Need a Wi-Fi Security Camera to Deal with Mail Thieves in

Lkiwiicheapies on 01/03/2022 - 12:23

Heya guys. First time posting on the Forums. My neighbour's and myself are having issues with mailbox thieves pinching our mail and targeting our houses. We caught them once with a camera from Brilliant Smart, but shortly after, the camera began to fill up with water and we returned due to the manufacturer defect.

We are now looking into purchasing a new camera and I would just like to know if you'd have any ideas on good wireless cameras that aren't too expensive.

Ideally would like a camera that is easy to hide along a fence, uses solar panels to charge, and uses wifi to connect.

Thanks for helping!

General Discussion

Comments

  • dogwasstar on 01/03/2022 - 14:03

    I have been using eufy. Battery seems to be pretty good. Been using it for about a year now and really happy with it. Just need to charge it every 4 months or so. Also you dont need to pay extra for storing the files on the cloud, The base has enough memory to store data for a while.

  • Bill on 01/03/2022 - 18:26

    Avoid anything that charges with solar, hardwired could be the best option depending on how far it will be from your house. Make sure you're aware if the brand is offering a subscription for the camera software. Profesional installers normally do hardwired and use Hikvision very often.

    • kiwiicheapies on 01/03/2022 - 19:24

      Hardwire is definitely an option. We do have a power gate with the power box quite close to where we are putting the camera. would that be an option to wire it via the gate power box?

      • Bill on 01/03/2022 - 19:41

        Yes, definitely. I've just been told it's very easy but anything more than plugging in you may want to consult a professional if you don't know what you are doing, especially when dealing with mains power. You also have to consider that the wifi coverage needs to reach the camera.

        • kiwiicheapies on 01/03/2022 - 20:35

          wifi is fine too. this will be basically outside my house. would you reccomend trying to get a Hikvision camera from trademe?

          • Bill on 01/03/2022 - 21:07

            @kiwiicheapies: I'm not sure, I don't have much experience with this. Hikvision seems to be more professional whereas the ones you find in stores are heavily consumer oriented.

            • kiwiicheapies on 02/03/2022 - 09:43

              @Bill: getting professionals in to do the install would be too costly for us, so might have to go for more of the easy install, consumer oriented ones

          • justaddwater on 01/03/2022 - 23:02

            @kiwiicheapies: There are so many models, you'll have to research which one is good for you. Lens size etc example 2mm vs 6mm

  • Foodie on 01/03/2022 - 20:37

    Alternatively you can setup a po box but if "targeting houses" I'm not sure what that entails.

    • kiwiicheapies on 01/03/2022 - 20:47

      setting up a po box could be annoying due to the fact we'd need to visit often. We are trying to work with our neighbour's to try to figure a solution. we've had the mail theives stealing our mail for a number of years now. including moving our mailboxes down the driveway closer to the houses to deter them from coming close. our previous camera was garbage so we were looking at a new one.

      • Bill on 01/03/2022 - 20:54

        what about one of those secured mail boxes with a lock or somewhere you can lock it from. Surely the thieves aren't going to break through to get some mail. What is so valuable with your mail, are they stealing just normal envelopes or packages? It's strange to just steal paper mail, what are they getting out of it?

        • kiwiicheapies on 02/03/2022 - 09:39

          hahha nope.. we've invested in lockable mailboxes and they just bend the mechanism to force the mailbox open… we are wondering if it's gang related, the person we caught on camera last time had a mongruel mob tattoo and yesterday's person was wearing a red hoodie.

          They are stealing our mail for every reason. Whether they're trying to do identity fraud, or just take the packages that are put in our mailbox, we don't know. our neighbour had his driver's licence taken two years ago when they kept visiting.

          It's never the same person who comes. we've had people on rental scooters, people in different cars, and so on.

          • akrotohur on 02/03/2022 - 09:44

            @kiwiicheapies: So what's the point of having the security camera? Looks like they don't really care.

            • kiwiicheapies on 02/03/2022 - 09:47

              @akrotohur: that's the same thing we were kinda wondering. would the police even do anything if we do catch them? we've made hundreds of police reports over the years and nothing has happened.

              • akrotohur on 02/03/2022 - 09:51

                @kiwiicheapies: Maybe redirect all your mails + parcels to another address and leave the mailbox opened, so those people can see your empty mailbox, no need to waste the effort to break into the mailbox…haha

                • kiwiicheapies on 02/03/2022 - 10:34

                  @akrotohur: for them to stop it would need all the neighbour's (9 houses) to stop getting mail. this could be a possibility but they might just come back in a few months

          • Alan6984 on 02/03/2022 - 10:02

            @kiwiicheapies: I'd just get a PO Box and be done with it. I have never regretted it.

            Also means you don't have to worry about signing for parcels - the lobby staff do that for you at no extra cost, and everything is secure / fully tracked if you require a signature (where you can).

            I tend to be going past the box at least a couple of times a week, so no hassle to pop in and pick things up.

            Doesn't mean you lose the option to have something sent to your street address anytime you still want to do that.

            Alan.

            • kiwiicheapies on 02/03/2022 - 10:33

              @Alan6984: are po boxes costly?

              • Alan6984 on 02/03/2022 - 10:45

                @kiwiicheapies: I think we pay about $175 pa. Had it for about fifteen years, and I have never regretted it.

