Installing cameras at the door - suggestions/brands!

Ideas & Suggestions
1

Hi all. I am considering my options of which brand to go for. I tried searching in the community but to no avail.

I understand there is a blink app for blink cameras (but it seems updates for it has stopped) and also one that can be linked via Synology (I dont have one). Ideally I prefer a camera without a subscription model…

Any other options out there that has good connectivity or an app with Homey?

I realized my way of approach these days is find out what is working well with Homey before I consider a brand these days (kudos to homey!)

Thanks in advance for your help, advice and suggestions

Khang

2

Pick one with a good resolution, good price, and that has a snapshot URL which you can then use with https://apps.athom.com/app/image.grabber

If you want to be “prepared” for the future, when Homey will have “real” webcam support (which is not coming anytime soon, I think), you might also want to consider features like motion detection support in the cam itself.

I myself have some Foscam cameras, a NetAtmo Welcome and a Chinese low budget webcam I once bought for just a few euros. That last one has no snapshot functionality but does work through the Synology Surveillance station.

3

Thanks @Jorden!

the image grabber app would be a pull and not a push right?

if my camera is able to detect motion, can i push it to telegram through this app?

NetAtmo looks really cool - did you integrate with Homey?

4

The Netatmo app has support for the Welcome but it doesn’t work so well yet. It has some functions like a trigger on “unknown face detected” but I didn’t manage to get that working yet. It might start working in the real near future though.

The image grabber is indeed a pull; I combine it with a Fibaro motion sensor myself. It the Fibaro detects motion, I pull the images via the ImageGrabber and then send them to my Telegram.
Sadly you can’t do anything with the motion detection on the camera yet.

5

Thanks so much Jorden - great info. Appreciate that a lot. Is there a quick and easy way to tell if a camera supports a snapshot URL?

6

I always check https://www.ispyconnect.com/sources.aspx which has a really big database of brands and types