Netvue Security Camera Outdoor Wireless, CCTV Camera with 65ft Night Vision, WiFi Outdoor Camera 1080P HD, Motion Detection, IP66 Waterproof, Compatible with Alexa, SD Card/Cloud Storage Option, Black
Netvue help you stay connected to what’s happening at home no matter where you are
Warm Tips:
- Needs to connect to the power supply, not battery powered.
- Supports 2.4G Hz Wi-Fi and Ethernet cable connection, but NOT for 5G Hz Wi-Fi.
- Supports Micro SD Card storage without monthly/ fee (SD card is not included)
- Only works with Netvue app, other third party apps not supported.
See everything in detail in day & Night–With 2 megapixels CMOS sensor, true 1920* 1080p Full HD
Be Alerted To What Matters–Customize motion detection zones/time/sensitivity as needed.
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Compatibles with Alexa‘Alexa, show me the front door”, “Okey!” Simply call to Alexa and speak to your Amazon devices to view your front door camera or watch history events when your hands are full. | Wired & WirelessSupports 2.4g Hz Wi-Fi connection and Ethernet connection. With the 2021 improved 5dBi Wi-Fi antenna, Wi-Fi connection will be more stable compared to the common 2.5dBi and 3 dBi. | Cloud Or SD Card Storage? Up To You.Netvue support MicroSD card storage (Not included, 128G maximum, class 10, NO month fees) And also, Netvue employs AWS ( Amazon Web Service) cloud to provide high-quality cloud service. (Subscription required). |
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| Comes with an IP66 enclosure, offering high levels of protection against dust and water and delivering long-lasting protection | Remotely controlling your device on your iOS or Android cellphone or tablet. | Share device to your beloved one, enjoy funny moment together whenever and wherever. |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Use | Outdoor | Outdoor | Outdoor | Outdoor | Indoor | Indoor |
| Resolution | 1920 X 1080P FHD | 1920 X 1080P FHD | 3MP (2304 X 1296P) Super HD | 3MP (2304 X 1296P) Super HD | 1920 X 1080P FHD | 1920 X 1080P FHD |
| Two way audio | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Woks with Alexa | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Night Vision | Up to 60 Feets | Up to 60 Feets | Up to 65 Feets | Up to 65 Feets | Up to 35 Feets | Up to 30 Feets |
| Motion Detection | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| SD Card Storage | Not Included, Class 10, 128G Maximum, No Monthly Fee | Not Included, Class 10, 128G Maximum, No Monthly Fee | Not Included, Class 10, 128G Maximum, No Monthly Fee | Not Included, Class 10, 128G Maximum, No Monthly Fee | Not Included, Class 10, 128G Maximum, No Monthly Fee | Not Included, Class 10, 128G Maximum, No Monthly Fee |
| Cloud Service | Subscription required | Subscription required | Subscription required | Subscription required | Subscription required | Subscription required |
| Dimensions: | 20.07 x 12.45 x 8.13 cm; 360 Grams |
| Manufacture: | NETVUE |
| Origin: | China |
| Reference: | Bullet Camera Black |
Excelle
We have two of these cameras set up to protect our holiday house in Spain.
They are very very easy to set up.
I took another reviewers suggestion of putting all of the wires in a junction box outside, as the cables are too bulky as a group to easily put through the wall, so I just put the power cable through.
The picture is great and it’s a little additive watching it!
Night vision is very impressive.
Haven’t had any problems with the motion sensor. It’s only pointing at our property so not getting cars or anything.
App works well and the live chat has been responsive with questions.
Can’t really go wrong for the price. Not that much more expensive than dummy cameras!
Excellent product and can be installed with little diy knowledge.
The camera arrived very well packaged. Set up was very easy. Installation was also easy but i had to buy an external waterproof junction box to put the three cables that are attached to the camera ( ac connection, ethernet connection, wifi connection ). I drilled a 16mm hole through my brick work and passed the power cable through and housed it in the junction box. Due to where i housed it and the thickness of my walls i have used a wifi extender to obtain good wifi coverage. The camera works really good and is clear and far out performs my ring security cam. Great product for the price. I will purchase more in the coming months to install around my property. Well done Netvue.
Good for the money, but overall could be better.
The installation is a bit of a nightmare, due to the fact you need a 20mm bit and an SDS drill to connect wires, as the 3 connectors are fixed to camera. It would have made more sense to allow them to be plugged in so you only needed a small hole so could use a standard drill bit and 18v drill. Motion sensor is temperamental, wont record our car parking, pretty large subject image, but will record endless hours of rain. But that said picture quality and build is good for the money.
Good budget camera. Easy to use
This Was the 1st Netvue camera I purchased (but I then bought 2 indoor ones I was so happy with it).
It is great to check on the house while I am out and I can even talk to anyone who rings the doorbell through the app.
Easy to set up.
My only negative is that it is quite big and obvious on the front of the house. If they ever make a smaller version I would replace this.
Great camera at an even better price poi
I was gifted the Netvue indoor camera which sparked this purchase and I am glad that I did!
Firstly, inside the package Netvue have provided everything that you need to fit this camera and all you need is contribute is a Drill and a Philips head screwdriver.
The power cable is long enough to suit most use cases and the camera can be used with Ethernet along with wifi (I chose WiFi) my router and camera has 2 walls and 5 metres of distance and I can still get a strong signal and smooth picture so that does speak volumes for the antenna on this product!
Adding the camera to my account via the app was easy enough but did take me two times because I think I walked too far away to get my WiFi key so make sure to have this handy! Regardless the whole setup process is easy for even the novice user!
The detection is good and the picture appears to be great also, we tested out two way audio which was nice but when there are cars driving past it really picks up the sound a lot so there is no noise cancellation technology here. Still a neat addition to a camera and it does fundamentally work!
A tip for you is that when I received the product it would not tilt the right way for my use case so I loosened the screws using the alien key at the base of the camera which allowed me to adjust this by turning the entire base and this then allowed me to get this into the correct position for my use case.
Overall a great camera at a nice price point, I will be using more of these in the future.
Excellent quality
The packaging and presentation of this product immediately stir confidence. The camera itself is sturdy and well made. It is connected via WiFi and this is a simple operation with the camera set temporarily next to my router. The app for android is fully functional and easy to use. Despite the camera being some 10m away from the router with a number of walls in the way the linkage is good – not showing as strong, but working even at low strength with no interruptions. The picture and sound quality are excellent and the trannsition from colour to black and white as light falls is without problem. Everything needed seems to be in the box, even down to a masonary drill if you were mounting against brick. I cannot fault this product, recommended to me by a friend and I would certainly recommend it to others.
Great quality - easy installatio
First time installing a security device of any kind so a real novice; although I would consider myself tech savvy.
The camer feels sturdy and well built to me.
The installation process was straight forward and mainly intuitive – connect to WIFI then scan the device barcode (in app video very helpful and professionally done) and it’s done!
The video quality is excellent – selection of motion detection area very handy to prevent a million notifications – and app very responsive so far.
The fact that you can talk through the camera will be very handy if you have no intention of answering door or if your out during parcel delivery.
In summary I selected this device mainly on price and on basis of prior amazon reviews and I’m very glad I selected it over the Ring doorbell that I had initially intended to buy!
Great cctv for the price
On the plus idea Really great, well built, solid, robust camera. The app works really well and it was all very easy to set up. The picture quality looks great too. I still need to play with the settings much more to get it all right, as I am getting alerts for every drop of rain that falls at the moment and that’s on the lowest sensitivity setting.
On the down side I was expecting more of a wide angle view. I think it’s meant to be 110 degrees, but all I can really see is the edge of two cars as the lens zooms in so much. I really wanted it to film across my whole driveway but that’s more down to me putting the camera in the wrong place. I should have tried it in different settings before I installed it, but there was really only one place it could go due to power and height restrictions.
But for the price, this is a great bit of kit.
Excellent quality
The packaging and presentation of this product immediately stir confidence. The camera itself is sturdy and well made. It is connected via WiFi and this is a simple operation with the camera set temporarily next to my router. The app for android is fully functional and easy to use. Despite the camera being some 10m away from the router with a number of walls in the way the linkage is good – not showing as strong, but working even at low strength with no interruptions. The picture and sound quality are excellent and the trannsition from colour to black and white as light falls is without problem. Everything needed seems to be in the box, even down to a masonary drill if you were mounting against brick. I cannot fault this product, recommended to me by a friend and I would certainly recommend it to others.
Great quality - easy installatio
First time installing a security device of any kind so a real novice; although I would consider myself tech savvy.
The camer feels sturdy and well built to me.
The installation process was straight forward and mainly intuitive – connect to WIFI then scan the device barcode (in app video very helpful and professionally done) and it’s done!
The video quality is excellent – selection of motion detection area very handy to prevent a million notifications – and app very responsive so far.
The fact that you can talk through the camera will be very handy if you have no intention of answering door or if your out during parcel delivery.
In summary I selected this device mainly on price and on basis of prior amazon reviews and I’m very glad I selected it over the Ring doorbell that I had initially intended to buy!
Appears to work well
I have installed this camera this morning which was very easy to do using the smartphone app and appears to be working well. The mobile app is quick and easy to use.
Had an issue with my new wifi hub as it is 5-g. but I went to my hubs user login on internet explorer and turned the 5g off so it could connect to the 2.5gh after installation, I turned the 5g back on and all is good.
This camera is as far superior to the previous camera I had of a similar price. I am very happy with this.
Easy to install and crisp images
I bought this to obtain a view of my front door area. I am not disappointed! All I had to do was download the app, link the camera to my WiFi and find a good position outside. Very easy and straightforward, there was even the correct drill bit in the box for fixing the screws. The images are very clear, even at night. I was alerted via my phone to movement outside, when I viewed the video it was a spider creating a web, that’s how sensitive it is. You can also adjust the motion sensitivity on the app as well as sleep time if required. I would certainly recommend this as one of the best on the market.
Great camera, full of features with a great price!
Absolutely superb camera especially for the price! Excellent picture quality both night & day vision. Motion detection with switchable zones, 2 way speaker & microphone, even alerts me on my Apple Watch when there’s motion. There are many cameras out there that do the same thing for 2 or 3 times the price, very very pleased.
One little negative & I hope the manufacturers take note……I’ve mounted the camera on a brick wall at the front of the house….the 3 plugs on the flying lead coming out of the camera are massive! I had to drill a 25mm hole to get the plugs through the wall, the lead itself is only 5 or 6mm, can you PLEASE make it so the flying lead can be unplugged from the camera with a little plug rather than drilling an inch hole!
Appears to work well
I have installed this camera this morning which was very easy to do using the smartphone app and appears to be working well. The mobile app is quick and easy to use.
