Cellular security camera / trail camera for weekend camp..?

[Drifthopper]

Looking for 1st hand information or review on a cellular security camera / trail camera.

I am in the market for a cellular camera system ( preferably 2 cameras ) for my off - grid ( no electric ) cabin with no Wi-Fi , but excellent cell signal .

There are just so many manufacturers out there, I just want a system that is reliable and works.

My requirements:

Send alerts to my phone: an alarm function that alerts me directly on my phone if someone is around my cabin.

Be capable of clearly recording people day and night. Offer high resolution for identification.

solar-powered is nice, but battery powered is ok too. I see some have rechargeable batteries, like on a cordless drill.

And the ability to turn it off when I'm at camp, so I don't keep getting alerts when we are out walking around, or taking a pee at 2 am.

 

[WFM]

I used to buy stealth cams.
But in my opinion you only get half of the photos that the camera takes.
I only found this out by buying a Moultrie Edge camera and placing it at the same spot as the Stealth cam. Just because Jim Shockey says he uses Stealth cams they are still junk.
The Moultrie Edge has No SD card. It's all digital. You clear the daily photos right from your phone. A unlimited photos for one yr is $160.
Once the camera is triggered in 30 seconds you have your photos.
Quick fast and works great.
Call on Sunday customer service a person in Alabama answers.
I did call once.
Load it with lithium battery's and add a moultrie solor panel battery pack it's good for three months without touching it.
And here's the neighbors cat headed down my driveway.
Or the town plow going by.

 

[X-Pup]

Reolink TrackMix 4G LTE. I've been using one to watch my orange baby for over a year and I've been happy with it. I have experience with them but don't have time for review right now.

I did research them for a few months before I bought the first one. I'm getting ready to buy 2 more. The TrackMix tracks and zooms. Videos and/or pictures. Image quality is good either way. Some of it depends on how much data you want to pay for. I used the EIOT triple play sim card and setup was pretty seamless.

 

[LFP57]

GP Outdoors has a couple of reviews of cameras at his place:

 

[Grimor]

I can tell you about my experience with https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0DBH3CTQ4
I don't recommend it, even though I eventually got it working well enough. Their support is poor, and generally incompetent. The first unit I had wasn't sealed around the lens so it let water in, so I ordered a new one,swapped the internals and sealed the housing. It no longer has issues with water intrusion. It comes with a SIM card to use on their plan, but I opted for a Verizon SIM on my current plan. I was paying for their cloud storage and alerts, but they couldn't get them to work so I canceled the subscription and went with an internal SD card only. Strangely enough, after that, the alerts started working without paying for the service.
The camera quality is good and the UI is good enough.


Some general recommendations when looking for cellular cameras.
Find ones that you can bring your own SIM and still work without being locked into the MFGs subscription.
Do a survey of where you want to put the camera and make sure whatever carrier it will be using actually gets a good 4G or better signal.
If the location won't have power, a solar panel will need as much time as possible in direct sun to keep the batteries charged. Some will have non-rechargeable backups, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CDWYS6HZ these are very good batteries. I actually recommend them for trail cameras and any security device in general.
Decide how many cameras you absolutely need to be cellular, vs just having an onsite trailcam to review later. 1 or 2 cellular and 4 or 5 trail cams can cover a large area and still let you know that something is going on.

All that being said, trail cams generally aren't good security cameras. They are designed to take snap shots of activity, vs continuously record it. Depending how far you want to get into things, a cellular hot spot and just about any solar powered WiFi security cameras would work, you'd just need to find a way to keep the hotspot charged, possibly with a small solar power station. This has the added benefit of giving you WiFi while in the cabin as well and only 1 device to pay for.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

Whatever you get, see if it can send you something, say every 6 hours. That way you'll know it's STILL there.

 

[Yotekiller]

My only experience with cellular cameras re the several Moultries I have on my property. They take good photos and videos, they send the pics to my phone within seconds but you have click on the video and "request it" before you will be able to view the video. And it doesn't download the requested video UNTIL either the camera takes another photo or until the daily automated check in. So if something just runs quickly past the camera and it videos it, and nothing else goes past the camera, I won't get to view the video until the next automated check-in time, it just shows a picture and not the full video. That's my only gripe with it.

