Blink Outdoor Wireless HD Security Camera, 2 Camera Kit (Open Box)

REVIEW UPDATE We recently lost our internet connection due to updates our ISP had to make. What we didn't know is that Blink cameras are solely dependent on an Internet connection (not just a wifi connection) even if you don't have a subscription or just have the trial. None of the outdoor cameras will remain active when you lose Internet connectivity. My wrongful assumption was that ONLY your local area network was needed since it relies on a wifi signal. Nope. That is wrong. The Sync Modules will flash the green LED and no camera will work. Great job Blink/Amazon for putting customers at risk to thieves and other criminals. We have 4 of the outdoor cameras on two separate Sync2 Modules due to the distance from the main router. We have an extender (set as a repeater) which handles the furthest cameras. As I said I never considered these would go offline if the Internet connection went down. I figured if my LAN went down then it would make total sense the cameras would go offline, yet I was foolish in my thinking. Again this is shameful of Blink/Amazon to have this even as a feature. I get that you need an account to pay for the service, but why in the world would these be designed to FAIL if your Internet connection goes down? It is not only misleading to consumers to not EXPLICITLY state that these cameras will fail to operate without an Internet connection. This IS one of the WORST investments my family ever made in a product. Would have been better to purchase a CCTV camera system and just hardwired everything on the network. For what we've now paid for 4 cameras + the sales tax we could have gotten a 4 camera CCTV setup instead from a local box store. As I have said in my original review, the cameras do work, and will suffice. Keep in mind that an Internet connection is REQUIRED and not just your local area network connection. I had to lower my rating to just one star because nothing is lower than that on Amazon's site. I'd give this camera system negative stars it it were possible just based on our experience over the past few months. Also I think I was far too generous with parts of my original review, but experience will change your mind when the experience becomes bad. I no will longer recommend ANY of the Blink cameras. Until they are no longer dependent on an Internet connection and will fully function on just your local networks wifi signal. I will be researching a true CCTV camera system to replace the Blink cameras. If I could get a refund I'd do it in a heartbeat, but that window has closed. The price of this education is high! --------- Original review Recently purchased the Blink Outdoor 2 Camera system, and it's a very hit or miss system. I have several things to say about the security cameras and the Blink app that goes with it. The base: The friction fit mounting bases are not easy to snap into place. I had to use a long and think flat headed screw driver to aid in connecting it. Also I worried about crushing the sensor on the camera because of how much force it takes and where my hands are pressing on the camera itself (holding from the edges while mounting under a roof eave is moderately annoying). Once it is finally snapped to the base it moves freely and the camera stays in place. The Sync 2 Module This is the brains of the system. Each module controls up to 10 cameras and utilizes your 2.4GHz Wifi connection. Now I mistakenly assumed that my 2 camera system didn't include the Sync 2 Module (I didn't notices a "what's in the box" on Blinks Amazon page. So I ended up buying one which was a waste of money considering it's included. The setup takes a while after you power it on you'll need the app to discover the device. Initially the blue LED flashes and the green LED is steady. Once it is discovered then then both LEDs are steady. The app (Android) At first the app to control this camera system seems simple, but there are some annoyances I've discovered. The system will NOT discover the best WiFi connection on your network. I have an detached garage with the camera approximately 75 feet from the Sync 2 Module, and my router is close to 10 feet from the Sync 2 Module. So I picked up a WiFi extender and set it as a Repeater (firewall, DNS, DHCP etc. is controlled by my primary router) in order for the signal strength to be at a maximum. It is recommended that you use the existing WiFi names (SSIDs) on your network (for 2.4GHz only) and append _EXT so Blink can see it if using a Wifi extender. Also keep your password keys for your wifi extender the exact same that are on your main wifi router. Now in theory (and based on Blink's own guidelines) the system should pick the best Wifi signal based on your setup. Well it doesn't, and there is NO option in the Blink app for me to place my garage camera on the extender Wifi (again it's on the same network as all my devices are) while keeping the door camera on the primary router (same network once again). This is not about changing networks, this is about discovering the extender on my main network (which I repeat Blink claims it will chose the best signal automatically). Yes I could add the second Sync 2 Module in the garage, but then I'd have to create a second system for the garage camera. Not entirely what you should have to do. Batteries: These cameras require the more expensive Lithium AAs you do get the batteries with the cameras (mine were Energizer Lithium AAs. The cameras are equipped with a USB B mini connection which you can use to connect to a powered USB source as to not run off batteries. In my case I picked up a motion detector LED flood light that offers a USB connection (this unit https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08F9CNPVW). I would remove the batteries from the cameras because I do not know if connected will it try to charge the batteries (these are NON chargeable lithium batteries) or it will it bypass the batteries? I would err on the side of caution and remove them. Local Storage (USB thumb drive) vs Blink Subscriptions This is an Amazon product and you'd think that the Blink camera systems would provide free service to Amazon Prime members. Nope. You are nickled and dimed on a per camera basis at $6 monthly, and it's $100 annually (if I read it right) for one full system). Again why is this NOT part of Prime Membership? So to avoid saving to the cloud I bought a 256GB thumb drive to insert into the Sync 2 Module. What I have discovered is ONLY clips are saved locally. You are NOT able to save live recordings to the local storage. Really? Why? What's the point of only having the clips (maxed at 60 seconds) on a local drive? To me this is a rip off and not mentioned anywhere in the product details. Yes you do get a "free" trial which unlocks all features. If you; however, cancel that trial early or let it expire without buying a subscription than certain features are locked. So again you pay a lot for the camera system and you are locked out of many features IF you don't buy their subscription to the cloud. Talk about ripping folks off. Sure you can look at live feeds, but you can't same them locally. You can take a snapshot from the cameras, but it will NOT take a photo every hour UNLESS you BUY a Blink subscription. Again this all goes back to Blink subscriptions. Tell me what's the point of local storage if all you can save are clips? Loading issues with clips and thumbnails. So I've run into issues where loading a clip from the connected USB drive fails to load 95% of the time. Again these are short clips and should pull faster than from the Cloud. Nope. Thumbnails are hit or miss. These are generated when you press the camera icon on the home screen of the app. I call them snaps, but I've noticed if I am sitting near the Sync 2 Module it can still fail. Full wifi bars too and it still fails. Alexa: It is claimed by Blink that the newest generation of their cameras will work with Alexa. I used the app from my phone, but she can't do anything with the cameras (even when trained to use them). In this case you may have to buy an Alexa enabled device (like Show). You technically don't need one they are NOT required for these cameras, but the Alexa app alone on a smartphone is limited. Finally the recommend having minimum Internet speeds of 2Mb up and down for these cameras, but I believe that is ONLY if you are saving and storing to the cloud along with accessing from the cloud. Locally your access to the Blink cameras will depend on your network speeds along with wifi. The more stuff you have connected the slower it can be. Conclusion. The Blink Camera System isn't terrible, and they are affordable. There are quirks as I mentioned and annoyances I have dealt with. These are not high end systems but on a tight budget you can get a good start.