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8 of 10 people found the following review helpful.
Satisfied
By BFB
Great item, one of 4 indoor cameras I have, makes it easy to keep an eye on the house when your away and see whats going on. peace of mind. We use this with a schlage link (nexia) and setup was easy and straight forward.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful.
Poor low light performance impacts use as a Secuirty Camera
By A. Abrams
The Schlage Nexia system offers lots of add-ons at typically a high cost, and additionally, requires a monthly fee (under $10/month) to use any of these integrated components that exist in their product add-ons for the Nexia line.There are many wifi wireless cameras out there that could be used in a home network/security system without the need of paying Schlage $8.99 a month on top of spending $300-500 just for their hardware to set up this system.Nexia add-ons "add up" quickly; Nexia Indoor camera, about $175, Digital entry lockset security kit which includes a bridge and A/C receptacle to control door lock and lights on, $325+.....plus other add-ons including temperature monitoring, an outdoor motion activated camera and more. You could easily invest a $1000-1500 or more here and still be paying the $8.99 fee to keep your on-line account active or everything you've purchased is nothing more then an expensive paperweight.If you price out the many items that can be added into the Nexia system, they are all rather pricey and will add up to a sizable investment in no time. I'd prefer seeing Schlage offer their "hardware" at a lower price, then offer their monthly subscription at a higher fee per month for their Home Security on-line account. But, such is American enterprise and they of course, want the dollars up front in case you cancel your account in the future.One positive aspect of the Nexia system is that you don't need to be computer/mac savy to get this system installed and be up and running in no time. The installation process (for both hardware (camera) and setting up and activating the Schlage Nexia account) was straight forward and took less then 10 minutes to get camera connected and on-line account activated. If you do have PC/Mac and Networking experience, there may be other less expensive alternatives then the Schlage Nexia system to accomplish the same results.The Nexia monthly fee is about $8.99 per month. Regardless of how many devices you have. The indoor camera and any other Nexia device they make for this system, will NOT work nor can be used at all without a valid and active account you access on line. "Security" in using this system, comes at a price. Although the indoor camera has both wifi and a wired ethernet receptacle, no driver exists nor will your Mac or PC link to it for video use between Mac/Pc and the camera. Yes, you can see it's Mac and IP address on your router,, but, without that Schlage account activated and the camera's MAC address added to your on-line Schlage account, it's useless as a camera and will not function as directly connected to your router or Mac/PC. (This is detailed more at the Schlage web-site as well as in the included paperwork that comes with the camera.Thus, any of the Nexia products only will work through an active on-line Schlage Nexia account and there's no way to access these components using a mac/pc directly like many wireless cameras can be that simply link to your network and you use your own recording/capture software or on-line setup internally in/throiugh your home.The Schlage Nexia lockset may work as a stand-alone combination lockset even if not tied into the Nexia system, but, I am not sure as I do not own that home Security Kit offered by Schlage.Power outage: The camera will reboot if there's a power loss and the interruption to normal camera function is about 3-5 minutes. Reconnection will be established each and every time, it just takes a while. I tested this several times to be sure reconnection after a power interruption would always work. To note, the camera needs an A/C power supply to work (A/C to D/C into camera), but, one could set up the camera to work off of battery in the event if a power outage (a small APC/CyberPower or other computer backup battery system). In this scenario, you'd power backup your router/modem as well so router, modem and camera can continue to work and upload videos as needed to your Nexia on-line account. (Your PC/Mac does not need to be running for surveillance/timed-dated video recording, as all of this is handled by the Schlage web-site as it communicates with your specific Nexia camera and other registered Nexia devices.If you loose power and attempt to access the camera through the Shclage Nexia account before the camera reboots/reconnects, you get the message (on your Nexia account), "This camera is currently disconnected and unavailable at this time". Try it again in a few minutes and all is restored as it should be.For any security system a better fail-safe system is to have your security system able to immediately run off battery rather then A/C. (since in some cases, a home break-in/intrusion could include cutting the power to the home or possible entry during a power outage).One gripe is there's no color or other controls (contrast, brightness, gamma) to