I just saw this in our local ‘NextDoor’ feed:
“My stepson’s new car was keyed last night has anyone else dealt with this. I didn’t think this would happen in this neighborhood.”
Unfortunately, this sort of thing happens way too often, regardless of where you live. So, being a techie, I have to respond with a technical solution (to just about every problem it seems). Hence the topic of this post – surveillance. ‘Surveillance‘ is defined as “the monitoring of behavior, many activities, or information for the purpose of information gathering, influencing, managing or directing”. For this discussion, we’ll focus on the ‘monitoring activities’ and ‘information gathering’. We want to monitor a space or spaces, usually in close proximity to our home, and capture information (who, what, when) if something unexpected happens within these spaces.
What I’m going to cover below is a layered strategy that starts with ‘deterrence’ and ends with ‘notification’. So let’s get started:
The first line of defense is deterrence. As someone approaches your home, they will notice lights and cameras and hopefully move on to easier prey. So, here are a few cost effective options to get started.
- Solar-powered spot light (used where 120v power isn’t readily available). This Sunforce Solar motion spotlight has been available through Costco for about $45, and as little as $30 on sale. It’s easy to set up and has been reliable so far.
- Combination spotlight and security camera (used in place of a powered spotlight). This security camera, spotlight combination is available from Costco for $140 but is sometimes on sale for much less (April 13, 2022 Costco has this Feit Electric LED Smart Flood Light with HD Camera on sale for $80). It comes with a 128gb micro-SD card. And the smartphone app used to control the device is well designed.
- The amazing Ring Video doorbell cost about $100. This is a must-have device for every homeowner. Whenever anyone approaches your door, motion is detected, video is recorded, and the homeowner is notified. By adding their ‘Basic’ protection plan for $30/year you’ll be able to capture and save video recordings. There’s also an excellent smartphone app for Ring that provides, among other things, news and videos about events within your neighborhood. One other thing I like about the Ring doorbell is that I can mount it without a connection to power (has a rechargeable battery and a solar charging option), or you can connect it to your existing doorbell wires for continuous power. I run mine in battery-only mode and battery life has been excellent, even in cold weather!
The next line of defense is additional ‘video surveillance’. Is doesn’t hurt to have a few more cameras scattered about to be able to see what’s going on outside when you’re away. These should also be in plain view from the outside so unwanted visitors can assume they’re on candid camera. I don’t usually have motion detection set on for these cameras, but they can be used to record video and sound as needed. My favorite cameras used for this purpose come from Wyze. The Wyze Cam v3 for $30 or the Wyze Cam Pan v2 for $40 are a great place to start!
Now for the last line of defense, there’s the age-old ‘home security system’. ADT is usually what comes to mind when one mentions this topic, but ADT comes at a cost (and a very high one at that). Very popular these days is a system from SimpliSafe. This is considered a DIY (Do It Yourself) system, is easy to set up, and SimpliSafe offers various no-contract monitoring options. The option similar to ADT’s basic offering is ‘Standard Monitoring’ for about $18/month. Other SimpliSafe monitoring options can be found here.
If you’re even more budget minded, consider going back to Wyze.com and ordering this system: the Wyze Home Monitoring security system. On the Wyze site you can configure the system that makes sense for your home. You’ll find their security system component prices to be very reasonable, installation is easy, and 24/7 monitoring is affordable at $100/year. Also, via the Wyze smartphone app, you can control your security system from anywhere (though I guess this is pretty much a standard feature with most home security systems these days).
My hope with this post is to give you the information you need to build a home security system that unwelcome guests will consider twice before they come knocking, and if they still persist, you get alerts, video evidence and ultimately a response from your local police if needed.
Thanks, and be safe out there!
