I have a Nest Cam in my room, and someone entered and took something, but the camera didn’t catch it. How could this happen?
Did you set it up to detect motion? Could the intruder have turned off the Wi-Fi or cut the power? Are they on the same Google Home as you and turned off the camera?
@EvansBrown15 I don’t think the Wi-Fi or power went out. The camera has a battery and was plugged in, so I doubt that’s how it was disabled. It was easy to reach, though.
@Magdlina Wi-Fi jammers are easy to get.
If your camera doesn’t record 24/7, get one that does. Even if it doesn’t pick up motion, you’ll still have a video of what happened.
@Davidwest It’s an expensive lesson. The space-saving option of recording only when there’s motion is tempting until it fails. Don’t use Wi-Fi cameras. People are smart enough to use Wi-Fi jammers now. Mount the camera up high and use wired connections!
@TracyJones Yes, this is the right answer.
@Magdlina But don’t mount it too high. You don’t want just a video of the top of someone’s head, especially if they’re wearing a hood. Also, get a camera with color night vision (with an internal spotlight). Regular night vision doesn’t show important details like clothes or skin color.
@Davidwest I had the same issue and switched to PoE cameras. It’s so much better.
Wi-Fi jammers cost only a few hundred bucks. Many thieves use them now. If you want to catch someone like a bad babysitter, get Wi-Fi cameras (Ring, Nest, etc.). But if you want to catch a burglar, go for wired cameras.
@QwertySecurity If someone covered the camera with something, would I still see anything? I have a suspect and just want to figure out how they did it.
@Magdlina Wi-Fi cameras are slow and don’t always catch what you want because they don’t always record. If you’re worried about theft or break-ins, get hardwired PoE cameras like Reolink. You won’t need a subscription. You can also keep them running during power outages if you use a UPS power strip. Wi-Fi cameras are just a deterrent for amateurs.
@Magdlina With a wired camera, you’d see someone approaching to cover it, as long as the camera doesn’t have a blind spot. If the camera faces the yard and someone sneaks up from the side, it might miss them. But if you have enough cameras covering the area, one will always catch them. With a Wi-Fi camera, it’s hard to know. If they jam the Wi-Fi before getting close, it won’t record anything.
@QwertySecurity But what if your wired NVR is accessed via Wi-Fi? Wouldn’t jamming the Wi-Fi still be a problem? I’m thinking of switching to PoE cameras and NVR, so I’m curious.
@Zendaya Here’s a simple explanation. In most homes, the router handles your Internet, local network, and Wi-Fi. Jamming Wi-Fi only disrupts the wireless connection, not the network itself or the devices connected via Ethernet. So, if you’re using PoE cameras connected to an NVR, jamming Wi-Fi won’t stop the recording.
@Zendaya You can also use an SD card as backup. The cloud backup isn’t as reliable, but it works most of the time.
You get what you pay for.
Sounds like theft, not a robbery. That’s why it didn’t catch a robbery.
I’ve heard a lot of people talking about Wi-Fi jammers.
Watch this video of a Wi-Fi jammer in action: [link].