The sirens go off, the wind picks up, and the power flickers twice before it quits. That is exactly the moment you want to see what is happening outside. For a lot of homes, it is also the moment the cameras go dark.
Why cameras go dark in a storm.
A camera needs three things: power, a network and somewhere to save video. Lose any one and you lose the picture. Wired cameras usually get power from the network switch, so when that switch loses power, every camera on it goes down at once. Wi-Fi cameras depend on your router and the internet connection behind it.
Power out
Cameras, switch and router all shut off.
Internet out
Cloud cameras stop saving video and alerts stop.
Power blink
Gear restarts, and some devices never reconnect.
Lightning surge
Unprotected equipment can be damaged for good.
Four steps that keep your cameras watching.
- Battery backup. Put the modem, router, network switch and recorder on a battery backup unit. Short outages become a non-event.
- Local recording. A recorder at home keeps saving video even when the internet is down.
- Wired cameras. One protected switch powers every camera, so one battery covers them all.
- Surge protection. Quality surge protection guards the gear that matters most.
Storm-ready, built into the scope.
| Upgrade | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Battery backup | Keeps network gear and the recorder running through outages |
| Wired camera system | Cameras on doors, drive and grounds with local recording |
| Generator coordination | Battery backup bridges the seconds before a whole-home generator starts |