I'm looking for some recommendations for home security cameras. Basically some kind of surface mounting dome camera one or two for for use at front of property and one or tow at rear. I'm assuming these would likely be POE operation. Also need software which would allow remote monitoring, etc. Need good quality but don't want to pay more than necessary. Thanks for any suggestions. Also, if there are any Websites that explain in simple terms how to position, setup, and integrate home security (e.g. cameras, alarms, etc.) that would be helpful
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Home security cameras
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- Sir will do
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I've found a local security specialist invaluable. I wanted to integrate our with specific tools, I was able to do it together with them in their showroom and try various models, various protocols to ensure it works and is reliable and the quality is sufficient. Too many rubbish cameras out there for my purpose; i.e. not wide enough, no long enough range, not good at night, not good during the day, can't recognise a person, doesn't integrate with onvif, doesn't integrate with the alarm system and so on.
Sorry I'm not going into details of our security arrangements on a public forum. However very good dome cameras are;
http://avigilon.com/products/video-surveillance/cameras/hd-domes/
However I suspect that you aren't really talking about just wanting a dome, but perhaps also some like a panoramic camera;
http://avigilon.com/products/video-...amic-camera/8-mp-180-jpeg2000-dome-panoramic/
Let's just say I have a variety that covers the requirements and the situation of where they need to be placed.
Sorry I'm not going into details of our security arrangements on a public forum. However very good dome cameras are;
http://avigilon.com/products/video-surveillance/cameras/hd-domes/
However I suspect that you aren't really talking about just wanting a dome, but perhaps also some like a panoramic camera;
http://avigilon.com/products/video-...amic-camera/8-mp-180-jpeg2000-dome-panoramic/
Let's just say I have a variety that covers the requirements and the situation of where they need to be placed.
Photodiva
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We have just installed the Ring doorbell with camera and an app that allows you to communicate remotely with someone at the door (delivery, leave it by the garage} or just view who rang the bell. It also has 'areas' you can set up and alert you to who comes on to your property even before they get to the door. Neat. All works wifi.
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I use Hikvision cameras, around £100 each for the dome/bullet ones.
I then have a dedicated CCTV PC using BlueIris (google it) which acts as the CCTV software, works really well.
I use motion detection only and save the clips to Google Cloud so they are both local and backed up, need a decent upload though.
To be fair, I am a network engineer and have PoE switches and a full on Cisco network in the house so it was a doddle for me.
Four 3/4MP 1080p Cameras, a second hand i5/8G Ram PC, BlueIris etc cost me <£600.
However, I ran the cabling myself to the cameras so it really depends on how good you are at stuff like this.
Getting one of those Nest cameras is fine if its just one but I think you have to pay monthly for cloud storage etc and you are forced to use their software/app.
I then have a dedicated CCTV PC using BlueIris (google it) which acts as the CCTV software, works really well.
I use motion detection only and save the clips to Google Cloud so they are both local and backed up, need a decent upload though.
To be fair, I am a network engineer and have PoE switches and a full on Cisco network in the house so it was a doddle for me.
Four 3/4MP 1080p Cameras, a second hand i5/8G Ram PC, BlueIris etc cost me <£600.
However, I ran the cabling myself to the cameras so it really depends on how good you are at stuff like this.
Getting one of those Nest cameras is fine if its just one but I think you have to pay monthly for cloud storage etc and you are forced to use their software/app.
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I have recently seen these on Amazon I believe, do they work as well as the advert states? I'm guessing they are only good tho if burglars rind the doorbell 1st and not just smash the window round the back?
They look very interesting indeed!
Jordan
Thanks. I was looking at those cameras on Amazon also. They are probably good enough for what I need. How is the imaging at night?
I can probably find a small PC to run as a server and do POE wiring myself.
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Night vision is not perfect but it's decent enough in my opinion.
Night vision is the compromise between spending £700 on a camera and a £100 one.
Have a look on YouTube, loads of links for the hikvision ones and some night vision footage.
They all have web interfaces but I use blueiris so all feeds go to once place and this does the uploading, saving, motion detection etc.
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Well, if you really don't want to pay any more than necessary, I suggest you start by looking at this. It might not do everything you want, but it's excellent value, and it will allow you to consider how much various 'nice to have' features are really worth to you.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B017DCMB22
I've got one of these. It doesn't come with a hard disk (some of their models do, but this one doesn't) so I bought a 1TB hard disk for £50. Total cost £270 including VAT for a complete 4-camera system.
