Home Security Camera System

[G35POPPEDMYCHERRY]

Hey,

I am sure some of you guys have home security camera systems. I want to get some installed in my house and need some suggestions.

Have to be:
Wireless
Motion-Detecting
Monitor on laptop while away

Now I I would like four cameras, but if it means sacrificing quality 2 should do.

I want to keep cost under 300$.

Can this be pieced together. Or does a system need to be purchased?

Kinda lost so appreciate any input

[overcoil]

Consumer reports has a home security camera article on their site now - not sure if in this months print magazine

[Refined]

Spring for a bunch of nest iq cameras. They're worth their higher cost. 4k image quality... you will never need or want to replace one. Night vision and two way mic are great. Facial recognition too

[larryn]

I have the Ring battery spotlight camera (and two Ring doorbells). I got a little over 5 months on a charge from the camera with one battery, but I just added the second battery and am expecting sloe to a year between charges.

I love the sensitivity settings, zones and scheduling. Night vision is very good and the variable notifications let me tailor it to my needs.

[NorCal f80]

somewhat on topic so I'll post here but what is everyones opinion on video quality of outdoor vs. indoor? I plan on having a camera inside looking out a window that is right next to the front door. should I go for indoor or outdoor?

[pokerface]

you Won’t get much out of a camera inside looking out the window. Most likely it’ll have night vision on it and you’ll end up with just glare / reflections at night

I am using Ring cameras - avoid the battery ones due to cold weather issues

[bimmer456]

I use a dlink camera and HDD DVR. I used to have additional cameras but they would stop working and need to be reset or would brick. The specific camera that still works is surprisingly robust so I might get another one of just that model. I can set up to film on motion or just film continuously as the 1 Terabyte HDD can hold a month's worth of continuous recording before looping over the oldest footage. I can view the live feed or recorded footage from a smartphone app. The setup costs maybe $300, if I add more cameras then it will cost more.

[Seraphim38]

UNDER $300? Heck I would love to do that, but I think a NEST system would be easily twice that once done?

[Daftasabrush]

Originally Posted by Refined

Spring for a bunch of nest iq cameras. They're worth their higher cost. 4k image quality... you will never need or want to replace one. Night vision and two way mic are great. Facial recognition too

I have one of those, in the past 20 days it has uploaded 230GB of data. If you have the capacity to use them, they're great but they're data hungry and NOT 4K. They have 4K sensors but only upload in 1080p.

Don't get me wrong, they're cracking pieces of kit, but there are caveats.

[zx10guy]

Long thread about this subject here:

http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1132696

I wouldn't put anything cloud related at all tied to home security. So Nest and Google can shove it.

While the information is dated now, this is a really good site to learn about different aspects of IP cameras:

http://www.networkcameracritic.com/

This site convinced me the Hikvision cameras were the right choice.

[bosstones]

^ what zx10guy said. There are a few other threads on IP cams as well in Off Topic.

I recently went Hikvision but went wired. WiFi isn't a primary choice for me personally but understand that running Cat6 may not be ideal for some (WiFi is 'easy').

I don't have a lot of ambient lighting around me at night and the cameras are fairly high although on 1st floor soffits so I'm also looking into getting an IR illuminator for 2 camera locations. Camera quality is great in normal lighting conditions, though.

Did manage to catch a coyote on camera on my sidewalk about a month ago, probably 10ft from the front door. Found that....interesting.

[TheWatchGuy]

I just bought the Arlo cameras. Great quality, wireless, battery powered, great night vision

[zx10guy]

Originally Posted by bosstones

^ what zx10guy said. There are a few other threads on IP cams as well in Off Topic.

I recently went Hikvision but went wired. WiFi isn't a primary choice for me personally but understand that running Cat6 may not be ideal for some (WiFi is 'easy').

I don't have a lot of ambient lighting around me at night and the cameras are fairly high although on 1st floor soffits so I'm also looking into getting an IR illuminator for 2 camera locations. Camera quality is great in normal lighting conditions, though.

