Can anyone recommend a cheap-ish CCTV camera that doesn’t need a wired power supply? Ideally with wifi connectivity though just in case.

A bit of context. We’re having a garden building installed, which will have some pretty big double glazed door windows, so it’ll be easy enough to see in. There’ll be a bike with a turbo trainer, small TV etc… in there. Just in case I’d like a CCTV camera pointing at it. I’d keep the camera low-ish down, there are no houses/neighbours behind our garden for the camera to snoop on!

Not sure about the original question, but we had low down cameras stolen, so be careful where you mount them!

How are you planning to supply power without wires? A lot of batteries? Solar panels?

If you’re running a network cable to it you could get a Power over Ethernet device which wouldn’t need a separate power supply (you’ll almost certainly need a power injector somewhere between the camera and the router instead though.)

Also, have you considered curtains?

Have a look at Netgear Arlo

Cougar – I have no idea about powering, was thinking about some kind of battery, just not sure what is out there. Didn’t want to be drilling through walls and having cables going through for power – but not sure if that’s possible. I’m pretty clueless about these things!

Also yes to curtains!

Thanks Paulsoxo.

The other option I suppose is a camera pointing out the window. Will probably have an alarm too.

What does the small TV run on?

Arlo. Batteries last approx 6 months. Been great for me. Not so great for those who need constant recordings. Arlo is triggered by movement.

You’re going to struggle on the cheap bit though. This is all pretty new technology, so done right costs a few bob.

Having said that it’s not prohibitively expensive.

Arlo is default answer. I returned mine as frankly they are a bit crap. Regular loss of signal, app buggy and crashing and worst of all can take time to wake for motion, up to 10 seconds, which is enough to get down the side of the house. All of this things happened randomly and I swapped cameras about to check it wasn’t signal strength or a dodgy one.

I’ve gone for a hard wired swan system, and paying for installation, will only work out slightly more than the arlo for a 4 camera system.

You can also get Yale smart alarms relative cheap and have door sensors / pirs on your outbuilding (which I have) annoyingly there is only 2 modes, part and full alarm rather than arming devices independently. I have part for the outbuildings and full for the whole house.

The Arlo app could certainly be a lot better in terms of bugs.

I don’t have any issue with signal though.

I think the Arlo is a bit pricey for what we want.

onehundredthidiot – Nothing at the moment. The building doesn’t exist until tomorrow. It won’t have electric running to it until we get a sparky in. I was thinking of having the camera pointing at the building from the house.

There’s the Canary Flex – though it’s not necessary cheap…

and:

The other option I suppose is a camera pointing out the window. Will probably have an alarm too.

be careful with IR cameras and having them behind windows – reflections make this tricky without mounting it very carefully / boxing it in etc. Works fine during the day but at night, much more tricky.

Dummy camera outside to act as deterrent, real camera inside to help Id the perp?

Big sticker saying warning cctv/achtung minen etc?
Big curtain/blind

Most cost effective approach I can think of

I am assuming here you mean without a separate wired power supply.. POE is the way to go.. 1 cable to the camera carries signal and power direct from the DVR.

If alternatively you mean no cable at all.. I doubt that’s possible without changing batteries every day.

How are you planning to supply power without wires? A lot of batteries? Solar panels?

Look at Arlo. Batteries last weeks/months depending on usage. They are designed exactly for this purpose. Might not be considered cheap though. A good installation will put them in a place where they cannot easily be stolen/damaged, but easy enough access for battery changes.

Arlo is default answer. I returned mine as frankly they are a bit crap. Regular loss of signal, app buggy and crashing and worst of all can take time to wake for motion, up to 10 seconds, which is enough to get down the side of the house.

New version has much improved ‘wake-up’ lag, which was certainly an issue previously.

If alternatively you mean no cable at all.. I doubt that’s possible without changing batteries every day.

Arlo doesn’t need any cables, from reviews batteries seem to last 1 to 6 months depending on number of activation. I don’t have personal experience of the system though but been looking at this myself and arlo seems the best option.

Anyone know the difference between ‘pro’ and non pro versions apart from the high price?

Looks like Logitech are releasing two new cameras, one is battery powered…
Logitech Circle