Alfred is all about seamlessly turning old and retired smartphones or tablets into home security cameras. AlfredCamera can run on different platforms and devices, such as Android and iOS, computers, and AlfredCam.
As we stated that AlfredCamera allows you to build a "Simple Security at Your Fingertips", it only requests certain minimum storage and internet requirements to set up. In this article, you will learn more about:
Storage Requirements
Motion Detection
While Alfred keeps your Events and Moments in the Cloud, we still need some local storage to generate snapshots and perform other basic actions on your device.
- Android devices: Alfred requires 24-25 MB of storage from your Camera device
(If your device runs on Android 7.0 and up, Alfred will need around 40 MB of local storage to run all the APIs) - iOS devices: Alfred requires 24-32 MB of storage from your Camera device
Continuous Recording
The Continuous Recording footage is saved on your Camera device instead of in the Cloud. Free users and Premium users have different storage requirements:
-
Free users: 0.6 GB from your Camera device
-
Premium users: 2.4 GB from your Camera device
Alfredcam (AC101)
AlfredCam is Alfred’s own hardware camera, which requires an SD card inserted if you want to enable Continuous Recording. On the other hand, there are no other storage requirements if you only use the AlfredCam for Motion Detection. Event (motions triggered) and Moment (manually recorded/saved) videos are stored on Alfred’s Clouds for 7 days or 14 days depending on your subscription status.
Internet Requirements
1. Not only your Camera and Viewer devices, but AlfredCam also needs internet connections to function
- Camera device: Your Camera device must always be connected to a stable internet to run Motion Detection, record videos, and upload videos onto the Cloud
- Viewer device: Your Viewer device requires an internet connection to receive notifications, watch Live streaming, or play a Motion Detection video
- AlfredCam (AC101): AlfredCam currently only supports 2.4GHz Wi-Fi and does not support mobile networks or 5GHz Wi-Fi at the moment
Most of our users connect their Camera devices or AlfredCam to their WiFi at home and use their Viewer devices on mobile or office networks. However, the WiFi signal has a higher chance of being unevenly distributed or inconsistent, so we recommend checking Connection Report or WiFi Signal Strength (for AlfredCam) to see if your WiFi signal needs to be improved. You can also use the WiFi Analyzer app to help find an area with the strongest signal to place your Camera device or AlfredCam.
Additionally, you can try the following suggestions to improve your network stability (this does not apply to the AlfredCam):
- Delete unnecessary apps to save bandwidth (⚠️ Keep Google Play Service for Alfred to work)
- Move your router or install a WiFi extender if you have trouble getting signals in some corners
- Assign bandwidth priority for Alfred
2. How much data does Alfred use?
Data consumption may vary depending on lighting conditions, movement frequencies, and more. While it's hard to be specific about Alfred's data consumption, here are some guidelines that might help you:
- Live feed: between 20-70 KB /sec (depending on the lighting condition)
- Motion Detection snapshot: 20-50 KB
- A 5-second Motion Detection Event:
- Free users: 80-120 KB
- Premium users: 400-600 KB
- Premium Motion Detection: 150-250 KB/sec
- Continuous Recording:
- Free users: 50KB/sec
- Premium users: 120KB/sec
If you want to get a more accurate idea of how much data your Alfred needs, we recommend that you test Alfred out for a day or two.
3. Does Alfred work when I'm abroad?
As long as all devices are connected to the internet, Alfred works regardless of the distance between the devices. Make sure your Camera devices have a stable connection and that your Viewer devices are connected to a WiFi network or can access international roaming.
When you're away from home, don't forget to keep your Camera devices plugged in.
⚠️ Note: Since Alfred relies heavily on Google's technology, if the country you're in doesn't support Google, Alfred will not be able to function properly.
See Also:
🙋 Still have questions? Let us know via the in-app "Report an Issue" channel.