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mpmare00

Anyone have experience with cellular cameras?

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I'm looking for a little help and advice from a pro. I need to purchase multiple video cameras for remote locations that we move construction materials into, we complete the job, then move material and camera onto to the next job site. These locations are all vacant and do not have landlines or internet service providers. I need video that can run off cellular service only.

 

Questions

 

1. Is GSM (T-mobile and AT&T) the best and cheapest service? Or Sprint?

2. Do I get a camera that is 2G, 3G, or 4G?

3. Can a camera only stream video when motion is detected to save bandwidth?

4. Once motion is detected will the camera send SMS alarm message with a video of the event that triggered it?

5. Can you recommend camera?

 

Thanks in advance!

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I'm looking for a little help and advice from a pro. I need to purchase multiple video cameras for remote locations that we move construction materials into, we complete the job, then move material and camera onto to the next job site. These locations are all vacant and do not have landlines or internet service providers. I need video that can run off cellular service only.

 

Questions

 

1. Is GSM (T-mobile and AT&T) the best and cheapest service? Or Sprint?

2. Do I get a camera that is 2G, 3G, or 4G?

3. Can a camera only stream video when motion is detected to save bandwidth?

4. Once motion is detected will the camera send SMS alarm message with a video of the event that triggered it?

5. Can you recommend camera?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

I do not have experience with cellular cameras per se, but can answer some of your questions I think.

 

1. This depends. Consider coverage and how much data you'll be using. There's no universally right answer.

2. 2G is essentially obsolete. Some cell towers won't even support it. Anything expected to carry a good amount of data should be 4G.

3, 4, 5. Let me recommend another solution, if this works for you:

 

I'd recommend having a camera or cameras connected to one DVR at a worksite, with the DVR connected to a cellular internet connection. This way you're not constantly streaming video (using bandwidth and costing money) that probably is 90% of no interest, and should the connection go down, you don't miss anything. The DVR can store as much video as you want, and someone can connect to it via cellular to take a look at what is going on.

 

This to me makes far more sense since then you can use nearly any camera and DVR. You'll also save a ton in cellular data costs and not miss anything.

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We build and sell these systems but use cameras tied to embedded routers with Verizon service. They are 3g/4g routers. Using motion detection to trigger is worthless due to unreliability and numerous false alarms. You need to use an analytic solution instead. The systems we build send activity based alerts to the cloud and notify you. Typical data consumption per unit a month is under 1GB.

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