Had an issue with my new wifi hub as it is 5-g. but I went to my hubs user login on internet explorer and turned the 5g off so it could connect to the 2.5gh after installation, I turned the 5g back on and all is good.
This camera is as far superior to the previous camera I had of a similar price. I am very happy with this.
Great camera, full of features with a great price!
Absolutely superb camera especially for the price! Excellent picture quality both night & day vision. Motion detection with switchable zones, 2 way speaker & microphone, even alerts me on my Apple Watch when there’s motion. There are many cameras out there that do the same thing for 2 or 3 times the price, very very pleased.
One little negative & I hope the manufacturers take note……I’ve mounted the camera on a brick wall at the front of the house….the 3 plugs on the flying lead coming out of the camera are massive! I had to drill a 25mm hole to get the plugs through the wall, the lead itself is only 5 or 6mm, can you PLEASE make it so the flying lead can be unplugged from the camera with a little plug rather than drilling an inch hole!
Great camera, full of features with a great price!
Absolutely superb camera especially for the price! Excellent picture quality both night & day vision. Motion detection with switchable zones, 2 way speaker & microphone, even alerts me on my Apple Watch when there’s motion. There are many cameras out there that do the same thing for 2 or 3 times the price, very very pleased.
One little negative & I hope the manufacturers take note……I’ve mounted the camera on a brick wall at the front of the house….the 3 plugs on the flying lead coming out of the camera are massive! I had to drill a 25mm hole to get the plugs through the wall, the lead itself is only 5 or 6mm, can you PLEASE make it so the flying lead can be unplugged from the camera with a little plug rather than drilling an inch hole!
Excellent cctv system for a fraction of the price
I purchased one of these cameras previously and I was so impressed I purchased two more in order to secure my entire home outside. It was so simple to setup I setup both cameras in 10 minutes. It has made me feel secure in my home as it is so simple to use on my phone/tablet that I no longer worry about leaving my home unattended as with motion detect I’m alway virtually there if someone calls to the door
When I looked to get a similar system in place professionally I was quoted 3/4 times the price that the three cameras cost me but I can’t put a price on the peace of mind it’s brought me. I’d have no hesitation in recommending
Excellent product Excellent seller.
I used this as an outdoor car security camera.It is a solid very well built security camera. Very clear set up instructions from the App. It will not join a 5GHz wifi router but wil 2.4GHz. I like the music differences for set up joyful for connected and mournful for unconnected. I am very pleased with my purchase and would recommend without any problems.Just make sure you can switch your router to 2.4GHz. Item arrived on time, well packaged. Excellent seller excellent product.
Very good cameras from a reliable brand
Netvue cameras are well made and come with clear instructions for set up. I have installed several different netvue cameras and they have always proved easy to connect to wifi. Once connected they rarely drop out, much better than other brands I’ve tried. I also think the netvue app is good and allows easy access to the cameras with easy to use options for both direct viewing and playback from sd cards (there is also a cloud option although this is quite expensive if you want to monitor multiple cameras but sd cards meet my needs. The motion detection sometimes gives a false alert but overall is still better than other cameras I’ve tried in this price range.
Very good cameras from a reliable brand
Netvue cameras are well made and come with clear instructions for set up. I have installed several different netvue cameras and they have always proved easy to connect to wifi. Once connected they rarely drop out, much better than other brands I’ve tried. I also think the netvue app is good and allows easy access to the cameras with easy to use options for both direct viewing and playback from sd cards (there is also a cloud option although this is quite expensive if you want to monitor multiple cameras but sd cards meet my needs. The motion detection sometimes gives a false alert but overall is still better than other cameras I’ve tried in this price range.
Very good cameras from a reliable brand
Netvue cameras are well made and come with clear instructions for set up. I have installed several different netvue cameras and they have always proved easy to connect to wifi. Once connected they rarely drop out, much better than other brands I’ve tried. I also think the netvue app is good and allows easy access to the cameras with easy to use options for both direct viewing and playback from sd cards (there is also a cloud option although this is quite expensive if you want to monitor multiple cameras but sd cards meet my needs. The motion detection sometimes gives a false alert but overall is still better than other cameras I’ve tried in this price range.
Very good cameras from a reliable brand
Netvue cameras are well made and come with clear instructions for set up. I have installed several different netvue cameras and they have always proved easy to connect to wifi. Once connected they rarely drop out, much better than other brands I’ve tried. I also think the netvue app is good and allows easy access to the cameras with easy to use options for both direct viewing and playback from sd cards (there is also a cloud option although this is quite expensive if you want to monitor multiple cameras but sd cards meet my needs. The motion detection sometimes gives a false alert but overall is still better than other cameras I’ve tried in this price range.
Very good camera
This camera is great for the money I am really impressed.Picture quality is good both in day and night mode, the speaker is a nice touch and works with no problems.Installation was easy, the only problem was the size hole you have to drill to put camera connections through into house.Work out position of camera In relation to plug socket is wise, you have about 2 m max, other wise you will have to run a extension lead or install another socket closer to where cable comes in.
The app works really well , I’ve used loads of times to see live streaming on my camera when out and about using 4g on phone.
I’ll be getting another soon for my back garden.
Very good camera
This camera is great for the money I am really impressed.Picture quality is good both in day and night mode, the speaker is a nice touch and works with no problems.Installation was easy, the only problem was the size hole you have to drill to put camera connections through into house.Work out position of camera In relation to plug socket is wise, you have about 2 m max, other wise you will have to run a extension lead or install another socket closer to where cable comes in.
The app works really well , I’ve used loads of times to see live streaming on my camera when out and about using 4g on phone.
I’ll be getting another soon for my back garden.
Impressive for the money
Excellent camera for the money, good night vision, superb sound quality, works WiFi or wired.
I set up the WiFi it was quite easy just a word of caution if you have a dual band router you need to split the 2.4ghz and 5ghz temporarily as the camera will only work on 2.4ghz, if you don’t do this it may be difficult to connect, you can switch 5ghz back on after its connected.
The camera works remotely via the app like a dream, it’s so easy to use, motion detection can be changed sensetivity and I believe the guys are looking at the motion detection being able to just pick up humans, they are constantly updating software and customer service is brilliant.
Would definitely recommend this product.
Great Buy.
This Product is a nice Piece of kit.
You get every thing to help you get up and running.
Even a Drill bit for drilling the holes for mounting the Camera.
The Camera is well made and easy to setup .
Night Vision is great and shows things very clearly and detailed.
Day time vision is exerlent Clear and in HD and the color is very normal and bright.
The focus of the lens is also good with no bluring.
This Camera is mains powered so no batterys to run down,which is great no rechageing
The Audio side is Avarage but who wants HIFi on a Camera.
The Camera is also easy to mount and get in Position.
One Thing I would like to say is that it would be nice to have a sealing plug if you are not going to hard wire the broadband side and just use the WiFi as it leaves a tiny hole in the cable enterance.
Iam just updateing the review to say I have purchased another of these had problem with a firmware update but that was very quickly sorted by the excellent netvue customer service on line chat.
Great pictures
After checking out a lot of reviews on Amazon we settled with installing netvue cameras rather than far more expensive models. Glad we saved the money. These work really well. The picture quality is pretty good both during the day and at night. Motion sensors work really well too. The app is useful and you can set motion alerts to specific areas rather than just the whole screen. Also, I was suprised how clear the sound was, but if someone comes up the drive I can be heard quite clearly even though this has been positioned up fairly high. I’ve already recommended this to a few people and will continue to do so. Great that you don’t have to sign up to a subscription and can put an SD card in to record. Easy to set up the app and we have shared it so that we both have it on our phones.
Great pictures
After checking out a lot of reviews on Amazon we settled with installing netvue cameras rather than far more expensive models. Glad we saved the money. These work really well. The picture quality is pretty good both during the day and at night. Motion sensors work really well too. The app is useful and you can set motion alerts to specific areas rather than just the whole screen. Also, I was suprised how clear the sound was, but if someone comes up the drive I can be heard quite clearly even though this has been positioned up fairly high. I’ve already recommended this to a few people and will continue to do so. Great that you don’t have to sign up to a subscription and can put an SD card in to record. Easy to set up the app and we have shared it so that we both have it on our phones.
Great pictures
After checking out a lot of reviews on Amazon we settled with installing netvue cameras rather than far more expensive models. Glad we saved the money. These work really well. The picture quality is pretty good both during the day and at night. Motion sensors work really well too. The app is useful and you can set motion alerts to specific areas rather than just the whole screen. Also, I was suprised how clear the sound was, but if someone comes up the drive I can be heard quite clearly even though this has been positioned up fairly high. I’ve already recommended this to a few people and will continue to do so. Great that you don’t have to sign up to a subscription and can put an SD card in to record. Easy to set up the app and we have shared it so that we both have it on our phones.
Great pictures
After checking out a lot of reviews on Amazon we settled with installing netvue cameras rather than far more expensive models. Glad we saved the money. These work really well. The picture quality is pretty good both during the day and at night. Motion sensors work really well too. The app is useful and you can set motion alerts to specific areas rather than just the whole screen. Also, I was suprised how clear the sound was, but if someone comes up the drive I can be heard quite clearly even though this has been positioned up fairly high. I’ve already recommended this to a few people and will continue to do so. Great that you don’t have to sign up to a subscription and can put an SD card in to record. Easy to set up the app and we have shared it so that we both have it on our phones.
Feature rich weatherproof camera for minimal outlay
Received the camera today. I bought this camera off the back of the NetVue Home Camera that I purchased approx 6 months ago. Getting it out of the box, straight away you know that you have been looked after as NetVue even supply the correct size drill bit for mounting the camera onto brick or concrete.
Build quality of the unit is great, good quality materials used. It’s nice that you get all of the required connectivity on there, Ethernet / PoE, WiFi and obviously standalone power.
Connecting it to the account I already have with NetVue was quick and easy. Just working out where to put it on the outside of my house for the best view is going to be the killer, but that’s down to the layout of my house.
Picture quality is great and the night vision is pretty clear too.
All in all a great product for the low cost, and I would highly recommend these to someone who doesn’t want to have proper CCTV cabling installed.
Feature rich weatherproof camera for minimal outlay
Received the camera today. I bought this camera off the back of the NetVue Home Camera that I purchased approx 6 months ago. Getting it out of the box, straight away you know that you have been looked after as NetVue even supply the correct size drill bit for mounting the camera onto brick or concrete.
Build quality of the unit is great, good quality materials used. It’s nice that you get all of the required connectivity on there, Ethernet / PoE, WiFi and obviously standalone power.
Connecting it to the account I already have with NetVue was quick and easy. Just working out where to put it on the outside of my house for the best view is going to be the killer, but that’s down to the layout of my house.
Picture quality is great and the night vision is pretty clear too.
All in all a great product for the low cost, and I would highly recommend these to someone who doesn’t want to have proper CCTV cabling installed.