Did manage to catch a coyote on camera on my sidewalk about a month ago, probably 10ft from the front door. Found that....interesting.

I'm surprised you're not getting decent performance in terms of distance from the Hikvision cameras at night. I don't have any complaints about mine. I have a camera monitoring the sliding glass door on the walkout from my basement at the back of the house. It's pretty dark back there and I can see all the way to the my fence about 30 ft or so away. I also have one of the cube cameras in my garage. In the pitch dark, I can still make out decent details of items in my garage.

I tweaked some of the settings based on the information I got from the Network Camera Critic website with his reviews of the cameras I have.

[TomHudson]

I bought the Lorex 8 camera system, but it’s more than 800. The four camera may be more affordable.
Excellent versatility, night vision, motion, remote access, etc and is powered through the CAT5 cable.

[clutchdj]

Arlo pro. Costly but vg quality. Not going to find even a decent system for $300

[bosstones]

Originally Posted by zx10guy

I'm surprised you're not getting decent performance in terms of distance from the Hikvision cameras at night. I don't have any complaints about mine. I have a camera monitoring the sliding glass door on the walkout from my basement at the back of the house. It's pretty dark back there and I can see all the way to the my fence about 30 ft or so away. I also have one of the cube cameras in my garage. In the pitch dark, I can still make out decent details of items in my garage.

I tweaked some of the settings based on the information I got from the Network Camera Critic website with his reviews of the cameras I have.

My subdivision has no street lights anywhere and acre lots. I haven't been able to 'optimize' the camera settings myself to satisfaction. I'm trying to keep the gain down although I find myself putting it at around 7 to balance visibility w/ noise. NCC unfortunately doesn't have the mini dome cams I am using (DS-2CD2142FWD) on their site. Note sure if having done mini dome vs bullet makes a difference or 3MP vs 4MP.

I'll try to post some samples later in the other thread so as not to pollute this one.

[P1]

Another Hikvision user here, and very pleased. Have had them for two years now and not a single minute of downtime.

[Spa2k]

I've had a Nest Cam for about a year, and I'm looking for an alternative. On the plus side, the quality of the day and night pictures it sends to my smartphone are excellent. OTOH, the software just stops functioning at random and needs to be reloaded frequently, the camera sends a large number of false alerts and the monthly charges add up to a point that's not acceptable.

[zx10guy]

Originally Posted by Spa2k

I've had a Nest Cam for about a year, and I'm looking for an alternative. On the plus side, the quality of the day and night pictures it sends to my smartphone are excellent. OTOH, the software just stops functioning at random and needs to be reloaded frequently, the camera sends a large number of false alerts and the monthly charges add up to a point that's not acceptable.

That's why I said any cloud service can just shove it. I don't want to be a slave to having to depend on a vendor to keep my system up and running after paying for the equipment. With a quality system like Hikvision, you pay once and you're done. Equipment is very reliable and I've had no issues with their smart phone app. I've opted to go with Hikvision's DVR appliance and installed a WD 4TB HD in it. I know P1et opted to use a different DVR option.

Also, I would rather not have Google capture more data about me and more to the point give them an open invitation to spy on my home.

[JackMayyam]

I agree on the arlo pro. It has all requirements you mentioned, we like its 2way communication, night vision's quality is good too. I read this post about cheap alternatives having similar features with the arlo, since arlo also comes with a hefty price.

[ChrisK]

Originally Posted by P1et

Another Hikvision user here, and very pleased. Have had them for two years now and not a single minute of downtime.

Hikvision POE Turrets are my favorite.

I have 30 IP cams on two continents. Hikvision FTW!

[ChrisK]

Originally Posted by larryn

I have the Ring battery spotlight camera (and two Ring doorbells). I got a little over 5 months on a charge from the camera with one battery, but I just added the second battery and am expecting sloe to a year between charges.

I love the sensitivity settings, zones and scheduling. Night vision is very good and the variable notifications let me tailor it to my needs.

Larry! What's up my friend!?!