I recently switched from spectrum to google fiber and got new router. As a result I lost access to all my security cameras from CPI. When the CPI technician came in, he said he needed my WiFi and password. Said he needed it for the cameras. Does that sound right to this community?

I've got a DSC system with 5 hardwired Honeywell (CO1224T) CO detectors. This morning they went off and after disconnecting them I see they are expired by more than a couple of years. When looking at 12v replacements all I see are RV/boat models, the CO1224T and the Macurco CM-E1 and CM-6 (CM-6 is not an option at ~$500 each). I am looking for one that would display peak (or even current) CO levels, but the only models I can find are 120V or battery. Are there any 12V hardwired options with a display?

Our current DSC alarm wireless system is getting old and it's time to replace it. I really don't want to get any system like SimpleiSafe as I am hearing they are garbage and easily jammed. I would prefer to stay wirelessly, is there any current system that I can deploy myself? Any recommendation which website I should check that are legit?

TIA

Hi,

My father is building a modest house on a piece of land that he bought time ago. He has contracted a building company with which he's pretty happy so far.

Last night someone got into the land and caused quite a lot of damage (broken tiles, door, etc). The manager of the builders team told my father that it's most likely a disgruntled ex-employee who was fired after being caught stealing, and who is causing a lot of trouble.

I was thinking about hiding a battery powered camera just to make sure that there is legal proof if this happens again. For this use case something that only writes to an SD card would be enough. I do not know anything about cameras, though. Any help regarding camera suggestions or alternative ideas would be greatly appreciated. Not looking for great performance, just catching someone who enters the land would be enough for identification purposes.

Cheers!

I am planning on building a server hosting Home Assistat and I will add Frigate to it. The Frigate documentation website recommended Dahua cameras and I have questions regarding it (mainly focused at security and privacy).

Questions:

1. I assume the camera will be connected to the server running Frigate and that will handle video recording, motion detection and other features and therefore the camera won't be able to contact Dahua servers?
2. Would I be able to control (PTZ) the Dahua camera via Frigate/Home Assistant?
3. Do I need to concerned about the Dahua cameras being Chinese version or Western ones? I read some posts warning about not being able to update the firmware on the Chinese versions and them being more vunerable.

Background behind the questions:

There's already a Dahua camera my neighbour setup pointed outside which is connected to an NVR (not sure if it's a Dahua NVR). The camera footage can be viewed only via the Dahua "gDMSS" suite of apps. So, with Frigate and Home Assistant will I be able to control the camera and prevent it from phoning home?

Thanks!

Shotgun will get more use via hunting. Pistol will be more useful for concealed carry and actually defending myself in random situations.

Looking at the mossberg 500 v the shield plus.

Would love some thoughts.

More context. Semi secluded house in a wooded area. Neighbors across the street. But several hundred feet away and down a hill. No kids but will in the next year or so.

Neighbors sons has gotten in trouble for shooting someone and stabbing another guy. Randomly fires his firearms all hours of the day and night. Tried to start a fight w my hvac guy. The brothers who actually own the place are very nice. One of their sons is a little questionable.

Hey guys I'm looking for a teeny tiny bluetooth camera that can be viewed live on my phone. But whenever I look for tiny hidden bluetooth camera it only shows those small cameras that you connect to via a hotspot. I'd like to have my device's wifi/data working with things in the background while connected to and viewing the bluetooth camera's vision. It doesn't have to have the longest bluetooth range just a few feet is fine even if less.

I'm currently a student looking at moving into a house next year with my flatmates. One problem is that we are all girls, so we are worried about our security/safety. We have been looking into getting a camera doorbell to put outside our front door for the time being - I have looked at the Ring one, but apparently, you have to pay a fee to keep the footage, which we won't be able to afford. I have also come across the Eufy Video Doorbell. Should we get it, or are we being paranoid?

Whats the best way to secure and alarm the standard American exterior garage doors?

I would like to secure the metal door between my garage and the inside of my house (not the exterior garage doors). It has a standard door knob with a lock, similar to what you would find in a bedroom or bathroom. I went to drill a bore hole in it to install a dead bolt, but there is no wood inside of the door in the area you'd want to put a dead bolt in, there is only foam. It seems the wood is only in the area of the existing door knob.

My question: is there a door knob that has a dead bolt (instead of a latch bolt)? I would remove the existing door knob and install it. Easilok is one item I found online that might serve this purpose, but I do not like the shape of the knob. It is too small, and it would be hard to pull the door open from the inside while holding that small knob.

Hello! I'm a single woman and I'm moving into an apartment building on the 4th floor which has a shared balcony with one neighbor next to me (mine is the very corner unit)

There is a divider between us but I'm concerned because even though it's a higher floor, I don't know if it's high enough for someone just crawl over to the other side. I attached a pic for reference.

I know there's an option for a door stopper or cut wooden broom but I do want to be able to have that sliding door open for fresh air, etc.

Is there anything else that you can recommend that I do to make it more secure?

