it from being a five star product."
"I bought this system because I wanted to hang cameras outside of my house so that I can see what's going on when I'm not home and so my wife can feel safer. I have 4 cameras all together, and 3 of them are attached to trees outside, the 4th is outside, but attached to the house. The camera sends you an alert, almost immediately (which I love) when it detects motion. I was looking at the camera image in real time and when I saw one of my cats in the backyard I was able to tell her where he was and she was able to retrieve him. That being said, I have lots of trees near my house, and even with pruning branches, I still get so many alerts when it's windy that I tend to turn off the cameras until it gets less windy. Also, I had to work on placement of the cameras so that I don't get an alert every time a car drove by my house. For me to get on a ladder, unscrew the camera from the mount on the tree, bring it in to charge via USB, then go back out and get on my ladder and try to re-aim the cameras is a pain the butt. The camera is supposed to be an HD camera, but the image during the day is really pixelated, especially if it's windy. The cameras internal IR light is puny, but I have security lights outside to light up my yard, so I don't rely on the cameras own IR light. I would recommend this if you want a general idea of what's happening around your house, just don't expect crisp, sharp images (but really, how often do you see security cameras footage on the news that's clear? I think most security cameras aren't that sharp anyway. ). In fact, I felt the difference was great enough that I've returned my previous system of 5 arlo pro cameras (thank you Amazon for your amazing customer service) and bought 5 arlo pro 2 cameras. I did call netgear and ask if they had some kind of exchange program for owners of the arlo pro who want the arlo pro 2, where I could send my old cameras in, pay the difference, and get new cameras..."
Best Home Security Systems
With object and facial detection, floodlight cam has the most advanced motion sensors in home security. Enter your model number to make sure this fits.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Since then I have put up ring flood light cameras all around my house."
"I can tell them to leave I can sound an alarm I can tell them we are calling the police and it also videos everything for evidence.I even saw my dad on the porch this morning and was able to tell him I love Him and I am miles away."
"First off, let me preface this by saying that I really like Ring and most of their products. Funny thing is, I have numerous statistics on my network that show that there are no other devices sending traffic upstream when trying to connect to the Ring Floodlight Cam. Bottom line, this device doesn't work nearly as well as the Doorbells and when you need someone in support that can think outside the box from just reset the device, extend your signal or increase your speed, you can't get to that person. I'm sorry Ring, I really was hoping this would be a home run as your doorbell was :(. Update 08/24/17: My faith in ring has been restored."
"You are forced to create a guest network with a very simple password just to get this device connected. One device gets updated while the other is still on an old firmware version even though they are both connected to the same wi-fi network and have good signal strength. Every time I am given the same stupid answers to reset the device or change camera view or move it around a bit."
"So Ring has some work to do with this product as it was put out into the market too early with some engineering issues. I set up the camera on the soffit of my garage which is 8 feet from the ground."
Best Motion Detectors
Set includes one sensor/one receiver. Sensor can detect motion up to 40 ft away. Tested through thick forestry, hail storms, gusty winds, heavy rains, scorching heat, and snow. REALISTIC RANGE- 1/4 mile long range has been tested in real world settings with trees, buildings, walls, and vehicles in order to make true and realistic wireless range claims (please note: extra heavy interference such as thick walls, metal siding, tall hills, and many trees will diminish the wireless range). We offer friendly and knowledgeable USA based tech support that will help you both before and after your purchase.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I was able to install this quickly and easily (95%of my time was spent on setting a post to mount it on, but even with the post digging and setting, the whole thing took less than 40 minutes). Install batteries, mount to a post or tree and you're done. I have no problems with reception, despite the distance from the house (several hundred feet) the fact that it is at the bottom of a steep hill and the signal has to pass through our garage to get to the house."
"Be aware it will trigger on moving branches (I adjusted my sensor down so it would not trigger on the trees across the driveway)."
"I bought the original version first and tried it at 350-400’ away from my house (600’ advertised) and 35’ from my driveway but it didn’t work."
"I bought to go on the bridge on my moms driveway it’s a little less then 1/4 mile from house with many trees and a huge hill but it goes off fine would love to get camera though cause the deer set it off a lot."
"We have a very long 800 foot driveway with many trees and twists."
"Works as advertised."
"Easy setup."
"Functions very well; perfect for my long driveway ; works from a closet in the house by front door."
Best Security Sensors & Alarms
Set includes one sensor/one receiver. Sensor can detect motion up to 40 ft away. Set includes one sensor & one receiver. Match different chimes with different sensors around your property to differentiate where motion is being detected. The 1/4 mile long range Guardline driveway alarm model is available for longer range and heavy interference installations).
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Make sure you set it for above the knees to avoid pet's setting it off..I had to hide it to avoid it from being seen..Be aware when it detects something a red light can be seen by passers who can take or destroy the product."
"And we have a lot of squirrels! There has been a few times that I didn't hear it alert and there was someone at my door, but I could have just missed it as I have it in my office and I can't always hear it if I'm in the kitchen or at the other end of the house. This is a 2-week review and so far so good!"
"Researched all the driveway alarm options and decided to go with Guardline based on reviews and price. A few helpful tips: Directions call for a metric drill bit for installation. Dani was very helpful and I adjusted the location of the base unit which solved the problem. Another tip from Dani at Guardline is to change your sensor batteries before the cold weather hits in late fall. The base unit plugs into the wall and has a back up battery option."
