Donnyten

Hi. Due to the amount of burglaries over the course of the past few months me and my gf have decided its time to tap into the potential of consumer grade products. What I want to know is.... Is it possible to use an ordinary webcam to monitor the apartment while we are not at home? The way I see it is I could have a web cam or two placed on the back and front door as well as the windows. And use a website or an app for my iphone to keep track of anything suspicious. This brings me to a few questions. 1. Could I purchase a wireless webcam? would that be a better solution? what are the power requirements? I don't mind using a wired webcam, but my computer is in the second bed room and would require at least a 30 ft usb extension cable to get to the door. 2.What if someone breaks into the house, takes the computer? problem with this is this is where all the data( evidence) will be recorded to, thus losing all footage/ snapshots/ misc data of crime.. which brings me to my next question 3.Ideally, I want a camera that will only come in when it detects motions, or sees a human figure ( if possible), I want the camera to record and store data feed to a server or computer elsewhere so in the event of a theft, All I'd have to do is log on to the website/ ftp/ whatever and download/ view the data for police as evidence of crime. is there anything that could accommodate this? I don't have a webcam yet, but i'm looking for a non proprietary and inexpensive solution. If anyone oculd help, would appreciate it.

My budget wont allow for a dedicated Surveillance/ IP Cam unless inexpensive. Power over Ethernet unfortunately is not an option. I only considered the webcam route as it just came to mind and not to my surprise I already see people on youtube posting viable solutions. If you have an inexpensive suggestion for an IP cam do let me know.. Thanks

Not sure, first thought was to use a regular USB webcam and attach it to a 30 ft USB extension cable so it can reach the door from my second room where the computer is. Not sure how wireless/ IP cameras get their power but I would consider it if it was a rechargeable solution.