System Requirements
Hive View does not require special equipment to be used. However, before proceeding with the purchase, it is good to check the system requirements necessary for its operation.
- Router wireless Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n - to allow Hive View to have a wireless connection available.
- Internet connection - at least 1.5 Mbps, to remotely control Hive View and get its live footage.
- An iOS or Android device - with updated operating system and Bluetooth support (on which to install the Hive app to control Hive View remotely).
Price and package contents
Before getting to the heart of the tutorial and explaining, in detail, how Hive View works, let me show you where to buy the camera and explain the contents of its sales package.
The Hive View camera, which measures just 56x56x56 mm and weighs 182 grams (88x145x88 mm for 543 grams of weight when connected to the base), can be purchased on the Hive website in the variants black and brushed copper e white and champagne, both equipped with a memory capable of hosting 24 hours of standard video archive.
The single unit costs 199 euros, the purchase in pairs 339 euros. Alternatively, you can subscribe to the plan Close to Home di Hive which, at a cost of 19,99 euros / month for two years, allows you to have the Hive View camera plus Hive Active Lights bulbs, Hive sensors for doors and windows, a Hive Active Plug and a Hive hub. More info here.
Once the purchase has been made, you will receive an elegant packaging in which the Hive View camera, magnetic holder to attach it to, one basis, viti, the supports for wall installation, USB cable for charging (of 3 meters) and a power pack equipped with interchangeable European and American plugs. Also, as it goes without saying, there is a small one in the package instruction manual with all the information necessary for installing the device.
Install Hive View
The first step you need to take for install Hive View is to install theapplication of Hive on your smartphone or tablet, create an account there and associate the camera with it.
If you already have other devices manufactured by Hive, you can go directly to the chapter of the tutorial dedicated to the initial configuration of Hive View. Alternatively, read on and find out how to sign up in the Hive app.
To download the Hive app, open the store of your device (Play Store if you are using an Android terminal, App Store if you are using an iPhone or iPad or the Amazon store if you are using a Fire family device), locate the field search and search Hive within the latter.
Once the search is complete, tap on theapp Hive (the orange circle with the white beehive inside) and install the latter by pressing the button Installa / Ottieni. If you are using an iOS device, you may be asked to authenticate with Touch ID, Face ID, or entering your Apple ID password.
Once installation is complete, start the Hive app and proceed to create your own free account, thanks to which you will be able to access all the services offered by the English company and you can control your devices remotely (from your smartphone or tablet).
To proceed, follow the initial tutorial of the application and then press on the item Create an account. Then choose your country of residence (eg. city) and fill out the form that is proposed to you by entering, in the fields Email address e Confirm e-mail address, Your email address. After this step, accept the conditions of use of Hive, putting the check mark next to the item I agree to Hive's Terms and Conditions and confirm that I have read the installation requirements, and tap the button Send.
On the next screen, fill out the form located under the heading Your contact details entering in it all your personal data, i.e. name, surname and telephone number. Then fill out the form located under the heading Home address with your home address and set yours preferences on advertising material: If you don't want to receive promotional emails from Hive, leave all boxes unchecked and go forward. Leave the field under the heading blank How did you find out about us?, which is optional.
Now, log in to your inbox, open theverification email you received from Hive and click on confirmation link contained within it. Then fill out the form that is proposed to you and choose the password you want to use to access Hive services. The password must be typed in the fields New password e Confirm new password, then you have to tap the button Activate account.
Mission accomplished! You now have a Hive account and can then move on to the actual camera setup.
Initial Hive View Setup
When you are ready to set up Hive View, take the camera out of its sales package and connect it to the power supply using the USB cable Supplied. If the camera does not turn on automatically, press the button Power (the one located in the lower center) for a couple of seconds, until the light ring is colored with White.
Now, make sure that your smartphone / tablet is not more than 3 meters from the Hive View, start the Hive application and first press the icon of thelittle man (top right) and then on the item Install the devices, present in the menu that opens.
At this point, tap on the icon Camera, accept the conditions of use of the Hive camera by pressing the appropriate button and press the button We proceed. The application will start the detection of the cameras present in the vicinity: therefore wait for the name of your Hive View to appear on the screen (eg. HiveView-AAW123) and select the latter. If within a few seconds you do not see the name of your camera appear, make sure that it is within range of your Wi-Fi router (then try to bring it closer to it).
Once the connection with the Hive View is established, press the button Connect to Wi-Fi, select the name of yours WIFI network from the screen that opens and type the relative Password access in the form that is proposed to you. Then press the button Connected and wait for the camera to connect to the network - it will only take a few seconds.
