Neophyte needs advice on surveillance cameras

[Alex Ethridge]

I want one WiFi surveillance camera at my home's front door.

I have been looking on and off for weeks and always frustrated by mostly not being able to find cameras with the features I want -- hundreds of web sites, scores of brands, no way to directly compare cameras and features, no way to even search for cameras with features I want -- frustrating!

Features I want:
WiFi
Pan and Tilt
works with program to view live and record on my home computer
motion-detection recording
night vision
no monthly fees
no cloud stuff
no doorbell stuff
solar would be nice but not required

Is there any comparison chart anywhere that a non expert can go to compare brands and features?

 

[mat200]

I want one WiFi surveillance camera at my home's front door.

I have been looking on and off for weeks and always frustrated by mostly not being able to find cameras with the features I want -- hundreds of web sites, scores of brands, no way to directly compare cameras and features, no way to even search for cameras with features I want -- frustrating!

Features I want:
WiFi
Pan and Tilt
works with program to view live and record on my home computer
motion-detection recording
night vision
no monthly fees
no cloud stuff
no doorbell stuff
solar would be nice but not required

Is there any comparison chart anywhere that a non expert can go to compare brands and features?

Solar wifi ptz .. not an easy task

Guess PT and no Z even will be a challenge

Amcrest could have something .. Amazon prime deals coming this week. I would look to see if they have a PT wifi wired power camera.

 

[Alex Ethridge]

Hey Grand Admiral, there are three genders, male, female and mentally ill.

How do TPLink/Tapo stack up against other brands? They have a web page that allows selecting features on the left as it fills in the qualifying cameras on the page.

 

[TonyR]

One can get their feet wet fairly cheap with a under $50 TP-Link Tapo C520WS on Amazon.
It checks lots of your boxes:

• Wi-Fi
• P/T
• No subscription, no fees
• Night vision
• AI motion detection

Also can stream RTSP video/audio to third party software (VLC, Blue Iris, etc.).
Has built-in mic and speaker so provides 2-way audio when using their app on smartphone or tablet
Although cloud-capable, can record directly to onboard SD card
It has a small sensor (1/3"), about half the size it should be for a 4MP resolution camera (motion under low light can be blurry) but it's cheap and is a good place to start, IMO.
It is Wi-Fi but also has an Ethernet jack but unfortunately is not POE, power comes from a 9VDC wall wart
Try on Amazon for $48 and if not happy, return it.