Blink wireless outdoor cameras

[JOEPRO]

A colleague mentioned he has a couple of blink outdoor cameras and showed me the quality on his phone. They are very cheap this week on amazon so I bought a set of 4x outdoor cameras which arrived yesterday.

Setting them up this morning was very simple. They take 2x AA Lithium batteries which are said to last several months. You can also buy higher capacity rechargeable Lithium batteries, which I will likely do. The batteries come in the box.

Connect the hub to your router via wi fi and then use the app to complete the setup of cameras. All working, getting great coverage around my house. I always wanted to install a CCTV system but figured for the amount of effort fitting a wired system they aren't worth it and besides that the tec moves forward that quickly I was hoping something like this would come along. You can also hear and speak to someone through the cameras and they have customisable motion areas.



Image from this one on app:





Posting this now with the sale on incase anyone is interested in a set. I believe it is free to use a USB drive for recordings so no subscription. On that token, I also ordered their blink video doorbell and cameras for inside my garages for monitoring smoke after welding. (They have LED spotlights on them too) Looking forward to trying them out also. I cancelled my ring doorbell subscription which always annoyed me anyway that you had to pay for that and no sd card slot

 

[ajlelectronics]

Check your camera views when you run your microwave oven, out of interest.

 

[rtcosic]

This package?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Blink-two-year-Security-detection-Subscription/dp/B0BJQJ58Z5?ref=amzdv_tplus_dp_dsk_bdldp_B088CV59CL_B0BJQJ58Z5

How many phones can access the system? I would like my wife and sons to be able to monitor the system.
Have you added the USB drive? How much is it - I haven't found it yet.

 

[Wildefalcon]

Called a sync module. Been using for a bit. I like the system.

 

[Gragson]

I've 4 outdoor and 2 internal PTZ blinks, well over a year.
Find the batteries are lasting a lot longer than that, but it's all dependant on activity of course.
I've their cloud and local storage.
I access via 2 iPhones and an iPad - iPad views are really good, not limited to how many connections as far as I am aware.

Been very happy with the setup and the individual config per cam for alerts, sensitivity , etc etc

 

[JOEPRO]

This package?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Blink-two-year-Security-detection-Subscription/dp/B0BJQJ58Z5?ref=amzdv_tplus_dp_dsk_bdldp_B088CV59CL_B0BJQJ58Z5

How many phones can access the system? I would like my wife and sons to be able to monitor the system.
Have you added the USB drive? How much is it - I haven't found it yet.

Yes that's the one. They do other qtys of cameras too.

It's worth checking what all you want and seeing which bundle is the cheapest. For example I ordered that set which is very cheap. I ordered an add on doorbell on its own at £29 but then noticed I could buy the doorbell and another synk hub for £39 together so I ordered that instead meaning I have another synk hub for +£10 which will allow me to set one closer to some of the cameras to provide better coverage.

Re the USB drive I see these kits which look like a very neat little solution. https://amzn.eu/d/g9PFY5w
I'll use these to set up both of my synk hubs including memory. Max 10 cameras per hub they say. I'll be no where near that but want the extra hub for better area coverage basically.

I haven't tried adding another user - I will do so later.

 

[rtcosic]

Ordered a set of 4 plus doorbell and the storage widget.

 

[addjunkie]

Do they record all the time, or just when they detect movment? And how much time is stored in the drive

 

[Neilj]

I've got a few and quite like them. They only record when triggered, for a configurable amount of time (default is 10 secs I think). I get a good 18 months + out of a pair of AA lithium batteries

 

[addjunkie]

Can you please show us so night time images?

 

[Gragson]

I'll do a few tonight, IR intensity is also configurable but consumes more battery life.
Night viewing is not great if not supplemented with a bit of external lighting in my humble.
I've 5 outdoor ones not 4, being a nosy bastard can be a bit addictive.
The cams have microphones and speakers so you can bark at people while your on holiday.

 

[addjunkie]

I'll do a few tonight, IR intensity is also configurable but consumes more battery life.
Night viewing is not great if not supplemented with a bit of external lighting in my humble.
I've 5 outdoor ones not 4, being a nosy bastard can be a bit addictive.
The cams have microphones and speakers so you can bark at people while your on holiday.

Thanks. Im very rural and very dark so interested to see.

 

[outofthefire]

Do you still get alerts when the door bell rings without a subscription? I had a blink doorbell a coupe, of years go, but ditched it for a ring doorbell, because it was so slow by the time I got an alert the caller had gone.

 

[Shedendman]

Easy hackable blinks systems,so always update firmware and have a bloody strong password

 

[angellonewolf]

Easy hackable blinks systems,so always update firmware and have a bloody strong password

would it make a differance unless it allows access to your internet acitivity

 

[Shedendman]

would it make a differance unless it allows access to your internet acitivity

I was shown ages ago by a wizz kid how easy it was to hack into wireless cctv,and Oh Boy ita an eye opener ,his advice was go hard wired,for which i did
Heres a bit about blinks stuff https://www.electronicshub.org/can-blink-cameras-be-hacked/
Its all down to passwords and encryption you leave the door ajar then it makes it easy to get in

 

[Gragson]

Thanks. Im very rural and very dark so interested to see.

This is pretty much pitch dark and me standing 10 meters away. Identity parade would only work if all the rest were skinny blokes.
The IR has 3 levels, all mine are on high.


This is inside garage, pitch black but less depth of field to deal with and very clear.



Side of the house, drive and porch, but all have assisted lighting from here and there.




Daytime images are very good for what these cams are. There are also lots of features, temp alerts etc etc.
I've got sub 2 sec latency on alerts, live viewing etc but that all depends on wifi and mine is very good throughout the property.
Not cleaned them for 6 months plus and they have been through some pretty miserable wet weather and also extremely hot at times.

They are not industrial grade or performance by any stretch.
And if identification was critical in a very dark rural setting I'm not sure they would cut it per first pic.

 

[angellonewolf]

I was shown ages ago by a wizz kid how easy it was to hack into wireless cctv,and Oh Boy ita an eye opener ,his advice was go hard wired,for which i did
Heres a bit about blinks stuff https://www.electronicshub.org/can-blink-cameras-be-hacked/
Its all down to passwords and encryption you leave the door ajar then it makes it easy to get in

but do they get any more than the cameras

if they want to see me scraching my aas in the moring they can if they realy want to if there that way inclinded

 

[Shedendman]

but do they get any more than the cameras

if they want to see me scraching my aas in the moring they can if they realy want to if there that way inclinded

Not a 100% sure,but i'll have a good read up it later

 

[Migmac]

Interesting, thanks for posting. I’ve been thinking about cctv round the house for a while