cameras that would work from 2nd story?

[heckofagator]

Hi all, I would like to see if its even possible to mount cameras under our eaves, from the 2nd story, and get a clear picture of what's happening down on the ground.

We have attic space and I could run wire from my home run to all 4 corners of the house pretty easily for POE cameras. I'm just not sure, even with a 3-4MP camera, if the range would be too much for any useful footage.

 

[heckofagator]

yeah, thanks - that's what I was afraid of. I'm just not sure how to get a cable down to a lower level and also not sure how this would look mounted to the side of the house like that.

If anyone has any suggestions or has dealt with installing cams on their 2 story home, maybe I'm missing something really obvious.

 

[fenderman]

yeah, thanks - that's what I was afraid of. I'm just not sure how to get a cable down to a lower level and also not sure how this would look mounted to the side of the house like that.

If anyone has any suggestions or has dealt with installing cams on their 2 story home, maybe I'm missing something really obvious.

post an image of the house

 

[actran]

@heckofagator If you can't find a path from attic to lower-level, hire an electrician or low-voltage guy. They probably seen enough houses to know what would work best in your situation.

 

[heckofagator]

Here's a few pic. I guess you could always run wire down the corners - I just wonder a camera would look like sticking out like that about 8-10 foot up. It seems like it'd be very prominent and not very out of view like I was hoping up in the eaves.

The building over to the left in the backyard pic is the detached 2 story garage.

 

[tangent]

if you mount the camera high and want to avoid a bald spot cam, you have to look farther away. This could mean the 20-50' closest to the house is not in frame. You also have to zoom in to still get some detail.


Seems like a good guess to me that the small window above the door belongs to a bathroom and that there are interior walls in approximately the locations marked. Probably less plumbing in the one on the right. So you could get a wire from the vicinity of the covered porch into the perpendicular interior wall and then go up to the attic.

A camera by the lower roof on the right would be fairly discrete as well. You could run wire on the outside of the house or conduit. You could also do the same sort of thing using an interior wall as above if there's attic access to that small section of house. Creating an attic access is also an option, but conduit is easier.

As for the detached garage, you can use HomePlug AV2 adapters to send the data over your power lines.

 

[actran]

@heckofagator Nice house. If you use white Dahua turrets and wedge cameras, it should blend in with your trim color (if installed on trim or soffits)

Do you have central AC/heating? How does that go between attic and first floor?

 

[heckofagator]

thanks for taking the time to do all that.

So yeah, you are right about the bathroom in the middle of the house up on top. And funny enough, we were thinking about demo'ing that bathroom. I wonder if that's an opportunity to get wiring down by the front door. I actually bought an Arlo Pro over Christmas and have it mounted up under there, pointing down the sidewalk coming up the house, but the cam isn't picking up motion until you are up on the porch. By the time it starts recording, you only see the back of someone as they are walking away.

Now what I really like is the potential camera location over to the right. I think you could come down that corner of the house and yeah, there's enough greenery over there and the break in the house with the side room that a camera might be pretty hidden there.

What kind of cam would you envision there? A bullet? Do they make a "side" mount for it?

I do have a cat6 line going to the back garage already (you can see it hanging in the pic of the backyard). I am going to tidy that up and run it thru the attic and then underground one of these days.

Seems like a good guess to me that the small window above the door belongs to a bathroom and that there are interior walls in approximately the locations marked. Probably less plumbing in the one on the right. So you could get a wire from the vicinity of the covered porch into the perpendicular interior wall and then go up to the attic.

A camera by the lower roof on the right would be fairly discrete as well. You could run wire on the outside of the house or conduit. You could also do the same sort of thing using an interior wall as above if there's attic access to that small section of house. Creating an attic access is also an option, but conduit is easier.

As for the detached garage, you can use HomePlug AV2 adapters to send the data over your power lines.

 

[heckofagator]

Its actually Hardy, but I know that when we redid the back garage, they used 1x2 furring strips, so it might be pretty easy to snake in behind that, going vertically.

Is that vinyl siding? If so you should be able to shove some cables up into it and use it like a raceway on any horizontal runs.

 

[heckofagator]

thanks - yeah, I was def thinking white, too. There are some speakers mounted to the rear of the house. Maybe a camera on the white corner trim, mounted close to the speaker might be a little inconspicuous.

AC runs from upper to lower thru a few duct runs in our closets and in the middle of the house. That's probably an option, too. something to think about.

@heckofagator Nice house. If you use white Dahua turrets and wedge cameras, it should blend in with your trim color (if installed on trim or soffits)

Do you have central AC/heating? How does that go between attic and first floor?

 

[looney2ns]

Looking for some advice and direction!

Dahua Starlight Varifocal Turret (IPC-HDW5231R-Z)

Dahua Starlight IPC-HDW5231R-ZE 800 meter capable ePOE

 

[heckofagator]

yes, I've seen the Starlight cams seem to be very popular.

For the pic tangent included above, do you see a turret cam mounted right to the corner while trim, facing the street? that side room is recessed back a little bit, so I think the only way to see the front door would be to have the camera mounted on the front most part of the house?

 

[tangent]

thanks for taking the time to do all that.

So yeah, you are right about the bathroom in the middle of the house up on top. And funny enough, we were thinking about demo'ing that bathroom. I wonder if that's an opportunity to get wiring down by the front door. I actually bought an Arlo Pro over Christmas and have it mounted up under there, pointing down the sidewalk coming up the house, but the cam isn't picking up motion until you are up on the porch. By the time it starts recording, you only see the back of someone as they are walking away.

Now what I really like is the potential camera location over to the right. I think you could come down that corner of the house and yeah, there's enough greenery over there and the break in the house with the side room that a camera might be pretty hidden there.

What kind of cam would you envision there? A bullet? Do they make a "side" mount for it?

I do have a cat6 line going to the back garage already (you can see it hanging in the pic of the backyard). I am going to tidy that up and run it thru the attic and then underground one of these days.

As far as cameras go, choose quality over quantity. The IPC-HDW5231R-Z/ZE are good choices for most camera locations, it has a huge aperture and good bsi sensor. For the front door another option would be the starlight wedge. Here's one of the threads on it: Front door ID camera IPC-HDBW4231F?

My earlier post was more focused on places you could get wires to than optimal camera placement. Here's a different image.


There are lots of places around the front door / porch roof where you could put cameras. My favorites would be right above the mailbox (wedge) or right above the door centered (turret or wedge). A lower camera is better at capturing faces especially when hats or hoodies are involved.

Over to the right, you'd probably need to be farther over than what I showed with the red circle. Anywhere near orange line would work and wouldn't too hard to get wire there or mount the camera. I would angle this camera towards the walkway but wouldn't try to actually see the door. If there's attic access over there or you aren't opposed to creating one you could run cable that way. Could also be opportunities for cabling in the vicinity of the chimney.

You could still put a camera up high by the roof if you wanted to.

Remodeling the bathroom would certainly present some opportunities for wiring.
I would probably also wire up a small motion detector at the front door for the most accurate alerts.

It's better to take it slow and learn as you go. You could start with a camera on the orange line and a couple in the backyard / alley on the garage.

Return the Arlo while you still can.