Burglary : new 2 indoor camera setup

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scjsjo
Posts: 3
Joined: 05 Jul 2020, 14:45

Burglary : new 2 indoor camera setup

Post by scjsjo »

Hi all,

We were unfortunately victim of a burglary last week in which we lost €10k of our belongings. 2020 sucks.

I had a 1 indoor camera and 2 outdoor cameras at the time of the burglary. The perpetrators disconnected and stole the indoor camera which prevented further video surveillance. I got great video of one of the perpetrators which is in the hands of the police, but alas even seeing that there was a video system installed wasn't enough to deter them.

I have invested in 2 new indoor cameras, contacts for all windows and doors, as well as several outdoor cameras (2 normal and 2 with sirens) as well as the indoor siren and smoke detectors. The whole shebang.

The optimal setup seems rather strange but here goes :

1. Hidden main indoor camera connected to siren and window/door contacts

I have hidden one camera, the camera which is connected to the siren, behind a false panel which protects our internet access and electrical distribution system. This camera is connected to the siren and window contacts. The idea of hiding this camera is to prevent the camera being quickly disconnected, along with the internet and power, by an intruder who wishes to prevent the siren sounding. I have tested running from the window, after activating the contact, to the camera and unplugging it from the power before it has time to start the siren. This is sufficient to prevent the siren sounding. This is a weak point in the design imo. So this weird setup seems to be an important if stupid/expensive way of increasing the resilience of the system. I basically have an expensive camera inside a wall, just because I want to protect against tempering on the device linking the siren and contacts.

2. Visible indoor camera

The second indoor camera is used to monitor for unknown faces when we are out. It's sitting beside the TV and allow a wide view of our downstairs area. Unfortunately, the Netatmo software only allows us to generate alerts using this second camera. The feature to sound the siren upon an unknown face only works for the camera which is connected to the siren. This is crappy design. All cameras detecting an unknown face face should be able to trigger the siren. It's just software and the current setting misleads the customer imo.

Hopefully, should we be robbed again (i hope not), the perpetrators will only disconnect this camera without realizing that there is a second one hidden which is going to sound the siren and which will continue to communicate with me.

3. Windows and doors

When set to no-one at home, any opening of a window causes the siren to sound immediately, which is what I want. That I need to go through a camera as a hub to achieve this is nuts. IMO netatmo should release a small security hub that allows all such devices to communicate, which can be securely installed.

Could I do anything better in your opinion with the products which I have ?

Thanks
NathObeaN
Posts: 19
Joined: 09 Jan 2018, 13:01

Re: Burglary : new 2 indoor camera setup

Post by NathObeaN »

Firstly, as someone who was also burgled in what still feels like recent memory, hope you and family are doing well and it hasn't caused too much distress. I was actually burgled while being asleep upstairs so you can imagine the distress it caused being woken pretty much as the door closed and they left with my stuff (yes, they closed the door on the way out, go figure).

Anyway, sorry to put a downer on things but I also invested quite heavily in additional Netatmo equipment after being burgled and I quickly came to realise it is not sufficient. Netatmo have also had a couple of years to fix the following issues and despite promises, nothing. So, be ready to accept the following flaws or look to invest in a "real" security system.

1. No outdoor siren (I custom fitted an indoor siren outside - weather proofed of course).
2. No means to trigger the outdoor camera sirens automatically (only indoor).
3. Sirens and sensor can only be linked to ONE camera. Despite promises from Netatmo to fix this, still nothing.
4. If a camera/sensor is triggered, only the connected siren will be triggered (as above).
5. The sensors may randomly disconnect due to a connectivity bug. Again, promises to fix but nothing delivered. I can only assume this is a hardware issue.
6. The camera only uploads/stores a video recording AFTER it has finished detecting motion. For the purposes of a burglary, this is almost useless if the burglar disconnects the camera (you already seem aware of this).
7. No 3G/4G backup.
8. All mains powered, no battery backup.

So, what can you do to improve things:

1. Consider fitting an indoor siren outdoors but in an enclosure, protected from the elements. Bear in mind the indoor camera will have to be literally the other side of the wall otherwise the signal will be too week.
2. Have at least 2 sirens if you can (and accept the current limitations).
3. Link your camera to Dropbox (minimum requirement) so if a recording does finish, even if they steal your camera you will have something). Preferable to setup a small linux-based FTP server at home (transfer will be quicker, less likely to lose the recordings).
4. Purchase a UPS for the camera/internet router. This will ensure you have some security even in the event of a power cut.
5. Most burglars will wear balaclavas. This will not trigger the facial recognition for unknown faces. Ensure you have people detection also enabled for the siren to trigger.
5. Please consider - a lot of burglaries happen when owners are still at home. Do not rely on "away from home" settings. Get used to using the "tell the camera everyone has left" when you go to sleep and "set as home" when you wake up. To improve this function and automate it, follow my advice outlined in this post: https://forum.netatmo.com/viewtopic.php ... 908#p75908

Hope this helps and as a positive note, it's statistically very unlikely for the same person to get burgled twice (at least criminals rarely visit the same property twice). Lastly, if they were able to break in chances are you physical security was not sufficient (speaking from experience), make sure you make it more physically difficult to get in.
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