Solar powered security system on cellular network

[Stuka]

I've got some property and I'm having trouble with people dumping on it . I did a Google/Amazon search but I was unable to find a system from a brand name that looks like it fits my requirements . I bet some of you have some advice that would be helpful for me, I am looking for a security system , say with two or three cameras , that I can receive alerts on my cell phone . It would be helpful if it was solar/battery powered but I can run electricity to it if needed . Any of you folks have a system like this? I could also go with a system that has a cable or chain and sounds an alarm if tampered with . Really appreciate any feedback .

 

[arizona98tj]

They have game/trail cameras that are cellular connected. It will send you a photo of what is happening (maybe a video feed too, not sure on that). If there is but a single access point to where they are dumping, one camera should cover it just fine.

 

[Stuka]

Game camera, huh? I did a search and found some that seem to offer all the features I was hoping for
Spypoint Link-S (Verizon) Cell Camera – Trailcampro.com

I'm going to do a little more research but I think this will alert me if someone is on the property; I may add a basic video game camera that stores on an SD card to go with it, that way I can be alerted and also have some good footage for my lawyer.

 

[TractorGuy]

Does the property have wifi within 400 ft of where you need to place the cameras?

 

[Stuka]

No, no wifi, not yet. At some point I may build on it, then we will.

 

[arizona98tj]

Good luck. I hope you can find and prosecute the ones that are causing the problem.

 

[dog13]

I have a security camera on top of my RV trailer with motion detection. It's a outdoor rated wireless camera with night vision (fairly inexpensive). My trailer is in a location that is not near power so i put up a small solar array, charge controller and batteries in the trailer. I also installed a cellular hotspot - if you have the unlimited plans those are usually $20/mo extra. If the camera detects motion it sends me a notification and posts a recording of the activity to a cloud based service (ivideon). There are sensitivity and field of view adjustments in the software.
The array charges the battery which is more than enough power to keep everything running through the evening. My array also powers the trailer when we're up there so it's larger than what you'd need to just run security cameras, but they make preconfigured solar kits in a variety of sizes.. Like you - i didn't see a prebuilt solution with all the pieces. What i used on mine was:

Camera - OCO
Solar Panels/Charge Controller - Renogy
LTE Hotspot - Netgear/Verizon

Good luck and hope you find the troublemakers

 

[oosik]

There may be another way to handle dumping on your property. When I worked in Anchorage, AK - I had inspectors who would go thru dump sites( usually at the very terminus of a very remote road) retrieve names from dumped mail and advise those who's names were found to clean up their mess. We had the authority of a police officer and laws against dumping. You might want to check with LEO and see if they could enforce garbage removal if there are names to be found in what has been dumped.

Humorous side note - you would be amazed at how many folks claimed their garbage was stollen and dumped remotely - by others. Some folks don't deserve to breathe the air you and I enjoy.

 

[TractorGuy]

The reason I asked about wifi is you can set up a wifi camera so the app will notify you over your network to you cell phone. Don't ask me how it works but it does. Even when I am away from my network it will notify me of activity if I have that setting turned on. I have a couple of wifi security cameras on my network that have built in 16GB SD cards. They record motion detected videos I can download from the camera through the network and they will also notify me of activity if I set the app to do so. The problem with such a setup for your purpose is they would likely get seen and stolen.

Here are my two cameras I use primarily to monitor wildlife but they are set up to provide a panoramic view of the front of my property, including my gated entrance. I could probably have them on a smaller solar panel but by the time I found the bad connection causing my battery to go dead I had upgraded to a group 24 deep cycle battery on a 100W panel.

 

[Complete Turf Care]

I suggest you look at the Arlo Go camera.

It seems to be a complete package, as long as you have a good cell phone signal. I've looked at this for a game camera, but just haven't pulled the trigger and purchased one yet.

Mobile Wire-Free Weatherproof HD Security Camera with Audio | Arlo by NETGEAR

 

[Wilco]

I suggest you look at the Arlo Go camera.

It seems to be a complete package, as long as you have a good cell phone signal. I've looked at this for a game camera, but just haven't pulled the trigger and purchased one yet.

Mobile Wire-Free Weatherproof HD Security Camera with Audio | Arlo by NETGEAR

My wife bought me one of these. It works really well. Notifies me on my cell phone immediately if something sets it off. It keeps a calender library and you can view videos on your phone. When I used it as a game camera it would record several times a day and would run for about a month before needing recharge.

 

[Complete Turf Care]

My wife bought me one of these. It works really well. Notifies me on my cell phone immediately if something sets it off. It keeps a calender library and you can view videos on your phone. When I used it as a game camera it would record several times a day and would run for about a month before needing recharge.

