Home Improvement

Fucker · May 11, 2023

Daidraco said:
Put it into perspective and separate yourself from politics. Lets base it off McDonalds. They are flipping burgers on average, at 15 bucks. Ill be that person - why the fuck would I go work my ass off, sweat and all, for a job that pays 17 an hour, when I can be a lazy fuck at 15 an hour? Just because YOU think that is a lazy attitude, that doesnt make a difference. Its some fucked up shit that is finally coming to fruition - in that people are finally starting to find their worth. How is our current government responding to this? Theyre opening the borders wide the fuck open.

Look, Im not really trying to be political about this shit - but its pretty easy to see that there is an attack on the lower and middle class by the upper class. Fuck the left, fuck the right - the people in charge are legit trying to work for corporations and its obvious as fuck.

Anyone with their wits about them and a good work ethic can move up in the trades pretty quickly. Why bust ass for $17 an hour? Because in 4 years they will be making more than that. In today's world, a lot more. Work at McDonald's after 4 years and your $15 will become $16 and maybe someday you will get promoted off of the fry station. After a few more years, the guy with trades experience will be buying a house and maybe starting a family. The McDonald's worker will be saving up for a PS6 and posting on Incel forums because for some reason, women don't want to shack up with a 30 y/o pickle placer.

Some people aren't finding their worth. They sit at home and play Xbox and live off parents or welfare. That isn't finding their worth at all, because they will never amount to anything. Eventually, both shoes will drop, and there won't be any welfare or parents to depend on, and they will be fucked because no one will hire them or they won't be able to handle the simplest task before noping out again.

There's too much whining about starting pay and crappy jobs. I'd say that with the shortage of good workers, getting ahead has never been easier. Hell, the young gal at the grocery store down the street is in her mid-late 20's and is already assistant store manager. She's a bust-ass type and could easily go up to a larger supermarket chain and get promoted higher.

Speaking of low-end jobs, an acquaintance's husband started out as a shelf stocker, is now regional manager. Big $$$. It took him a while to get there, but so? He's there now and he's still young enough to enjoy the fruits of his labor.

Anyway, blah blah. This is why people bust ass.

mkopec · May 12, 2023

We all started with shitty low paying jobs. Gotta work your way up. Even in my career job which is automotive engineering I stated as a co-op making $8.50/hr in like 92' while those around me were making $25-$40. People actually think they will go to college or some trade school or whatever, get out and be making $100K a year. Only a very select few professions will ever be like this, like doctors and other high tier jobs, and even then they have to bust ass in school and internships to get there. Plus colleges and univ are at fault for offering useless ass degrees that lead to nothing in the job market. 70% is the students fault for not researching, but its the schools fault for offering that bullshit in the first place. In the 50s through the 80s you saw none of that shit in college and univ.

My kid got recruited from his vocational class in high school for a HVAC job hes about to start this summer when he graduates. Thats how hard up they (trades) are to find workers.

Captain Suave · May 12, 2023

mkopec said:
Plus colleges and univ are at fault for offering useless ass degrees that lead to nothing in the job market.

Egg, chicken. Even if offered no one should be pursuing those degrees. I blame parents.

I come from a family of academics and at this point I honestly wouldn't be upset if my kid became a plumber. At least then he could work on my house.

Burns · May 12, 2023

I had a family member who was a plumber for his whole life. He always seemed to be in knee and back pain. Had multiple surgeries on both and got numerous steroid shots directly into them between the surgeries. He was hospitalized on at least two occasions from shit borne diseases that require quarantine.

He never retired. Had younger helpers haul the shit around for him, but he limped through the jobs. He could have made more money but he was hesitant to raise rates on existing customer "friends" and he didn't have time/was too exhausted after a day of plumbing to organize his warehouse very well.

There are other trades that pay as well (electrician) or almost as well (carpenter) that aren't quite as hard a plumbing.