Ease of installation combined with ease of installatio
I’ve had cctv around the house for ten years or so now. I started with the traditional DVR and SD cameras. I then changed my cctv system to a cloud based system which was ok until the cameras went blurry. I’ve now upgraded again to these Netvue outdoor IP rated cameras and our cctv has never been so clear or accessible.
The app is very useful as it has our Vuebell video door bell and all the cameras on one app. What makes this system the best so far is that all the cameras are crystal clear as is the two way communication.
Unlike the Ring video doorbell I originally purchased the Vuebell connects instantly as do the cameras.
Due to the clarity of the cameras three of my friends have now purchased these cameras themselves.
Decent Camera for Decent price.
I have installed two Vigil Outdoor camera in my house last week and so far quite pleased with it’s performance. Having used some other generic security camera in past I wanted to use Netvue as it works with Alexa.
The camera feels robust and very well built and decent size (Not too big not too small). It is clearly visible on the wall which would help deter some potential intruder anyway.
Set up was fairly straightforward through the app (available on Play and Appstore). I initially had some difficulty ‘Bonding’ the camera with the phone and ‘Server’ with one of the cameras, but after couple of reset and power cycles it rectified itself.
The picture quality is very good, You have the option to make it HD which gives you even crispier image, but I guess it may affect the band width.
Night vision (infra red) is moderate quality. It might be difficult to recognize faces if you needed to. Subjects closer to camera appear much brighter (even totally white), but I guess that’s how infra red works.
Motion detection is bit over sensitive. You get alert for wind blowing or sun getting dimmer when cloud passing over.
Video are stored locally on SD card and can be played back with options to choose date and time for playback.
I have not had to contact CS so far and am quite pleased with its performance.
Pro:
– Affordable price with lots of functions.
– Robust build quality and decent size camera
– Straightforward set up and ‘Bonding’ with phone /server
– Good day time picture quality. Night time image is bit of hit and miss.
– Motion detection alerts to your phone. Although it is too sensitive. (Hope updates coming soon.)
– Two way communication does work, but has slight delay (inevitable I guess). You can have some fun with the burglar!
– Share and control video stream with friend and family (through Netvue App)
Cons:
– Motion detection too sensitive. (triggered by shades, brightness and ?possibly noise too?)
– Microphone on the camera is too sensitive. Picks up lot of wind noise.
– Only works on 2.5 GHz WiFi
I was so happy with it that I recommended and bought 2 more Vigil for my sister in law and installed them in her house too. Now we share our home-security video stream! Keeping an eye (four cameras) on each others houses!
Does exactly what it's intended for.
I have a large Koi pond in my garden and I wanted to keep an eye on it while I was away on holiday. Bought these cameras as they were on offer. In summary, amazing bits of kit!
The picture quality is great. Using the phone app I can even zoom in on certain areas for a closer look.
You can lock out certain areas from motion detection with a tap of a finger. I locked out a roof top area where many birds like to land so as to stop the camera being triggered by them.
The night vision works a treat. Clear picture and very easy to make out features or things you want to look at.
The motion detection sensitivity takes a little bit of fiddling to get it just right but once it’s set you’re good to go.
I have my two cameras connected to my Echo Show so can easily check outside at any point by just asking Alexa!
Definitely worth the money and I will be buying one more soon to cover the other part of my garden.
Does exactly what it's intended for.
I have a large Koi pond in my garden and I wanted to keep an eye on it while I was away on holiday. Bought these cameras as they were on offer. In summary, amazing bits of kit!
The picture quality is great. Using the phone app I can even zoom in on certain areas for a closer look.
You can lock out certain areas from motion detection with a tap of a finger. I locked out a roof top area where many birds like to land so as to stop the camera being triggered by them.
The night vision works a treat. Clear picture and very easy to make out features or things you want to look at.
The motion detection sensitivity takes a little bit of fiddling to get it just right but once it’s set you’re good to go.
I have my two cameras connected to my Echo Show so can easily check outside at any point by just asking Alexa!
Definitely worth the money and I will be buying one more soon to cover the other part of my garden.
Does exactly what it's intended for.
I have a large Koi pond in my garden and I wanted to keep an eye on it while I was away on holiday. Bought these cameras as they were on offer. In summary, amazing bits of kit!
The picture quality is great. Using the phone app I can even zoom in on certain areas for a closer look.
You can lock out certain areas from motion detection with a tap of a finger. I locked out a roof top area where many birds like to land so as to stop the camera being triggered by them.
The night vision works a treat. Clear picture and very easy to make out features or things you want to look at.
The motion detection sensitivity takes a little bit of fiddling to get it just right but once it’s set you’re good to go.
I have my two cameras connected to my Echo Show so can easily check outside at any point by just asking Alexa!
Definitely worth the money and I will be buying one more soon to cover the other part of my garden.
Decent Camera for Decent price.
I have installed two Vigil Outdoor camera in my house last week and so far quite pleased with it’s performance. Having used some other generic security camera in past I wanted to use Netvue as it works with Alexa.
The camera feels robust and very well built and decent size (Not too big not too small). It is clearly visible on the wall which would help deter some potential intruder anyway.
Set up was fairly straightforward through the app (available on Play and Appstore). I initially had some difficulty ‘Bonding’ the camera with the phone and ‘Server’ with one of the cameras, but after couple of reset and power cycles it rectified itself.
The picture quality is very good, You have the option to make it HD which gives you even crispier image, but I guess it may affect the band width.
Night vision (infra red) is moderate quality. It might be difficult to recognize faces if you needed to. Subjects closer to camera appear much brighter (even totally white), but I guess that’s how infra red works.
Motion detection is bit over sensitive. You get alert for wind blowing or sun getting dimmer when cloud passing over.
Video are stored locally on SD card and can be played back with options to choose date and time for playback.
I have not had to contact CS so far and am quite pleased with its performance.
Pro:
– Affordable price with lots of functions.
– Robust build quality and decent size camera
– Straightforward set up and ‘Bonding’ with phone /server
– Good day time picture quality. Night time image is bit of hit and miss.
– Motion detection alerts to your phone. Although it is too sensitive. (Hope updates coming soon.)
– Two way communication does work, but has slight delay (inevitable I guess). You can have some fun with the burglar!
– Share and control video stream with friend and family (through Netvue App)
Cons:
– Motion detection too sensitive. (triggered by shades, brightness and ?possibly noise too?)
– Microphone on the camera is too sensitive. Picks up lot of wind noise.
– Only works on 2.5 GHz WiFi
I was so happy with it that I recommended and bought 2 more Vigil for my sister in law and installed them in her house too. Now we share our home-security video stream! Keeping an eye (four cameras) on each others houses!
Does exactly what it's intended for.
I have a large Koi pond in my garden and I wanted to keep an eye on it while I was away on holiday. Bought these cameras as they were on offer. In summary, amazing bits of kit!
The picture quality is great. Using the phone app I can even zoom in on certain areas for a closer look.
You can lock out certain areas from motion detection with a tap of a finger. I locked out a roof top area where many birds like to land so as to stop the camera being triggered by them.
The night vision works a treat. Clear picture and very easy to make out features or things you want to look at.
The motion detection sensitivity takes a little bit of fiddling to get it just right but once it’s set you’re good to go.
I have my two cameras connected to my Echo Show so can easily check outside at any point by just asking Alexa!
Definitely worth the money and I will be buying one more soon to cover the other part of my garden.
Good Value and Quality
I’ve bought 3 of these now having bought one first for a trial for wi-fi coverage. I get less than a 50% signal on all 3 and the cameras still work fine giving good images. I’m with BT and found it easier to connect to WiFi using the QR code option rather than the default method. The installation app generates a QR code and you just place it in front of the camera to read. The black waterproof junction 85mm boxes (also on Amazon) are used to protect the camera cables. This means you only have to drill a small hole through the wall for the power cable and into the back of the junction box. The power cable is about 3 metres and a good length. Use the black cap protecting the aerial socket to put over the power cable and protect it as you thread it through the wall. The app is good and simple to use and you can view the cameras over Alexa show and on your mobile phone. I found installation fairly easy using the QR generated code and its a good value peace of mind security solution.
Good Quality for the Price
Bought this a few days ago after we had some dodgy characters hanging around the streets. I didn’t expect much for live feedback quality, especially since we have terrible internet at our house (topping out at 1Mbps Upload speed). I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the video, even despite the poor speeds. There’s a slight delay between the video and “real life”, which may be annoying to try and talk to delivery drivers, but otherwise is fine.
The microphone picks up the wind far too easily, even despite the fact it is in a fairly sheltered location. Additionally, it will pick up your voice if you’re talking – so you’ll hear yourself on the playback.
The whole thing is easy to set up, and the mobile app (on Android, at least) has a good layout and is easy to understand. You cannot mute the live feedback, which can be annoying, but you can mute any motion sensor/playback videos. It has a nice feature for being able to select “zones” for the motion sensor to trigger or not, and overall feels smooth to use.
Using the motion sensor for alerts is a nice system, however it does keep alerting us for no apparent reason. We do have a couple of flowers about 5 metres in front of the camera, but sometimes it doesn’t even look like they move much. It also doesn’t always seem to alert me immediately, and it doesn’t seem to alert until after the video has uploaded to the Cloud – which on our internet can take a couple of minutes. It’s also worth noting that the camera comes with 2 weeks of free Motion Sensor Cloud Service, but after that it’s around $20 a year for the service. Not an awful price, and considering how cheap the camera is it’s not unexpected, really.
It also records 10-13 seconds of motion capture, which it will then upload for you. This will also only occur every few minutes – meaning if you have two or more “activities” in a short period, you’ll only get the start period of the first activity. For example, we can see the Post Man arrive and park up outside our house, but it doesn’t auto-record him walking up to our door, dropping the post off, then driving off again. If we want to view that, we have to go to the SD Playback, or if we’re on time, live view.
Night vision quality is good. Not good enough to read a numberplate, but I think that’s tough to do anyway without spending a lot on a camera.
If you want to upload all footage to the Cloud, it’s expensive. We bought an SD Card to go with it, but won’t pay for the permanent Cloud Service. Whilst I’m sure it’s useful, especially in the case of a destroyed camera or stolen SD Card, our internet wouldn’t be good enough for that. I believe it’s around $60 annually for that service.
If the camera gets knocked offline, or turned off, you cannot connect at all. Not sure if this is still the case for accessing cloud videos, though I’d suspect you probably still can.
The inbuilt SD Card slot is an easy place to store it, however it does mean that if the camera is damaged you could lose all footage, and therefore evidence.
The whole thing was easy to install on to the house, coming with a drill part that is the perfect size. The only reason I’m giving it 4/5 is due to the cost of the Cloud Services. Otherwise, a great camera that I’ve already recommended to a coworker!
