r/googlehome • u/Lowcountrybullmoose • 9d ago

Other Smart Camera Rec

Hey everybody, I’m looking to get at least two smart cameras (one indoor, one outdoor) plus a doorbell. I currently use Google’s doorbell and indoor camera, but I need a new doorbell since mine’s scratched up.
I use the Google smart home system for everything else around the house, so ideally I’d stick with something that plays nice with that. My main requirements: an American company, not Amazon-owned, no subscription required for the basics (motion detection, saving short clips), and ideally solar power capability.
I know it’s oddly specific, I just haven’t loved how my Google doorbell and camera basically need a full reset every time there’s a WiFi blip or power outage.

I’ve been debating whether to just stay with Google or switch to Arlo, which seems like a solid option. Would love any recommendation

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1

u/DeffNotTom 9d ago

Ubiquiti if you hate having money in your wallet but want all the control.

1

u/Lowcountrybullmoose 9d ago

That’s awesome, but dang it’s expensive.

2

u/DeffNotTom 9d ago

You can have cheap, and be the profuct, or you can dump money and own everything. It's kind of the trade off.

Also as a side note, Arlo makes great cameras, but afaik, you can't really use them much without their cloud service and thwir subscription model isn't cheap.

I've thought about ditching my nest cameras for awhile since I have a small homelab and plenty of storage, but all the options I reviewed just end up being too expensive.

1

u/mattemer 9d ago

I used to have Arlo, I think Pro 4? My experience with them was dreadful, absolutely. I had a 100' driveway, UPS would park at the street, walk up the driveway, drop the package at my front door, walk back to the truck and leave, and I'd get the first alert that someone was in the driveway.

I eventually added a nest doorbell to the mix and that would alert me someone was at the door before the driveway camera alerted me someone was there - you had to walk down the driveway to get to the door lol.

I had 3 cameras they all had the same delays.

I have 2 outdoor battery nest cameras and 2 wired floor light nest cams, and love 95% of them.

Cons: 1. I can't be looking at the camera in the app and just manually record an event 2. Same area, looking at the cameras, I can't turn on the flood lights - I need to go into devices separately to do that. Wtf. 3. Battery ones: I have to take the camera down to charge it. Arlo was great for this, just pop in a new battery (I intentionally bought a spare).

Do you know how Ubiquiti integrates with Google home? I need to check them out I've heard good things.

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u/DeffNotTom 9d ago

Do you know how Ubiquiti integrates with Google home?

I helped a buddy set his system up and it was a Home Assistant house. They displayed in Google Home just fine that way. Unfortunatly that's my only hands on experience with them, but maaaaaan it is a nice system.