REMOTE CAMERA

The curious James · March 2, 2025

Budget (including currency): USD $500.

Country: us

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: check in on children in bedroom

Other details I'm looking for a camera system that I can remote into that does not require a subscription to access. Night vision is bonus

Biohazard777 · March 2, 2025

23 minutes ago, The curious James said:

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: check in on children in bedroom
Other details I'm looking for a camera system that I can remote into that does not require a subscription to access. Night vision is bonus

No subscription is a valid requirement IMO...
I'd put privacy and security above that, but you didn't mention those.
Are those required as well?

Because if they are consider the following:
Remote cameras that just work need to overcome a common issue: most households are behind a firewall and NAT, typically provided by the ISP’s router.

For the camera to work remotely, it must initiate a connection (not the other way around), establishing communication with a known server (an intermediary).

This is necessary because if the camera waited for incoming connections, the firewall or NAT would block it, making it impossible to establish a route. These servers act as intermediaries between you and the camera, facilitating the connection.

If it was my kids and my house, I would want full control over all of that... which requires some DIY.
Instead of relying on a third-party service for remote access, you can consider using an IP camera that's available through your LAN and then one solution is to set up a VPN to your home network. No subscriptions, maximum privacy, no reliance on a third-party to keep their service secure (which, let’s face it, isn’t always their strong suit), and if the third-party service vanishes overnight, you won’t be affected.

OhioYJ · March 2, 2025

Do you really need something fancy for this? I mean some Wifi cameras would probably suffice right?

I would be hesitant to place cameras in bedrooms to begin with. However, on my cameras that are inside living spaces (inside the house), I have them on smart plugs. This way they are only powered when the alarm is armed. Otherwise these cameras are entirely powered off while we are home. Cameras outside, in garages, sheds, etc, run 24/7.

There are plenty of options in the Wifi area versions. Personally I've had good luck with Wyze. They are cheap, and have a free tier (which is likely what you're looking for if all you need to do is view cameras, no recording?)

As with any device of an IOT nature you might want to also look into isolating it from other devices on your network.

Donut417 · March 2, 2025

1 hour ago, The curious James said:

Budget (including currency): USD $500.

Country: us

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: check in on children in bedroom

Other details I'm looking for a camera system that I can remote into that does not require a subscription to access. Night vision is bonus

Maybe check out WYZE. You dont need a sub for it to work, but you will need a micro SD card to record local. They seem to be of decent quality. Picked one up for the folks, wanted to keep an eye on things when out of the house.

OhioYJ · March 2, 2025

1 hour ago, The curious James said:

Night vision is bonus

I got asked a while back about my the Wyze night vision capabilities (it wasn't dark out, so I used one of the garage cameras).

This is taken from a Wyze V4 camera, completely dark garage:

Same shot, except using the camera's built in spotlight. (You'd probably want to leave this off, as obviously inside the house it would be very annoying / wake people up)

I had the V3 cameras before the V4, their night vision works fine too. The colors are definitely better on the V4 (the entire image really). That's not to say the V3 was bad, just after I tried the V4, I swapped over all my cameras (The V4 open up additional options too). The V4 go on sale pretty regularly, I've seen them as low as $25 new.