The Swann MaxRanger4K Solar 2 Camera Security System, from $649.99.

Private Eyes

A security-camera system that runs on solar power! The cheapest way to strike gold! A treasure trove of sound effects, courtesy of the BBC! And more …

By Jonathan Margolis

The Swann MaxRanger4K Solar 2 Camera Security System

A home-camera system that operates without Wi-Fi and power cables

Your columnist’s home, a 210-year-old cottage in West London, was for the last 60 years owned by a renowned TV producer, who, being on her own and apt to go away on long shoots, grew increasingly paranoid about burglaries.

So, in the 1990s, she had a complex network of hardwired sensors installed to form a comprehensive burglar-alarm system. The sad thing is that today, due to the coming of wireless security systems from the likes of the superb Ukrainian company Ajax and others, the entire installation is obsolete, and the ugly cables snaking round every doorframe and window are wholly unnecessary.