The camera was easy to setup, with a very simple app once it had been downloaded. I already had the app as I have a Netvue Orb camera, (which has given good service for over a year). Going through adding another camera and using the camera to pick up the QR code and the camera was ready to go. I use Android.
The camera can be used with either WiFi or Ethernet. The Ethernet connector is large, which means a larger diameter hole has to be drilled in the wall to accommodate this, but as I have the necessary drills this was no problem to me. The picture quality is very good for a budget camera. Night vision is also sufficient for viewing movements, which cannot be said for many cheaper cameras.
As I have PoE switches, I used a PoE splitter, with a voltage set to 12V, which is the voltage provided by the included mains adapter. This worked with no problem, so now I only have to provide an Ethernet wire through the house, which is far easier than having to provide a mains connection.
Very pleased with this purchase and will likely add a further one soon. Price makes this a no brainer purchase.
Love it, simple to set up and use highly recommended
Love this camera. I search around for a while and found the vigil from Netvue. Easy to set up, a couple of ding dongs and around of applause that comes from the speaker and it’s done. Once set up I mounted it outside overlooking the back gates to keep an eye on the cars. So far I have spotted a magpie flying toward it, the in-laws watering the garden while we were on holiday and the next door neighbour flinging cat poo onto the drive… wondered where that had been coming from!!
With an SD card in I have about 10 days on a loop, managed to catch some suspicious behaviour when a neighbour mentioned it, great feature
The two way speaker is a nifty addition, love catching people out as the motion alert goes off and my voice booms down to them love it so much, I now have two. At 40 a piece they are just the ticket. Go on stick it in your baske
Easy instillatio
Great first time camera easy to set up on the app it as gives you a step by step guide. It also comes with the drill bit needed to put the camera up. Im not technically minded at all and if I can do it anyone can I would say an ethernet cable gives you better internet connection depending on how far away your camera is from your wifi router but that’s not included in the pack.
Great little outdoor camera by NetVue.
It has a brilliant night vision feature and excellent weatherproof protection, you can get a full HD live feed of your home anytime via the NetVue app, which I’ve been using for a while now with my other NetVue cameras I have around my house (I love gadgets! Lol ok I like to spy on my cat lol)
Connected to the Internet through Wi-Fi or network cable, the camera allows you to have a real-time view of your garden or driveway on your phone.
It has a clear 1080P Full HD Image
which means you can see clearly of what’s happening around your house without it being blurry like a lot of cameras out there.
Infrared Night Vision gives you a night vision of up to 65 feet (20 m) in the dark. Works with the 8x digital zoom.
The camera is integrated with high-quality two-way audio too so you can listen to the sound around your house, in the meanwhile talk to or scare off the intruders when you are not home, or when you are!
It has customisable Motion Detections also, which means you can customise the motion detection zone on the Netvue App to only receive the important notifications on your desired areas and avoid being overwhelmed by unnecessary alerts.
You can also get notified with unusual activities, which again brings even more peace of mind!
The Vigil camera automatically records continuous videos for up to 14 days on the Netvue Cloud, along with the ring call conversation you have with your visitors and unusual activities detected. Access and replay these clips whenever needed afterward.
The BEST FEATURE (for me anyway!) is the fact that it works with Amazon Alexa!
Simply call to Alexa and speak to your Amazon devices to view your front door camera or watch history events.
Not only does it have all these features, I can’t quite believe it’s so reasonably priced! It’s extremely well built and feels very solid! The box comes with everything you need to set it up including a drill bit.
I am honestly so surprised with this camera that I’m already wanting to buy more so I can put them around the house. For security but mainly because I love gadgets! Lol I definitely recommend buying one 🙂
If this review has helped you in anyway could you please give it a thumbs up/like for me? I’d really appreciate that 🙂
Almost perfec
I am going to split this into pro’s and cons for ease of reading.
Pro’s: This is ‘so’ easy to install and setup. I was expecting a long complicate process but iI was up and running in less than an hour (including mounting).
The initial setup is easy, simply scan QR code on the device after installing the app on your iPhone/iPad then follow simple steps. Mounting was easy – although required drilling forge holes for connectors. Adjustment is good with almost 360 degree rotation.
In use it is easy to use, the app loads well on the phone and alters well. The display is clear and sound is good.
Cons:
Large holes required for installation. Can be made easier if you drill 2 x 20mm holes in brick work mortar side by side.
Detection can be too sensitive at night with the motion alerts going off. Suggest play with settings.
Overall,
very good value and does exactly what is expected for the price. No complaints.
Some Firmware issues, but that will be fixed
Although I initially changed from a 5 to a poor one star review because of various issues with the support team trying to blame my Wi-Fi for a failure that was really a camera fault. The reality is that this camera product does capture every movement that occurs with good quality images, and it does warn you of a possible intruders in the detection zone through Alexa. OK, it still goes offline occasionally currently, and then support should quite quickly breathe life back into it when called. But this is a firmware issue which they will definitely fix hopefully soon, and its better priced than all the other big brand names that don’t work with Alexa. So I’m upping to 4 stars until the firmware is fixed then maybe 5.
Brilliant security camera and app
These cameras are brilliant. Can’t recommend enough. Very easy to instagram tall and once running perfect security camera. The mic is good and clear possibly a little quiet but very good. The aftersale team is very helpful and the app is brilliant with live chat for assistance. The only thing I would change is how sensitive the motion sensor is, even on lowest setting I still get a lot of alerts. But better that than non at all. Look no further just buy this one!
Excellent external security camera!
Excellent camera and very easy to set up… After I worked out why it wasn’t working. Originally it would not link to my 2.4/5ghz dual band WiFi. The app had a great deal of info for troubleshooting and the support chat was excellent. As it wasn’t connecting for me they sent a solution to get an update through but still wasn’t working. After a while I worked out that the wireless mesh network in my house was a little adva ced for the WiFi card in the camera. Once I’d turned off the advanced features on my home WiFi (not needed for me really) it linked really well and was easy to install!
Great camera
I bought 2 cameras and they arrived very quickly. Setting up was very easy, following the Netvue app instructions and in a very short time I could monitor the camera feed on my phone. Very good value and impressive looking camera which I think should deter burglars. Picture is very good on the phone. The leads do make it difficult to route through a wall as the ethernet connector is 2cms which is a sizable hole to drill. Would be better if a single lead could be connected up the other side of the wall. Overall very pleased, especially at the low price. Note that the Micro SD card must be purchased separately.
Very good camera
This security camera provides a very good picture in both dark and light conditions. The motion sensor reacts as expected and links well with Alexa to receive warnings when activated. The accompanying phone app is simple and easy to use.
The only negative I can see is that the camera cable is on the large side. The cable splits in to 3 (2 inputs and a wireless button activator) which requires a large hole in the wall to feed through. I feel this could have been designed better to allow for a smaller hole.
I would still recommend this camera to others despite the one negative mentioned above.
Simple to set up and operate (via the App). Motion Detection Hit and Miss (for my purpose).
I already have a Netvue Orb and find the set up and quality of recordings very good, and have been using it to monitor our cats when we are away.
When our garden started getting dug up in the early spring I turned to the Orb to record what was happening in the garden. However using the camera to monitor outside motion is hit and miss and certainly not effective with the infra red camera as the light reflects off the windows at night. With the Netvue Bullet on discount I decided to give it a go and see if it was more effective than the workaround I had with the Orb camera.
I will give an appraisal, but would stress that my experience relates to observing movement in the garden (cats, badgers, foxes, hedgehogs, etc..) and not to monitoring people, cars parking, etc..:
Pros:
– Simple to set up (but I had Netvue camera already).
– Good App for managing settings, sensitivity, recordings and alerts. You can view anywhere, not just when you are on the same local network.
– Picks up wifi signal easily outdoors.
– Good quality picture and recordings.
– Easy to download videos (but miss the stills that were available in earlier releases of the SW)
– Comes with everything in the box (even a drill bit) to get the camera installed externally.
– Helpful videos that guide youthrough the process.
– Customer Service focused.
Cons:
– It works on 2.4Ghz only, so you will need to play around with your wifi settings if you have a 5Ghz/2.4Ghz router.
– Some movement is easily triggered with an alert (a moth flying past the camera, change in light/shadow, spider threads, etc..), but surprisingly less sensitive to actual movement further away. I will continue to play around with settings to see if I can get this to work better, but for now I have to wade through a lot of false positives. I suspect this is the same for many cameras, though.
– You need a longer cable to have any chance of positioning the camera outdoors – good news is that extension cables are easily available on Amazon (and elsewhere I am sure).
– The video that is captured when motion is triggered seems to miss the interesting movement (may be linked to the above) and you need to use the actual recording to see what is really happening.
– Downloading longer videos is done in real time so can be tedious.
– It would be great if there was a desktop/web version of the App.
Excellent camera value for money
I have now bought two (2) 1080p Outdoor Security Cameras by Netvue through Amazon, and plan to buy a further one (1) to complete my exterior security system. I bought this product after careful consideration and research on the net. I have had these a number of weeks and can now share my experience. So far the product has been excellent, basically it does what is says on the tin. The picture quality is excellent, features and app are easy to use, and to date no problems. The installation was no problem took ten (10) minutes once I bound it using the correct WiFi frequency, 2.4GHz. The units cover my exterior doors and blend in to the background. I had a couple of questions after I set them up, these were dealt with swiftly by the online support. Value for money I would give 10/10 and have been recommending the cameras to my family and friends (they too were impressed with the picture quality), in fact my son has now bought one.
NETVUE-Great priced high quality camera
It’s my first security camera and I’m very pleased with it.
Good points:
Installation: easy enough to do, aids there to use which are very useful.
Setup: easy as downloading an App and scanning the QR code and walla.
Picture quality: extremely clear (see picture)
Sound quality: 5 star very clear and the microphone is very good, can. Easily hear the birds from back of the house.
Bad points:
Only one really, due to the antenna being quite large it can get slightly in the way. As Ive place mine on the side of the house and placed it at a 90 degree angle. I wasnt able to quite the picture level. Maybe if the antenna was attached lower down on the bracket say. Then there be no problem.
Overall very impressed for such a cheap camera and I’ll be definitely recommending them to family and friends.
Really Good Produc
I’ve had this installed about a month and it’s far superior to a previous make I had. I’ve had teething problems with it but most resolved now. Easy to set up and the associated App is easy to use. Only issue is that even on the lowest sensitivity setting the motion detection is very sensitive. However I received a blanket email this morning informing me that the is an imminent upgrade to resolve this issue as this issue had been raised by a number of other customers. Overall I’m very pleased with the camera.
Fantastic Upgrade from previous camera!
I recently brought the HomeCam Indoor secuirty cam from the same seller last month and had a few problems with it and these got resolved really well and rapidly because of this i decided to buy a new camera for the outside secuirty of my house.