 

[X-Pup]

I would just like to add that the Reolink I referenced above does check all the boxes you requested.

It works remotely where there's no power. You just need good cellular service.

I have mine setup with the 128GB memory card and I don't use the cloud. This is because I'm cheap. If you use the cloud service (optional) it uploads everything using your cellular data plan.

I set it up to only record and notify me when it detects movement. It consistently detects movement. This also reduces data usage.

I have it setup to 720p, lower resolution, also to reduce bandwidth. The picture quality is still good at the lower resolutions.

I use the EIOT Club triple play SIM card because I thought it would be more compatible with Verizion. It got good reviews and it works good for me. I paid for the $99 for the year plan and didin't run out of data before the year turned over. I had no problems updating the minutes when the time came. Same $99yr plan.

Last summer, there was work being done on the barn I have it mounted on. They had to remove the solar charging panel during construction. The batteries lasted almost 3 weeks before finally loosing charge and shutting down. I kept getting notices and videos the whole time. The solar panel does a good job charging even during winter and poor lighting.

The first camera I bought was the cheaper version. Still PTZ (Point, Tilt, Zoom) but no movement tracking. This is why I'm going with the TrackMix version this next go around. The TrackMix has auto tracking and zoom when it detects an object. It's said to differentiate between people and animals pretty well.

I didn't need customer service but I'm sure it sucks like most other manufacturers these days. There is a good online presence for support though if something goes wrong.

I will add that I'm not a shill and haven't been paid do a review. I'm just a happy customer and I've been happy with the product. I'd hate to see someone get burned trying a different/cheaper product.

The video above had some good information, but I noticed he's using WIFI. Totally different animal, and usually less expensive. I also noticed some of his cameras were also made by Reolink.

 

[WFM]

Here's the flock eating up the deer corn before the deer show up.

 

[Drifthopper]

I would just like to add that the Reolink I referenced above does check all the boxes you requested.

It works remotely where there's no power. You just need good cellular service.

I have mine setup with the 128GB memory card and I don't use the cloud. This is because I'm cheap. If you use the cloud service (optional) it uploads everything using your cellular data plan.

I set it up to only record and notify me when it detects movement. It consistently detects movement. This also reduces data usage.

I have it setup to 720p, lower resolution, also to reduce bandwidth. The picture quality is still good at the lower resolutions.

I use the EIOT Club triple play SIM card because I thought it would be more compatible with Verizion. It got good reviews and it works good for me. I paid for the $99 for the year plan and didin't run out of data before the year turned over. I had no problems updating the minutes when the time came. Same $99yr plan.

Last summer, there was work being done on the barn I have it mounted on. They had to remove the solar charging panel during construction. The batteries lasted almost 3 weeks before finally loosing charge and shutting down. I kept getting notices and videos the whole time. The solar panel does a good job charging even during winter and poor lighting.

The first camera I bought was the cheaper version. Still PTZ (Point, Tilt, Zoom) but no movement tracking. This is why I'm going with the TrackMix version this next go around. The TrackMix has auto tracking and zoom when it detects an object. It's said to differentiate between people and animals pretty well.

I didn't need customer service but I'm sure it sucks like most other manufacturers these days. There is a good online presence for support though if something goes wrong.

I will add that I'm not a shill and haven't been paid do a review. I'm just a happy customer and I've been happy with the product. I'd hate to see someone get burned trying a different/cheaper product.

The video above had some good information, but I noticed he's using WIFI. Totally different animal, and usually less expensive. I also noticed some of his cameras were also made by Reolink.

Pup.... I spent some time on the Reolink site, I like their cameras, they are not the trail camera company trying to be a security camera company.

Thanks for your update.

What i could not find on their site was the monthly / yearly cell rate .?

 

[Drifthopper]

To those guys following / commenting on this thread......
I have ( 5 ) regular / just SD card card camera on the property now .
( 2 ) on my building, ( 2 ) along the driveway, and one pointed out toward my field.
I am looking to get live coverage if someone try's to break in.

 

[X-Pup]

What i could not find on their site was the monthly / yearly cell rate .?

