Solved! Is There a Security Camera That Works Without Wi-Fi?

Q: There are so many security cameras on the market now, and with a slight rise in crime in my neighborhood I’d like to get one. However, my Wi-Fi is spotty on a good day, plus I’m not sure I know enough about securing my network against hackers. Are there security cameras that don’t require Wi-Fi?

A: DIY security cameras have taken the market by storm and enabled many homeowners and renters to feel safer in their homes. Traditional home security companies have also risen to the challenge, offering security packages that are a combination of DIY and professionally installed cameras and sensors. Wi-Fi has enabled this huge expansion of the security camera industry. Previously, all cameras (and most sensors, for that matter) had to be hard-wired into a home’s electrical and telephone system, through which the security system transmitted information. The cameras would connect to a video recorder; originally analog, then digital. This meant that the security system installation cost was high, and the process was labor-intensive and permanent.

With Wi-Fi transmission, cameras and sensors can be battery-powered or require a single electrical cable, and they can transmit messages and videos to the cloud or to a physical digital recorder without a web of wires spread across the walls. Users can install cameras anywhere they want to—indoors or outdoors—and change those locations as they see fit. The best home security systems have WiFi-integrated cameras as options, or they may even use them exclusively. Simple to DIY install, they are among the best apartment security systems as well, since the technology can move with the residents.

But not everyone has Wi-Fi, and some who do are concerned about the vulnerability of transferring video recordings of their home over the air, which is not an invalid concern. Although Wi-Fi can be secured, there’s no system that’s completely foolproof. Luckily, there are several types of security cameras that don’t use Wi-Fi. These cameras come in various sizes and functions. There are solid outdoor cameras that don’t need Wi-Fi, as well as smaller indoor house cameras that don’t need Wi-Fi and tuck almost invisibly…