Daidraco · May 12, 2023

Burns said:
I had a family member who was a plumber for his whole life. He always seemed to be in knee and back pain. Had multiple surgeries on both and got numerous steroid shots directly into them between the surgeries. He was hospitalized on at least two occasions from shit borne diseases that require quarantine.

He never retired. Had younger helpers haul the shit around for him, but he limped through the jobs. He could have made more money but he was hesitant to raise rates on existing customer "friends" and he didn't have time/was too exhausted after a day of plumbing to organize his warehouse very well.

There are other trades that pay as well (electrician) or almost as well (carpenter) that aren't quite as hard a plumbing.

The cleanest, most well dressed tradesmen I talk to is, no surprise - electricians.

Borzak · May 12, 2023

Fucker said:
Anyone with their wits about them and a good work ethic can move up in the trades pretty quickly. Why bust ass for $17 an hour? Because in 4 years they will be making more than that. In today's world, a lot more. Work at McDonald's after 4 years and your $15 will become $16 and maybe someday you will get promoted off of the fry station. After a few more years, the guy with trades experience will be buying a house and maybe starting a family. The McDonald's worker will be saving up for a PS6 and posting on Incel forums because for some reason, women don't want to shack up with a 30 y/o pickle placer.

Some people aren't finding their worth. They sit at home and play Xbox and live off parents or welfare. That isn't finding their worth at all, because they will never amount to anything. Eventually, both shoes will drop, and there won't be any welfare or parents to depend on, and they will be fucked because no one will hire them or they won't be able to handle the simplest task before noping out again.

There's too much whining about starting pay and crappy jobs. I'd say that with the shortage of good workers, getting ahead has never been easier. Hell, the young gal at the grocery store down the street is in her mid-late 20's and is already assistant store manager. She's a bust-ass type and could easily go up to a larger supermarket chain and get promoted higher.

Speaking of low-end jobs, an acquaintance's husband started out as a shelf stocker, is now regional manager. Big $$$. It took him a while to get there, but so? He's there now and he's still young enough to enjoy the fruits of his labor.

Anyway, blah blah. This is why people bust ass.

I will spoiler my typically long deal on this topic. Going trades does not mean you are stuck in the attic in 100+ heat your carerr. The best managers and such in the industry have at least some shop or field background for a short time.

I know I am in super minority but I know enough that have done similar to know it's possible.

I dropped out of high school in 1989. I went to the bookstore and got a few books on autocad. My dad was a self employed draftsman still drawing on the board. Those days were numbered. I got him on a computer and went to work for a steel fabrication shop. I made templates on the computer in the office. But I would walk out and talk to guys in the shop and find out what they needed and such.
I got several $2/hour raises after they had hired several computer types that had no clue and wouldn't walk out to the shop. In 1990 I made an inflation adjusted $54k in my first year. In 1992 $82k inflation adjusted. I quit and worked self employed doing the same thing while I went to college.

It's been much much easier for me to teach someone the cad they need to know if they know what the end product is. A number of guys were fitters in the shop and then moved into the office and have/had nice careers. A guy I worked with 30 years ago moved into the office when I left that had been a fitter. I worked with him 9 years ago just as I got sick. He made well into 6 figures in the south and was probably 3rd man on the totem pole at work behind the owner who is an engineer and his soon who is an engeer. He has a high school diploma.

Very few in my line of work have a college degree. My dad has a high school diploma and went to University of Houston and took one drafting class.

3 brothers I went to high school with have a high school degree and a business. I ran into one of them and he was complaining about insurance cost for the 300 company trucks they own. Welding inspection service. Lot of classes and training/updates along the way but high school degrees.

Another guy I've known nearly all my life. His dad was shop foreman and he worked in the shop untl he got fired for being a lazy fatass. He just retired and had a dozen employees in a nice standalone office doing steel drafting. Contracting all over the country, up to 70k ton jobs. His dad and I had season tickets to LSU baseball and he would say his son was a lazy fat ass but he made it work.

