A security camera can be a handy thing to have in the house. It doesn't have to be just for security per se, it can be good if you have a lot of friends visiting and can't be bothered going to the door to see who it is. With a decent one you can even talk to them through the security camera as if you're having a phone conversation (OK don't laugh too much!). As much as the manufacturer of the security camera makes it as easy as possible to set it up, there is also the factor of the house you are living in. Here is my ongoing experience with setting up a security camera.
Choosing a Camera
I highly recommend Choice for any significant or even repeated purchase. Following their guide based on my circumstances I chose the Google Nest Cam - Indoor.
Software Setup
The Google Nest Cam was easy enough to set up on the software side of things, until I decided I was not going to do it until I got help physically installing it. Therefore, I cancelled the setup process. Big mistake. I subsequently realised help was not available in the short term so restarted the process. The camera would not connect to the phone. I scoured Google for a solution but came up empty. Until after some self reflection, realised to attempt resetting it. I searched for how to reset it and - lo and behold - it was simply a paperclip in a hole. After that, it connected fine.
Sticking It On the Wall
I followed the instructions for placing on the wall. Was it as easy as in the video? No way. In defence of Google, it was not their fault. The wall actually had something in it stopping the screw from going in.
Initially I thought it was the screw trying to go into wood, but it could not be wood. Here is a demo of why it was not wood:
It was like some kind of rubbery stuff. My Dad had the excellent idea of simply putting in a wall plug. I drilled the hole bigger and bashed one in.
This worked great.
And once fitted, the security camera was working fine. It even identified me as an unconventional person. Now that's some smart AI!
If all was working well, you may ask, then why did I put 'Part 1' in the title of this post? Well, things got a bit ugly.
The next challenge is physically disconnecting the old, malfunctioning security camera and connecting the new security camera to a socket in the roof space. I thought this would 'simply' be a matter of unplugging the old camera and plugging in the new one - with a power surge protector this time. I'd been in the roof space of a house before, how hard could it be? Until I looked in this roof space.
It being 5 PM, I decided to save this spelunking expedition for another day. And with backup for technical support/moral support/physical support/ambulance calling. (To my credit, I made it to that diagonal timber strut before turning around.)
To be continued...