Please tell me more about this camera. How close does it need to be to the action for it to start recording?

Can you just view it even though nothing has triggered it to record?

How well does the speaker and microphone work? Can you talk to the deer while they are at your feeder?

Did you try a solar panel to keep the battery up longer? My hunting area is 100 miles away from my home, so I don't get there as often as I would like.

I have even considered putting one of these in my trucks, so I can monitor the work and progress of my landscape crews when I can't be on the job site.

 

[BufordBoone]

The Arlo deserves a look. I recently put a Netgear Nighthawk cellular hotspot/router in our cabin. I purchased an Arlo (a Netgear product) and hooked it to the Nighthawk yesterday. So far it appears to work well.

I'll likely get another to fully cover the cabin.

Each Arlo camera includes 7 days of cloud recording. You can upgrade to more storage, if you want. I figure that I'll download anything I need within less than 7 days of an event.

I also purchased a small back up power supply that I'll hook up to keep them going in the event of power outage.

 

[plowhog]

When I looked at Arlo it required you to subscribe to their cloud based monitoring plan. That was a no-go for me.

 

[Complete Turf Care]

When I looked at Arlo it required you to subscribe to their cloud based monitoring plan. That was a no-go for me.

According to the Arlo Go web site, you get 7 days of cloud storage for free. If you want more than that, you have to pay for it.

 

[CMV]

I went thru same thing with my remote property with no utilities and people dumping or trespassing in general. I did lots of research and found the cellular ones are not real time...just a dump every so often. I went with moultrie game cameras because of the inexpensive lock boxes they sell for them and can also use a python cable on top of that. No baseball bat proof, but would take a little effort to steal. Anyway, I put up several that overlook each other and the access areas. Low cost overall and not too much fuss. But do have to go pull cards to see them.

And not uncommon to have literally 1000s of pictures of wind blowing trees or rain falling. If I were getting email or text alerts for every one of those it would drive me absolutely insane. However if a cellular enabled one could just upload to cloud storage that would be real nice...remote view from home, delete junk pics, and even if someone disables the camera you most likely got the pic of them approaching it.

Mine are placed very inconspicuously, and are true blackout led so no red glow at night screaming LOOK AT ME. For 2 years whenever anyone asked what do you want for Xmas I gave them the amazon links to the camera, lock box, and python lock

 

[Otgaugres]

I’ve had my share of problems with trespassers on my hunting property. I have decent cell coverage but no utilities...and I’ve got a lot of acreage with multiple entry points. I’ve settled on a combination of Bushnell Wireless Trail Cameras and traditional trail cams. The Bushnell’s work surprisingly well, although they are not 100%. I run 4 of them on my property in the well traveled areas, and supplement with numerous traditional cams. The plan cost is about $10/month/camera. If I catch someone on the wireless cams, I then check the nearby traditional cam and hopefully get some good pics. The wireless are in real time, so you can get an alert if one is triggered. Mostly false alerts and/or animals, but I’ve caught my fair share of trespassers too. Getting local law enforcement to do something about it is another story.

 

[TractorGuy]

And not uncommon to have literally 1000s of pictures of wind blowing trees or rain falling. If I were getting email or text alerts for every one of those it would drive me absolutely insane. However if a cellular enabled one could just upload to cloud storage that would be real nice...remote view from home, delete junk pics, and even if someone disables the camera you most likely got the pic of them approaching it.

I was going to mention that motion sensitivity can only do so much. I leave alerts off because they just become annoying. If I set my sensitivity to a low setting I miss a lot of animal action while it has NO effect on reporting all the bug, fog, or whatever passes by in close proximity.

 

[pcwolf]

I have a ReoLink Pan-Tilt-Zoom outdoor camera with a razor-sharp 5MB picture that runs on wifi for security around my house. They recently came up with a solar-powered cellular camera for around ~$200. I am *extremely* impressed with the quality of their products. I don't need a cellular camera though.

Reolink Go - 1% Wire-Free 4G Mobile Security Camera

-Phil

 

[Stuka]

Lots of great feedback, thanks. Well, I tried out the Spypoint Link-S. First I set it on the picnic table and experimented with how quickly it would text my phone. It did not seem to be consistent, sometimes it would ping me after a minute, sometimes not at all. I mounted it on my property and it did not work at all. My phone showed I had 4/5 bars but the camera was showing 1, and would not text my phone. The app on the phone was not connecting to the camera either. I decided to send it back, for that much money I needed something more reliable. I picked up a StealthCam NoGlo 45NG and mounted it. I will look into other options for real time monitoring, maybe the Netgear Nighthawk cellular hotspot/ as mentioned above and then a few wifi cameras.