Home security shopping advice

@PA_WOODCHUCK​  Good questions! 

Placing the power adapter inside a weather-resistant outlet isn't generally recommended, as it could degrade the WiFi signal (especially if the casing of the weather-resistant box is metal) - but every setup is unique, and you might find that it works just fine for you.

The cable running between the camera and the power adapter is a custom PoE (Power over Ethernet) cable, which wasn't designed to be extended by our customers.  Xfinity Home technicians have special couplers that are used to extend the cable when needed.  

The Arris SVG2482AC would meet the requirements if you're thinking of getting Xfinity Home Pro Protection or Pro Protection Plus.  With these services, the Xfinity Home Touchscreen can be paired with both customer-owned Gateways/Routers and leased xFi Gateways.  The Touchscreen has firmware that would help to facilitate the secure connection between your cameras, the Gateway, and and our back-end systems.

If you are interested in Self-Protection, you would need to replace the Arris SVG2482AC with a leased xFi Gateway from us, as Self-Protection is not designed to work with customer-owned Gateways or Routers.  In this setup, the xFi Gateway's firmware would facilitate the secure communication.

Both Self Protection and Pro Protection Plus offer the ability to review 7 days of video in the cloud through the Xfinity app, which offers filters to identify People, Vehicles, Pets and Deliveries (if you have the Xfinity Video Doorbell).  You can download ~ 2 minute clips to save them beyond the 7 day window, and send them to folks via e-mail, etc.  And, since you're an Xfinity TV subscriber, you would be able to view your cameras right on your X1 TV Boxes.

A nice overview of our packages is available here: https://www.xfinity.com/learn/home-security

By the way - at the risk of sounding like a sales person (which I'm most definitely not - just love our stuff!)... if you were thinking of switching to a leased xFi Gateway (there's an additional cost - but it may be worth it), it would also handle your phone connection, plus you would see additional benefits... such as the ability to use xFi Advanced Security - which would help to protect all of the devices on your network.  Leasing would also allow you to switch to newer Gateway models as technology improves (or get a replacement  at no additional cost if it were to ever fail, instead of needing to purchase a new device yourself).

Let us know if you have more questions! 

Great question. All requirements can be found by clickingTurn 24/7 Video Recording On or Off - Xfinity Support. I hope this helps. Let me know if you are able to access the link. @PA_WOODCHUCK

I been away for a few weeks and need to look at above info. That said does the camera have "night vision" and auto recording when something is detected? also where is video recorded to? Nure sure yet but may opt for self-monitoring?

thanks

@PA_WOODCHUCK  Yes - our cameras have Night Vision that kicks in automatically when it gets dark. With 24/7 Video Recording, the cameras are always recording (unless you turn recording off), and you can easily jump to various clips where motion was detected (and filter clips by People, Vehicles, or Pets).

The video is recorded to our cloud servers, and you can download clips to your device if you wish to save footage for longer than 7 days. 

Self-Monitoring automatically comes with 24/7 Video Recording.