It was unbelievably easy to set up. Install the hard disk, plug the cameras into the recorder box, attach a monitor, switch on, accept all the default software configuration settings, and it was working. Really effortless.
There are a few drawbacks though.
One downside is that it doesn't integrate easily, if at all, with other home security devices. I think it *ought* to be possible to interface it with my home server, so I shouldn't really need the 1TB hard disk, but I'm not an expert and I didn't want to spend a load of time trying to work it out.
Another drawback is that the remote access software seems a bit flaky. The phone app is fine, but it seems to be live view only, no access to recordings. The browser access is IE only (not even Microsoft's new Edge browser, because it needs to use ActiveX components), and it seems like it should provide access to recordings as well as live view, but I haven't yet managed to get the recordings bit to work.
Still, an awful lot of capability for the money, and it made me question how much any potential additional capabilities were worth to me. Answer: not enough.
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Did you ever get your home security sorted out?
I am looking for home security cameras myself. I have seen loads of people offering camera fitting services, for varying price ranges. All claim to be very good image quality, but reading some of the specs and not all are full HD resolution.
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Not really. I set up a camera at the front of the house as a stop-gap. I'm trying to decide on a system/control for home automation and will plan and integrate security as part of that. However, it's likely the cameras, security system, etc. will be specialist products and a dedicated system - only integrated to HA. Taking a bit of time to ensure it integrates well together and I don't need too many remotes, interfaces, etc.
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Whatever you do mount the cameras properly and not too high up. I've just had an argument with "pro" installer who put pictures on facebook of a domestic install. (including the area of the install). He's put he cctv so high up all your going to get is the top of peoples heads. Not only that if any local toe rag sees the pictures they'll be able to see the dead spots too.
Thanks for the tip. Hopefully a full site survey would be done covering any dead spots. If the cameras are not obvious/visible it could be useful to add a dummy a visible deterrent too.
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I have no idea about security cameras, looks like I might have to call someone in. I am going to read up on the pros and cons first.
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Looks like we will not have that problem, we are in a bungalow. We need to make sure ours are high enough. Otherwise, they will be in reaching distance.
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It's really not rocket science - certainly much easier than, say, cleaning wheel bearings on your car.
But the first thing to do is to decide on your requirements. And remember that, whether the cameras are wired or wireless, you still need to get power to them somehow; that might affect where you can position them.
The tools to disrupt wireless CCTV systems are too readily available.
I used to have something crude set-up with an IP camera - I configured it to email stills when motion was detected so that even if the recording hardware was stolen/damaged, the stills would be on a mail server somewhere.
I used to have something crude set-up with an IP camera - I configured it to email stills when motion was detected so that even if the recording hardware was stolen/damaged, the stills would be on a mail server somewhere.
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Use domes so they can't be moved. Reaching distance isn't a real issue if they cant be moved. Unless your worried about them being sprayed to null the image.. but if they want to be disguised this can be done with a £2 balaclava.
I've seen footage of someone trying to disable a dome camera. Full face image up close...Very easy to identify them.
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It's really not rocket science - certainly much easier than, say, cleaning wheel bearings on your car.
But the first thing to do is to decide on your requirements. And remember that, whether the cameras are wired or wireless, you still need to get power to them somehow; that might affect where you can position them.
Anything is easy if you have the know how.
I am going to have a good read up on the cameras first. Just so many other jobs to do around the house, can't seem to get any of them done.
Anything is easy if you have the know how.
I am going to have a good read up on the cameras first. Just so many other jobs to do around the house, can't seem to get any of them done.
He he. That is why I'm not much further along with this project.
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Been reading up on the Cameras. Seems a good deal still on sale, still run on the old Analogue system. Even when they state 720P it gives the impression they are digital, but further reading the spec sheet, it seems the signal is still analogue. Still trying to get my head, around all the mumbo jumbo.
Been reading up on the Cameras. Seems a good deal still on sale, still run on the old Analogue system. Even when they state 720P it gives the impression they are digital, but further reading the spec sheet, it seems the signal is still analogue. Still trying to get my head, around all the mumbo jumbo.
Did you by any chance find any general guides on siting of cameras, coverage of angles, etc.? I'm trying to find a guide to ensure I do not miss any space, but also to try and avoid covering neighbouring properties to the extent possible.
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I must admit I have not taken it any further. I did get a quote from a security camera company. The price was about £2000 or so, plus vat. The ones I have found only seem to be very low resolution. So no, nothing about how best to place the cameras.