Reolink doesn't provide the cellular service, or the wireless SIM card, just the camera.

Just like when you buy a phone, you choose what network you want to run it on. Your provider supplies the SIM card.

It depends on which SIM card you use. You could get one through your cellular phone provider like Verizon or AT&T.

Since I share camera access with other people on the farm, I went with the EIOTCLUB data sim card with triple play USA coverage. They call it triple play because its compatible with the 3 largest cellular provider networks. I was reasonably sure it would be compatible with Verizon, T-moble, AT&T and others. In my case it communicated well with my Verizon personal phone service. I received my cellular data plan through EIOTCLUB. They provide selection of service plans to choose from. I chose the $99yr unlimited. I think it does have a data cap, but I don't come close to using it all.

The camera is 4G LTE (not 5G) so your provider may only provide 5G SIM cards. I don't know what options different carriers can provide.

Then there's the Reolink App you use on your phone to connect to your camera. The app is free unless you use their cloud service to automatically upload and store all your pictures and video data files. I don't recall what the monthly fee is for that because I didn't plan on using it.

I purchased a 128GB micro-SD card separately and installed it on the camera. I have it setup to record in a loop, erasing oldest data first. I don't think I have even filled it yet.

So when I get a security alert on my phone from the Reolink app, I can choose to answer the message and connect directly to the camera. I can review the video or pictures stored on the memory card in the camera. I can save the file to my phone if it's important or take the SD card out of the camera and read it from a PC.

If there really is something going on at the site, I use the camera to view the scene live in real time, in high resolution. (Pan, Tilt or rotate the camera to get a better view) I can also use the microphone on the camera to communicate or tell them to get lost and maybe scare them off that way. Let them know they're on candid camera. I'm not sure if it's good for 2-way communication, I haven't tried.

Anyway, hopefully that helps some. I researched it for quite a while before I made my choice.

 

[WFM]

To those guys following / commenting on this thread......
I have ( 5 ) regular / just SD card card camera on the property now .
( 2 ) on my building, ( 2 ) along the driveway, and one pointed out toward my field.
I am looking to get live coverage if someone try's to break in.

Is 30 seconds live coverage to you ?? As the Moultrie Edge from the time of trigger photo to my cell phone alert is 30 seconds.
I have internet at my home and shop.
I use ring cameras with solar panels for them. I walk outside and instantly my cell phone goes off. I have one indoor ring camera in my shop that runs 24/7.
Before bedtime I clear all my cameras and check them the next morning.
So for anyone that has wifi signal at there home or else Ring is very good.

 

[Elliott in GA]

I use Cuddeback cameras (three of them) at our north Georgia property. They all use one cell plan for about $12 a month; two cameras send data via radio to one cell camera. You get alerts with low, but adequate, resolution photos; the cameras store high resolution images on SD cards. There can be delays in alerts when multiple cameras are being triggered; the cell camera sends its alerts/images first.

Overall, I am satisfied with the cameras and cost. You can have many more cameras than three on the same plan.

EDIT: FWIW, I have been using them for 4 years on solar.

 

[Marky]

I have several Day 6 Plotwatcher cameras that I no longer use. I’m looking for something similar that is cell based. These are timelapse cameras that take a photo every second or so. They don’t use IR motion detection so mine easily covered a 20 acre field. Motion is detected by the software which compares images. It then strings the images together to create a video. They are great for detecting game, or people, across large open areas where a person could avoid motion detection simply by being out of range. They are also recording all the time.

Day 6 PlotWatcher Pro HD Time Lapse Game Scouting Camera Realtree AP

Features: Customizable recording times 1280 x 720 HD video Up to 1 million images on a single set of batteries (based on 2 seconds intervals @ 72...

www.midwayusa.com

 

[Scottly]

To those guys following / commenting on this thread......
I have ( 5 ) regular / just SD card card camera on the property now .
( 2 ) on my building, ( 2 ) along the driveway, and one pointed out toward my field.
I am looking to get live coverage if someone try's to break in.

Trailcampro.com offers a wide variety of brands with reviews.
They also ask what you plan to use camera for and will guide you to the models that meet your needs.

