The need for security is intrinsic, which is why the connected home and security monitoring services market is expected to reach $13.8 billion this year.
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Home and office monitoring solutions can be pricey. Services including those from Time Warner Cable, ADT and others, charge a monthly fee for monitoring, plus the price of leasing necessary equipment (this is in addition to the monthly fee you pay for Internet).
What if you only need to monitor a relatively small space and don’t want to invest in a monthly monitoring service? There is a way you can set up video surveillance on the cheap.
What You Need
For video surveillance of a small home or office, you need a web/IP camera, an Internet connection, and a computer or mobile device for configuration.
Some good webcams are ones from Netgear, D-Link, Axis, and Logitech. They can range in price from $20-$200 depending on video quality and features.
I am going to show you how to set up video surveillance using Netgear’s Arlo Smart Home Security Camera. The HD, two-pack bundle costs a one-time fee of $300.
The Set Up
You need an Internet-connected router and a web cam (and maybe more cams, depending how large a space).
These Netgear cameras can connect wirelessly to a router. Don’t buy an older web/IP cam that only connects via Ethernet cable. You will have limited camera placement.
Power the camera. Most webcams are powered by battery. Some use PoE (Power over Ethernet—they get power through the router). Set up the camera’s power according to instructions.
Connect to Wi-Fi. How the camera connects to Wi-Fi will vary. The Netgear Arlo ships with a base station that connects to a router via Ethernet. You press the Sync buttons on both the base station and camera to pair them.
Other cameras connect using WPS (Wireless Protected Setup). Press the WPS button on both the camera and the router (most routers have physical WPS buttons, some WPS requires accessing the router’s software settings). WPS connects the camera to Wi-Fi.
Web cameras have color-coded LEDs to show connection status. On the Arlo, the LED turns blue when the camera is connected.
Place the camera. Place the camera in the location to be monitored. Most cameras ship with wall mounting kits as well.
Get the camera’s software.
Download the management software for the camera. This is the app used to view the camera’s feed and for configuration. The mobile device or computer to which the software is installed, should initially be on the same Wi-Fi network as the camera.My Arlo is now connected to my home Wi-Fi:
I am set up and logged into the software. With the software, I can view the camera feed from anywhere for the cost of the camera and my Internet service.