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Best Wi-Fi barn cameras?

I just got Wi-Fi installed in the barn, among other things I’d like to get some cameras. Recommendations? Tips? Help!

No suggestion. I have used Wyze cams. They are relatively cheap ($40).They’re generally good at up to 10 feet, but for human faces 6 ft. That’s my experience.
You may want to measure your barn length and width.
How dark is you barn at night, aka do you need good ability to see at night?
Wyze really needs the subscription cloud to get decent ai to distinguish person vs pet vs spider webs.
It does have sound and importantly
notifications to your phone that include a thumbnail picture.
If you only had text you’d be having to open each notification to see if it’s important.

Do you have enough electrical outlets to support the cams?

Warning: once you get one camera, like horses, you’ll want more, because why not see them in the pasture as well. And the feed room and the driveway and…

@thejenners has longer range barn/pasture cameras and can chime in.( I only use mine in my yard).

We have Blink cameras and I’ve been happy with them…if you get the outdoor ones, they can capture at night, though the quality is less than some of the higher end security cameras. Super easy to install and the batteries are easy to replace (and they do last a long time). You just nee to plug in the unit that can link to 10 cameras…the cameras work on regular batteries, which is nice (no wires/cables and you can move them if needed). You can set them to record movement…has worked well for me. Mostly we capture the deer or cat running across the barn entrance at night…occasionally a spider will trigger it. They have audio as well.

I was wondering how a SPIDER could trigger it, then…

Spiders Attack Scene - “You’re Aragog” - Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) Movie Clips (youtube.com)

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Right now my silly Swann system won’t stay connected to the wifi, unless I’m out there every three hours or so disconnecting and reconnecting the cord to the antennae. I’m not sure if it’s an issue for the system or if my wifi isn’t strong/steady enough - I’m saving up for Starlink because I’m paying for high-speed multi-device service and definitely not getting that, I have to pick watching Netflix or scrolling Insta, not both, and I think they are metering me at night because sometimes Prime can’t get enough mpbs or whaever for me to watch something on there. So I’m not totally ready to say it’s Swann until I fix that issue. Arlo works dandy, even in the barn. Plus my cameras are like… six years old, still work mostly great for being outside and me dropping them. I have one that runs through battery in like two days now, and sound doesn’t work on two others anymore, but still. For tech out in the weather? Not bad.

I really like my Eufy cameras, more than my Arlo ones. No subscription necessary.

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we have about ten scattered around a few are on solar power, the kids put them up so I as not aware of the type but they paid no more than $30 or so for each, the most disturbing thing is to watch the rats at night

great for night checks of the horses as each has a camera in their stall

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We use Reolink. I like that it has audio as well, and if my husband is in the barn, I can talk to him. He can also watch when I’m riding if he’s not out with me. They work at night as well, which is nice. Here is a view from right now. Dang, I need to sweep my aisle!

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Are these wifi or PoE? Nice view!

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Sorry, I am not the techy person in the family! I just had to go talk to my DH about it. These are not wifi. :frowning: Each camera is PoE and link to a power source (in the barn they link to a PoE switch, and the ones at the house link to the DVR). From the barn to the house we have a ethernet cable that sends the video signal only.

I hope that makes sense. Sorry, I now realize this doesn’t help the OP.

What is POE? When I google, I get either Edgar Allen Poe or Path of Exile .

Ha ha!

Powder over Ethernet. The cameras plug into an ethernet cable which supplies power and carries data back to the hub.

It’s a nice set up, @ParadoxFarm! Do you run the ethernet in conduit, or is it, uh, naked? (You know what I mean :joy:)

One wire to your camera, you know like an office computer has a colored wire going into the back.
That wire can carry enough electricity to the camera so you don’t need an electrical outlet for your camera near your camera. But the camera needs to be compatible AND you need
to buy additional (ugly) hardware for inside of your house. And the ethernet cable run means you may need to drill hole(s) somewhere in your house to let the cable in.

My barn is 150 feet from my house, so that would not work - sigh. Thanks!

Eww. The realities of horse keeping😳
I have caught one nutty mouse running outside. It made a crazy z running pattern.

But these cams are how I discovered our coyotes, a huge ground hog, cute possum, and the fox and a persistent nighttime male cat( that harasses my male cat through the window).

Now that I think I have seen people walking by my house with rfid wand scanners trying to catch my car key fob radio signal, I’m having to up my game with better video resolution.
In a neighborhood of much more expensive cars, my rav4 hybrid is getting the attention.

People in suburbias don’t leave your car key fob in the windows next to your front door!
Buy faraday bags for your keys. Thieves can capture your signal store it and replay it later or boost the signal and steal it immediately. Google Relay and replay methods of car theft.

Eh? Ethernet is good up to 300 feet. My WiFi reaches 100 ft easily, it’s the cameras I have that are not good enough for distance, that’s why I’m researching.
There are optical zoom cameras out there.

And shhh, but I have 100 ft weatherproof extension cords, not the best fix but…

I second the Eufy cameras. They are amazing and very affordable.

Yes…one spider triggered the camera 137 times that night!!! Looked huge…from inspection the next day it was only an itty bitty one. LOL Even with all those triggers, the battery is still going strong!

I use Google nest, as I wanted some wireless ones and I already had one so stuck with the same brand for ease. They don’t do well outside without a wired power in the winter - the battery dies quickly. The quality is great, I will say, but price is high. The positive is you can use them without a plan, but if you want to save history (security) there is a monthly cost. Also they think my horse with a blaze is a human :rofl:

FYI somewhat related topic - to anyone who wants Wi-Fi in the barn fairly easily, I recommend using a “bridge”. I used a pre-set up one from Ubiquiti and it was very easy, and now have Wi-Fi about 215 ft from my house without being wired separately. You just need to have a relatively clear line of sight.

If you want a better Google nest camera, get the first gen. It’s wired so no battery to die. I have a houseful of first gen and thought the battery one was so cool until 1) it doesn’t actually record all the time, which is useless if you need to look back to see what happened at a certain time, 2) the battery died in a few hours.

I just ordered a few first gen on eBay :ok_hand:

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