What is the cheapest option for a barebones IP camera that can install this? My biggest criteria is cheap as possible but also internal power source and wifi so I don’t have to run any wires. It’s fine if I have to wipe proprietary stuff off it first. Waterproof would be a plus for outdoor cameras too.
Smartphones with the camera on for cheap probably last 45 minutes on battery. My last no name amazon cam (unfortunately on proprietary software) could last almost a month fueled by two 18650s in its housing.
What is the gap? I had some no name amazon one that was almost OK but it was in its own walled garden. Maybe I could flash it, who knows? But either way it was like $35 and connected to my wifi, lasted 3-4 weeks, and had a good enough video quality to see if I got a package or not. I would continue using it but a recent change of terms of service rendered it next to useless unless I subscribe. I would assume similar hardware would be available with maybe no os preinstalled?
Dude you just listed several issues with toy cameras. That's the gap.
PoE cameras are only slightly more expensive, don't hog wifi airtime and cause latency spikes for all the other devices, last decades instead of weeks, have much better video quality during day and night, and don't rely on any cloud services
PoE cameras (and doorbell) is something I’ve been looking at, but from the looks of it running ethernet in my house, which is a newer build (~2005) and wasn’t designed with things like that in mind isn’t going to be fun. Might as well go this route since I’ll be running regular ethernet between rooms anyway, but seems like it might be enough of a pain to be worth hiring a professional to do it instead of trying to DIY it.
It may be easier than it looks, but talk to a few people about costs. Anyone who has done any wiring (elechicken or no) can do low voltage and leave the ends for you to terminate/deal with.
But permits might be needed in some areas.
Usually the trick is UP the wall into an attic or DOWN the wall into a basement, over, and up or down.
If necessary tricks like hiding thin cables behind molding or even shoved into the carpet edge can work.
You don't have to run the ethernet inside the walls. I used coaxial ties to run my ethernet cable along the surface of the wall and it works just fine.
That’s true, but external runs can be challenging to do in a way that doesn’t look bad (e.g. cable runners not matching paint well) and could have a negative impact on resale value later on.