What sort of cameras were included in the quote?
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Just found the quote.
"For four 4MP HD cameras with 4TB of storage connected to a 4way NVR and connected to your router for remote connection normally works out at £1900.00 Plus VAT installed.
This would be subject to survey."
Can't afford that sort of price, so did not bother going any further. Must be good cameras for that sort of money, or maybe their labour is expensive.
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Does that include all installation such as cabling etc?
You are probably paying a lot for the labour to pull the cables to locations of the cameras.
Four Hikvision Cameras and an NVR can probably be had for <£1000, maybe a little more and you then just run some Cat6 cable yourself but it depends on how good you would be at pulling cabled and terminating them.
I Googled and found some general advice about siting cameras; front door, back door, etc. One point which I guess could easily be overlooked by a non-professional is to ensure that sunlight does not wash out the image. Similarly, range is important for night vision cameras as the LED's can wash out images of objects close up. Think I'll go for a doorbell camera, front of house, etc.
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Yes, it was everything all in, subject to it being a straight forward fit. It probably is worth it, but I just do not have that sort of money at the moment.
I will only tackle the job as a last resort.
I am still pondering what to do. But I do not want poor quality equipment, so still saving the pennies while I keep a look out.
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I have just finished installing 5x Hikvision 4MP turret cameras at my house. They are connected via CAT5e cable to POE switches and I used a budget DELL T20 server running Windows 10 PRO and XProtect Essential software. The cameras were around £110 each, the server was £100, XProtect Essential is free for up to 8 cameras. I used a couple of 3TB WD Purple HDD for data storage.
The turret cameras are affected less by reflections on dome cameras, especially when wet or at night.
The turret cameras are affected less by reflections on dome cameras, especially when wet or at night.
Thanks for the tip. I've been looking at the Hikvision products and they seem to be good enough. Can the turret cameras be mounted on vertical and/or horizontal surface? Presumable the image will adjust accordingly?
Yes the turret cameras can be mounted either vertically or horizontally. There is a locking grub screw on the mounting ring which prevents the camera from being moved once it is lined up. One thing to watch out though, the cable coming out of the back of the camera is quite bulky as it includes a waterproof RJ45 socket & a mini jack (for power if you are not using POE). This means either you need quite a big hole if surface mounting or alternatively you use a HikVision mount or junction box.
Thanks. I'll probably go POE to reduce the cabling to the minimum.
Was any information supplied with the camera on FOV (field of view) at whatever resolution it is set? This seems to be an important piece of info for planning number of cameras, location, etc. but seems missing from specs (on well known Internet sales sites at least).
I don't recall seeing any information regarding FOV in the limited documentation provided. The turret cameras come with a choice of 2.8mm, 4mm, 6mm and 12mm lenses. I bought a 2.8mm camera as a 'pilot' project and ended up using 4 of these, I also have one 4mm lens camera too. I googled Hikvision turret FOV and found a few image samples, if I recall correctly the 2.8mm lens FOV is around 80 degrees, the 4mm is around 60 degrees.
The IR illuminator seems to be identical on each camera which means at night the 2.8mm cameras lose some width of view vs in daylight but I also have PIR activated LED floodlights covering the same areas as the cameras which compensate. The cameras switch from night to day mode when the floodlights activate, they seem to cope with LED lamps better than Halogen floodlights too.
The IR illuminator seems to be identical on each camera which means at night the 2.8mm cameras lose some width of view vs in daylight but I also have PIR activated LED floodlights covering the same areas as the cameras which compensate. The cameras switch from night to day mode when the floodlights activate, they seem to cope with LED lamps better than Halogen floodlights too.
One other question, when using the 4mm camera, have you zoomed in to any of the footage to see how sharp (or not) distant objects are, both at centre and edges of view? I can imagine using this to cover the driveway and would be interested to know if persons at that location can be identified from the footage or does it look like potato cam?
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Image quality while zooming in on both 2.8mm and 4mm is surprisingly good, not up to the standards of the AXIS cameras I used at work (in a school) before I retired, but at 25% of the cost I am happy enough.
When I started my 'proof of concept' DIY CCTV project I bought my first camera from Amazon UK, the plan was to evaluate the camera and return it quickly if not suitable as Amazon return policy is pretty good.
All I bought initially was one 2.8mm camera. The server, POE switches, UPS, cabllng etc all came later once I was satisfied the cameras were good enough. I ended up buying all my cameras from Amazon as the technical support provided was very helpful.
