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We used a Summer Infant video monitor for a while, but eventually the receiver broke. Then we used a Yi Dome camera for a while, but it craps out of a few seconds occasionally and when it does the app mutes the feed when it resumes, making it useless at being a baby monitor. Also, privacy concerns since you had to access it via the internet. We ended up going with a generic IP camera - Amcrest's 1080p wifi camera, to be specific (would have to go look up the model number if people want to know EDIT: IP2M-841B). You can change just about anything about the settings you could want to (such as adding a timestamp so you can verify it hasn't crashed), including disabling access from the internet so you can only access the monitor from the LAN. It's been rock solid for ages - there is a setting that will reboot the camera once a week, but you can set the time, so I set mine to reboot about an hour after the kids normally get up so it never bothers us. We just have the feed pulled up on an Amazon Fire HD8 tablet that we got for $60, lets us get a 1080p video stream with an ONVIF-capable camera. The Amcrest app isn't terrible either, only downside is that there's an option for 1, 4, 9, or 16 cameras - but I only have 2, so I have to waste half my screen (and the app will only play audio from one stream at a time). And if you don't want to use their app, once it is set up and connected to the network (which you probably don't even need the app for if you are hardwiring with ethernet) you can connect to it via IP address with any RTSP/ONVIF app or even via VLC, or once the firmware is upgraded you can view the stream in the browser. It has motion sensor capabilities but I haven't experimented with them. |