This camera was very easy to set-up with fantastic packagin. It was simple enough to pair with my Wi-Fi connection by following the simple instructions given on the app (it is worth noting that these camera’s doesn’t work on 5Ghz signal so if you have this problem you need to go into your router settings and enable 2.4Ghz signal) hanging the camera on the wall was easy to do also with the included stencil to help you line up where you need to drill the holes in the wall.
Overall with this camera i am really happy with it and would recommend this to anyone!
I have been a long time user of another brand of wifi camera but kept having connection issues, So I though I would give Netvue a go prompted by other reviews and there very competitive price. WOW! I am so glad I did, I started off with the Netvue home cam and I was that impressed I bought another, I was so equally impressed with that I then bought this Vigil, These cameras are easy to set up, The image quality both night and day is simply perfect, The motion detection and saved clips ‘of that detection’ gives you so much piece of mind.. I would highly recommend Netvue even to my own family. Excellent product in every way.
Great camera at an affordable price
I have been thinking about getting security camera for some time and after much deliberation I chose Netvue Vigil. I have had the camera for a few weeks now and I’m very pleased with my purchase.
The setup is a relatively straightforward process using the smart phone app. You have the option of wireless or wired network connection which is really dependant on the strength of your wireless signal.
The quality of the footage is very good and I am especially impressed with the video captured at night. The option to download clips or stills to your phone is very useful. I also like the fact that you can link Netvue to your Amazon Alexa account — so you can view the output on your tv should you wish!
I would definitely recommend.
Great Value.
Great value cameras, especially if you buy on discount days. Picture is great, two way audio very useful as is Alexa integration to show the various views on a fire tv or echo show etc. Only one issue I have is that there doesn’t appear to be a cloud storage option for a group of cameras and you have to purchase a subscription for each which can be expensive imo. That said you can insert a Micro SD and record that way.
Great camera, easy to use app.
Have now purchased numerous Netvue cameras for us, neighbours and family members.
We use this outdoor one for covering our entire driveway and the garden gates. Very useful for keeping an eye on the house, cars, garden and pets…
Best mounted high to avoid tampering, also unless you have the cloud back up for storage, as with only an SD card as back up, any thief getting their hands on it will take the evidence with them!
This is a brilliant camera, we are very impressed as this is mounted on the relevant side of our house in the dormer attic window on the second floor (G, 1, 2) for ease of connection. The night vision is clear also a spider currently seems attracted to it for web building which is giving numerous motion alerts!
Motion detection is proving tricky for us to refine as although the camera cannot see the road, it picks up the headlights shining into the driveway every time a car goes past. This is also creating motion alerts, but we hope to fine tune it (only had it a week).
As with all NetVue products the app is easy to use, the motion detection areas is in 12 zones on a grid to (hopefully) prevent unnecessary alerts (!) and the sound is very clear and even two floors down on ground level, the microphone can speak to someone in the garden.
I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 only because we are struggling with the motion sensitivity with passing headlights.
Very good value.
When an external pan and tilt camera option becomes available it will perfect the NetVue range.
This is my second netvue camera, the first on front of the house and this one for rear. The quality of camera is very good and images really clear, family and friends all impressed! Connecting to router (BT hub) was a little frustrating, but i expected that as bt is DUAL banded. ( used another tip by review on this site,and connected wireless at the farthest point of wifi range which they reckon forces 2.4 ghz on bt hub !!?) took several attempts on both cameras but connect eventually no problem. It uses two ways to connect – smart and QR scan which seem good (i used qr scan both times ) really happy with product but think ALL reviews should have a negative point to help other purchasers, mine would be that if camera is placed high up( on fascia board like my front camera) then when you zoom in to recorded video it starts to lose image quality a little making recognition a bit harder. Rear camera is placed lower as instruction book recommends and image is clear. For price the quallity is great.
Simple set up and excellent picture quality day and nigh
The install for the camera is relatively easy for a typical DIY person. It does require power in the form of a plug or feed from a CCTV box if chosen. The picture and audio quality on the camera are excellent with just a small delay on audio which is likely the fault of wifi on its part. The motion detection can be very sensitive so takes some playing around with to set up to your liking but this is a good thing as I see it. I will be buying another camera to cover all aspects of the house. The ability to add an SD card for continuous recording saves on cost as it can replace the subscription service available, although I have had to reformat the card a couple of times due to a fault – not sure if this is with the card or how the camera uses it.
Motion detection is too sensitive to sound
The camera has a good quality lens and is easy to set up. The problem comes with motion detection. During the day it constantly sends alerts based on noise rather than motion. Even though I set it up with just one square area of motion detection it still picks up loud noises when cars go past. I set in on the minimum sensitivity but it doesn’t seem to make any difference.
At night the problem was the opposite – initially there was no motion detection as soon as it was dark although after a couple of weeks of emails back and forth to support they sent through new firmware which resolved this problem.
The quality of the recording is excellent.
If they could find a way of reducing the sensitivity to sound this would improve the camera 100%. Even if you could turn off the detection of sound that would work.
To be fair the customer support is very good.
Update – the customer support team are brilliant – they respond within hours and do everything they can so resolve problems. The motion detection issue is now with their research team and I am confident that they will come up with a solution to the sensitivity issue very quickly.
Motion detection is too sensitive to sound
The camera has a good quality lens and is easy to set up. The problem comes with motion detection. During the day it constantly sends alerts based on noise rather than motion. Even though I set it up with just one square area of motion detection it still picks up loud noises when cars go past. I set in on the minimum sensitivity but it doesn’t seem to make any difference.
At night the problem was the opposite – initially there was no motion detection as soon as it was dark although after a couple of weeks of emails back and forth to support they sent through new firmware which resolved this problem.
The quality of the recording is excellent.
If they could find a way of reducing the sensitivity to sound this would improve the camera 100%. Even if you could turn off the detection of sound that would work.
To be fair the customer support is very good.
Update – the customer support team are brilliant – they respond within hours and do everything they can so resolve problems. The motion detection issue is now with their research team and I am confident that they will come up with a solution to the sensitivity issue very quickly.
Motion detection is too sensitive to sound
The camera has a good quality lens and is easy to set up. The problem comes with motion detection. During the day it constantly sends alerts based on noise rather than motion. Even though I set it up with just one square area of motion detection it still picks up loud noises when cars go past. I set in on the minimum sensitivity but it doesn’t seem to make any difference.
At night the problem was the opposite – initially there was no motion detection as soon as it was dark although after a couple of weeks of emails back and forth to support they sent through new firmware which resolved this problem.
The quality of the recording is excellent.
If they could find a way of reducing the sensitivity to sound this would improve the camera 100%. Even if you could turn off the detection of sound that would work.
To be fair the customer support is very good.
Update – the customer support team are brilliant – they respond within hours and do everything they can so resolve problems. The motion detection issue is now with their research team and I am confident that they will come up with a solution to the sensitivity issue very quickly.
A great outdoor security camera, bang for your buck!!!!
This is my third Netvue purchase, the first being a Vuebell. I am really pleased with this product, the body of the camera is solid and mounted on a articulate arm, included in the box along with the camera was an allen key so you can adjust the angle of the arm and a masonry drill bit. One has the option of connecting the camera to the network via WiFi or LAN. Setup was really easy, it only took a couple of minutes. The picture quality is superb and the microphone is amazing, I have my camera mounted at 18 feet just under the eves of the roof and the mic can pick up sound clearly 30 feet away. I have not installed a microSD card at I use netvue’s cloud service which I find great value. I currently have the camera hooked up via WiFi but it is my intention to use LAN. My only quibble it that the camera is not PoE.
All in all a great camera
So simple to set up - it just works!
We are using this product to detect people on our driveway. We already have a camera in the house and this just gave us the added level of security.
We were so impressed how easy it was to install this camera – it has fabulous night vision, the only thing we had to adjust was the direction it was pointing in as we found passing headlights and people were setting it off. The picture quality is great. I like the fact I can just ask Alexa to show me the drive and she does!!!
I am always hesitant when products say they are so easy to set up but I can honestly say we had this camera set up in a few minutes using the app on the phone and had it installed and working so quickly. Really impressed.
I bought this in April 2019 to watch over my front garden. For the price it’s an excellent buy and gives both excellent picture and sound quality. I definitely recommend – even though Netvue have given me an incentive of a 64GB SD card to write this, it has not influenced what I am saying here (it just influenced me to write a review!)
It does need plugging in so it has to be installed near a socket. There is a reasonable but not excessive length of cable from the plug-in transformer. The Netvue app is easy to use once you get the hang of it although annoyingly doesn’t work in landscape mode which means you have to turn your phone round to view the video in landscape.
The camera connects very well to any Alexa device via the Alexa app – including FireStick, so I monitor the picture on my TV. This is a really useful feature. It is fiddly getting the camera and app to connect to your WiFi and then to sync with the Alexa app but once done it works very well. I was impressed with the customer support on this which is available on chat or email. Apparently support is also on by dialling them on phone though I didn’t try that.
The motion alert is annoying since even with some of the zones switched off and the sensitivity reduced it doesn’t take much to set it off. You can switch this feature off. The two-way audio is good and easy to use from the app.
The night feature is automatic and good, though is affected by objects (eg a wall) close to the camera which reduces the visibility of farther objects. A very useful feature is the SD card (not supplied) which will automatically overwrite once full.
I’ve found a 128GB card (the highest the camera will take) will record about three weeks’ worth. Playback is relatively easy to select if you know the date and time although you can’t scrub through – you have to watch it in real time at the point you select. In short, a good buy.
Ease of use and good connectivity.
Excellent camera. Was very dubious about a wifi security camera however its brilliant. I was sceptical of the signal and thought I’d have issues with the wifi signal dropping out. So far so good. I have put a 64GB card in the camera which is perfect. The camera keeps a constant recording so you can always go back to motion detection moments.
I have the camera mounted on my soffit and its plugged in to a socket in my loft. I thought the microphone and speaker were going to be a waste of time but i can clearly hear anyone talking at my front door. Perfect as a deterrent and the night vision is a good quality.
Easy to set up and works really well with Alexa on the TV.
Absolute bargain if you ask me.
Ive had the Netvue Outdoor Security Camera for a few months now and it has been working really well, its1080P Waterproof Wireless WiFi Bullet Camera with IR Night Vision. It has caught everything and given me peace of mind with a very clear image. What I thought was an intruder at night setting off my security lights ended up being a Fox knowing this gives us peace of mind
You cant go wrong with these cameras and the cost is very reasonable
Home Security
I bought this camera so I could view my front door via my Alexa show, Alexa Spot, and on my phone.
It does exactly that, in a matter of seconds, in superb HD, and with sound, which is very clear.
