Smart home security system

If using Sky Q - and you have at least one Sky Mini - local WiFI use can get intense. Even with a Sky Q router. I’ve had all sorts of local traffic issues when adding devices, and there a LOT when you factor in Nests, Chromecasts, phones, tablets, laptops, Hue bulbs - I have over 30 devices connected to my local WiFi. And that’s without any security devices - which should be set-up as priority devices.

With Sky Q hub you can split the wifi bands so that the Q Mini runs on 5ghz, leave 2.4ghz for all the other devices.

Although with more than 30 devices I think I’d struggle to get everything running :frowning:

I do have a Sky Q system and the number of smart devices I have is growing.

It’s a good shout by @gordondack to split over 2.4 and 5ghz however my router doesn’t support the latter :sweat_smile:

Why do you need to pay £40 per year?

  • You don’t need to register with the ICO or pay a fee (this is a change from the previous law). However, you must maintain records of how and why you are capturing these images, and for how long you are keeping them. You may need to make these records available to the ICO on request.

That’s good to know and at least if you only capture images within your properties boundary you should be ok

Plus with most smart cameras you can geo-fence an area so you can exclude the front street etc.

My 3 outdoor cams record constantly and my 2 indoor cams record most of the time. At medium quality, which is pretty good, they use about 120GB month each. I recently ditched my home broadband for 4G connection - faster speeds than my landline could manage and completely unlimited. Works great!

That’s what I’ve just done for that exact reason! :open_mouth:

Got a Three sim only contract for £20 per month and their T&Cs state that you can use it as a hotspot too. Decent router and an external antenna is a must though :slight_smile:

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Three here too :slightly_smiling_face::+1:t2:

I bought a fairly cheap TP-Link router (I use Google WiFi so wasn’t too bothered) and don’t have an external antenna. I get between 40Mbps and 70Mbps down and 20 and 30Mbps up.

On my old ADSL connection I used to get around 17Mbps down but only 0.5Mbps up, so I wouldn’t have bought the outdoor cams if the Three offer hadn’t have been on!

Ahh mines not that fast sadly :cry:

I was getting about 8Mbps through ADSL since fibre isn’t available, so I switched to 4G and then I got about 18Mbps down but I noticed I only had 3 bars signal strength. So I bought an external antenna for the router and mounted that on the roof of the house, so now I get full strength and around 40Mbps.

Not bad considering it’s half the price I was paying before, with no line-rental or limits :sunglasses:

Still a big jump from the 400Mbps I was on at my old house though :weary:

How many nodes do you have in you Google Wifi setup? I was thinking of getting a couple until I noticed the price but I haven’t really looked into what it provides properly.

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I just have two - one in the living room (ground floor, front, right) and one in a bedroom (first floor, rear, left). The coverage is great. One of my outdoor cams is mounted on the garage halfway down the garden and it picks up the signal no problem.

I bought this new build house two years ago and was surprised to find that everyone on the estate could get fibre except the final phase of the development, which was ADSL only. Asked Openreach but they have no plans to upgrade my cabinet. All the others are done, as is the exchange. And Virgin aren’t allowed to put cable in for five years. Annoying!

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I have the Arlo setup and am pretty pleased with it. The fact that the cameras are wireless is a big plus.
They are not cheap but the free 7 day cloud account is very good and the batteries last ages on them which I like.

You can hook them up with IFTTT and do some interesting stuff.

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Yeah I have some plans for some cool stuff.

For example my Nest thermostat knows when nobody is in the house so I can use this feature to my advantage along with my smart lighting.

I also like the sound of the Arlo security light and that you can pick any colour as well as change the focus of the light. I have visions of an evil villains lair where by the camera detects motion so the lights turn red and focus on the person like a lazer :rofl:

Another question for those who use Arlo: Do the cameras track movement? i.e. can they move to follow someone?

No they don’t track movement.

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They are great at letting you know where the postman has hidden your parcel when your not at home :grin::grin:

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I’ve just got 2 dogs a bat and a gun (I have a shotgun and rifle licence) break in my home and I give you about 10 seconds. That’s smart enough for me

Haha a dog is next on my list and it’s a big breed too :wink:

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Is that a vampire bat?

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Nope a cricket bat

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I guess if there’s a risk of being bored to death with the offer of a game of cricket, most potential burglars might think twice and move on to the next property. :joy:

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