I’ve been playing with an ARLO home security system (starting at $250) for about five weeks now. Playing? Yeah, that’s right. As it turns out, wireless cameras are an invitation for games. This is what I’ve been playing:
Who’s at my Door?
The first place I stuck a wireless camera was right at the window by the door. Why? Because now I don’t bother answering the door if it’s a canvasser, Jehovah’s Witnesses, or other miscellaneous time waster. Oh, and election season is coming up! Nobody’s home. Now get off my stoop! I actually later moved the camera to a spot outside that caught a better angle, which was made possible by the fact that ARLOs cameras are weather-proof. And the kit comes with some mounts that made the whole thing easy.
What’s the Dog Up To?
Want to take bets on what ol’ Sparky gets up to during the day? Don’t laugh, pet monitoring gets addictive. See, the cameras in your home interact wirelessly with your base station, which you hook up to a router. The images are fed to the cloud, and you can take a look on your phone or tablet via the free app. Net result: my dog actually has a pretty rich inner life, about which I had no idea.
Got Your Stuff!
Strictly speaking, this is a game my friends decided to play once they found out I installed some wireless cameras around the house. Basically, they’d palm something small and see if I could catch them on camera later. Most of the time, yes—ARLOs wireless cameras aren’t actually running all the time. Rather, they rely on a motion detector to start recording and, if you want, send alerts. 720p video helps, as does its nightvision. No audio, though—so if you catch your buddy in the act, you’ll have to call him up.
Bottom line: ARLO is a pretty intuitive system that, thanks to the wireless cameras, lets you get a bit creative with your home security. You could also use it to monitor your infant, your business, your elderly relatives—there are a few applications, is what we’re saying. The only real downside is that you’ll have to keep on top of the battery situation since your cameras are wireless. That hasn’t proved to be a major problem, though, so I’m thinking of setting up a sting operation to see which neighbourhood cat has been terrorising my poor lawn. Will post further updates as warranted.