adjust the Camera. Nothing!Low light sensitivity on the indoor unit is very poor unless there is sufficient light. Night vision capability is absent for the indoor version of this camera. Keep in mind that Foscam, D-Link and others offer a wireless video camera that has day and night vision and sells for less then the Nexia cameras as well.The camera has no option for taking still captures, only video. In reality, for security purposes, video is most likely what you would want anyway in the event of documenting an incident or event occurring and being caught on video.Granted there's no on-line access like the Schlage Nexia system with these other stand-alone wireless cameras mentioned above, but, setting up a home network security system manually through your router is not beyond some of us if we have a little computer and networking experience within our home. Try Googling "creating your home security system" or "How To Build A WiFi Home Surveillance System", and a wealth of info is available for reference.There is software out there that allows one to do timed/triggered recordings as well so putting together a home security system from scratch and that's certainly a very cost-effective alliterative if you wish to avoid monthly fees and some rather pricey Schlage hardware purchases as well. If you are a novice and this project seems too difficult to take on, there's probably a friend or family member who can help out.You can select High Res or Low res for the Indoor video camera recordings (using the Schlage on-line account), High resolution is ok, just be aware it will tax a slower internet connection and might not record well. Doing some recording test in both low and high res will answer that question. If you need to be sure of good detail (license plate numbers, distant objects, car model, etc) High res is the only way to go for a clearer image and larger video frame size as well. You can print a screen capture shot (from the Schlage web-site using your account) of your recordings. Pause a playback and print the frame. The Schalge web-site makes this easy and quick to do. Nice if you need to document something, just be sure to have your video capture set for "High Res" since it's the only way to get reasonable detail within a frame video capture and to a print. The Low-Res was soft and lacked much detail. Good for closeups, faces, etc., but,m I would not depend on it if you need some clarity in a photo.In High res, the larger frame size prints almost a full 8 ½ X 11 photo with reasonable detail, just remember, this indoor camera like a lot of light to produce decent videos. Take away good lighting and the video/still capture suffers.Using my on-line account and after adding the camera to my Schlage hardware items (you register each Nexia component first, camera, bridge, lockset, etc) , I used the recording to set up a scene (= a name you create which describes what is being recorded (for reference), I called it, "Camera 1-Front Window of our street")...then you select the scheduling/recording options there for recording video duration for one or more (all seven if you want) days of the week. You can schedule for a minimum of a minute or any increments of more time you want. The scheduling can be 24/7 on any day(s) of the week. To note, adding motion detection hardware to this system (more $ of course) allows video recording to trigger on when the video camera's motion detector senses movement. I have not researched all of the items in the Schlage Nexia line-up, but, they may offer laser beam tripped or even sound activated sensors dependent on what your needs are.My first test recordings used my created and saved Scene name ("Camera 1-Front Window of our street") and the Schedule was set to record several 15 seconds hourly from 1pm to 5pm. I then set up another series of recording to record into the evening and early morning (4pm-3am). Each scheduled recording has the ability to be enabled/dis-abled, or complete deleted and removed from your account.Thus, you could set up many, many different variations of Scene and Schedules and select only those you want at that time and which Nexia components are to be used for the respective scheduled activity. You can keep all of the events/schedules (or delete them if only used once, or edit/change them) and simply check the boxes next to the ones you want to activate. Unchecked boxes leave that specific scene/event/schedule turned off.The Scene setup also requires you to select which device(s) are to be used in that particular setup for scheduled recordings. This gives you the increased flexibility to use alternate/different locations and devices for select recordings.With only one indoor camera, my setup was very straight forward, but, even if I had had 10 or more devices (even if at at different locations), the set-up for recordings or other devices and choosing/activating which were to be used appears to be very easy and intuitive to do through the on-line Schlage account.Regarding my test recordings, the day-light recordings all played back fine, exactly as I'd scheduled them, but, the night recordings as noted, are black as this camera needs a lot of light for a good image. Even the first video at 4pm (we just passed the shortest day of the year here during