Neophyte needs advice on surveillance cameras

A

Alex Ethridge

n3wb
Jun 21, 2026
2
1
Birmingham, Alabama
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?
 
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Alex Ethridge said:
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?
Click to expand...

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.
 
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. :cool:
 
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