                Also means I can sign up for things using a dedicated email address, a phone number that only and always goes to voicemail (which gets emailed to me), and a PO Box number.

                If / when we have moved, there is nothing to do - no mail goes to our house, so nobody to notify, and no chance of important stuff going missing. I guess the only time that might be an issue is if we moved well away, and it was no longer viable to collect mail from the box, but I think that NZPost have a service where they will deliver the box mail to your street address if you want (additional charges of course), and we have no intention of moving all that far away.

                Alan.

                • kiwiicheapies on 02/03/2022 - 11:45

                  @Alan6984: Thanks Alan. I'll make sure to propose this idea to my neighbour's

          • Bill on 02/03/2022 - 14:07

            @kiwiicheapies: They must be really dedicated. I would still recommend investing more in a secured mailbox, a camera doesn't seem like the right solution. A stronger mailbox is more likely to stop the problem than catching them on camera if they don't care. Police won't be of much help either even if you have footage. I would recommend a brick-in letterbox so they can't tear it off the wall or post. It will cost more than a camera setup but it's more like a renovation than a product. Get it from a locksmith company, not bunnings. https://www.armstrong.co.nz/residential/#:~:text=Home%20safe…
            Then embed it into solid cement.
            I'm glad I don't have this kind of problem where I live.

          • Foodie on 02/03/2022 - 19:04

            @kiwiicheapies: Do you think they are using your mail boxes as drug drop offs?
            If they bending the lock etc, Must be pretty valuable what they are after

            • kiwiicheapies on 02/03/2022 - 19:24

              @Foodie: nah I'd doubt they would use our mailboxes for drugs. it'd be too risky for them especially as we check our mailbox very often. I think they want to do some sort of thing using stolen ID and possibly any items that may be worth selling from packages etc

      • LupinS on 14/03/2022 - 11:40

        Parcel Pod costs like $5 a month (may not even be that much). You get notifications when there is something to pick up.

  • L3tstaxth1s on 01/03/2022 - 20:57

    Would you be better off making the camera visible as a deterence (as you mention hiding it)? I've been using Arlo Pro 2 x 3 camera system and it's been great, other than the batteries needing charging every other month.

    • kiwiicheapies on 02/03/2022 - 09:41

      Could be, but also we don't want them to damage the camera if it's visible. possibly we could attach it to our house to avoid that though. but if it's attached to our house you can't see the mailboxes as well.

      aren't arlo cams subscription cams?

  • Dunno on 01/03/2022 - 21:06

    You could also consider a Game/Trail Camera to mount on a tree etc where they won't expect a camera, most run on 8xAA batteries and can take a handful of stills within a few seconds of motion or a short video of various quality depending on the model.

    All kinds of options from about $120 basic ones to $500+ ones that sit on cellular networks to notify you when activity happens.

    http://www.ajproductions.co.nz/products/trail-security-camer… etc

    Just search for game or trail cameras on google or TradeMe for secondhand. Most people list the model you can google and look at image quality/reviews.

    • kiwiicheapies on 02/03/2022 - 09:44

      that's quite a good idea. I'll look into this. Thanks!

  • JasonJ on 02/03/2022 - 09:36

    I bought Xiaomi outdoor cam (build in battery, no wire needed) / micro SD to store video during Xmas for $99.

    • kiwiicheapies on 02/03/2022 - 09:45

      is the camera quality good?

      • JJ on 13/03/2022 - 00:49

        overall good quality and I like the benefit of no annual fee for storage. However, compare to Ring, I do find motion alert is delayed to show up on my mobile compared to Ring. Tested on 2 mobile, same result. I'm pretty sure it's not my network or mobile issue. The delayed alert is a big downside of Xiaomi outdoor cam.

    • Bill on 02/03/2022 - 13:38

      Xiaomi definitely seems like better value than the other consumer oriented brands like arlo, swann, eufy. Arlo is basically useless without the subscription, no people detection, really scummy. With Xiaomi it looks like you get 3 days of cloud storage as well which is great since fiddling around with microSD is a pain and with cloud saving, you can just pick the parts you want to keep.

      • kiwiicheapies on 02/03/2022 - 19:21

        Thanks I'll look into it!

      • JJ on 13/03/2022 - 00:45

        Hi I couldn't figure out how to link to cloud storage. If you had a good go, could you please msg me how to. thanks.

  • LupinS on 14/03/2022 - 11:42

    Note that you need the video backed up. Not just in the device itself. It is very easy to rip off any wireless door cam or similar and take it away. Making the whole exercise pointless.

    Also be aware that even with video you aren't likely to get much police action. It will really only be hpful if you can actually ID the person.

    • kiwiicheapies on 14/03/2022 - 13:41

      From the last time we got someone on video, we saw a visible mongruel mob tattoo on his left arm. This may help us ID the person.
      Also, since then we have moved our mailboxes down our driveway, and last time they drove down our driveway in a green Toyota.

      The next issue is if we do find the person, what would the police really do to stop it?

      Last resort is to send the poor postie down the driveway to deliver to all the houses individually, to prevent the mail from being stolen from the beginning.

      • Alan6984 on 14/03/2022 - 16:11

        Maybe consider moving elsewhere even though it is a hassle / cost?

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