my test and around 4pm the light drops substantially outdoors), was dark and lacked detail. The later recordings were black into early morning and not usable. Assuming the outdoor camera has decent low-light capability, I'd probably prefer that instead for most all general use, especially where good light may be an issue at times.In summary, I think the Nexia system could be a benefit for a business owner where some type of video surveillance is needed (and the business is lighted in the "security zones" during closing hours) and where having a professionally installed security system may be a much larger investment as compared to the Schlage Nexia system. I'd suggest though to try the Outdoor Nexia Video camera which (as stated in the Amazon/Schlage product description) has low light capability.For the average home consumer, at least for the Indoor camera that I evaluated for this review, the time when you need the video security most may be when it is dark(er) (the bad-guys like it that way) , and for this camera which has no low-light capability, well, I don't think it would work out well as a dependable video security device unless used in a well-lit area.The Nexia system allows for controlling locks, heat (can also alarm when house temp drops below a certain level, another pricey add-on of course), lights and a lot more, all at a considerable additional expense.Comcast and some other cable companies are now offering a similar installed Security/control system which you can lease (and return when closing your account) and depending on what you need, this may in fact be a better option for many and offer similar advantages to the Schlage system at a lower annual rate as well as perhaps saving you money over the long term. Additionally, you don't end up with a box full of expensive hardware that's of no use after you close your Schalge account. There's some bonuses too in leasing versus buying hardware outright as the leasing company provides repair/replacement ongoing, something an expired warranty on a Schlage item will not as most of the Schalge products in this line-up have 1+ year warranties or "lifetime" LIMITED warranties meaning the product is not covered 100% parts/labor for life, and there's some "exceptions" to what is covered.As I said, while the monthly on-line security account rates are very reasonable, the Schlage/Nexia hardware add-ons are not cheap so do consider what you will need within your home/Business security requirements and then do some comparable shopping.If you need a home/business security and remote control/access solution, the Nexia may or may not fit your needs based on your budget and what your specific needs are.We have used good ol' manual Schalge locksets and deadbolts in our home for many years and they still are performing perfectly in light of a lot of daily use.As for the Nexia system and specfically, for my review of the indoor camera here, I'm not totally impressed with the indoor camera performance nor what can amount to a very significant investment over-all if one wants to set up a full Nexia system.There -may- be better alternatives for some perspective buyers.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful.
I love the equipment, but the monthly service fee is a rip-off
By R. Hammer
I am a huge foan of home automation and have been looking for a while for a solution that I can install at our lake house to allow remote monitoring of the property during our absences. A local contractor told me that he had just got done installing the new Schlage system in a client's home so I decided to give it a whirl.I'm going to summarize my experience and focus on a key point later in this review:Hardware experience:-You will not be blown away by this camera. There are many other available webcams that offer wifi camera monitoring with better quality (some w PTZ capability)-The ease to which this equipment comes together on the Schlage Nexia system is really nice and highly recommended for the less than technically savy person.-Be prepared to pay a $12.99/month MINIMUM fee for the Nexia service to allow you to monitor the camera or interact with any other Nexia-enabled device in your house.-The camera is NOT an outdoor camera and this limits the practicality of installing this in remote places. Most people want to have the exterior doors covered.My biggest gripe about this setup was not about the hardware as I found the Schlage hardware to be on-par with a lot of it's counterparts in the DIY price-range. It's the monthly Nexia service fee which is a minimum $12.99/month I could not get over. I couldn't bring myself to pay a monthly bill to via a webcam that I was providing internet service for.***THIS IS IMPORTANT!!!***What Schlage doesn't tell you is that the Nexia gear will work Vera from micasaverde.com and with Homeseer found at homeseer.com both allowing the same functions and no monthly fees! Please, before you sign up for another monthly contract, check out these two websites as I found it offered basically the same functionality without having to pay for service.Again, the hardware is great, but I would highly recommend you setup the equipment on one of the free services out there in lieu of paying for monthly service.
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