"home false sense of security" :P

[BLINGMW]

Any of you tried these or similar:

Nest outdoor camera (20ft night vision, outdoor rated, but most limited features without subscription, only keeps 3hrs of video)
Canary (indoor unit gets very good reviews, outdoor coming next month)
Netgear Arlo Q (25ft night vision and 50ft motion detection, but designed for indoor)
Piper (I cannot seem to find night vision range specs which probably means not great, and it's an indoor thing too)

They almost seem to do what I want, which is no-monthly-fee basic motion trigger recording and a fairly simple stand-alone setup. Outdoor rated ideal but maybe I can get away with an indoor since it'll be under an awning... :dunno: None quite have the night vision range I would prefer but should be helpful. They're all pretty much the same price.

[JustinG]

So I got the Skybell HD installed. Interesting thing is it looks like Front Point has their own packaging, and the Skybell screwdriver is replaced with a Front Point branded one for install.

Luckily my doorbell is mechanical so, install only took 10 minutes. If you have a hard wired doorbell that is "Digital" you have to get this $20 circuit board adapter.

Had to wait about 30 min for it to charge up, setup took about 10 minutes, which included a firmware update.


Figured its a doorbell and it is outside, so giving away the camera location isn't a big deal.

It now notifies any device I specify with a button push and notifies using the motion sensor.

Cool feature is you can customize the color of the lighting to basically anything on the spectrum. I just left it green, on a button push or when it detects motion the lighting turns white.

One thing I think the Front Point app is missing that the native Skybell app has is the ability to mute the mechanical door bell during certain hours.

I can turn it on and off whenever I want, but I haven't figured out how to set up a rule to automatically do it.

From button push to phone notification is about 5-10 seconds depending on connection speed. Video quality is HD, and audio quality on the doorbell end is not quite phone call quality but good. Audio quality on the phone end is just like a phone call.

Motion sensor picks up out to where the sidewalk turns towards the driveway so my front steps are covered.
Night vision is good, with my front porch and lamp post off I can see out to the driveway. Supposedly ha a 15ft view.


I'd love to get a Zwave switch installed to turn on the porch light when motion or a button push occurs during a certain time frame to help improve picture quality in low light.

A+ would buy again.

[ScottyB]

nice review, but also, damn that's a pretty sweet front porch.

[JustinG]

nice review, but also, damn that's a pretty sweet front porch.

Thanks, we need to get some white Cracker Barrel rocking chairs on that thing, then my grumpy alumni status will be expert.

[Apoc]

I would just get a motion sensor add on for the light... I think zwave is overkill.

[JustinG]

I agrre, but I'll have to see if it will work. The porch light is an overhead light with 2 bulbs, not your typical mounted to the side of the house 1 bulb porch light.

[Apoc]

Just put your outside light on a timer and have it on all night. With two LCD bulbs, you're probably talking $3/year. We have ours set to come on at sunset and turn off at 4 am.

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="https://www.amazon.com/Honeywell-Econoswitch-RPLS740B-Programmable-Switch/dp/B004AP92N2/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1475092769&sr=8-16&keywords=Light+timer">https://www.amazon.com/Honeywell-Econos ... ight+timer</a><!-- m -->

[davej]

Thanks, we need to get some white Cracker Barrel rocking chairs on that thing, then my grumpy alumni status will be expert.

does it have a speaker in it so you can yell at those damn kids to get off your lawn from anywhere in the world?

[JustinG]

Just put your outside light on a timer and have it on all night. With two LCD bulbs, you're probably talking $3/year. We have ours set to come on at sunset and turn off at 4 am.

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="https://www.amazon.com/Honeywell-Econoswitch-RPLS740B-Programmable-Switch/dp/B004AP92N2/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1475092769&sr=8-16&keywords=Light+timer">https://www.amazon.com/Honeywell-Econos ... ight+timer</a><!-- m -->

Yeah, but then at that price im like $5 away from a Zwave switch

Thanks, we need to get some white Cracker Barrel rocking chairs on that thing, then my grumpy alumni status will be expert.

does it have a speaker in it so you can yell at those damn kids to get off your lawn from anywhere in the world?

Indeed I can, I plan on having some fun during Halloween, since we will be out with Averie.

"I SAID 1 FUCKING PIECE OF CANDY ASSHOLE!"

[JPolen01]

I feel like you are automating just to automate. Just turn the god damn switch on at night and off in the morning. Having the light on full time deters more crime than having it come on when someone is already near.

[JustinG]

I feel like you are automating just to automate.

Yes, the problem is?

Low light pics for anyone interested.

Porch and Light post


Light post only


Porch light only


No light

[Ryan T]

Light post only looks like your best bet for full visibility. We don't have any camera's (yet) but out front porch light is on a motion sensor. Just flip the switch before bed and any motion turns it on for 5 minutes.

[Apoc]

I think light post only would back ight a would be assailant. It gets you better range, but may not light the person's face.

I bought some zwave outlets to tinker with. Damn Amazon delivered them a day late; 30 min after our electrician left. Now they'll prolly sit for a few weeks, until I motivate to replace them. I'll post up some details once I get them installed.