"I received a replacement within 2 days and Simon in Tech Support even sent a follow-up email today stating they were testing the unit I returned as well several others."
"Goes off every time someone drives or walks up the driveway."
""Dave" at Guardline emailed back a list of suggestions I should try and if those didn't work, he said Guardline would exchange my unit, and if that didn't work, they would refund my money. I followed his suggestions meticulously, the crux of which was to take down the gate unit, take its cover off, its batteries out, and let everything dry out for multiple days in case there was a moisture issue of any degree."
"The advertisement listed a realistic range of 500 feet, so I thought that it would be fine for my use, but the operation is intermittent."
Best Surveillance & Security Cameras
At 720p, each camera requires 200 to 500 Kbps of upload bandwidth while streaming video.At 1080p, each camera requires 450 to 1200 Kbps of upload bandwidth while streaming video.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Had a Christmas package stolen form my driveway, because of the camera we were able to identify the license plate and the thief which ultimately resulted in his arrest."
"We've had occasional situations where a camera has gone offline, but I attribute that to a flaky WiFi signal and not necessarily the camera. Regarding the Nest video recording service, we pay the monthly fee for all of our cameras. In the simplest of installations, you'd mount your camera in the desired location and then run the cord to an outdoor power outlet, securing the cord along the way with the included clips. I wanted to use this wiring so I was able to use a power over ethernet (POE) splitter and injector (bought on Amazon) to run power to the camera and then connected the splitter to the camera's power cable using a USB adapter. Because the cable is permanently attached to the camera itself (which isn't inherently a bad thing, and probably has to do with waterproofing), installations like mine which don't require the cable to span a long distance to connect to power end up with a long mess of extra cord. Aside from the physical installation, Nest makes it simple to connect and configure the camera to your home wifi. Using the app you can view your camera's live feed, view past motion events (still images if you don't subscribe to the Nest Aware service to record your video), configure settings like night vision, sound, etc., as well as turn the camera off and on (if you ever need to)."
"The problem is that they only offer 2 cloud storage option subscriptions to store your history with their Nest Aware cloud storage offering. Here is the break-down: Currently as of 10/24/2016: 1) 10 day - $100 per year per camera with a $50 discount for each additional camera. So for me - that would be $300 / year - to store 10 days of history for 5 of my cameras. OR - They also have: 2) 30 day - $300 per year / camera with a discount 50% discount per camera ($150 per year). This is ridiculous for home consumers who want simple home security. Nest - please make a subscription option for home security for owners to choose how much storage they want or offer and entry level package to store 1 or 2 days storage at a reasonable price."
"You will either get too many annoying alerts that aren't important or basically no alerts. You get (Some) snapshots of alerts. (This means you're probably going to get a lot of annoying alerts that don't matter to you, or you can basically not get any alerts). Since you only have picture snapshots, a lot of alerts won't even have anything in the picture because the motion detected it too late."
Best Surveillance Video Equipment
Setup is as simple as downloading the free Zmodo App, creating an account, and connect the cameras to your Wi-Fi. 【Motion Clip Alerts on Phones】: Receive an alert and a short video clip on your Zmodo app whenever motion is detected, and customize which areas on the cameras’ live view will trigger an motion alert, thus to prevent unwanted alerts and only get notified by alerts that really matter. 【Remote & Local Playback】: Cameras are built with excellent quality for 24/7 HD monitoring jobs, and video feed is saved to the included 500GB hard disk.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I love that I am notified by the app when sound or motion is detected."
"People who say the app and video are laggy might be having issues because their router is out of date."
"It was easy to setup, software was simple to use, quality was good for what I wanted, and it just worked. Zmodo, just like Neato and many other companies, don't use web protocols that are friendly. For example, my router thinks that communication from Zmodo is an intruder trying to hijack my network. So I have currently spent over 26 hours of time with support from ISP and Zmodo and Internet blogs and videos to get this working. My neighbor has Nest Cam and same ISP / router; basically a plug and play experience for them. Camera Customization. I am assuming there are still issues with the setup nightmare I went through which are causing options on the cameras to either 1) Not appear in the app or web control 2) No take when I change a setting or 3) Not work at all. Zmodo support pretty much is horrible, so I will either solve this myself or give up."
"The system gives you the ability to set the time zone, but after an hour or so it reverts back to a time stamp other than mine. Video without an accurate time stamp is useless."
Best Garage Door Sensors
The Chamberlain Garage Door Opener Replacement Safety Sensors (2-Pack) help make sure your garage remains safe. Detects objects in the path of opening/closing garage door to help prevent accidents.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I have a Craftsman opener from the mid to late 80s where the motor was ok but the sensors were beaten to a point of questionable use."
"Works great on my 15 year old Sears 3/4 HP opener."
"I used them to replace some old ones that were malfunctioning and every time it was sunny my garage door wouldn't shut."
"If you do not get the wire end in completely it can slide off or not provide a complete connection."
"Very easy to install, two wires, uses the same brackets and light tells you if they are placed correctly."
"I replaced the sensors on my Liftmaster (made 2005) with these, works right out of the box and gets the job done."
"Solved the problem of my garage door not closing all the way."
"Garage door had stopped closing and would automatically go back up unless I held the wall button down until completely shut."