These days, edifice a wireless home security camera organization isn't actually such a huge bargain, especially if yous take the right equipment. Wireless IP webcams are platonic, because they can be placed anywhere in the house and they don't need to be continued to a computer, where there may be additional dangers like hackers. But if you lot don't have whatever wireless cameras, old smartphones work just likewise. Retrieve though, whatever habitation security system, whether DIY or commercial may not exist every bit secure as you think.

That is, creating but such a wireless surveillance network using not wireless webcams, but wireless smartphones. Preferably old, worn out smartphones a few generations back that you lot left sitting in your sleeping room dresser drawer subsequently upgrading to the latest and greatest phone or tablet.

Information technology'southward really a waste, isn't information technology? Maybe your wife traded in her first generation iPhone for the newest model with a ameliorate camera. Maybe, like me, you still hung on to that old Android y'all bought a decade agone. It was pretty cool at the time, simply now information technology's serving as a dust collector on the height shelf of your closet.

Well, I invite you to get together up all of those then-called "useless" smartphones, and consider following through the steps in this commodity to transform them into wireless webcam devices that you can utilise to build your own home surveillance network for free.

Choosing The Right Wireless Webcam App

The hardest part virtually building your ain home security system is probably just finding the correct app for that quondam telephone.  The bad news is that for well-nigh standard phones (dumbphones), you're non likely to find a good solution even if it's a camera phone. Notwithstanding, if it's an former smartphone running Android or iOS and has Wi-Fi capability, the odds are pretty skilful there'southward an quondam app out there that can turn it into an IP camera.

For the sake of this article, I decided to utilise a pop gratuitous app that works on most older Android devices, chosen BL IP-Photographic camera.  Any app that turns your phone into an IP camera will work fine though.

With BL IP-Camera, only launch the app, curlicue to the lesser, and click on Start photographic camera.

You may want to give it a descriptive name. For example since this phone was pointed out the window at the dorsum yard, I chosen it "Back Yard".

The default settings are already pretty much set up the way you'd demand them to be if yous want to continue the phone working as an IP webcam 24 hours a 24-hour interval, only yous may desire to make sure that the option to Proceed Wi-Fi on during sleep -> E'er is enabled so that the telephone continues streaming indefinitely.

Whatsoever smartphone you're using, and whatever app you're using to enable the IP webcam feature, it volition requite you an IP address and port for your new wireless webcam correct on the screen once information technology'southward streaming. If not on the display itself, you lot tin typically find the broadcast IP address in the settings.

Placing Your Smartphones

Placement matters. Since these are smartphones, you're going to demand to be certain the location where you set up it upwards is nearly a wall outlet. Commonly windows are, so if yous prop the camera on a window sill like I've done here, it works out pretty well.

If y'all don't have a window with a nice identify to wedge the telephone while pointed toward the area you desire to monitor, other options are using 3M mounting strips to firmly hold your phone against the window. Some other solution is to purchase a suction-cup based automobile smartphone holder, and use that to braze your telephone to the window. These piece of work bang-up considering you tin can angle the camera in any management you lot like.

In one case you've enabled each of your phones and placed them throughout the firm to monitor different windows (outside) or rooms (inside), you're ready to set upwards your PC-based monitoring station.

Gear up the IP Photographic camera Monitoring Station

To ready the monitoring station, I actually like an app called ContaCam considering information technology'southward been around for a while and is updated frequently. The creator offers the app and all updates for absolutely free, then please assistance keep it running by at least offering a donation.  The software is really easy to use, fast to set, and works with far fewer limitations than most other "gratis" versions of premium webcam monitoring programs.

When you offset launch ContaCam, simply click on the Capture bill of fare item, and choose Network.

Fill in the IP details from the IP webcam app you're using on your smartphone. The "Other Camera (HTTP motility jpeg)" option is what works for well-nigh smartphone IP webcam apps, although some may utilize snapshots, and then y'all may need to try either and see which works.

Once I've added all three smartphones to my home security system, here'southward what the desktop awarding looks similar.

The website for ContaCam doesn't mention whatever camera limits, and so I assume y'all're limited only by your system resources and screen space.

ContaCam Features

I like IP camera monitoring software where the setup is nowhere virtually as sensitive or complicated as all of the other surveillance software tools out at that place. It's wonderfully piece of cake to set upwardly, and once you do there are a lot of bachelor tools for capturing snapshots, alive video, motion detection, and more than.

All yous have to do is click on the "Snapshot" icon at the bottom of any of the alive video feeds to capture a photo snapshot of the video.

You can besides click on the Settings icon for any of the cameras and click on the Snapshot tab to run across some of the features available for taking alive image snapshots.

For example you can space apart multiple snapshots 1 or more seconds, yous can schedule a series of snapshots to automatically get captured during a specific timeframe, and you tin even prepare a connectedness to any FTP server where you lot may desire to offload those files and access them remotely.

You likewise have motion detection features available on the Motion Detection tab. Hither you can define how many seconds before and afterward the move is detected to capture video, you can only have motion detection active during a fixed time period, and like with snapshots you accept the option to automatically upload those videos to an FTP server.

Yous tin can easily configure only sure sections of the photographic camera window to serve as a motion sensor. Just click on the blue grid boxes to add or remove blueish grid boxes, which removes movement sensing for that area of the screen.

This is the showtime of a brilliant domicile surveillance network that you tin hands maintain past cycling through each "webcam" every time y'all or any of your family members trade off their "onetime" smartphone. Why throw them out? Take that ii-year old smartphone, and supervene upon one of the older "IP webcams" in your home surveillance network. Or, ameliorate withal, add and extend the network using that sometime smartphone.

Create Your Surveillance System

There'southward no end to the creative uses you might put these old devices to. The whole concept of using any old smartphone every bit a wireless webcam but makes the whole wireless home security camera system far more flexible and scaleable. You lot can place your smartphone webcams anywhere at all, then long equally they're within range of your Wi-Fi network, y'all're good to get. Better notwithstanding, yous're avoiding contributing to the ever-increasing pile of harmful consumer waste, and that'south something to be proud of.

And, did you know that y'all can employ your current phone to detect hidden surveillance cameras at abode?

Paradigm Credit: giggsy25 via Shutterstock.com

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Virtually The Author

Ryan Dube (933 Articles Published)

Ryan has a BSc degree in Electrical Engineering. He's worked 13 years in automation applied science, 5 years in IT, and now is an Apps Engineer. A former Managing Editor of MakeUseOf, he's spoken at national conferences on Information Visualization and has been featured on national Television and radio.

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