To be paranoid the baby monitor is hacked

[pizzawinecake]

This is half in AIBU for the traffic as I need some urgent reassurance as I'm panicking, but also half here as my DH thinks I'm overreacting and this could not possibly be hacking.

So we have a leapfrog WiFi baby monitor, but I've not yet ever connected it to WiFi so just using it in range. Last night I was watching tv and suddenly noticed the view of the baby had gone darker and suddenly most of the bedroom wall was in the camera view. Thought it was weird, had a little play around of the buttons, couldn't figure out how to significantly change the view so left it. A few minutes later I literally saw the view rotating so that it panned across the whole bedroom including my bed (cot is in our bedroom). I thought maybe it was a delayed reaction from my playing around. Another 5 minutes again I saw the camera angle change again. I definitely hadn't touched anything this time. No weird sounds or anything I don't think.

It's not connected to WiFi so apparently can only be hacked by someone in the immediate vicinity. DH said no way someone on our road would do that and it's a technical glitch and to stop being silly. He thinks maybe it automatically changes angle if the camera detects motion (I don't think this is the case). I'm just panicking at the thought of someone watching me and the baby. I turned it off last night.

Thoughts, any experience of this, and what would you do?

The security on those kinds of devices is absolutely shocking - there's no way I'd ever use them in my home. What's wrong with an old school sound only one?

So long as you have changed your wifi password to a strong one (not the default) and changed the baby monitor password to a strong one (again, not the default) it is incredibly unlikely to be hacked.

I was obsessed with this after my first was born and ended up being diagnosed with PPA - just something to bear in mind lovey if you are worrying about lots of different things to this extent 🩷

Hope you are okay! Thats very scary.

I do have an old sound one I was given. I may revert back to that. But was quite good to see if ds was stirring so we could run up the stairs and resettle him before a full on wake up and meltdown

Just commenting so I can see what the Big Farmer has been up to 😁

Having worked as a sound engineer for years, this would be my first thing to check. Far too many units use the very few “free” frequencies. We had to pay for private/restricted frequencies to avoid issues.

Can you choose the frequency the monitor is on?

This is useful:

nordvpn.com/blog/baby-monitor-hacked/

However, the most likely explanation is either delayed movement from you or same frequency as a neighbour.

But, I'm also interested in in what a Big Farmer might be up to 👨‍🌾

It’s going to depend on the exact model - is there an a/b switch?

you say it’s not connected to WiFi? I don’t think they can be hacked without being connected to the internet.

Yes to this. We were at a holiday park once and a different baby’s crying came through our monitor. I rushed to check my son and he was fast asleep!

There absolutely are motion detection baby monitors and if yours is moving like that then it's possible it's just that

I'd turn it off. Do you really need a monitor? You'd hear your baby cry in most sized houses.

My next door neighbours were using one on their new puppy! I know someone whose 4YO sleeps in the loft conversion and they still have one. No prams doesn’t mean anything and interference is still possible. Delayed reaction a reasonable theory too. That said, do you really need a video one? Audio only tells you if they’re crying, if you’re out in the garden or somewhere where you wouldn’t hear them, personally I don’t need any more information than that!

Google make and model and what happened. It will have happened to someone else.

Years ago so old time baby monitor no video. My friend and I were in the kitchen and someone started talking thru the monitor we absolutely shit our pants thinking someone was in the house. Turned out next door had the same monitor and baby's grandad had gone in to check on them and hers picked it up I've never ever used one because of this lol

yes this, my sister's son had an action figure that you could make speak using a remote microphone, must have been the same frequency as her neighbours baby monitor because one evening action man burst into an argument with himself and she recognised the voices lol

LF2936FHD Smart Video Baby Monitor
As I understand you are using it in "direct mode", the manual says...

"It is NOT recommended to continue using Direct Mode connection
after initial installation"

Here's a link to the manual, which should help you set it up securely.

Manual

Big Farmer = Big Pharma - conspiracy theories etc?

This is the reason I got a chespo one off Amazon that can't be used with WiFi at all and is very old fashioned, but does the job! I'd be ditching the monitor you've got immediately.

To add, mine is still a video one with night vision which gives me peace of mind but just no ability to connect to WiFi at all.

Anyone know why this is the case?

I guess, although I'm not sure why Big Pharma would be interested in footage of a sleeping baby either 😆

Probably as it uses a default password and network name so anyone can log into it to add it to their network.

It should be secure if you follow the instructions.

It might not be another baby monitor that's interfering with it. Years ago, our DS had an RC forklift truck that would go chugging merrily across the room whenever next-door's wireless doorbell was pressed, and a train that moved whenever we pressed the light-switch in the front room.