I just bought my first house. Now with that came a lot of shock, a lot of time, and a lot of stress. Turns out, it’s not an easy process. Yet, the day came that we picked up the keys to our new house, signed a million papers, and walked in the door of our home.
Literally on the first day, probably within the first two hours of official ownership, I switched the locks and began installing my security system. I’m the kind of person who wanted to do this even in a rental house we had for a while, but chose to wait.
I did a remarkable amount of research to pick exactly what I wanted. I was willing to spend some serious cash on it if needed, but there were a handful of features I knew that I really wanted — dare I say needed.
First, I wanted to be able to link several cameras together and expand in the future all on one system — this one felt obvious, yet some systems did not allow expansion.
Second, I wanted to be able to view all of my camera history for events, preferably without paying for it as well. I wasn’t certain if this was a thing for security cameras, but I knew it wasn’t entirely uncommon for small brand home cameras.
Third, I wanted to be able to link this with a smart doorbell, maybe even my smart deadbolt if at all possible.
Lastly, if I was able to sync with my Apple HomeKit I would be incredibly excited. I knew that Apple had a phenomenal secure video integration with Apple TV’s that I have always wanted to try.
I found the perfect system. Eufy by Anker actually makes this dream system a reality, without costing an absurd amount of money.
The System
Building this system took a few different pieces by Eufy. First up, I chose the EufyCam 2C (with two cameras) and the Base. These are going to be my indoor cameras. I also picked up two of the EufyCam 2 cameras for outside. Lastly, I chose the Video Doorbell 2K for my front door. All of which paired beautifully with my Eufy Smart Lock Touch with WiFi.
To summarize:
EufyCam 2C (x2)
EufyCam 2 (x2)
Smart Lock Touch with WiFi
Video Doorbell 2K
Storage Home Base.
The Setup
Right out of the box, I quickly plugged in all the cameras to start with a full charge. Cables included, easy setup.
While waiting for the cameras to charge, I set up the Home Base Station. I chose to plug it in directly to my router — technically a network switch — to not risk losing any clarity or videos over WiFi. This setup was also remarkably easy and straightforward. I just followed the instructions in the app to make sure I didn’t miss anything.
Next, I installed my Smart Deadbolt on my front door. This install was slightly longer, but just as easy. Rip out the old deadbolt, install the new deadbolt, sync with the app. Done.
Fourth, I installed my Video Doorbell. After contemplating location, I decided to utilize my old doorbell wiring. I chose this so I could still take advantage of the doorbell chime, while extending the chime with my Home Base Station (a cool, unexpected feature).
Then, I began to plan out where I would want my cameras while I waited for them to charge overnight.
The next day, I decided to put one of the EufyCam 2s in my backyard — once I realized that since they are wireless, I do not have to have them attached to the house. I chose to put it about 10 feet off the ground on the trunk of a tree in the corner of my lot, pointing the camera back towards my house. Next, I put my other EufyCam 2 in the corner of my front porch, showing my entire front yard, driveway, and front door. Third, I put the EufyCam 2C cameras around my main living areas showing most of my main floor — we have a very open concept home.
Installation for these could not have been easier, there is a simple two screw mount that I used to connect to my tree, porch and interior walls. From there, I was able to screw the cameras on to a little arm that provided an impressive range of motion — so I could set the cameras appropriately.
Lastly, I paired these with the app, Home Base Station and set up my preferences. I was absolutely thrilled to find out a handful of helpful features.
First off, I had full control of how long each recording was for any type of motion. I could even set it to only notify me if my cameras recognized humans — rather than dogs, squirrels, deer, yetis, etc. Naturally, as I am not paying for storage, I set them to record a fairly long amount of time, so I could watch the FedEx driver drop off my packages, my son play in the yard, or that chipmunk steal an acorn from its neighbor.
Second, I found I could set them to an anti-theft mode, meaning that if someone tries to tamper with my cameras, alarms go off on the cameras, in my house from the Home Base Station, and on my phone. Super cool.
Third, I found that my cameras linked beautifully with my Apple HomeKit, allowing me to enable motion notifications (sadly not for the doorbell, but for every other camera) on my Apple TV’s. So now, when my wife or I are watching something on the TV, we can see if someone is walking around outside our home.
Fourth, I found that my Video Doorbell linked with my Smart Deadbolt allowing me to unlock or lock the deadbolt from watching the camera.
I’m about a month or so into having this camera system fully set up, and I could not be happier with my choice. This system is exactly what I wanted and more, and I cannot wait to expand further with some of the new gear Eufy is putting out!