At least in my part of the world those that work, are intelligent and don't comlain about walking out to the shop once a week for 5 minutes move up rapidly and do well.

The current job I just started the guy I replaced had an industrial technology degree. Clueless. They canned him shortly after I got here. I'm project coordinator. All RFIs (request for information) flow through me coming and going from the shop, the customer, the field, and engineers. I would ask him did you check to see if subcontractor is getting things done? No. Well email, call, get an answer. He brushed it off. Finally I said get in your truck, drive over there and look. Don't be an ass. Shoot the shit, talk about the weather, complain about your wife, but make sure they have steel in the yard, the shop is working and steel is coming out and onto trucks. "Nah I can't go spy on someone". Dumbass, it's in the contract we can go look. But he had a college degree. Learn the lingo and what the end product is.

Several people I went to school with dropped out of college and one after 3 years in the navy asked me for a job. Then just totally shit on it about sometime in a blue moon standing around for 5 minutes in an air conditioned shop. I want to be management.

I'm currently project coordinator for a shop that has 3,000 people in the shop that is doing the structural part of a $2 billion exxon expansion in TX. Meaning all RFI's (request for information) come and go through me from the shop, customer, field, and engineers. Nobody knows I have a college degree and nobody has ever asked, not that forest and wildlife management applies to the job. For a long time I put my GED certificate on my office wall.

Burns · May 12, 2023

Borzak said:
I will spoiler my typically long deal on this topic. Going trades does not mean you are stuck in the attic in 100+ heat your carerr. The best managers and such in the industry have at least some shop or field background for a short time.

I know I am in super minority but I know enough that have done similar to know it's possible.

I dropped out of high school in 1989. I went to the bookstore and got a few books on autocad. My dad was a self employed draftsman still drawing on the board. Those days were numbered. I got him on a computer and went to work for a steel fabrication shop. I made templates on the computer in the office. But I would walk out and talk to guys in the shop and find out what they needed and such.
I got several $2/hour raises after they had hired several computer types that had no clue and wouldn't walk out to the shop. In 1990 I made an inflation adjusted $54k in my first year. In 1992 $82k inflation adjusted. I quit and worked self employed doing the same thing while I went to college.

It's been much much easier for me to teach someone the cad they need to know if they know what the end product is. A number of guys were fitters in the shop and then moved into the office and have/had nice careers. A guy I worked with 30 years ago moved into the office when I left that had been a fitter. I worked with him 9 years ago just as I got sick. He made well into 6 figures in the south and was probably 3rd man on the totem pole at work behind the owner who is an engineer and his soon who is an engeer. He has a high school diploma.

Very few in my line of work have a college degree. My dad has a high school diploma and went to University of Houston and took one drafting class.

3 brothers I went to high school with have a high school degree and a business. I ran into one of them and he was complaining about insurance cost for the 300 company trucks they own. Welding inspection service. Lot of classes and training/updates along the way but high school degrees.

Another guy I've known nearly all my life. His dad was shop foreman and he worked in the shop untl he got fired for being a lazy fatass. He just retired and had a dozen employees in a nice standalone office doing steel drafting. Contracting all over the country, up to 70k ton jobs. His dad and I had season tickets to LSU baseball and he would say his son was a lazy fat ass but he made it work.

At least in my part of the world those that work, are intelligent and don't comlain about walking out to the shop once a week for 5 minutes move up rapidly and do well.

The current job I just started the guy I replaced had an industrial technology degree. Clueless. They canned him shortly after I got here. I'm project coordinator. All RFIs (request for information) flow through me coming and going from the shop, the customer, the field, and engineers. I would ask him did you check to see if subcontractor is getting things done? No. Well email, call, get an answer. He brushed it off. Finally I said get in your truck, drive over there and look. Don't be an ass. Shoot the shit, talk about the weather, complain about your wife, but make sure they have steel in the yard, the shop is working and steel is coming out and onto trucks. "Nah I can't go spy on someone". Dumbass, it's in the contract we can go look. But he had a college degree. Learn the lingo and what the end product is.