You can even have a conversation with whoever is at the door, when viewing on your phone.
I am well impressed.
The night vision is also very clear indeed.
I already had a CCTV camera on the front door, but that is not viewable on my Alexa devices, and it also takes a fair while to connect, via the app on my phone..
This Netvue camera is a far quicker, and better way of seeing who is at my front door, as it only takes a few seconds to connect, and enable viewing of that area.
There are options to connect via a wired, or wireless connection. I opted for the wireless connection, which works absolutely fine, and meant I didn’t have to run a network cable to the camera.
The ability to view the camera on my phone is very useful when away from home.
You can even set up alerts to your phone, when motion is detected, should you enable motion detection in the app.
There is an option of fitting an SD card, to record the footage, and there is also an option for cloud storage, at very reasonable prices.
It comes with a free 2 week trial, but I think I’ll be taking out a yearly subscription when that ends. (Monthly option is also available)
All in all, this is definitely one of my better purchases, and I wholeheartedly recommend this product.
At the price, it’s a no brainer.
I’m loving this! We have a particularly awkward outdoor view, and cannot see the gate or visitors without going outdoors and round the corner, so I decided to be brave and try an outdoor camera, although it did seem a bit sci-fi and hi-tech for our rather basic household…. Ordered yesterday, delivered today, watching everything this evening!
The physical installation was a bit trying, but that was as much to do with the awkwardness of our setting as anything else – it took several attempts to work out how to get the all-round rotation of the camera to work (you have to loosen something otherwise it seems just to go up and down, so you can’t easily get the view you want straight off), but it was well worth the effort and fiddling around.
The software set-up is very simple due to a brilliant interface which walks you through everything in the most basic fashion. Being able to scan the camera label means that you instantly connect with the correct item (instead of having to search a list and still being unsure you’ve selected the right model, as used to be the norm for installing new bits of kit). The instructions work perfectly, and give you reassuring feedback – but you do need to be patient while waiting for it to connect. With both my indoor and outdoor camera I had to reset both the camera and our router.
Knowing how easily I got my first (indoor) camera to work, I just needed to be a bit more patient than I was to start with for the outdoor camera – but that just allowed me the opportunity of testing the easily accessible (via the app) helpdesk which was much quicker than most “instant” chats, and was able to tell me when my camera was on-line simply by dint of me having contacted them through the app which had already identified the camera.
The hardware looks to be durable and good quality; the picture is superb; and having discovered I can now watch the gate from my desk via my Echo Spot, I don’t need to drain the battery on my iPhone all the time by watching what’s going on!
I’ve not tested the night vision yet, but knowing that the indoor camera has excellent night vision I’m assuming this will be as good.
Finally, I have also discovered that individual cameras can be linked to more than one Netvue account, which means that my husband and I have both the outdoor camera and the indoor bedroom camera (for checking whether the baby is awake from her nap) whilst a friend can see just the outdoor camera to watch for deliveries or work out why the burglar alarm is going off, but can’t see our bedroom.
Couldn’t be more pleased.
I’ve just moved to the Netvue brand from another type of camera, and I have to say, the Netvue have been 1005 reliable. I can connect first time, every time – something I wasn’t used to before.
Anyway, this particular camera is designed for the outdoor – it’s in a hefty, tough case, and the connections are external to the camera, so there’s no possibility of water getting into the joints. This does mean you need a small waterproof box to hide the connections, but that just neatens it all up anyway.
Setup – remember to pair the camera whilst it (and you!) are at ground level, if you’re mounting it high up. Rookie mistake to not do that first! It paired simply, and… that’s all there is to it! I’ve found the wifi connection stable, even though it’s outside and as far away from my router as it can get, so no problems there.
Night vision – can’t really tell, as there’s a streetlight at the end of my drive. I don’t know how it would work in total darkness, but for me, it’s fine. I suspect that like most home cameras, it would benefit from additional lighting, possibly infra-red, if you were trying to cover a larger area, but for looking over my driveway, it’s fine.
App – again, it works well. Connects first time every time, fairly responsive. There are a lot of reviews in the store saying the app crashes, but I’ve used it on both iPhone and Android, without a problem.
I wish I’d found this brand before. I can see myself buying more of these cameras. I really like the Alexa integration, so I can sit at my desk and tell my Echo Spot to “Alexa, show me the kitchen” and it pops up a few seconds later.
Highly recommended.
Update – Just a note for the smart home enthusiasts: There is no IFTTT. Smart Things or tuya/smartlife integration here.
My first impressions: of the Netvue “Vigil” Security Camera
My expectations weren’t too high for an external camera in this price range. I expected a plastic camera casing for this price point. However, I was surprised when un boxing revealed a sturdy metal camera housing with a PVC waterproof coating, this is a robust camera.
Setting up: My router is dual band 2.4/5 Ghz with a single SSID used by both bands. The camera is 2.4GHz, so thought I might be in for a struggle. I tried setting the Vigil up with my phone and the Netvue app failed to connect. I think it was trying to connect to 5Ghz (as modern phones default to this). I was just about to dig out an old 2.4GHz phone (my go to method when facing this issue) when I thought I’d let the Netvue app guide me here as it suggested I use the QR Code it generates for your network when auto connection fails. This worked like a charm and I was up and running minutes later.
The Vigil uses the same App that both the Home Security and Orb cameras use, so I had no issues navigating the menus as I had purchased a home camera a few months earlier (see my earlier review on that). I really like the timeline feature that allows you to select a given date and time for video playback. You can also record this playback to your phone or tablet for later viewing (which would be really useful for security incidents). I’m hoping to use the motion detection feature to catch an urban fox that roams around our estate (time will tell on that one). If I do I’ll update this review with the footage.
The Vigil can be hard wired or connected via wireless (my chosen option for now). I would suggest keeping the camera close to a good wifi source until you have updated the firmware. This ensures no unforeseen issues later on when installing externally.
Micro SD Card: I would also recommend adding a micro SD Card at this point whilst you have the camera at hand as this will be much more difficult once the camera is mounted on a wall outside (Unless you’re thinking of taking advantage of the cloud storage offer).
The micro SD Card is installed via a little flap under the camera body (see photo attached). Remove the two screws and set aside (no retaining washers so will fall out) and lift the flap. Be VERY careful when lifting the flap as it has two short wires attached to the microphone. Insert the micro SD card carefully into the slot (see Photo). The card will only fit in one way and uses the same holder found in modern mobile phones. Whilst on the subject of micro SD Cards Don’t think about adding a small capacity / slow card, pay for a decent class 10 card as they aren’t expensive nowadays and you’ll save yourself a whole load of buffering issues. I have a 64GB card in my Home camera and it stores about 7 days worth of 24/7 coverage. So If you want longer timeline storage duration but don’t want the jump in price for a 128GB card, you could subscribe to Netvue cloud storage just for the duration of say your two week’s holiday.
Initial testing: I’ve installed the camera at around 10 feet high for testing (see footage). It covers my entire garden no problem. It needs to be higher (out of reach) once I’m happy with the setup. Care is needed when placing the camera near direct sunlight as it can wash out part of the picture. Resolution is OK, I viewed on an old IPAD at first which didn’t do the footage justice, I then used my mobile to cast it to a 48″ 4K TV and it looked a lot sharper. Colours are great, sound is a bonus as I didn’t expect any (it picks up bird song so quite sensitive). This did cause slight issues with wind noise so take that into consideration when choosing your camera location. The intercom feature has a slight delay (which was noticed on the home camera too). However, I don’t think I’ll be relying on that feature so no issue for me.
Infrared night vision is a great feature to have on these devices and is a must for most people buying a security camera. My garden is in total darkness at night apart from the night lights and as can be seen from the attached footage the camera picks me up walking around the garden no problem (I was wearing a black jumper and trousers). Obviously you can’t sit and watch hours of footage every day to see if anyone was in your garden last night so the motion detection feature should be really handy.
Amazon Echo Integration: By enabling one (or both) of the Netvue skills you can send the camera feed to your Amazon Echo Show, Spot or Firestick/TV by saying:“.
“Alexa! Show me the
There are two skills one for basic “show me my device on screen” and the other for searching recorded content and status updates.
Summary: This camera is great value for money, It’s early days but I’m pleased with it so far. The recorded playback is a little jerky but I think this is more to do with my Wifi signal strength rather than the camera. Anyone wishing to obtain very high quality search and playback really should hard wire camera equipment rather than connect via wireless. I love the ability to use the timeline feature to review earlier footage.
Good outdoor cam all round
I have a cam in my home there work really well and its just easy to set up and all. I got this one for my back way as there have been some crimes in some other back ways so just like the fact its keeping a eye on my home while i go to work
Pros easy to set up and helpful app
Cons just can cut out some times for no reson and picture can be a bit hard to see sometimes but that could be times of the day
Would get other one for my front way aswell
This is my second Netvue camera, I originally bought the baby monitor camera to keep an eye on my son at night, I was so impressed with the ease of setup and Alexa integration I decided to start replacing my entire home security system.
This Vigil camera is the first camera to replace my old CCTV system and I am already over the moon.
Here are the things I love about it:
– The ease of setup inside of the app, configuring the settings is very easy and straight forward.
– The image is superb, especially for the price
– The fact they let you record locally to the camera via Micro SD
– The two-way audio
– Wide Field of view
– The fact I can ask Alexa on my Fire Tablet or Fire TV to show me the camera and it pops straight up
– Superb night vision
I am very excited to see how Netvue develops the platform going forward, here are some suggestions on how they might improve going forward.
– Would be great to group various camera’s together in order to have a 4-way view or view multiple cameras at the same time.
– Have a package for the cloud storage which will cover up to say 4 cameras, rather than paying for each camera individually.
Overall so far I am very happy and would recommend these cameras and company to anyone.
Really good cameras (Vigil and Home)
I started looking at Netvue cameras shortly after purchasing an Alexa Show. Bought the Netvue Home Security and was really impressed with how easy it was to setup with the phone and the image quality achieved even with low light, we use it now as a baby monitor and couldn’t be happier with the wide lense images. After that I decided to give a try to the Netvue Vigil to improve our outside CCTV which is based on an old Swann DVR. Again the setup was easy and quick, the wifi range is surprisingly good even outside our thick walls and it brings its own drilling bit (random?). Only con I see is the presence of the 3 cables (network, power and setup) which needs to be hidden somehow. This is something to live with as all cameras need some connection to power at least. It is not a big problem for us though as we did purchase a plastic waterproof box for a couple of quid where we make all the connections underneath the camera and the finish is really professional. All in, good quality, easy to install and works flawlessly with Alexa.
