Security camera from old smart phone/phones

[ksJoe]

Depending on how techy you are, you can DIY the internet access. We use Cricket Wireless for cell phones. Its $100/month for 4 lines. We need 3. Dropping the 4th would only save $10/ month. So the 4th cell phone I have it tethered to a Raspberry Pi, connected to a wifi router at the hunting property. That means slow internet service for the wifi network on the hunting property only costs me $10/month. I've got stable point-to-point wifi links across 1500 feet to get from the garage to the blind. I have 2 reolink NVRs on this property. One in a solar powered garage, one in a deer blind with solar on it. I've also got a couple solar/battery powered reolink PTZ cameras.

you can read more about my solar powered deer blind with reolink nvr here.

If you're a techy DIY kind of guy you can build out an amazing system with very low operating cost. If you need turn key products that are plug and play, it will cost a lot more.

 

[ksJoe]

Here's a link to a Reolink Duo2 camera.

I love those! I have 3 and will get 2 more next time I order. I do wish I mounted the two on my blind a little lower though. They have a fairly narrow vertical viewing angle, so being up high and aimed down, the center of the image looks squished. If the camera was 3 foot lower, and aimed more straight horizontal, it would be much better.

Look at the horizon line in this image:

Since this camera also serves as security monitoring for the deer blind door directly below it, I need it aiming down like it is.

 

[aircommuter]

I put 400 watts of solar panels on my deer blind, and a 100ah 12v lithium battery. I have a Reolink brand NVR (network video recorder) and currently 4 security cameras (4k, like the very high def TVs). An old cell phone provides internet access to the NVR. I can watch the cameras live from my cell phone, and I get motion alerts to my phone. The new cameras use AI to identify people and vehicles, and alerts can be configured for any motion, or people or vehicles. So I don't get bogus alerts when a bug flies by at night. But as I approach the door, my phone dings to tell me a person is at the door of the deer blind.

I'm still working out the bugs, but I'll be adding pan/tilt/zoom cameras soon. It is my plan to use security camras instead of trail cameras on the hunting property.

How does the old cell phone provide an output to the the NVR?

 

[NoTrespassing]

We have Starlink and only use the Starlink router. The signal will reach where I want my cameras positioned.

 

[JeepHead]

Doesn't this 'system' require another piece/part to allow you to use it 'offline?' Or is that the "Sync Module 2" that is mentioned in the description?

The sync module is what connects to your wifi and the cameras connect to the SM wireless. You only need one SM for you cameras but can have multiple if wanted. It needs to be connected to wifi to work but you don't have to have internet for it to work. But then, you would only be able to view it if you are connected to your home network.

 

[JeepHead]

That is nice, but I get that for free without subscriptions. My reolink NVRs and standalone cameras are configured to email a photo of all AI classified events. So it drops motion from wind & leaves, but people, vehicles, and "pets" send a picture. I have a free email account that is both the sender and receiver and of these emails, so they're not filling up my normal email account.

So I also have data uploaded to the cloud where it cannot be stolen, and my ongoing cost is $0.

A couple years ago I had a cheap trail camera stolen during deer season. I asssume it was someone trying to not get caught trespassing. So for the more expensive cameras I have signs like this.
View attachment 1505071

Yeah that sounds like way too much effort and not enough functionality simply to save $10.

 

[ksJoe]

How does the old cell phone provide an output to the the NVR?

If the wireless carrier allows it, or if you have an app that bypasses the restriction, a cell phone can provide internet access to connected devies. On my iphone, its called "personal hotspot" and the phone functions as a router. I can connect my laptop (or whatever) to the wifi network created by the phone. But the phone's wifi signal won't be very strong, so it won't go very far.

The simplest option would be turn on the personal hotspot then use wifi range extenders.

At the land I'm using an old motorola smart phone, and it has an app on it. I forget the name of the app I'm using. Its been a couple years since I set that up. It provides internet access over the USB cable. The term for this "tether" or "tethering". I have it connected to a Raspberry Pi which is a cheap little mini computer. The RP is configured to serve as a router on its ethernet (cable) port. So from there its just an ethernet network.

In the next few years we're looking at building a tiny house / cabin down there. Then we'll get starlink internet and quit using the phone.

 

[aircommuter]

If the wireless carrier allows it, or if you have an app that bypasses the restriction, a cell phone can provide internet access to connected devies. On my iphone, its called "personal hotspot" and the phone functions as a router. I can connect my laptop (or whatever) to the wifi network created by the phone. But the phone's wifi signal won't be very strong, so it won't go very far.

The simplest option would be turn on the personal hotspot then use wifi range extenders.

At the land I'm using an old motorola smart phone, and it has an app on it. I forget the name of the app I'm using. Its been a couple years since I set that up. It provides internet access over the USB cable. The term for this "tether" or "tethering". I have it connected to a Raspberry Pi which is a cheap little mini computer. The RP is configured to serve as a router on its ethernet (cable) port. So from there its just an ethernet network.

In the next few years we're looking at building a tiny house / cabin down there. Then we'll get starlink internet and quit using the phone.

Yes if course but tethering is a very limited amount of data. If the cameras are storing data to a card or cloud you can run out of data and get nothing for the rest of the month. Not sure if the prices are the same but Starlink is $120 monthly around here.

 

[JRH02]

Are the batteries rechargeable or do they need to be replaced? How much do the batteries cost?

Actually I think I just answered my own question. It looks like they're AA batteries and one could use either rechargeable or not.

Is that right?

The rechargeable cells don't last very long and even when installed fresh from the charger start at a lower voltage and drop from there. I bought a bunch of Eveready rechargeables and soon grew wary of their life and the constant charging. I also tried the expensive disposable lithiums and they lasted a good while longer than good quality alkaline but they had a frustrating failure rate right out of a fresh package.

So now I just buy the big packages at the big box store because they have a good turn over and decent price when on sale. We have 4 wireless proximity sensors and the various game/security cameras none of which are close so when one sensor falls out I just replace them all. Any that still have some life go into the various LED flashlights and headlamps.

I hate disposable batteries but there is not much other in the way of options.

 

[ksJoe]

Yes if course but tethering is a very limited amount of data.

That is true for many cell plans. But if you use an app to do the tethering (like I do), to the carrier it looks like generic traffic. They don't realize its tethering. My plan is unlimited everything (call, text, data), but slow. The data bandwidth is capped at 3 or 5 mbps. That would be annoying for web browsing on a PC, but its fast enough for watching a camera live feed. Since its unlimited, I could watch the feed 24/7 if I wanted.

This was the cheap and easy option to test out my plans for using generic sercurity cameras as trail cameras. When we get a tiny house out there, we'll get starlink and instantly have fast wifi all over the property. But until we've got a place for the starlink, the cell phone is working well surprisingly well.

That's why I brought it up. If a person wants low cost wifi in the middle of no where, that's just fast enough to browsing live video feeds, it can be done cheaply.