Several people I went to school with dropped out of college and one after 3 years in the navy asked me for a job. Then just totally shit on it about sometime in a blue moon standing around for 5 minutes in an air conditioned shop. I want to be management.

I'm currently project coordinator for a shop that has 3,000 people in the shop that is doing the structural part of a $2 billion exxon expansion in TX. Meaning all RFI's (request for information) come and go through me from the shop, customer, field, and engineers. Nobody knows I have a college degree and nobody has ever asked, not that forest and wildlife management applies to the job. For a long time I put my GED certificate on my office wall.

Sounds a bit like a guy I went to high school with.

His dad did drafting work for oil and gas pipelines, mostly. The dad lived through the slim times in the late 70s & 80s but kept on it, and eventually started making good money; by the early 90s they were able to move out of the hood and into a decent part of town.

The guy I went to school with started "playing" with AutoCAD stuff on the computer, that his dad brought home, in 7th or 8th grade. By the time he was a senior, he could use CAD better than anyone coming out of college and was hired on at a company doing an oil pipeline contract the week after he graduated HS.

I think he was making six figures 3 to 5 years out of high school and I am sure he is well over 300K now days.

Cutlery · May 13, 2023

My entire house is 3 prong outlets - except for one. It's under my computer desk, and I typically forget about it, because the only thing that's plugged into it is my clock on my desk and my speakers.

The plugs for both keep falling outta the outlet. If I crack that fucker open, there's like zero chance it doesn't have a ground wire stuffed somewhere in there, isn't there? I mean, there's no way all the wires in my house are the same except for this one box, that can't be a thing. House was built in 1980.

I was just gonna replace it with a 3 prong, but looking online they say you gotta replace 2 prong outlets with GFCIs. I just can't fucking imagine there's only 2 wires going to just that one single outlet in the house.

Only asking now because I only wanna shut off the power once, and I'm at going to Menards!

lurkingdirk · May 13, 2023

Cutlery said:
My entire house is 3 prong outlets - except for one. It's under my computer desk, and I typically forget about it, because the only thing that's plugged into it is my clock on my desk and my speakers.

The plugs for both keep falling outta the outlet. If I crack that fucker open, there's like zero chance it doesn't have a ground wire stuffed somewhere in there, isn't there? I mean, there's no way all the wires in my house are the same except for this one box, that can't be a thing. House was built in 1980.

I was just gonna replace it with a 3 prong, but looking online they say you gotta replace 2 prong outlets with GFCIs. I just can't fucking imagine there's only 2 wires going to just that one single outlet in the house.

Only asking now because I only wanna shut off the power once, and I'm at going to Menards!

There's probably no ground wire in there, or if there is, it's probably trimmed down to the romex casing. You can easily ground it to the box, though. It's simple.

The Easiest Way to Ground an Outlet - wikiHow

Older homes often have two-pronged receptacles (sometimes referred to as outlets) that should be replaced with a Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFI or GFCI) receptacle. Some newer houses may likewise have a receptacle that was not...

www.wikihow.com

Make sure you get the right outlet, though. If it's a 20 amp breaker you have to get a 20 amp outlet. Easy enough to figure out.

Palum · May 13, 2023

Cutlery said:
My entire house is 3 prong outlets - except for one. It's under my computer desk, and I typically forget about it, because the only thing that's plugged into it is my clock on my desk and my speakers.

The plugs for both keep falling outta the outlet. If I crack that fucker open, there's like zero chance it doesn't have a ground wire stuffed somewhere in there, isn't there? I mean, there's no way all the wires in my house are the same except for this one box, that can't be a thing. House was built in 1980.

