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Y-Cam's HomeMonitor Indoor is a secure home security camera system that is easier than any webcam or baby monitor I've ever experienced. It's very nearly "Plug and Play", and if you choose to leave it on your wired router, it really is! With my never-ending search for a high-quality weather webcam, this is definitely a contender. It's also secure for your privacy, a feature that's less and less common in today's world of open source and cloud-based capabilities. Let's explore.
What Comes in the Box
- HomeMonitor camera
- Metal mounting bracket
- Screws for the mounting bracket
- AC power supply with three plug mounts for international use
- Short (1 meter) ethernet cable
- Quick-Start Instruction booklet
Setup
Setup is incredibly easy. You don't need to insert a CD to install software or anything! It's all web-based. Simply connect the camera to your home's Internet router, apply AC power, and then log into the HomeMonitor website to register the device and establish an account.
The website will take you through several steps to communicate with the camera, establish the WiFi networks (if desired) and help you mount your camera.
In order to properly site the camera, it must be screwed onto the mounting device with a thumb-screw. Be careful using the screw, ensure the threaded post is actually going in, it'll be hard to see with the large plastic collar around the screw itself.
A quick tour of the setup process is available through Y-Cam's YouTube channel.
My first-time setup was very straightforward, everything worked as planned. After setup is complete, if you are using the camera on WiFi, go ahead and disconnect it from the router and place the camera anywhere with AC power access.
I started with my living room and eventually moved it to sit side-by-side with my Dropcam and Logitech webcam as a weather webcam.
You can set up multiple cameras in the same account, such cameras for the front porch, back porch and living room. They can be monitored on a single webpage for your convenience.
Useage
You cannot share this image feed with others unless they have your login and password. This is a secure cloud system, so unless you're a hacker, you can be comforted in knowing that your living room's or front porch's goings-on aren't public.
Included with the cost of your camera HomeMonitor provides seven days of archive support, with the archive stored on the company's cloud server. You can access the archives through your camera's registered account. No subscription required!
HomeMonitor also includes the ability to send motion detection alerts. Setting this capability was relatively easy, and Y-Cam provides some clever tips to keep the system from alerting you every time your dog walks in front of the camera! If there's a motion detection alert, Y-Cam will grab the motion feed, with a +/- 5 second buffer to the video clip link that's sent to you.
There is a night-vision capability on the camera also. I didn't capture an image of it, but it wasn't what I expected. For some reason, I was thinking it would look like something a solider would see through night-vision goggles. That isn't the case: the image will still be pretty dark, but the IR sensors will help with motion detection and alerting you if you had set up that feature.
My HomeMonitor kept falling off my network for the first 2-3 days. Each time it did, I would receive an automated email about it, then would receive another one when the camera reappeared on the network. I liked this feature, but wasn't happy with how often the camera was coming off my network (approximately once per day, for about 5-10 minutes at a time). After all, what if that was when a home invasion occurred? I'm not sure if it was my network giving the camera problems or the camera itself, I haven't fully troubleshooted this issue.
Like the Netatmo weather station I had reviewed last year, the product is designed to be very minimal with its appearance; the bulk of information is displayed through its web-based graphic user interface. This means that when the web connection is unavailable to the HomeMonitor, you're left with a box with a red blinking LED light (which indicates a connection error, a solid green light indicates a properly functioning camera)...with little else to be done. I'm not convinced this is the best way to do business, but it seems to be the wave of the future, so hang on tight.
At one point, the camera wouldn't re-establish a network connection after several hours so I uninstalled and reinstalled the camera. Since this was such an easy process, it was relatively little trouble, but in principle, I'm not sure how often this might be a problem for someone.
After the first 2-3 days of connection hiccups, it ran pretty stable for the next several days and continues to do so now.
Website/Mobile App
HomeMonitor has mobile apps for the iOS and Android mobile operating systems, so you can check up on your camera's feeds through your iPhone, iPad or Android devices. You can watch live feeds, view archives and receive mobile alerts of motion detection.
The mobile app is great for monitoring, but you cannot set up cameras this way. You must use a desktop browser version to complete setup.
Conclusions
I cannot emphasize enough how easy this camera is for setup and use. If you have a stable network, you will be seeing footage in as little as 3 minutes from when you first plug the camera into your router. The night vision isn't like what you might see on TV, but will help with any motion detection alerting you have set up. The mobile apps will help you keep tabs on what your camera is viewing even when you aren't at home or at a desktop computer. Mobile alerts and email will keep you in touch with any abnormal motion in front of your custom-designated alert zones.
The HomeMonitor Indoor retails for $199.99 and is available through Y-Cam's online store and other major online retailers such as Amazon. There is also the HomeMonitor Outdoor that retails for $349.99 and has the same features, except ruggedized for outdoor use.
A sample of this product was loaned to me for purposes of this review.
