Burglary Attempt

Why are you guys so interested in getting videos of someone robbing you?  AFAIK, the police aren't interested in grainy pictures of hoody people stealing your stuff.

I always thought that there were more cost effective ways to reduce your chances of being burgled, like increasing gates and locks and lights. 

I would imagine as well that posting when you are going on holiday is more significant than talking about security arrangements in particular

It's much better than grainy images.  And we can view the live feed at any time from any device on the network, so if we hear a noise outside, we can instantly see if it's just one of the neighbour's mangey cats, or if it's a prowler and we need to call the police or take other steps.

If anything did happen (no security threats since we got the cameras, but it's good peace of mind), we'd have something to show the police.

Plus, we can stalk the comings and goings of our neighbours. 

I don't want to ruin the party, and I'm sorry if this seem a bit paranoid, but some food for thought:

It might be good to avoid discussing your security arrangements, the lack of security in your home and especially specifics.

While most on UK Yankee are friendly and here for the good of the community, you never really know who's lurking online and a thread titled 'burglary attempt' could attract some unsavoury attention.

Just wanted to point that out. It's not anything against the rules of the forum or anything, just remember this is a public forum. It's easy to feel at home and say things we maybe shouldn't.

Obviously security system suggestions and experiences are great to share, but please don't make yourself vulnerable.

Thanks for your thoughtful warning!

I generally view anything I post anywhere online as "public", even if the service pretends it's private.  I don't think anybody can find me with what I've shared so far.  Well, Jimbo might be able to.  But Facebook isn't even sure what continent I live on!

Thanks!
I borrow my friend's husband from time to time but I thought I'd need an electrician to wire the cameras. And don't you have to drill holes in the wall for that too?

You don't have to hide the cables.  It looks tidier and "built-in" if you run the cables through the walls, but I wasn't sure if that was possible for you.  Our house has brick/stone walls, so chasing in the cables would be a major undertaking.  But in our case, the house cameras are powered by an outlet in the loft.  The workshop ones were even easier because of the construction of our former stables... the leads just run over the walls to the nearest socket.

Why are you guys so interested in getting videos of someone robbing you?  AFAIK, the police aren't interested in grainy pictures of hoody people stealing your stuff.

I always thought that there were more cost effective ways to reduce your chances of being burgled, like increasing gates and locks and lights. 

I would imagine as well that posting when you are going on holiday is more significant than talking about security arrangements in particular

It all adds up. You're playing the odds to make your house less attractive to a burglar than that of your neighbours! 

  But Facebook isn't even sure what continent I live on!

Google maps knows.

Google maps knows.

In all honesty, did you GoogleMaps me and find something?  When I try, I get "Maps can't find jfkimberly".   

And now that I've Googled "jfkimberly" again, I see that I am not the only one using this 'name'.  Yay!  Muddied waters!

For those who are renting or don't want to attach cameras to the building, you can just buy wifi enabled cameras and put them on a windowsill looking out and run the power cable to a plug socket. Most of these cameras come with free software to install on a smart phone or computer. Some are cloud based (and you can choose to pay for a storage subscription if you want to - my provider charges about £30 for the year per camera) and some have an internal memory card (or both). I have a variety of these all over my property, and they have cost from as little as £30 a camera. Might be worth looking into.

For those who are renting or don't want to attach cameras to the building, you can just buy wifi enabled cameras and put them on a windowsill looking out and run the power cable to a plug socket. Most of these cameras come with free software to install on a smart phone or computer. Some are cloud based (and you can choose to pay for a storage subscription if you want to - my provider charges about £30 for the year per camera) and some have an internal memory card (or both). I have a variety of these all over my property, and they have cost from as little as £30 a camera. Might be worth looking into.

Does the infrared night mode work okay through a window?

But, yeah... the wifi enabled cameras really just need access to an outlet for power.  It's really easy to set up a basic system.

You are right that the IR LEDs have to be turned off as otherwise they reflect. However I am relying on that I have a security light which comes on and gives sufficient light, so the IR ones aren't needed. I also have the light from the street lights up to a certain point, and that seems to be enough to record clearly enough.

Oh, jeez, that's a horrible feeling! In SoCal the cops call breaking and entering while there's someone home a "hot prowl" and they take them very seriously - way too many nutjobs hyped up on meth who are unstable to not pay it close attention.

Thanks to the warning about keys and letterboxes. It had never occurred to me that someone could get our key through our letterbox, and we've been leaving it in the lock. So it's now several feet away. This is the first place I've lived in that does not have a deadbolt that you throw from inside, with or without a key. It has the one door lock that you have to lift the handle of the door up and that engages what would seem to be a deadbolt. But you do have to lock it from the inside, which is a first for us. Unlikely anyone would target us, as they'd have to climb several flights of stairs and there are plenty of other flats in this building to target - once they got in the marginally secure building front door. (It's got a remote entry thing going, but people tend to not make sure the damned thing is shut!)

In all honesty, did you GoogleMaps me and find something?

I don't really like internet forensics.  "But on June 3rd, you said you liked Farage......"

I don't really like internet forensics.  "But on June 3rd, you said you liked Farage......"

Hahahaha!  Oh dear.

Just for fun, I found one of JFKIMBERLEY'S old pictures she posted and looked at the meta data.  I Was looking for the location where the pic was taken.  Didnt find anything. 
You are safe!

Here's one of my pictures, who can guess where it was taken :

Here's one of my pictures, who can guess where it was taken :

SoS's mom's house?

SoS's mom's house?

OOOOOOOOOOW!   Someone call the burn unit!

OOOOOOOOOOW!   Someone call the burn unit!

Pot.  Kettle.