I'm not allowed to put a balcony cover or anything. I already asked. :(

Please help! I'm super paranoid. I think I've been watching too much true crime, but at the same token in today's day and age, times can be scary.

I appreciate all of the input here!

P.S. Pics here are of not my balcony but this is a 4th floor and you can see the white divider between balconies. The other photo is of the sliding door that is off the balcony. The other pic is so that you can see how high up the 4th floor units are.

Please help! :)

https://preview.redd.it/mhnqrptzjouc1.png?width=305&format=png&auto=webp&s=c56de9b81435acf46fd765857c90904abfa4e99e

https://preview.redd.it/v6fgpotzjouc1.png?width=548&format=png&auto=webp&s=67ed6e4867ffde41bd45662c84ce9972e56e6c78

https://preview.redd.it/qoxvkptzjouc1.png?width=993&format=png&auto=webp&s=a132a46891c0a0d010affb10310704db9047ddf0

I need a hidden camera that you can look at through a computer not a phone. I'm trying to leave an abusive partner, the house is mine, my plan is to leave & leave a letter, but I don't want to return to the house until I know 100% they are gone. We only have 1 phone, which I'm going to leave with them so they have everything they need to depart. They get to keep whatever they want with the house, the money I don't care, I just want them out, and I'll be happy to start over.

I don't hate my partner, I'm just scared of them and know that if I leave and then are confronted by them I might get sucked back into the relationship again. All I am taking is my work laptop, and some spare clothes and a bit of money, but I just need a way to have a camera in the house to make sure he's gone. Even if it's just audio I don't care, just something to know that they are gone. Hope someone can help.

Hello,

I'm building a new house and I'm thinking how to best implement a security system. Some general info:

• I live in a mostly safe town in Northern Italy. The only thing I have to worry about is B&E when I'm not at home. Around here I've never heard of anything violent happening or B&E with hostage situation or else. It's a small town after all.
• it will be living in a single two-story house surrounded by our small garden. Then some neighbors around outside our private road (50 meters, but can't count on them. They're good people, but not the "friendly and helpful" kind of neighbors)
• I love cats, but I really don't like dogs. So not really an option.
• I live in a state with a very broken concept of private property and self defense. Just to give you an idea, our useless self defense law states that: "you must use something equal or less powerful as the attacker", so if the attacker has a bat I can't use a gun because I would go in big trouble. Moreover, the law also states that "if you can run away, do that". Again, if I fail to escape and instead engage the attacker in my house, I could go in big trouble for having done that. If you google for "Italy self defense gun" you'll see plenty of innocent people that tried to defend their family and got convicted (well, fortunately no prison because it's really hard to go to prison here) and then forced to pay huge amounts (hundred of thousands of Euros) to the attacker. Unbelievable but true, unfortunately. So, TL;DR: no guns, rifles, tasers, etc.
• I do have a wife and a small kid I want to protect. We both work from home, so we are at home most of the time.
• We are not rich, so we shouldn't be targeted by pros. Well, we are building a house, true, but then we will be without any money left, so there's that :)

Considering my case, I was thinking about something simple: some POE cameras (reolink?) outside to monitor the perimeter, a doorbell (reolink POE?), a few motion sensors (which brand?) inside the house.

Hello,

I have SwitchBot and Plug Mini.

I see in the Android SwitchBot app, my bot shows up under the Bots Nearby section and allows me to turn it on or off, all without wifi so it’s done through bluetooth. I also don’t need to sign in into my SwitchBot account in the app to do that.

I’m trying to do the same with the Plug Mini, but I noticed that it doesn’t show under the Bots Nearby section.

Only if I sign in into the SwitchBot account in the app that I can see the Plug Mini and turn it on or off through bluetooth without wifi.

I don’t want to depend on being able to sign in into the SwitchBot account to be able to turn on or off the Plug Mini, so is there a way that I can make the Plug Mini show under Bots Nearby section without the need to sign in into the account? Or is there an alternative Android app that can send the bluetooth command to the Plug Mini to turn on or off without the need to sign in? It doesn’t make sense why would it let you do it with a regular SwitchBot in the app but not with a Plug Mini, without signing in first.

Thank you.

TL;DR: Looking for a simple IP camera with browser integration, should send out messages to my phone EDIT1: no cloud integration

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen,

I've been looking for a simple, safe outdoor camera for a while now, but haven't found one yet. Nowadays, every camera needs an app and uploads all videos to a cloud. That's just too insecure for me. I want to be in control of my data and am therefore looking for an IP camera.

When I'm at home, I just want to be able to enter the IP address of the camera in a browser and see the video feed. When I'm out and about, I can connect to my home network with a VPN and then use the browser to see what's going on.

I know this is wishful thinking, but I would also like to receive notifications on my phone when something moves. I currently have a Reolink camera which has all these features, but I don't know what happens to my data -> not good.

Do you know of any cameras that work like this, or do you know of any DIY projects that deal with this? I've got programming experience and would do it myself, but I need the camera fast

Thank you in advance!!

EDIT2:

Thank you all for your answers. I'll look into u/GamgeeWiFi's solution.