 

[Drifthopper]

Reolink doesn't provide the cellular service, or the wireless SIM card, just the camera.

Just like when you buy a phone, you choose what network you want to run it on. Your provider supplies the SIM card.

It depends on which SIM card you use. You could get one through your cellular phone provider like Verizon or AT&T.

Since I share camera access with other people on the farm, I went with the EIOTCLUB data sim card with triple play USA coverage. They call it triple play because its compatible with the 3 largest cellular provider networks. I was reasonably sure it would be compatible with Verizon, T-moble, AT&T and others. In my case it communicated well with my Verizon personal phone service. I received my cellular data plan through EIOTCLUB. They provide selection of service plans to choose from. I chose the $99yr unlimited. I think it does have a data cap, but I don't come close to using it all.

The camera is 4G LTE (not 5G) so your provider may only provide 5G SIM cards. I don't know what options different carriers can provide.

Then there's the Reolink App you use on your phone to connect to your camera. The app is free unless you use their cloud service to automatically upload and store all your pictures and video data files. I don't recall what the monthly fee is for that because I didn't plan on using it.

I purchased a 128GB micro-SD card separately and installed it on the camera. I have it setup to record in a loop, erasing oldest data first. I don't think I have even filled it yet.

So when I get a security alert on my phone from the Reolink app, I can choose to answer the message and connect directly to the camera. I can review the video or pictures stored on the memory card in the camera. I can save the file to my phone if it's important or take the SD card out of the camera and read it from a PC.

If there really is something going on at the site, I use the camera to view the scene live in real time, in high resolution. (Pan, Tilt or rotate the camera to get a better view) I can also use the microphone on the camera to communicate or tell them to get lost and maybe scare them off that way. Let them know they're on candid camera. I'm not sure if it's good for 2-way communication, I haven't tried.

Anyway, hopefully that helps some. I researched it for quite a while before I made my choice.

Wow..... I'm more of a "Plug & Play" type of guy.

I'm thru Consumer Cellular for my personal phone service provider .
I think they use AT&A towers .
I can call them to find out about the SIM card and what other info they cam provide.

I do like the Reolink system and cameras.
It would be nice to click on the app to see if its raining up there or if i got a foot of snow at the place.

 

[Drifthopper]

Is 30 seconds live coverage to you ?? As the Moultrie Edge from the time of trigger photo to my cell phone alert is 30 seconds.
I have internet at my home and shop.
I use ring cameras with solar panels for them. I walk outside and instantly my cell phone goes off. I have one indoor ring camera in my shop that runs 24/7.
Before bedtime I clear all my cameras and check them the next morning.
So for anyone that has wifi signal at there home or else Ring is very good.

I like the Moultrie camera's, I have ( 2 ) regular SD card camera's at the place now.

at our camp, no Wi-fi , but real good cell service, a tower is less then a mile away.

Ring does offer a solar security cam , i'll look more into what they offer.

 

[Drifthopper]

I use Cuddeback cameras (three of them) at our north Georgia property. They all use one cell plan for about $12 a month; two cameras send data via radio to one cell camera. You get alerts with low, but adequate, resolution photos; the cameras store high resolution images on SD cards. There can be delays in alerts when multiple cameras are being triggered; the cell camera sends its alerts/images first.

Overall, I am satisfied with the cameras and cost. You can have many more cameras than three on the same plan.

EDIT: FWIW, I have been using them for 4 years on solar.

I have the brochure from CuddleBack , got it last weekend at the Harrisburg Outdoor Show.

They have that CuddleLink system..... can run up to 24 cams on 1 cell plan for $10 a month.

4yrs.... eh, ... I like that. I don't want to get into a system where i'd have to "trade up / Up-grade" every couple yrs.

 

[Drifthopper]

Trailcampro.com offers a wide variety of brands with reviews.
They also ask what you plan to use camera for and will guide you to the models that meet your needs.

I spend quite a time on the trail pro site.

They have a lot of camera's ...... but... from what i seen , they have a lot of game camera's that are trying to be security camera's

That site is an option.... but fo now, i'm going to look into more of a dedicated security cam as opposed to a game camera.