They are somewhat high priced, which is OK if you get what you pay for. I have 5 of them and although they work, they work sporadically. They are wifi based and even though I have a very strong wifi network, the cameras often drop out, don't record events or record events for no apparent reason....
Thanks for the detailed info on Arlo. (But Muss Muggins' comments also taken into account.) Those kinds of problems are the very things she doesn't need!
I think her main reason for wanting wireless is the hassle of doing the wiring, rather than any functional issues. Getting power to wired cameras is no problem.
The el-cheapo Costco system they bought several years ago was a knee-jerk reaction to having their ATV stolen. (Subsequently recovered in decent shape several months later.) It kinda worked but only one of her sons seemed to be able to do anything with it. Now only one of the 4 cameras works, so it's time to replace it.
I can wire up a system for her, and make sure the wiring is robust, and running CAT5 or 6 is less hassle than the "siamese" cable my system uses.
Aside from keeping batteries charged, the main concern I have with wireless is, how/where to you store the data? She doesn't want the extra expense of cloud storage. Most of these cameras use on-board SD cards, but ideally you want a HD somewhere on your network you can access from your phone or laptop. One I was looking at last night - Reolink, I think - has an accessory hub that allows this, although as I recall it, too, only has an SD slot and is limited to 256 GB. However, if the cameras are only recording when triggered (assuming reliable triggering!), then transferring any clips of interest wouldn't likely pose any storage problem. (In comparison, I have 7 cameras recording 24/7, and a 2TB HD which gives me about a week of stored data. I'm mostly tracking critters, not criminals. But I have a sign on my gate that says the property is under video surveillance.)
I was over looking at her place yesterday and 3 or 4 cameras would be enough. One looking across the patio to the shed, one on the back of the shed, looking across to other storage areas, one looking from the house out to the road and maybe one looking off the back deck or shed towards the back of the the property towards the horse barn. Better than 2K/1080p resolution would be good for two of these as they have to cover longer distances/bigger areas, but it seems that higher-resolution cameras are not all that expensive now.
So this is a little different than a standard residential system where you're just covering the decks and front door. With2 r 3 kids and a tenant coming and going, she won't want alerts or notifications sent to her or her kids' phones, and she would only need to enable continuous recording at night or if everyone was away.
@Gamecock. Dummy cameras can be a useful deterrent since "prevention is better than a cure". And what the cameras don't deter, a 12 ga. probably will. However, up here in "sunny ways" Canuckistan, threatening an intruder with a firearm will get us in
far more trouble than the criminal! Having a clear image of "people of interest"is still useful for the RCMP here, esp. if they are keeping track of a series of events.
He'd be one textbook short after paying for that if what my univ. prof. gf tells me about the exorbitant cost of textbooks is correct.