To conclude, fai tap sul pulsating Rhinomine, type the name you want to assign to your Hive View and press the button Save (located at the top right) to save the settings.
The camcorder will search for any software updates available and will become available in the Hive app, ready to be managed and controlled remotely. During the firmware update (which will then happen automatically as soon as necessary), the camera's indicator light will slowly flash yellow.
Please note: if you want to work as a PC, you can connect to the HIVEhome.com website, click on thelittle man located at the top right, select the tab Settings and click on the item Install the devices to install your Hive View (by selecting the item Video camera from the page that opens).
Place Hive View
Now you can start using your Hive View to monitor your home. Before taking action, however, place the camera where you see fit.
You can place the Hive View on a flat surface (eg a desk, a piece of furniture or a shelf) keeping it connected to its base; you can attach it to a metal surface (thanks to the built-in magnet) or you can attach it to the wall.
For wall fixing, take the base of the Hive View package and use it to mark the position of the screws, then make holes in the wall at the marks (using a drill), insert the plugs included in the package, screw the screws on the base (checking the position of the niche for the power cord) and fix the camera to the base.
If you want to find out what the ideal placement is for your Hive View, make sure your camera has a good one Wi-Fi signal reception and guarantee one complete view of the environment to be monitored. Also, check that it is not exposed directly to sunlight or is near heat sources, such as radiators or electric heaters, as it would risk overheating (once 75 degrees Celsius is reached, the device switches off automatically).
How can I check the degree of Wi-Fi reception by Hive View? Nothing could be easier: open the Hive app on your smartphone or tablet, press the icon of thelittle man situata in alto a destra e seleciona la voce Manage devices from the screen that opens: you will find a Wi-Fi signal indicator next to the camera icon.
To check the camera view, instead, open the Hive application on your smartphone or tablet, select the Hive View from the main screen and presses the button Live score.
How to use Hive View
You can now monitor your home with Hive View. Pigia then onvideo camera icon located in the main screen of the Hive app (the hive one), if necessary, give the permissions related to access to the microphone and, from the screen that opens, get ready to control Hive View in real time and configure it according to your needs.
Control Hive View remotely
To control the Hive View in real time, select thevideo camera icon from the main screen of the app and choose the actions to perform.
To turn the video camera off or on, press the icon shield placed in the center of the screen (on the right), while for see live the one that is filming the camera tap the button Live score, located at the top center. Easy, right ?!
Set alerts for motion and noise
Hive View is capable of detect movements and noises inside the home and to notify the user when these occur. Alerts can be sent via smartphone notification and / or via email.
To choose the type of detection to activate and the alerts to receive, select the video camera from the main screen of the Hive app, tap the icon of thegear (in the center of the screen, on the right) and set your preferences in the screen that opens.
Then bring yourself to the menu Movement and select one of the three available options: People to enable the detection of the movements of people leaving out that of animals; All to enable the detection of the movements of people and animals, or off to completely disable the motion detection function.
Next, to adjust the noise detection, move to ON or on OFF the function lever Sound and choose the level of sound sensitivity, which is the volume level of the noises required to trigger the Hive View alarm. The available options are, also in this case, three: Bassa, Media e Alta.
As for notifications, you can turn them on or off by scrolling the screen to the bottom and moving up ON or on OFF the lever located next to the item Alerts. Once this is done, you can choose whether to receive notifications through the system Push (then via smartphone notifications) or via Email, by placing or removing the check mark next to the appropriate options.
Do you want to enable or disable receiving alerts on a schedule? This can also be done. Press on the voice Program placed in the field Alerts and, in the screen that opens, move up ON the function lever Schedule alerts.
Then choose a day of the week using the appropriate buttons located at the top and select one of the bands available. A screen will open where you can choose whether to keep lit notices or if turn them off (pressing the icon of the bluebell) and you can adjust the hours of start e end of the time slot.
If the time slots proposed by default by the app are not enough for you, you can set new ones by tapping the button + (located at the top right) and selecting the item Add a time slot from the menu that appears below.
Next, set the time for start of the new time slot to be created, then that of end and choose whether to keep to o off sending notifications by clicking on the icon bluebell. Finally, press the button Save (top right) to save the settings.
View the events recorded by Hive View
When suspicious motion or sound is detected, Hive View automatically records videos ranging from 5 seconds before to 10 seconds after the event occurred. If another event is detected during recording, the duration of the video is extended and the recording ends 10 seconds after the end of the last event, for a total of 10 minutes. If events continue to occur after 10 minutes, a new video will be recorded. It should be noted that any loss of the network connection does not affect the video recording activity.
