My brother and sister in law came to visit. They installed two IP cameras in their house and kept pulling their phones out to see what their cats were doing. My wife has two Siamese cats. After they left, my wife wanted to get two IP cameras. I thought the idea was stupid, but finally ordered one to try out. While I was waiting for the IP camera, I setup an old laptop with a camera on top of our DVR to use, but the wife didn't like the laptop on top of the DVR. The IP camera arrived today, it's a D-Link DCS-5029L. It has Pan, Tilt and Digital Zoom, along with local recording on a micro SD card, and can be hard wired or wireless. I am impressed with it. The setup was real easy, a firmware update took about 20 minutes and then you register it with D-Link and download their mobile application. It works real well. I was able to find the IP camera for $149.99
I've seen apps that let you use old smartphones as IP cameras. Just plug it into an AC charger and connect it to your home's WiFi. Just about everyone has an old smartphone in a drawer somewhere.
I see some of these cameras come up on the daily deal site meh.com occasionally and think about getting one. Also, I've wondered what can I do with that old smartphone...
@palandri, good timing I have been meaning to look into something like this, no not for watching my pets. lol So, thanks for giving something to start with. @Jay2TheRescue, nope I don't have any old smartphones lying around, only feature phones.
Thanks again for helping me test the laptop camera. The D-Link IP camera looks much better than the laptop.
Here's a picture at night, I have two LED lights behind me. Please notice the beautiful wooden floor I installed last year
