Cheap remote camera that works...

[harryball]

OK, I found this cheap controllable camera with tilt/pan/zoom/sound vs. a static camera with no sound. I've been using it a little over a week and I have to say, it has it's problems but does most of what I wanted.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00SMDG3JO?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00

It was about $50 and I gave it 3 stars not so much for the camera as the software is a bit too simple and has a few bugs. You can read my review.

I would love to hear from others trying different cameras in those price ranges so we could compare notes and find the better ones of the bunch.

[Davo]

Be careful with IP cameras

One I had connected to a bunch of foreign overseas iP addresses

I only checked because a network admin had the same one, mentioned the addresses were part of a cloud service

Technically it could be sending back pics or video

I threw it in the trash - later realizing I should have just purchased a router and leave it off the net - ah well

I will end up just buying a baby monitor from frys or walmart

[harryball]

Good point. I didn't see any traffic but I just added a Deny All outbound for its IP address on my firewall. Seems like a reasonable precaution.

[Brady Watson]

All of the sub $250 ones are garbage in my experience. Search Amazon et al for 'wireless PTZ' and that should point you in the right direction. If it seems too cheap, there is probably a good reason. I always read the reviews to hear what others have stated.

-B

[dlcw]

Sounds like the cheaps ones are kinda like the flashlight apps for phones. They download everything off your phone and send it overseas. There was a news story about those flashlight apps being bad juju.....

[knight_toolworks]

I have a couple dlink ones. one won't connect now. but they are outside under the eves and they are not outside cameras but they don't record unless you either get their hub or pay monthly for it. that seems to be the case. I have a dropcam Now nest i think in the house it has a pretty wide view so you may not need a moving camera and it lets you set areas that movement is detected in. but if you want to record with it it is 7.99 a month I think. both are real easy to setup and use. the net one is nice with a nest smoke detector as they link up and if it goes off the camera sends a picture what is going on along with alerts.

[Tim Lucas]

I use Vivotek cameras from B&H Photo - This one is a good low cost camera http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1065090-REG/vivotek_ib8168_c_2mp_ultra_mini_bullet.html
It comes with very good software - motion detection - can send snap shot to your email - B&H Photo is a good company to purchase from.
A little more than the $50 range but much better quality.
I have found the bullet style with at least 2mp works the best for me, have one overseeing the driveway and a couple in the shop watching the bot and table saw area.

[rb99]

I bought a good quality 1080 HD Logitech web cam and set it up USB on an old laptop focused on my large format printer. I then created 2 Skype accounts. I log into one account with the web cam laptop, and answer it on my other computer or phone with the other account. Voila! High res private Skype monitoring.

PS_Of course I have private internet wifi.

[kevin]

I went down this road it starts with a router you need a good network first .I used Dlinks cameras because ease of use and top security

http://ca.dlink.com/products/connect/wireless-ac3200-tri-band-gigabit-router/

I thought just hook up a couple of camera and away i go

[khaos]

Like harry said just block outgoing from its IP. For $50 it could do the job.