Help deciding what camera to use

I already have a ring doorbell and I am looking to expand my camera coverage with several additional cameras. Here is my situation. I have 3 additional exterior camera locations that I would like to cover. They are up pretty high so I don’t think I want battery versions, where I am continually having to pull out the extension ladder to replace the battery. I do not have outside outlets near the camera locations and putting them in brick is more difficult than I want to pursue, but I could use outlets inside the attic, if there is a way to get the wires inside. I would like to integrate the motion alerts into SmartThings so that I can turn on lights and initiate other routines. Here is what I have found in my research so far:

I initially started looking at the Stick Up Cam Elite, which uses Power over Ethernet. I already have a PoE switch so this seemed like a great option. The only problem is that it isn’t available now and no one seems to be able to tell me when it will be available.

I then moved to the wired Stick Up Cam, figuring that I could make a small hole for the power connector in the side of the house an run to an outlet in the attic. Unfortunately, it looks like people have been waiting for almost a year for Stick Up Cam integration into SmartThings with no success, so this is a deal breaker for this option.

My next consideration is the Wired Spotlight Cam. this has the SmartThings integration, but based on everything I have seen in the instructions, it has the expectation that the outlet is outside and it has a large 3 pronged plug wired to the camera. My question is can the power wire for this camera be easily routed inside? Ideally I would like to be able to disconnect the cord from the camera and route it through the mounting plate making a small hole for just the cord (not a hole large enough to have to accomodate the plug).

I looked at the Floodlight Cam, but this requires an exterior mouting box and I don’t really need the lights plus the additional cost.

I would love to hear the thoughts from others in the community of the best choice for my situation.

1 Like

POE is always the way to go. Low voltage connectivity is always safer for power and ethernet is always better than wifi. I have four of the Ring POE cameras, love them. So if you can wait, wait for the Ring POE camera. If youu cannot wait, I suppose I would look for another brand. But I would only use POE. It seems rather silly that Ring discontinued the old POE cam without having the new one ready to ship, someone is probably unemployed now over that one :slight_smile:

2 Likes

Brad,

Thanks for the quick response. I agree that the Poe option seems the best, but it is hard to wait when you have no idea how long you will be waiting and then there will likely be a longer wait for integration into SmartThings. So I could be looking at a year+ before I have something that does what I am looking for.