I was just gonna replace it with a 3 prong, but looking online they say you gotta replace 2 prong outlets with GFCIs. I just can't fucking imagine there's only 2 wires going to just that one single outlet in the house.

Only asking now because I only wanna shut off the power once, and I'm at going to Menards!

It's possible, especially if it's an outlet added later on by a homeowner or handyman. It's equally possible that someone replaced that outlet with an ungrounded one later because that's what they had and there is a separate ground wire in there.

1962 NEC required 3 wire to every outlet type so you are probably OK unless someone butchered something.

Burns · May 13, 2023

Cutlery said:
My entire house is 3 prong outlets - except for one. It's under my computer desk, and I typically forget about it, because the only thing that's plugged into it is my clock on my desk and my speakers.

The plugs for both keep falling outta the outlet. If I crack that fucker open, there's like zero chance it doesn't have a ground wire stuffed somewhere in there, isn't there? I mean, there's no way all the wires in my house are the same except for this one box, that can't be a thing. House was built in 1980.

I was just gonna replace it with a 3 prong, but looking online they say you gotta replace 2 prong outlets with GFCIs. I just can't fucking imagine there's only 2 wires going to just that one single outlet in the house.

Only asking now because I only wanna shut off the power once, and I'm at going to Menards!

I would have to assume that if they had the ground run to it, it would have been wired that way. You don't need to shut off the power to take the plate off and pull the plug out from the wall a little. Furthermore, hopefully you are just killing the breaker to that room, not the main, as that would be way overkill. Plus 220 isn't going to kill an adult, probably...

My grandpappy did some electrical work, here and there, and always said he had taken some 220 hits before, which "weren't that bad." I'm pretty sure I took a 220 hit from an ungrounded pull behind camper trailer once. Shit wasn't pleasant, but nothing more than that... after I was able to pull away.

Like Palum said, it could have been added by an old timer after the house was built, who had been using 2 prong his whole life, so never saw the need to mess with running a ground.

Cutlery · May 13, 2023

Kinda exactly what I expected. There's a ground in here, it's just not running to the outlet at all. Why the fuck would it?

Homeowner shit is fucking weird. Looks like an easy fix

Works flawlessly. Got rid of that goddamned electrical interference I'd get from various shit from time to time too. Should have done it years ago.

Although....thanks for letting me know there's 20amp and 15 amp outlets. Now I gotta go check what I did in the garage and make sure it's right.

lurkingdirk · May 13, 2023

What a mess that is. Glad you sorted it out.

Erronius · May 13, 2023

lurkingdirk said:
Make sure you get the right outlet, though. If it's a 20 amp breaker you have to get a 20 amp outlet. Easy enough to figure out.

You can put 15A receptacles on a 20A circuit, if it's considered to be a general purpose circuit, and if the 15A receptacles are rated for 20A feed-through.

I never liked daisy-chaining through receptacles so I always made pigtails, which negates any feed-through current. But AFAIK that doesn't affect the NEC code so /shrug

I also think that 15 and 20A receptacles (at least the general grade ones, excluding heavy duty, etc) are the same internally, with the only difference being the faceplate. But, hilariously enough, I doubt that most homeowners have ever actually SEEN a true 20A plug that would NEED a 20A receptacle to plug into.

Denamian · May 18, 2023

Lanx I summon you!

My sister and her husband is looking to set up some outdoor cameras around their house, and they've asked me for suggestions. I remember you had your own DIY setup years ago.

They're looking to have coverage around the entire outside of the house, but the priority is one side and the back, to get views of the cars and garage. There have been signs of people poking around lately, with some contents of a nearby clothing drop box being left in the neighbor's back yard.

I know going with one of the could based services would be relatively easy, with the downside of being stuck with a subscription and having to trust them to safeguard the video. On the other hand, rolling our own system would be more complex, less easy to manage, and have a much higher up front cost.

They don't need any fancy extra services, just (preferably) wireless cameras with good night vision that can survive in the winter.

