IP cameras and the cloud

[weasley]

I am minded to think about some kind of surveillance cameras for the home. I have seen various IP cameras and many offer remote access both to the camera and to any recordings they have made. However so far I have only found those that work either with a PC on the same network, and/or using a bespoke cloud service that comes with a monthly subscription (to gain any worthwhile functionality).

First off, I live in a village where the power is a bit flakey. I can't rely on a PC staying online 24/7.

Next, I have a load of cloud storage that I barely use (OneDrive, Google Documents, iCloud, Dropbox, even Flickr etc).

So, is there an IP camera that will save directly to my nominated cloud storage service, without the need for any kind of middleman device (other than the router)? I don't need continuous coverage, just a rolling cover, or even only motion-activated cover.

If not, what about a local device I could add to my network? A NAS or something that will restart and reconnect after a power cut?

I prefer the cloud idea for remote access but also remote storage (so anyone in my house who shouldn't be can't simply swipe the NAS and take the evidence with them).

So, in summary:

IP camera > router > my existing cloud service?
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Yamaha XJ600 | Yamaha YZF600R Thundercat | KTM 990 SMT | BMW F900XR TE

[P.addy]

I've got 2 methods currently. My pc acts as a massive file box but when it's offline it FTPs images to my online hosting server with 50TB of space. To my pc it's every 2 seconds, my online host every 12 due to stupid limitations. I connect to it on my phone and make sure it's failed over if I get a failed response from my pc.

Obviously if the power goes... then it all goes but such is life.

[J.M.]

My IP cam connects automatically to the network whenever I power it on, or reboot it. I then port-forward it to be accessible over the network.

No need for anything else. I can view the camera from anywhere I have internet access.

The tricky part about flakey power is the potential for your IP address to change (and therefore make accessing the camera a pain). To resolve this issue, I personally continually publish my IP address to a service so that I can always determine my IP address even if it changes.

My setup does nothing for recording, however.
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2004 R1 & 2018 XSR900

[doggone]

Even the £40 ebay IP cameras usually have an inbuilt server and you get a URL independent of your own IP address.
You only need set up the port forwarding.

If you want to record continuously on a rolling basis overwriting every few days you'd need a computer running anyway, although there may be some smart way to bypass and upload to cloud is it worth it?
Most internet is a bit glitchy and it must be more likely to miss a vital minute or two than recording direct to PC.

To get round the dodgy power how about a cheap laptop, ay worst you'd get a graceful shutdown when the battery eventually goes flat.
You can set a desktop to reboot in the bios when power comes back, but you'd also need to set the camera software to restart itself most likely.
They usually come with software which can set up continuous record, record on movement, email still(s) on movement, or email short video clip on movement.

The includes software will be a bit crude though, probably the best software to buy is Blue Iris, for your phone look at IP Cam viewer app.

[10 pence Short]

https://www.y-cam.com/

I've got a couple of home monitors HD.

no subscription but initial costs are high-ish.

They've just added functions to automatically start/stop recording when you leave/arrive at home. Seven days unlimited recording to their cloud, you can download it if you want to keep a clip.

They reconnect after power cuts, email/push notify if it's been triggered and also notify you if it's been offline for more than 30 mins.
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I haven't had a cont all day, drinkstable.

[Cadbury]

What about a camera with a built in sd card? Example

Just over £30, accessible over the Internet but takes an internal sd card for recording.

[weasley]

[weasley]

A bit more poking about reveals DVR.webcam. This appears to mostly fit my needs in that it uses commonly-held cloud services (Dropbox, iCloud, OneDrive or Google Drive, of which I have one each) to save your footage, and can automatically overwrite older footage. The sort-of downside is that it needs a device up-and-running on the network to manage the camera(s) BUT, it can be a PC, tablet, smartphone etc. I have a couple of old iPhones kicking about which I could leave plugged in somewhere - they'll run a day without power (more if not looking for a phone signal) so if power-cuts happen, when the power comes back the router and cameras should restart and the phone will simply reconnect to the network and maybe then to the cameras. Small one-off fee for the apps and some question over compatibility with any given IP cam, but there's a trial version so I might give it a go. It will even use a built-in camera from your device as a feed, so I could even give it a shot for free using the phone's built-in camera and see how I get on.

Might do that now, actually...
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Yamaha XJ600 | Yamaha YZF600R Thundercat | KTM 990 SMT | BMW F900XR TE