To view the videos recorded by Hive View, open the Hive application on your smartphone (or tablet), select the icon of the video camera from its main screen (the hive-shaped one) and consult the list of private events present at the bottom: by pressing on the icons relating to the movements (Person) and noises (Sound), you will be able to view the footage of what happened.
If you want to go "back in time" and view the footage of the days prior to the current one, tap on the item Today (under the video player) and choose the day for which you want to consult the event history. Know, though, that Hive View offers the most 24 hours of video storage: to expand this capacity, the plan must be signed Hive Video Playback which, for 4,99 euros / month after 30 days of free trial, allows you to see the last 30 days of recordings made by one or two cameras thanks to a cloud-based archive.
If you want to activate your free trial of Hive Video Playback, scroll the menu all the way down, press the button Find out more and, on the next screen, tap the button Start a one month free trial now. More information is available on the official Hive website.
Schedule Hive View to work
Do you want to preserve your privacy by automatically turning off Hive View at certain times and / or on certain days of the week? Nothing easier. Launch the Hive app on your smartphone or tablet, select the icon of video camera from the main menu and go to the tab Program, which is located at the bottom right.
On the next screen, move up ON the function lever Program monitoring, choose a day of the week using the appropriate buttons located at the top and select one time slot among those available.
At this point, press the icon of shield to choose whether to keep the camera access o extinguished in the time slot you have selected, choose whether to change the times of start and / or end time slot using the appropriate buttons and, when you have completed the configuration, press the button Save (top right) to save the settings.
If the predefined time slots are not enough for you, you can set new ones by pressing the button + located at the top right and choosing the item Add a time slot give the menu to compare.
Next, set the time for start and then that of end of the new time slot to be created, choose whether to keep access o extinguished the Hive View in the latter (by pressing the icon of the shield) and save the changes by tapping on the item Save (located at the top right).
Configure Hive View shooting
By default, Hive View records video in HD resolution (720p) but, if necessary, it is possible to raise this resolution to 1080p (Full HD). Keep in mind, however, that increasing the resolution of the footage also increases the amount of bandwidth required to receive images smoothly.
Having made this necessary premise, let's take action: if you want to change the settings related to Hive View video shooting, start the Hive app on your smartphone or tablet, select the video camera from its main screen and tap on thegear.
At this point, move on to the item Quality and choose whether to register a 720p o 1080p. Then, if you want, activate or deactivate the night vision in the camcorder by setting to Car or on off the relevant option and choose if rotate the image di 180 ° selecting the appropriate option.
In the same menu, further down, you can also find options for include audio in the recordings and activate the ring light spot light and state sounds in the camcorder. As you can see, it's all very intuitive: just move up ON or on OFF the lever for each option and this is activated or deactivated.
Use Hive View in portable mode
The standard way to use Hive View is to connect the camera to a power source, i.e. an electrical outlet. The camera manufactured by Hive, however, has a lithium-ion battery with a capacity of 2.100 mAh which ensures over 1 hour of autonomy.
This means you can separate the Hive View from its magnetic base and use it in portable mode to monitor areas of the house where there are no available outlets. Convenient, right?
In case of problems or doubts
The Hive application is no longer able to contact the Hive View? The camera no longer seems to respond to commands? Try one of the following solutions into practice.
- Restart Hive View - to restart Hive View, take a paper clip or other pointed object and press the reset button in the hole on the underside of the camera for about 3 seconds.
- Reset Hive View - to restore Hive View to its factory state, take an office paper clip or other pointed object and press the reset button in the hole on the underside of the camera for about 7-8 seconds (until the camera flashes yellow twice). At the end of the procedure, you will need to pair the camera again with the Hive app and configure it following the instructions in the initial part of this tutorial.
- Remove Hive View from the Hive app - to do this, tap on thelittle man located at the top right, select the item Manage devices from the screen that opens and presses the icon of Hive View. At this point, and tap on the button Remove the device And that's it. Once the device has been removed, repeat the association between the Hive View and the Hive app following the instructions in the initial part of this tutorial.
If necessary, you can contact Hive support by connecting to the company's official website and clicking on the button Contact now that appears on the left side of the page. Alternatively, you can send an email to the address help.ITA@hivehome.com or consult the section Quick of the Hive site, by clicking on the appropriate item located at the top right.
Article created in collaboration with Hive.
Hive View: what it is and how it works
