THE ULTIMATE BABY MONITOR

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One of the most common questions that any new father often has is, “How do I get the most tricked out gangster baby monitor, without having to mine for gold?” Trust me, I hear you. As a brand new father, and tech enthusiast, I’ve found a solution for you to combine many of the technologies that you likely already have to create the ultimate baby monitor.

 What you need for this:

  • An Android phone that supports mirroring on Chromecast
    • See our article on mirroring for details
  • A Chromecast
  • Any wifi security camera/baby monitor that can connect to your Smartphone (I used a Foscam)

These 3 technologies on their own are incredible. Together, they make a married couple on steroids. First, you have to setup your camera. This typically will involve you hardwiring the camera to your router, installing some software to get it connected to the internet and through your WIFI encryption. Once you’ve done that, then you need to connect the monitor to your phone. 

 Most cameras now days are relatively user friendly and only require you to download an app. Then, as long as you’re on the same router, the app is able to identify the camera’s IP address to connect.

Once you connect your phone to the camera, you should have the ability to not only see the other side, but control the camera as well. Foscam cameras also allow you to talk back through the camera, though we’ve never had success comforting our baby through the medium of a little black camera; plus the speaker is really loud. 

Now that your monitor is connected to your phone, go into your Chromecast mirroring app and mirror your phone to your TV. Just like that, your child is now 80 inches wide and can be seen from anywhere in the house! The nice part about using the Chromecase is that it is wireless, so you can keep your phone on you while working around the house and even adjust the camera on the fly without even having the move. 

Another benefit of using your television is that it boosts your audio. 

One of my biggest gripes with using my phone as a baby monitor is that it is so quiet. If I’m not right next to the phone, I can’t hear my daughter crying. (You can also plug in headphones, but lets be honest, that’s not nearly as fascinating as imagining the number of packets that are being thrown around on your network from the Camera to the router to your phone back to the router to your TV. It’s always a great day when you feel like you just finished playing Mouse Trap (the board-game) with technology.