Y-Cam HomeMonitor Reviewed

[beq]

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/mult...voip-reviews/32237-y-cam-homemonitor-reviewed

Thanks for the timely review! I was also piqued when I found Y-Cam's Roku channel.

In a funny coincidence, the next generation Dropcam Pro model was also announced today (see here and here for example). I'd be interested to read your review on that too.

$199 price, all-glass optics, 2x larger sensor, 130-degree view, dual-band Wi-Fi, zoom-and-enhance trick, Bluetooth LE for phone/tablet setup and future home automation pairing... and a new focus to leverage cloud processing to analyze your video and recognize objects and motion patterns in all sorts of different ways.

But still the same expensive Dropcam cloud DVR monthly cost per camera...

 

[Razor512]

These cloud cameras are pretty horrible in terms of value. When you have no local alternative, you gain 3 additional point of failure where if the cloud service dies, then the camera is useless, if your router fails, then the camera is useless, and if the ISP craps out, then the camers becomes useless.

Most of these cloud requirements are not needed since the devices have the hardware to allow for local streaming and access.

Low cost 4 camera + DVR systems have gotten very simple to set up and use, and best of all, many will allow for over a month of nonstop recording on 4 cameras, and also provide remote access that does not require you to pay for cloud storage, or hope that the company does not further cripple the free service, or go out of business and leave you with a $200 paper weight.