Simple to set up, picture quality is Fantastic
This is an additional Netvue camera as my son has already fitted a Netvue Interior camera for me, and I wanted an external camera for my front drive. These cameras are so simple to set up, picture quality is fantastic, especially in daylight and sound is good, although wind noise is loud on a breezy day. You can set up areas that you want the motion detection to monitor, which stops most false alerts.
The Android app is quick to connect and changing between the cameras is fast and easy. I am using a memory cards which allow the camera to record continually, you can also subscribe to motion activation cloud-based video, for peace of mind.
Communication with Netvue customer service is quick, with emails being replied to in less than 24 hours.
Overall this is a great camera, great quality and features, a good customer support and for the price you cant go wrong.
Thanks
Ruth
generally does what promises except for motion detection issues, good value anyway
Easy to install and setup, make sure you put micro sd card in so you can access past recordings without need to buy cloud storage and make sure (perhaps by wifi range extenders) that your outdoor camera has good wifi signal.
The good: press to talk and over all live streaming and backlog browsing work quite well.
The bad: motion detection is imperfect.
In the mix cloud windy day will detect sun shades as motion a lot!
At night in IR in rainy day is prone to false positives (detects rain drops or snow flakes), practically useless so I switched off infra red and rely on PIR lamp to detect motion outdoor.
The ugly: not having PC web interface and relying on smartphone is annoying for me but perhaps not a deal breaker
I am very demanding about this but actually overall pleased esp for the price.
generally does what promises except for motion detection issues, good value anyway
Easy to install and setup, make sure you put micro sd card in so you can access past recordings without need to buy cloud storage and make sure (perhaps by wifi range extenders) that your outdoor camera has good wifi signal.
The good: press to talk and over all live streaming and backlog browsing work quite well.
The bad: motion detection is imperfect.
In the mix cloud windy day will detect sun shades as motion a lot!
At night in IR in rainy day is prone to false positives (detects rain drops or snow flakes), practically useless so I switched off infra red and rely on PIR lamp to detect motion outdoor.
The ugly: not having PC web interface and relying on smartphone is annoying for me but perhaps not a deal breaker
I am very demanding about this but actually overall pleased esp for the price.
generally does what promises except for motion detection issues, good value anyway
Easy to install and setup, make sure you put micro sd card in so you can access past recordings without need to buy cloud storage and make sure (perhaps by wifi range extenders) that your outdoor camera has good wifi signal.
The good: press to talk and over all live streaming and backlog browsing work quite well.
The bad: motion detection is imperfect.
In the mix cloud windy day will detect sun shades as motion a lot!
At night in IR in rainy day is prone to false positives (detects rain drops or snow flakes), practically useless so I switched off infra red and rely on PIR lamp to detect motion outdoor.
The ugly: not having PC web interface and relying on smartphone is annoying for me but perhaps not a deal breaker
I am very demanding about this but actually overall pleased esp for the price.
generally does what promises except for motion detection issues, good value anyway
Easy to install and setup, make sure you put micro sd card in so you can access past recordings without need to buy cloud storage and make sure (perhaps by wifi range extenders) that your outdoor camera has good wifi signal.
The good: press to talk and over all live streaming and backlog browsing work quite well.
The bad: motion detection is imperfect.
In the mix cloud windy day will detect sun shades as motion a lot!
At night in IR in rainy day is prone to false positives (detects rain drops or snow flakes), practically useless so I switched off infra red and rely on PIR lamp to detect motion outdoor.
The ugly: not having PC web interface and relying on smartphone is annoying for me but perhaps not a deal breaker
I am very demanding about this but actually overall pleased esp for the price.
generally does what promises except for motion detection issues, good value anyway
Easy to install and setup, make sure you put micro sd card in so you can access past recordings without need to buy cloud storage and make sure (perhaps by wifi range extenders) that your outdoor camera has good wifi signal.
The good: press to talk and over all live streaming and backlog browsing work quite well.
The bad: motion detection is imperfect.
In the mix cloud windy day will detect sun shades as motion a lot!
At night in IR in rainy day is prone to false positives (detects rain drops or snow flakes), practically useless so I switched off infra red and rely on PIR lamp to detect motion outdoor.
The ugly: not having PC web interface and relying on smartphone is annoying for me but perhaps not a deal breaker
I am very demanding about this but actually overall pleased esp for the price.
It does what we want.
We brought this so that we could see visitors arrive on our drive. Although on the front of our bungalow, the view is obscured by a wall. Like others, I fitted it on the soffit and passed the power and ethernet cables through and across the loft space. The power lead length is adequate, and you can’t satisfy everyone. My opinion is that an extra metre or two won’t go amiss. I had to run an extension lead.
The daylight image is good. The night time image is OK, but we have LED street lighting which is a big help. It would be difficult to identify an intruder unless they are close to the camera.
It was straightforward to fit and works with the app, and Amazon Ecbo, as advertised.
Overall, we are satisfied with it. It does what we want. We don’t have any security issues, but it is a deterent.
This camera is fitted with wifi and ethernet. The cables exit through the centre of the mounting flange so would require a hole of about 18-20mm through brickwork etc. for the wiring to be completely hidden. It is the ethernet socket that determins the size!
I did a run of the installation instructions on the bench and had the camera working before fitting the camera high up.
Also be sure to have your wifi key to hand before you start. All the installation instructions are on the App.
You will need your phone, as you do the actual installation, to check the camera alignment.
It took only a few minutes to set up on wifi – the instructions are quite good. You will need to scan a label on the camera although (I think) you can enter the data manually. This is to register the camera correctly onto the App on your phone. The instructions on the App will tell when this is needed.
Once set up, it takes only a minute to add it to Alexa, and then IT WORKS! Viewing it on my Echo Spot is crystal clear in daylight or Infra Red.
It may pay you to check that your router has not reached its maximum connections. Mine had and I had to increase the number permitted from 24 to 30. Checking this first may save some frustration!
SINCE BUYING THIS THEIR SUPPORT IS NOW NON-EXISTENT!
AN AUTOMATIC UPODATE TO FIRMWARE 1333 HAS RENDERED MY CAMERA USELESS!
QUERIES GO UNANSWERED!
Update 12 Oct 2020.
Netvue have finally come up trumps and sent me a replacement camera.
My thanks to Anna from Netvue
The actions of Anna certainly signals a big improvement in Customer Service!
Fabulous camera. Great picture, Easy to set up. Good infra red viewing at a night. I feel a lot happier being able to view my garden at night. App works very well too. Great piece of quality kit at a very reasonable price. Excellent customer support. Well done Netvue!
The motion detection function is the only reason I got this Netvue Vigil camera and I can tell you it is fantastic and simple. I have it set to sense motion between 6pm and 7am. When it senses any movement I get a ping on my phone within 2 seconds and a short video clip of what moved….. Just fox’s so far. The Netvue Vigil camera has the same 36mm wide angle lens as my other cameras but the Netvue footage is clearer and a sharper image. I have this set up with alexa so I can view the footage on any fire device which is pretty cool. The built in microphone is extremely sensitive, the camera is on the back of my house but I can clearly hear peoples voices walking on the path past the front of my house. Having a built in speaker on the camera is just a bit of fun so far……. informative fun tho because everyone I’ve scared with it so far looks directly at the camera showing there full face which is exactly what you need to identify thieves
I love this camera. I have it installed in my garage to keep my cars safe.
This is my second Netvue camera, I already have a Netvue Orb which I love also.
The setup was pretty easy to do (in both cameras) and very intuitive. Wifi range is pretty good also and the camera is always connected. I bought some cheap Chinese cameras in the past that would fail to connect to wifi every couple of hours but these ones are always on and working which is great.
The Android app works well with my Samsung A6, and allows us to enable/disable motion controls (and tune them) and manage all of the recordings. If you add a microSD card to the camera (which both support) you can record and even access older recordings there. If you prefer, Netvue provides cloud storage to keep your recordings safe from any robbers that try to disable the cameras.
Another feature I love is the camera sharing which allowed me to share all the house cameras with my wife and as such, she also can manage them and receive notifications from motion alarms.
Last but not least, the Support. With this camera, you have access to one of the best supports I had access. Every doubt and problem I had were solved in a couple of minutes by the chat feature. Its great to have another person on the other side providing real support instead of bots or emails.
Remember that with the cheap Chinese cameras you have no support (and believe me, I really needed them at some point).
This camera, in particular, is waterproof, with a metal case and has support for one microSD card (protected from water) and even the connectors (rj45 and power) have their own water protection which is a really nice touch on keeping the camera safe from the elements.
I have had the Netvue Home Cam (indoors) for over six months now and decided I wanted to add an outdoor one so decided on this one as I was happy with the other, and am not disappointed with this one either, although I’ve only had it a week. The images quality is very good in both daylight and IR (see attached). The motion detection works so well that I have to have the sensitivity set to a low level otherwise I get unnecessary alerts from the public footpath . Wi-fi signal between the hub and camera is very good as well and starts playback from the 128GB micro SD card (bought separately) within a few seconds when required. I have it connected to iPhone, iPad and Echo Show with no problems setting up. It is certainly good value for the price.
High quality camera for outdoor usage
I bought this camera soon after my purchase of the indoor IP camera model from the same company, and the quality of the product is just as good. It feels like a premium product. The product arrived well packaged in high quality materials. the camera itself was well protected and has a metal body, with a decent length of cable and grommet for fitting.
It also comes with a UK mains power plug and even a drill bit to help with fixing to the wall! fixings were also included which was a nice touch.
The picture quality is excellent and gives wide coverage. The app is also simple and easy to use (same as for the other camera). The only thing to remember is that it must be on a 2.4g wifi network, which a lot still are (mine is anyway).
Very happy with my purchase and recommend for use.
The first thing to notice on opening is the quality of the packaging and the look and feel of the camera. It feels like a product that should have cost 2 or 3 times the cost.
The installation is very easy with a step by step process and once installed, other than adjusting it’s position the default settings for motion detect etc. are spot on.
I would recommend subscribing to the cloud service as this is only $5.00 a month and can be setup to auto renew each month. This gives you 14 day recording 24/7 before starting over again. In simple terms you can view any recording in the last 14 days at any time.
You can view the camera through the App from anywhere as long as you have internet access and there is a useful speak button to warn intruders that you can see them after the app has alerted you to a motion detect.
I am very happy with this purchase and have already ordered another.
I have several Netvue cameras now and each one I buy just gets better and better.
I got the outdoor camera because a number of dogs have gone missing out of peoples gardens and as my house has a dirt road at the side I’m always nervous that one of my fur babies might get stolen. With this camera my mind is at total ease. It goes beyond what I imagined if I’m honest.
I was nervous about the installation as I knew it had to be drilled but it’s supplied with the right drill bit and came with clear instructions. I was really impressed with myself!