Lanx · May 18, 2023

Denamian said:
Lanx I summon you!

My sister and her husband is looking to set up some outdoor cameras around their house, and they've asked me for suggestions. I remember you had your own DIY setup years ago.

They're looking to have coverage around the entire outside of the house, but the priority is one side and the back, to get views of the cars and garage. There have been signs of people poking around lately, with some contents of a nearby clothing drop box being left in the neighbor's back yard.

I know going with one of the could based services would be relatively easy, with the downside of being stuck with a subscription and having to trust them to safeguard the video. On the other hand, rolling our own system would be more complex, less easy to manage, and have a much higher up front cost.

They don't need any fancy extra services, just (preferably) wireless cameras with good night vision that can survive in the winter.

i've done 2 and 1/2 security systems, in my old home it was

(obviously years ago, 720p is not bad)

this is called a poe (power over ethernet system) all you need is to run 1 cable (it's like a bigger phone cable, not as thick as ethernet, you get the gist) and it powers and sends the images back to the nvr (the main hub/router/cpu basically)

if you have attic/crawlspace access, this is great, learn to use fish tape/poles and you can wire it anyway, i hooked it up to my closet, put on an old acer 22in, put in a 2tb drive and it looked amazing and held video for days, give it a mouse and you can control it from there or from an app (they all have app control now)

later on i wanted more resolution and clearer images, mainly to see the license plate of any car that pulls up on the street or in my driveway (i never needed this, but if something did happen, and my cameras were shit and couldn't read the plates, then thats horrible)

i couldn't find good poe 4k cams at the time, so i went to bnc cams,

at the time, just one 4k camera alone was around 120ish? it uses cable wire to connect, not please to pull

the house i'm in now is basically impossible to access half the place anything so i tried wyze cams

they connect at 2.4g and can be powered usb w/ the option to also install a sd card, and you have the option (but not the need) to pay 3bucks a cam for online storage, yada yada.

i put the cams where there is a light bulb socket, cuz theres a socket to usb adapter, and that was the easiest way to get power to em, and i have had many microsd's lying around.

if i were to build 1 now, i'd go w/ the newer blink

1 cam can be powered by 2 aa's for 2years, and you can store video locally w/ by buying their base station, of course you can also subscribe for cloud storage.

just put the batteries on and find a nice spot.

if they have decent access to the attic and soffits (the things under the gutters) i'd prefer to do a poe system if they can run the wire, a 4k nvr is just 100bucks

and the amcrest app software was really nice.

i believe first you have to ask, how are you going to power/xfer data, and how easy/hard do you wanna make the install.

Burns · May 18, 2023

Denamian said:
Lanx I summon you!

My sister and her husband is looking to set up some outdoor cameras around their house, and they've asked me for suggestions. I remember you had your own DIY setup years ago.

They're looking to have coverage around the entire outside of the house, but the priority is one side and the back, to get views of the cars and garage. There have been signs of people poking around lately, with some contents of a nearby clothing drop box being left in the neighbor's back yard.

I know going with one of the could based services would be relatively easy, with the downside of being stuck with a subscription and having to trust them to safeguard the video. On the other hand, rolling our own system would be more complex, less easy to manage, and have a much higher up front cost.

They don't need any fancy extra services, just (preferably) wireless cameras with good night vision that can survive in the winter.

I dont constantly read about this stuff, so it may be a bit out of date. This info is mostly from my experience setting up some cameras from a few years ago:

Wireless cameras suck. POE cameras are the way to go and running 1 cat6 line per camera isn't too difficult.

Does your sister/BIL have an extra older computer laying around? You could turn that into a recording box using Blue Iris for cheap. The Blue Iris software is, purportedly, fairly easy to set up, and about all you could ever want in terms of functionality.

Western Digital Purple HD is made for video recording, so it would still be good to pick up one of those though.

