security camera without internet

grantmac

Commuting between NL & UK
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I know I asked this before but am still having a bit of difficulty. I have a separate garage which has power but no internet. I have my bikes etc all there and I´d love to set up a camera system that I can check on my phone via an App. I have just installed a Hikvision system for the home which is wired and works via PoE and its absolutely amazing! However it uses a lot of storage but this is managed through the NVR with a TB hard drive.
I need something that has limited storage but something I can simply click on the app and see what's going on. Ideal would be something like the Ring cameras which I also have. They turn on if triggered by motion and you can set how long they record for OR you can simply tap the app to start the recording or look at the camera view. Not too worried about the costs of the camera but I don't want a sim card bill that's 100´s a month.....

Any tips?

thanks
 
If you want to be able to have any kind of remote access to the camera then it absolutely must have some kind of access to the internet
 
You could use a wildlife cam. You can set them to send a text if detection picked up or a still shot. Some you can live view from. You will need a sim card
 
how far is the buildiing from your internet source..?

you could run a knight hawk wifi router..? on a PAYG penny sim... but it does cost money (no idea how much)
 
Plenty of cameras that will record to micro SD without the need for internet, but without internet as @SOAA pointed out, you won't get any notifications or be able to remotely view them.

So the question then becomes, how do you get internet into your garage - because this is something you're going to want/need.

Broadly speaking this splits into either finding a way to get your home internet extended into your garage, or setting up an independent connection from your garage.

If your garage is near the house then you can either use something like powerline adaptors if it's on the same electrical circuit (cheapest option, but only works under specific conditions) or a point to point WiFi extender (lots of options available but TP Link and UniFi spring to mind) which only works if you have a clear line of sight between the two points.

Failing that, you could consider digging a trench and burying an ethernet cable (or fibre with media converters) between the two but if you're at that stage then you might do better with a SIM based router in the garage with a completely independent network.

This assumes a half reasonable mobile signal where your garage is but if that's not an issue then you can get pretty much any 4G/5G router (Netgear Nighthawk M1, GL.iNet, Teltonika etc etc etc...) and stick a SIM card in it.

You're not going to need massive data plans (unless you want a 24/7 live stream) as you only need to receive alerts and dip in now and then to view recordings or monitor live for short periods.

No idea what data plans look like in the Netherlands but for example I have an unlimited plan in my van for £16/month and a 100MB per month plan as the 'backup' (different SIM operator so gives me a backup in areas where the main one might not have good signal) for £2/month.

I'd be surprised if you needed much more than 50MB per month for a single CCTV cam - but you can always get a monthly SIM to start with to get an idea of your usage and then see if you can get a better deal on 12/24month contract.
 
this is my direction of thought, if the garage is less than 100m you cna cable it. Put a separate router wifi thing in there and that will give you a location to run another camera of a POE cable
 
do you have Lebara deals in NL similar to the UK? They have been in NL a long time as it was the first place they had an MVNO licence.
 
Yes, sorry all. My OP was a bit confusing…I am looking for a camera that uses the 4G or 5G network.. Something that has a SIM card option.
So what options are there?
How much data if i only use with motion detection or on demand viewing
What sort of plan would i need?
Is 4G OK ?
Garage has power but no internet access via fixed line

Hope this clarifies
 
My home cctv is also viewable via my phone, for the occasional checks while away the data used is not much.

A camera with a local sd card and a sim card would be simple.

It won't help you if they nick the camera as well as bikes so you'd need one that uploads to a cloud if that bothers you.

Depends on distance, folk use baby monitors if not too far
 
Yes it is but its not accessible by cable as its across a public street and is built under a block of flats so absolutely no chance of getting a cable run there. The 4G option is the only one but i need advice on a quality camera which has this. I have seen some cheapy ones for about £100 but I’d prefer a quality one say from Hikvision or Eufy….must have a power cable option
 
you'll effectively make a separate CCTV system in the same way as your home system built around the nitehawk gear... with a separate QR code to mobile app
 
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put the SIM in a 4/5G router then you can use any wifi equipped camera or multiples thereof
Thanks. Hadnt thought about that. How would that work ? A 5G router and then connect a camera to that? I ‘ll have a look but I have learnt something today as i didnt know such a thing existed.
 
yup - everything pointing to putting some form of SIM based router in the garage and then you can stick whatever camera you want in that will communicate via WiFi.

Eufy, Reolink, Hiki, whatever you want. Any WiFi cam will work fine.

Is 4G good enough? Yeah, more likely than not, as long as you're not in a mobile signal black hole.

You don't need blisteringly fast speeds, you just need half reasonable connectivity.

For this use case, I would really struggle to justify the cost premium for a 5G router unless you really really want to avoid a couple of seconds of lag.

However, most WiFi cams have that anyway (Eufy more so than Reolink in my experience) so....

4G would be where my money would go, unless you get a blindingly good deal on a second hand 5G setup I guess....
 
Thanks all. Yes a 4G wifi router would be the best. I am seeing for around £250 which looks fine. That would indeed mean being able to run multiple hardware.
Second question how much GB would I need? I have a pretty good offer from Lebara for 45 GB per month at € 17 per month which would be great
Then i can set up a couple of ring cameras with power which would be perfect👍👍👍
 
Can you detect wifi where your bike is parked ?,

If so then you could ask the owner to « rent » you a connection for a small fee …….
 


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