Power

How to Hide Home Security Camera Cables

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Most home and office security cameras come with extra long power cables.  Sure, you can avoid the cable altogether with a camera such as the Arlo Pro, but more often than not, owners of security cameras have a power cable attached.  To make it worse, they are really long and (usually) really white.  Not a good match for the house decor. The included photo has two Wyze Cam cables going to different cameras.  Big long winding cables.  Today’s article will discuss ways to manage these long cables.  We’ll look at ways to hide the cable, and how to make it … Read more

Alternative Power Sources for Home Security Cameras

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This is a great article for anyone having problems finding a way to power their home security camera.  The typical home security camera comes with a mini USB cable that measures between five and ten feet.  Also included is a DC power adapter to plug the USB into.  Sometimes, there’s no DC outlet anywhere close.  Today, we discuss alternative power sources for home security cameras. There are a lot of ways to resolve this issue.  There are a few alternative power sources.  But before diving into that, consider simply replacing the current mini USB cable with a longer one.  The … Read more

Implementing Battery Backup for a Home Security Camera

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If the lights go out and nobody’s home, you can still use your home security camera.  I was always surprised that none of the mainstream home security camera manufacturers thought about this.  It’s a real concern when there’s a power outage.  You still want to be able to keep tabs or at least an archive of what’s going on when the power goes out.  That’s where a battery backup comes into play. Ideally, I want my home security camera to act like my home security alarm system.  When the power is out, my system alerts me and falls back to … Read more

Using Power Over Ethernet for Nest Cam Outdoor or DropCam Pro

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Power over Ethernet (also called PoE) is an alternative power source for a home security camera.  Power over Ethernet need a wired Local Area Network.  PoE carries power and data over the LAN network.  This means you can power your camera using an Ethernet cable A few home security cameras are PoE ready meaning they are ready to be connected without any additional accessories.  An example of one that supports Power over Ethernet is the Amcrest ProHD Outdoor 1080P POE Dome IP Security Camera.  A nice camera.  It’s weatherproof and supports a Power over Ethernet connection right out of the box. Naturally, the … Read more

Using an External Battery on a Nest Cam or DropCam Pro Camera

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Using an external battery on a Nest Cam or DropCam Pro home security camera was half experiment and half necessity.  I needed to temporarily relocate a camera to a spot that I wanted to keep an eye on at my home. This article will discuss using an external battery on a Nest Cam or DropCam Pro.  For those unaware, the DropCam Pro was the predecessor to the Nest Cam.  The cameras have the same power specs (1 AMP) and use the same type of micro USB connection.  My experience with using the external battery on my DropCam is applicable to a … Read more

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