You will need a Ethernet switch with enough POE slots to cover the amount of cameras you are setting up, so ~$150 for that (probably).

A good camera with good night vision is going to cost about $100 to $150 per camera. The higher the resolution, the worse the night vision is, generally.

The leading cameras are all developed by the Chinese surveillance state, and they are perfectly happy to sell them to anyone. Hikvision and Dahua are the top two.

Absolutely no camera should have direct access to the internet. You can isolate the whole camera system on your LAN in various ways and then remotely connect to it using a home VPN set up on your router. I might trust Blue Iris to connect to the internet, as long as the cameras themselves are isolated. All they do is sell their software; a ton of people use it and check it for leaks. They need their good reputation to stay in busness.

I have a 3 camera Dahua system and Dahua DVR (should have went with Blu Iris for DVR duty). Here is one of my cameras (1440) as an example: Rebranded Dahua to sell on Amazon. It's great under a flood light or street light, but the 1080 (exact same form), does better in low light with only the included IR light.

There is a Dahua dealer on IPCamTalk (linked below) that you can order directly from Hong Kong. His user name there is EMPIRETECANDY ([email protected]). I emailed him directly about what Dahua cameras I wanted, and he sent a price and paypal account info (at least, I think it was paypal).

Resources:

Best place to start (a FAQ of sorts): IP Cam Talk Cliff Notes
Directly to the set up and helpful articles: IP Cam Talk Wiki
The forums that discuss all things home security camera: IP Cam Talk
Youtube channel that talks about a lot of these things: https://www.youtube.com/@TheHookUp/videos

Erronius · May 18, 2023

When I installed security stuff, we still used RG59 so I'm no help here, LOL

Denamian · May 18, 2023

Lanx ,

Burns some good stuff there, much to consider.

If they do go with local storage, I have a 2 bay NAS for my Plex server that I've been looking to upgrade, so they may inherit that. I also probably have enough computer hardware laying around that I could slap together something really basic. I would have to buy a POE capable switch for wired cameras.

As far as the install goes, the BIL is a handy guy and has done plenty of work on the house, but he would prefer to keep the install as easy as reasonably possible. He would love wireless cameras, but if those are truly lousy, wired can be done. The attic is small and cramped IIRC, but if it comes to it we could route things through there.

I need to keep the system as easy to use as possible, as neither of them are terribly tech savvy.

Lanx · May 18, 2023

Denamian said:
Lanx , Burns some good stuff there, much to consider.

If they do go with local storage, I have a 2 bay NAS for my Plex server that I've been looking to upgrade, so they may inherit that. I also probably have enough computer hardware laying around that I could slap together something really basic. I would have to buy a POE capable switch for wired cameras.

As far as the install goes, the BIL is a handy guy and has done plenty of work on the house, but he would prefer to keep the install as easy as reasonably possible. He would love wireless cameras, but if those are truly lousy, wired can be done. The attic is small and cramped IIRC, but if it comes to it we could route things through there.

I need to keep the system as easy to use as possible, as neither of them are terribly tech savvy.

imo if they are tech dumb, try the wyze

they have this new cool one that auto tracks movement, meaning it'll tilt the cam (it's 360degrees), so it's actually really good for outside and in weird areas like long tracks of path

actually if you buy directly from them and use amazon to ship it's 33bucks

if they have alexa it's even nicer, just say "alexa show me outdoor cam 1"

and if they have one of these alexa shows, it'll pop up on the screen

the barrier to entry is very minimal at 33bucks, and an old microsd card you have lying around, heck buy the cheap 2pack for 65bucks and you will probably cover a huge area since it's 360 for both cams

you offload all the options to the app (you do not need a subscription w/ a sd card, you just get more features), so theres less to mess up.

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lurkingdirk

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Erronius

Macho Ma'am

Denamian

Night Janitor

Lanx

Burns

Avatar of War Slayer

Erronius

Macho Ma'am

Denamian

Night Janitor

Lanx