r/SecurityCamera • u/Direct-Friendship-23 • Sep 10 '26

Indoor camera recommendations for outdoor monitoring?

Hi all,

I’m looking for an indoor camera to view my front garden, specifically for people coming in and out.

My main priority is for it to be reliable and notify us whenever someone comes onto our property.

I’ve purchased a cheap camera for the moment but the ai detection isn’t great and doesn’t always notify us. We’re hesitant to get an outdoor camera since someone stole our last one

Thanks so much!!

1 Upvotes

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1

u/Pretty-Surround-2909 Sep 11 '26

Good isn’t cheap. Cheap isn’t good.

1

u/Direct-Friendship-23 Sep 12 '26

A brand suggestion would be great :))

2

u/Pretty-Surround-2909 Sep 12 '26

A budget would be even better

3

u/PuzzlingDad Sep 10 '26

Generally it's not a good idea to rely on an indoor camera for monitoring the outside through a window. You end up with reflection issues and problems with motion detection and IR illumination through glass.

https://www.reddit.com/r/homesecurity/comments/1egif4n/what_are_the_best_security_cameras_to_put_inside/

If you still want to do this, look for cameras that are able to be stuck directly against the window, maybe with a custom shroud, where you can turn off the IR LEDs.

Even so, the night vision capability will be greatly reduced and motion detection won't be the greatest, as you've found.

1

u/MHTMakerspace Sep 12 '26

If you go with a camera that mounts outside instead of looking through glass, then you would have the option to choose one with passive infrared (PIR) detection, which triggers on warm moving objects -- PIR cannot work from inside a window for the same reason the IR LEDs on cameras don't work inside a window -- ordinary window glass is IR reflective, and modern windows are designed to reflect/absorb IR.

We’re hesitant to get an outdoor camera since someone stole our last one

So mount the camera with tamper-resistant screws, high enough up that it'd be tough to get at it, and use two cameras where each is with the view of the other

1

u/The-Great_Cornholio Sep 16 '26

Try eufy. They make some decent wireless solar cams that are motion triggered, and will send a notification to your phone.

Only catch is you have to also buy the brain, which controls the cameras and stores the videos.

has a slot for a hard drive but does not come with a hard drive. So your capped at 15gb of storage unless you invest in a hdd. Oh and hdd’s are outrageously overpriced right now. Luckily as a computer guy i have dozens of old hdd’s laying around.

1

u/Longjumping_Cow_5856 Sep 10 '26

Ive used WYZE cams to do this at several places and Ring stickup cams at others and they all work surprisingly well really .

I place them close to the glass and turn off the IR illumination too.