Home Improvement → [Security] Need wireless camera for baby room

We are having our first baby and Was looking at the wireless camera and monitor sets on amazon and was wondering if there was a better way to do it with a regular wireless camera we could log into from our phones?
Brands and tips are much appreciated.

foscam ptz. perfect.

Love our Motorola video set. Not a fan of network cameras because we travel with ours and don't want to have to rely on a phone app or wifi just for a baby monitor.

You're way overthinking this.

Foscam has several indoor wireless cameras for less than $100. I have a FI8910W that does OK. It also has audio.

Your better off with a kit that doesn't connect to your wifi. It's nice to be able to take it when you go on a trip.

We uses this:
»www.amazon.com/gp/produc ··· 3LNZ1L6/

I wouldn't dream of not having it web enabled via wifi. The pro's outweigh the con's everyday and twice on Sunday.

You could skip the whole wireless idea if you actually want to keep the baby safe,
»www.who.int/peh-emf/meet ··· ster.pdf

What a joke. Some people would have us putting them in a hermetically sealed bubble! Before wifi it was mobile phones and before that radio waves. There's always some quack trying to make a name for themselves at others expense.

Don't go for a wifi cam *unless there is a standalone monitor*. I don't know of any that does, but there may be...
Ideally look for a model that has an auto screen-off and noise activated receiver.
You will need a monitor that you can keep on the table or put in your pocket if you go outside while the baby is sleeping. You also don't want the hiss by your bedside during the night...
If you think of having another child soon I highly recommend a dual-camera setup, and again look for the auto-standby feature.
I tried the wifi route, it's the most inconvenient of them all. Finally settled for the dual-cam version of this:»www.mylevana.com/product ··· -38.html The receiver is small and the battery lasts well, also you can use it as an intercom. Auto-standby doesn't work while set to scroll through cameras, but it is a very minor inconvenience as the older kid doesn't need to be kept an eye on so much.

Any IP camera can work with your smartphone via a free app like:
»play.google.com/store/ap ··· werBasic

You can use internal IP's if you don't want to use wifi. The whole solution is under $50 bucks.

Simple install. Use your phone, tablet, notebook, desktop from anywhere in the house and anyplace outside the house.

»www.ibabylabs.com/store/ ··· itor-m3s

That was from the World Health Organization. Their testing trumps your and industry opinion.

Furthermore, look at how SAR ratings are done and you should, if you actually give a damn, see why a device that is safe for a grown adult to use and be around is quite dangerous to a new born or small child.

Wait a minute. You posted that link. I wasted 20 minutes looking at it - and it proves NOTHING.

Let's say this: Don't stick an antenna right next to you baby's head. I think that should cover it.
The amounts of RF in household devices are miniscule. We're constantly bombarded with RF from the womb to the grave. Electricity, TV, Radio, Microwaves - much of this stuff has been around 100+ years, but now we are are worried about a 250 mw transceiver? Give me a break.

That's via a hardwired network. You can use power lines if you don't have the room wired. Another $40 for this. Still cheaper then the pre-canned kits and you can set it up so you can view it from anywhere via the internet instead of being linked to 150-200 feet.
»www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-T ··· 0AWRUICG

Thank you all for the recommendations.
There are a number of good ideas and options given here.

I gave my foscams away and went to the higher def Dropcam Pro and use them from a nearby 5GHz wi fi router or nearby repeaters to the main router. I'm covering about a 350' circle.

I've got 4 of them going 24/7 w/audio/motion with a Charter 30mb/4mb internet connection and no issues so far.

They have iPhone apps that work very well.

I'm curious if the rest of you are actually using the other camera types as a baby monitor and how you handle traveling. Also if you need a phone app to view the camera do you leave the app open all the time and keep your phone on the charger? What about through the night?

To the OP, the best baby monitors are those specifically designed for that purpose. If you go with regular cameras think about what you'll do when you go out on a date night and your sitter needs a monitor or you leave the child with family. With many monitor sets you can add cameras and cycle for multiple children, have two way communication and PTZ capability.

cowboyro reiterates this above. Trust those that have tried both ways already.

Good questions, the iPhone DropCam apps are free and don't use much more than normal battery power. They update the cam apps frequently and they are improving all the time, sound and motion detectors with instant messages to the iPhone desktop etc. I still have Lorex, QSee and China DVR's running here but I'm gradually switching over to wireless DropCam.

The downside of wireless wi-fi cameras I've found is going through one wall more than 30 feet away from the repeater or router gives marginal signal quality. I found a huge speed and quality improvement using 5GHz wi-fi. Lets face it, unless you are miles from anybody there's tons of 2.4 GHz chatter out there. I'm in a rural area and still have 10 or 15 strong wi-fi router signals around me. It's a wi-fi range war in signals, channels and bandwidth.

I use 3 of the "Amped Wireless High Power 700mW Dual Band (2.4 & 5GHz) AC Wi-Fi Range Extender's" close to each outer camera in the attached and detached shops with good success using the Apple Extreme base station in the house to Charter cable. The Amped & Apple software allows selection of different channels so it's not hard to find a clean channel.

The DropCam and other wireless cameras never have a strong transmit/receive signal caused by small antennas, low power etc., so repeaters take care of signal loss problems. I'm no guru on wi-fi but have a friend in another town that does it for a living and what he's shown me works well. In a week I have hardly any interrupt's in constant streaming for the 4 cameras. The worst ones being only a minute or so. Probably NSA spying on me.

You mean the same quacks who want people to stop consuming sugar or tried to downplay health impacts of Fukushima nuclear disaster? No one trusts them.

Keep in mind that the required functionality of a baby monitor is totally different from one of a security monitor.
A baby monitor needs to:
-be able to stay quiet with the screen on or off when there is no activity (noise or movement)
-give you audio and visual indication when there is noise, even without obvious movement
-give you feedback when communication with the camera is lost or when the battery is running low
-be able to run a whole night without being plugged in
-work while you're on the phone
-be usable for whomever is watching the kids, including someone without a smartphone.
There is a 99% chance that you don't need a PTZ camera - most cameras will cover the entire crib without a problem.

Most of those bullet points are personal preference. The others can be handled by either type of camera. Either type of camera are viable choices given your desired criteria but both will give you the same end result.

I wonder how my kids survived.

I think we all look back and wonder that. When I was a baby the rule was put babies on their belly to sleep. Down the road for my sister it was put them on their side. Now it's put them on their back. We're all still alive but stuff changes a lot with time.

They won't let you leave the hospital these days unless the car seat you have is current on its' safety rating. If you had another kid say 4 years earlier the car seat you used for them is obsolete and you need to buy a new one. Fun stuff!

Only the field levels are totally different. A big-ass 1MW source 3 miles away produces a lower field than a 250mW source 6 ft away.
RF exposure is likely to increase cancer rates - ham operators have much higher rates than the general population »www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub ··· /3422125
A typical cell phone conversation from not that long ago lasted few minutes. The "tiny 250mW transmitter" outputs significant RF for 12+ hrs/day near a baby. Not even close in comparison.
The question is "how much is too much"? It's likely we won't really know for another 20-50 years and by then there might be other factors completely masking the effects of RF (if any).

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nynya I wonder the same thing. How they survived.

People will be asking that question for the next century as they have for the last century.