1. A Wi-Fi home alarm that sends alerts to your phone when movement is detected.
2. Simple IP camera to see what's going on.
3. Maybe even combine it with the idea down below

Another solution might be a DIY camera with a Raspberry Pi, their camera, something like Pushsafer and a VPN.

If you stumble upon this post in the near future hit me up. I might have found the ultimate solution :D

I’m a newly single mom with a 9 year old son. I absolutely don’t want a gun (not against them. Just not for me) I have a 4 lbs dog who isn’t going to do shit. I’m thinking a cattle prod or aluminum bat. Any other ideas?

Non-native English speaker here.

I live in Bangladesh. I am a human rights defender. I am looking for a book that teaches people on how to maintain personal security for themselves, their spouses, children and other family members. Not only at home but everywhere.

Most personal security books are impractical in my country. For instance, many suggests driving your own car to reduce chances of problems, but that is not possible given the expense. Then most books assume that the police is inefficient or that its lawless, nothing in between. The books dont understand the nuances and complexities of the situation in the country. Also, even though the police is ineffective they are tough on anything that disrupts political order. Not only that, anything kept as a weapon is illegal and the law is strictly enforced with 10+ year of jail time. Then, security cameras next door have been stolen in broad daylight.

For instance, here you have 50-100 people meeting each other and starting fights. Just the other day, there was a fight between two men, and each men brought in 50-100 of their own people. There was fistfights, people attacking the gate to get into the building next door. It was later settled by discussion among political party members. Then, thugs would come to you asking for "donations", or threaten you. There is no point in complaining to the police, because people say that they are in connection with the police. Cases here take decades to resolve and are mired by corruption.

So in short, I need books on personal security that takes into account corrupt and developing countries. And assumes that you have a very low budget, cameras wont work, weapons are not allowed, cannot rely on police, complex situations etc. Maybe something regarding staying safe in Latin America would work? I dont know. Any suggestions?

Thoughts on the best options for a choke for the Benelli M2 when considering buckshot and home/property defense?

I’m thinking about how to optimize up to 25y or so (or less).

Thanks!

https://www.idahostatejournal.com/freeaccess/shes-definitely-a-hero-local-woman-justified-in-fatally-shooting-home-invader-during-terrifying-incident/article_b284c0f2-f764-11ee-afd6-efa897f57736.html

I'm looking to buy a magazine-fed semi-auto shotgun for home defense, any suggestions?

I am look for a spycamera or indoor camera that I can hide to caught abuse in my household.

We have to walk on egg shells around that person and It's getting worse. (We did wellness checks and called the police) I refuse blood test and urinalysis because he's over 19 . Even tried to get this person help with the Mental Service in our state but he does have insurances and it get worse day to day. I need help to prove that his behaviors are abusive.

It is a long story and I'm (and my family) are burned out from that experience this has lasted for 3 months: Question about that event is secondary to me, I mostly here to get recommendations on Camera and voice recording

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I need recommendation for a spyware or indoor camera:

-I need good quality picture

-I need 24/7 recording with a livestream through my phone and able to store the video to the cloud without going and picking up the SD card, if not SD card is fine.

- long lasting battery life

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I need an voice recording device:

That able to pick up voices are from far away and able to comprehend what they are saying!

That have live feed and can recorded for days

good battery life ( 24 hours)

being able to store the recording on to the cloud or a SD card is fine

​

Fears: The camera aren’t close enough so we can hear the liar

Goes somewhere that the audio and camera doesn’t pick up

The camera quality sucks

What is everyone’s go to gun storage that is easy access for emergency & safe around kids. I have 3 kids. I saw a lot online and Im leaning more into non electric or battery operated lock box. Just looking for more ideas & siggestions

So my neighbor seems to have placed a “Private Property” sign up in their backyard ( walls only go up so high ) and I was wondering do I need a sign as well?? Does this provide any added protection to homeowners? Our backyards face a mountain but people do occasionally walk past, mainly vagrants and HOA folk.

Can I use the telephone cable throughout my house to Interconnect an alarm system? Does PoE need more than 4 wires? Thanks in advance.

There's one big issue, my door opens outward. I considered a door stop alarm but it wouldn't work in this case

I've had this Lorex doorbell camera for about 3 years now and I only bought it because I was familiar with the brand and the camera had color night vision. After dealing with all of their app/software issues where I couldn't access recordings from the camera it finally started working as expected and has been ok for the most part. Until recently I've noticed that lights look extremely bright through the camera. I've tried cleaning the lens but nothing has worked. I want to eventually upgrade to a new system/brand, but I still want to make these cameras last as long as I can since I already spent a few hundred dollars on them only a couple of years ago.

https://preview.redd.it/4m22baepuktc1.png?width=1924&format=png&auto=webp&s=368bfd87a9ea0215a2f653606cc6bc898489d2ed

Hi All,

So I am trying to mount this camera without drilling into the roof. I saw they make this:

https://ptzsled.com/

I am thinking it would be a lot cheaper to make something similar using homedepot items.

Anyone have any suggestions? TIA!