[Apoc]

The outlet worked well but the exterior plug is too far away from the unit. I'm going to tinker with adding a few more interior outlets to see if I can get it to reach.

In other news, I think I found one problem with frontpoint. I noticed my video motion detection settings kept getting turned off. I enabled them with my phone and a few days later, they'd be off again. Tonight I went into the system settings on a desktop browser and got a message that I'd hit the 1000/month limit. I was aware that it would loop record a max of 1000 clips, but I didn't realize they capped your monthly uploads at 1000. It will still record in case of alarm, but now I can't enable motion detection recording until next month. :? I can turn down the sensitivity, but I wonder how many people think they're recording video and they're not. Imma call them tomorrow and see what they say.

[Apoc]

I've added a few more indoor outlets in an effort to use the mesh network to cover parts of the outside of the house. They've been easy, but I actually don't have much practical application for them. I also bought a toggle switch to put our foyer light on; so it goes on when we disarm, etc. The switches required a neutral wire to power the radio and I think mine is back behind the box, so had to nix that for now.

I did put up a few of these: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://amzn.to/2fPx5fC">http://amzn.to/2fPx5fC</a><!-- m -->
edit: they were 30% cheaper yesterday

They have been the simplest zwave device to add to the system - it literally takes 15 seconds. I've created rules to turn certain lights on when doors open, turn everything on when an alarm goes off, and on a schedule. I think it's fair to say I'm kinda obsessed with tinkering on this stuff.

[WRXtranceformed]

I still haven't really gotten into the home automation piece, I guess I don't really see the need (although it's cool). Turning the lights on at night and off in the morning is just something I've always done as a ritual. Some kind of closed circuit camera system or a doorbell camera that's not recording the inside of the house is about as far as we will probably go tech-wise with that stuff. I don't even feel comfortable hooking our garage door up to the internet (in terms of being able to open and close it, we have a sensor on it from FP to remind me if it's not closed).

My wife did buy a bunch of cheap GE LED nightlights that are photo-sensitive and look nice / blend in with the outlets we don't use. They have dimmers on them so they automatically turn on or off based on how much light is in the room. It's all down-lighting so it looks really good too, helps me keep the house from being pitch black at night or peeing on the floor

[JustinG]

I wanna get a couple of those outdoor zwave outlets for use with our Christmas decorations in the next week or so. Any issues linking it to your FP Chris?

[Apoc]

Turning the lights on at night and off in the morning is just something I've always done as a ritual. I don't even feel comfortable hooking our garage door up to the internet (in terms of being able to open and close it, we have a sensor on it from FP to remind me if it's not closed).

What do you do when you're traveling? We travel quite a bit and it's nice to have a house that looks lived in. Seattle is fairly crime free, but property crime is something we deal with so I also like the idea of lights turning on if someone breaks a window. It's also nice to have lights turn on when you open a door when we have your hands full of kid crap.

I replaced a few outlets with these for night lights: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://amzn.to/2f1t6h3">http://amzn.to/2f1t6h3</a><!-- m -->

It's nice because you don't have to worry about losing an outlet or a kid ripping the night light out of the wall.

I elected to keep our new jackshaft opener off the internet so it's less easy to hack. I'll probably add a sensor to it so I can be notified if the door is left open. I had to add a the battery backup because the only access to our garage is through the door itself. Our generator is in there, so we'd be hosed if the power ever went out.

I wanna get a couple of those outdoor zwave outlets for use with our Christmas decorations in the next week or so. Any issues linking it to your FP Chris?

Adding them is easy, although being in range isn't always simple. ZWave is a mesh network, so you can add switches/outlets/lights to extend range. I have coverage in my garage, but I've been frustrated by getting coverage in my backyard to add our bistro lights to the system. To add, you have to call FP to enable the EmPower tab in your account and they'll walk you through adding a device. After that, it's just a few steps to add others.

1) Hold the star button for 10 sec to enter power device menu
2) Hold the 1 button for 10 sec to enter learn mode
3) Power up the device; they will detect each other if in range
4) Hold # for 10 seconds to exit power device menu
5) Go into web portal to rename device, create rules, etc.

One programmed, you can freely move devices. It might save you some angst if you're able to add devices near the panel (panel can be moved) and then place them accordingly. Best I can tell, the basic panel can only learn eight devices. This probably isn't a problem for most people, unless you get carried away.

[JPolen01]

What do you do when traveling? Too lazy to quote from mobile...I've got a could of lights on timers works like a charm for $5 a timer.

[WRXtranceformed]

What do you do when you're traveling? We travel quite a bit and it's nice to have a house that looks lived in. Seattle is fairly crime free, but property crime is something we deal with so I also like the idea of lights turning on if someone breaks a window. It's also nice to have lights turn on when you open a door when we have your hands full of kid crap.

I'm less worried about that now in our new neighborhood than I used to be. In the off chance that my wife and I are both gone (rare) and my sister in law who is living with us right now is gone, I just leave the carriage and porch lights on and maybe another light on in the house. That's what I've got the security system / motion detectors for in case anyone decides to actually break in. There are a lot of work from home / stay at home mom's in our cul de sac and everybody knows everbody now, so yeah it's not a huge deal to me to have people think I am actually at home.