It has a brilliant picture quality, far better than I imagined it would. The added bonus is that it’s got 2 way audio, so if I’m not at home and my son lets the dogs out I gently encourage them to do their business (my son always forgets and the pups are creatures of habit, they need a reminder when outside) I was stunned how clear the audio is. I expected one to be better than the other but sound AND picture quality are just amazing.
At night I have complete peace of mind, if I hear a noise come from outside I can just look on the camera instead of hiding under my duvet! The night vision is really good.
It’s easy to install, set up and use. It’s very good quality for a relatively low cost. Will be adding more to my Netvue set up very soon.
The Vigil is one of a range of camera-based products by Netvue. I have the original Vuebell doorbell and helped to crowdfund Belle, its successor. The doorbells come packed in foam, giving a strong impression that the packaging has had just as much thought given to it as the product. The Vigil lacks the luxury of foam but nevertheless comes well protected from knocks, and also includes thoughtful touches: a pattern for making mounting holes, a masonary drill of the correct size for the included fixings, etc. (see photo) There is even the other half of the waterproof Ethernet connector, though this can only be used with DIY cabling since it needs fitting before the Ethernet plug is crimped on.
Setting up is reasonably simple once the App is installed, and mostly consists of point the phone camera at the QR code on the camera body (plus setting the WAP password if WiFi is used). The instructions are brief yet clear, although I spent quite some time thinking the status LED wasn’t working until I found that it’s actually embedded in the Ethernet connector rather than the camera body (see photo). This makes sense from a security perspective – you don’t really want to advertise the operational state of the camera.
The connection cable is quite short at just 300mm, and I suspect the intention is that it will poke through a hole in whatever the camera is mounted on since it exits the camera body through the middle of the mount. However, the mount also has an exit in its rim in case a hole isn’t appropriate (see photo). The cable itself carries the Ethernet and power connections plus WiFi configuration switch, but is very flexible, and although the individual connectors are waterproofed I would expect that the connections would be hidden inside a box rather than dangling free in the wind.
A minor issue is that the WiFi antenna connector comes with a dust cap (see photo). This should be good, but if (like in my case) you want to use a wired connection and don’t need or want a big antenna getting in the way, the dustcap comes off too easily. A decent gust of wind would do it. I might resolve this by cutting down an old antenna to only the screw part.
The Netvue app is used to view and control the Vigil, in the same way it’s used to view and control the company’s doorbells and other products. That isn’t a surprise – the essential parts of all these products are no doubt based on similar hardware/firmware, and there is a distinct branding feel to them. Like the doorbells, the Vigil camera video can be viewed in real time, and in doing so there are options to take a snapshot, record, enable the speaker, etc. Motion detection is the same: the 16:9 screen is divided into twelve blocks which can be individually enabled or disabled, and an overall sensitivity applied. On detection, the Vigil can optionally send a push notification to the app which then alerts you to the movement, or will just save snapshots of the movement.
Access to snapshots doesn’t appear to rely on cloud or local micro-SDcard – the user can browse motion events and view associated snapshots without either. Video recording is different, though. One can elect to stream video to the cloud or (possibly and) record to local micro-SDcard. The card is reasonably difficult to access once the camera is installed, but that’s not important since the recorded video is all in .ntv3 files and I couldn’t find anything that would decode those. Instead, access is entirely through the Netvue app.
Cloud recording has a number of drawbacks, the ongoing costs and bandwidth hogging being two. I am not sure of the benefits since I haven’t yet enabled the service, but perhaps one can view recordings without access to the camera. That is, if the camera is turned off or otherwise disabled. If the camera has a microSD-card installed and is contactable, recorded video can be viewed from anywhere. Perhaps the cloud recording just gives better response if your broadband link is a bit dodgy.
When viewing video (live or recorded) over the LAN, it is streamed over the LAN. That is, the video isn’t sent to the cloud and then back but goes direct from phone to camera via WiFi (or wires, as in my case). In theory that should mean that it will work without an internet connection, but this isn’t the case – without internet you cannot talk to the camera at all, even though no video data goes out of the local network.
Video and snapshot quality are good. The actual resolution of live video can be chosen as either HD or, er, not HD and there is an auto setting to make the choice for you depending on link quality. The frame rate seems to be a bit low, though. I couldn’t measure it but I would hazard a guess at about 15fps. Not a big problem but you wouldn’t want to watch a movie like that. Field of view and IR illumination give a good view up to about 6m, beyond which faces are a bit small or too dark at night.
There is a zoom facility in the app using pinch (rather, unpinch), but there is no quick way to unzoom other than exiting and reconnecting! Sure, you use pinch, but typically one tends to zoom into a specific position to examine it then quickly move on. It’s that moving on that wants to be quick, and having to pinch several times to be able to see the full frame is a drag. Which brings me to the weak point of this camera when used for security: the app.
The app is OK for doorbells where viewing tends to be in real time (that is, to view who is ringing the bell). But security video tends to be viewed after some event, so browsing and pausing/replay are important features. With this app, one can easily go to specific time (or motion event if there was a trigger), but the only choice then is to run the captured video at full speed. There is no pause, fast forward, rewind or slow. One can drag the time position slider to reposition, hence replay, the viewing point, but there is an annoying and lengthy pause between reposition and play. We are talking several seconds, which does not encourage doing it unless one really has to.
Let’s suppose some burglar passed in front of the camera. You can see his face for perhaps 2 second and just need a snapshot. There /is/ a snapshot facility, but remember that the video is running at full speed so you need to time the press pretty good. Unfortunately, the snapshot button is on a popup bar which automatically unpops after a couple of seconds, so you need to first get the video playing then just before the exact second you need to tap the screen to get the toolbar popup, then right at the exact moment hit the snapshot button. I’ve not managed that yet.
And you are totally dependant on this app – you can’t take the microSD-card out of the camera and view it on a PC/Mac. There is no PC/Mac (or even third party phone) tool to access the camera. And you need a working internet link to do anything. The one saving grace is that you can record a section of playback to your phone, so by doing that you can then transfer the recorded video to something that can pause and snapshot it.
The camera is a useful tool (I use mine to keep an eye on our hens when they are let out during the day) but I have my doubts that it can form part of a grown-up security system. Apart from the issues mentioned with browsing recorded video, either you use microSD-cards and the potentially very valuable recordings are located in a camera that may be inaccessible, or you pay $250/yr to record to the cloud. For one camera that may be worth it, but if you have a few (our CCTV system comprises 5 cameras) the cost quickly adds up. As does the bandwidth. And viewing them all at once, a la traditional split screen, is not possible.
Security use could be vastly improved by providing standardised access from CCTV-type programs. There is nothing difficult about this, and there are many tools that talk to this kind of camera to provide security solutions, but this camera won’t work with those. I would encourage the manufacturer to add that ability.
I bought this outdoor camera after already buying 2 of the indoor ones. I have to say that I am very impressed, the picture quality on all three cameras is excellent both in day and night modes. The ability to record onto a local SD card and then access the data remotely without a subscription is brilliant.
Initial setup is a little complicated, but if you follow the instructions carefully then it works, the only issue being that the cameras need a 2.4GHz network to connect to. I was able to separate my Wi Fi into separate bands to set the camera up, but once connected, I merged both bands back together and the cameras are able to reconnect just fine. Once my network was sorted, the QR code scanning system meant that connecting the cameras was easy, just scan the bar codes!
The outdoor camera has a separate DC converter and a very long cable making positioning easy, then the simple but effective mounting bracket makes aiming the camera simple. All fixings and tools are supplied, even the correct size drill bit!!!
Once the camera was connected and mounted, setting up the motion detection on the app was easy. I have positioned my camera to cover my front garden so I don’t want false triggers from the road outside, it was very simple to disable the image zones where I don’t want a notification, then the sensitivity was adjusted with a simple slider.
Very pleased with this camera, would definitely recommend!
Good solid camera, not the best app
Bought this for security outside the front of the house. I have the netvue indoor cam for the nursery which is faultless. So decided to stick with same brand as have it all on one app. The app ain’t the best but it works well for a basic viewer. My camera is about 10m from the router and hasn’t dropped connection since fitting last week. Night mode is ok, it’s mounted so high wasnt expecting to much but it’s good for the distance and shows my whole front garden.
Give it 4 stars because you can only use netvue app to view the camera
My house is covered in Netvue cameras. They are cheap and somewhat effective. I like that you can add a micro sd card in and it will record everything for you but setting these up can be tideious and frustrating. Took 3 attempts with this camera. The app is the letdown at the moment, it’s buggy and is tempremental to whether you will get a notification or not from movement. You can walk straight infront of it and it won’t trigger. Overall having a few Different cameras from netvue all setup I do feel like the house is secure and if ever anything happened I could get the footage easily.
My house is covered in Netvue cameras. They are cheap and somewhat effective. I like that you can add a micro sd card in and it will record everything for you but setting these up can be tideious and frustrating. Took 3 attempts with this camera. The app is the letdown at the moment, it’s buggy and is tempremental to whether you will get a notification or not from movement. You can walk straight infront of it and it won’t trigger. Overall having a few Different cameras from netvue all setup I do feel like the house is secure and if ever anything happened I could get the footage easily.
My house is covered in Netvue cameras. They are cheap and somewhat effective. I like that you can add a micro sd card in and it will record everything for you but setting these up can be tideious and frustrating. Took 3 attempts with this camera. The app is the letdown at the moment, it’s buggy and is tempremental to whether you will get a notification or not from movement. You can walk straight infront of it and it won’t trigger. Overall having a few Different cameras from netvue all setup I do feel like the house is secure and if ever anything happened I could get the footage easily.
My house is covered in Netvue cameras. They are cheap and somewhat effective. I like that you can add a micro sd card in and it will record everything for you but setting these up can be tideious and frustrating. Took 3 attempts with this camera. The app is the letdown at the moment, it’s buggy and is tempremental to whether you will get a notification or not from movement. You can walk straight infront of it and it won’t trigger. Overall having a few Different cameras from netvue all setup I do feel like the house is secure and if ever anything happened I could get the footage easily.
I’ve been searching a long time for home security camera’s with two way audio to replace my outside IP camera’s that don’t have audio.
My home has wheel chair access and there is a sign outside which clearly states wheel chair access, yet drivers still park in front of it blocking access from time to time.
My neighbours house has a wheel chair access sign also that I got for her so her home access isn’t blocked.
So having two way audio on the Netvue Vigil Camera means I can now ask or tell people not to park their car on the front blocking access now, it saves me and family having to go outside to tell them.
Having the drop curb blocked so my car can’t get out and my neighbour can’t get her car outside her own house is something having two way audio on a security camera helps solve.
This camera has such a wide angle lens that it easily covers the front of my home.
It takes a lot to impress me and get a security device put into my smart home and this camera has ended a long painful search.
Being able to view the camera’s on my Fire TV, Echo Spot, mobile or smart watch is the thing I really like about these camera’s.