Incidentally, one of the benefits of a DIY NVR server is you can mix & match camera vendors, something you cannot always do with a branded NVR. At school we had a heavy duty twin XEON DELL server running the Enterprise version of XProtect software with RAID disks managing 40+ cameras across the site as well as access control via badge readers.
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I installed the Milestone XProtect software (free download) on a convenient PC & temporarily hooked the camera up via a long patch lead, I had a spare mains adapter (external PSU for an old network switch I happened to have) which powered the camera, the camera was temporarily attached to a length of 4" by 2" clamped in my B&D workmate which was dragged around in various positions to try the camera out.
When I started my 'proof of concept' DIY CCTV project I bought my first camera from Amazon UK, the plan was to evaluate the camera and return it quickly if not suitable as Amazon return policy is pretty good.
All I bought initially was one 2.8mm camera. The server, POE switches, UPS, cabllng etc all came later once I was satisfied the cameras were good enough. I ended up buying all my cameras from Amazon as the technical support provided was very helpful.
Incidentally, one of the benefits of a DIY NVR server is you can mix & match camera vendors, something you cannot always do with a branded NVR. At school we had a heavy duty twin XEON DELL server running the Enterprise version of XProtect software with RAID disks managing 40+ cameras across the site as well as access control via badge readers.
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I installed the Milestone XProtect software (free download) on a convenient PC & temporarily hooked the camera up via a long patch lead, I had a spare mains adapter (external PSU for an old network switch I happened to have) which powered the camera, the camera was temporarily attached to a length of 4" by 2" clamped in my B&D workmate which was dragged around in various positions to try the camera out.
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I use BlueIris on an i5 PC with 8Gb of Ram, runs 6 cameras in total as of today without issue
Software costs £35 I think but worth it, no cloud or subscription costs either.
I believe most of the other free ones have downsides like a limit
On the total number of cameras and no remote access or alerts unless you pay for a subsection.
Software costs £35 I think but worth it, no cloud or subscription costs either.
I believe most of the other free ones have downsides like a limit
On the total number of cameras and no remote access or alerts unless you pay for a subsection.
BlueIris is another good NVR software package, the benefits of a DIY NVR server vs branded NVR are more choices of hardware & software. The downside is more effort to build & configure .
In my case I used XProtect at work so was familiar with its use which is why I decided to use it at home.
Initially I ran Milestone XProtect Essential in a VM on an i3 PC which was hosting my WHS 2011 backup system (also in a VM), I moved it to a DELL T20 server with a Pentium G3220 to save electricity as I shut down the WHS2011 server after its backups are done...........
The only limitations the free version of XProtect has are a max of 8 cameras and no networked storage for video recordings so you cannot use a NAS to store the video recordings. I run it on Windows 10 Pro because the server runs 'headless' in my garage roof space and I use Remote desktop to manage it. I can access the camera images & recordings from any PC/laptop/tablet or mobile phone in the house. My home network is locked down with no remote access from the www.
In my case I used XProtect at work so was familiar with its use which is why I decided to use it at home.
Initially I ran Milestone XProtect Essential in a VM on an i3 PC which was hosting my WHS 2011 backup system (also in a VM), I moved it to a DELL T20 server with a Pentium G3220 to save electricity as I shut down the WHS2011 server after its backups are done...........
The only limitations the free version of XProtect has are a max of 8 cameras and no networked storage for video recordings so you cannot use a NAS to store the video recordings. I run it on Windows 10 Pro because the server runs 'headless' in my garage roof space and I use Remote desktop to manage it. I can access the camera images & recordings from any PC/laptop/tablet or mobile phone in the house. My home network is locked down with no remote access from the www.
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I've being looking into this recently due to some writing on my property about my gf (sexy blonde etc).
Was looking at the cameras that do it all (watch and record, remotely), but veering away from them now. Already have nest thermostat so was looking to but in to that, but really don't like the price for the subscription of nest aware, and another concern I had was bandwidth with all of the uploads.
Was looking at ways to manage the recording myself offline, but still want remote access so will look at Blueiris and Xprotect.
Was looking at the cameras that do it all (watch and record, remotely), but veering away from them now. Already have nest thermostat so was looking to but in to that, but really don't like the price for the subscription of nest aware, and another concern I had was bandwidth with all of the uploads.
Was looking at ways to manage the recording myself offline, but still want remote access so will look at Blueiris and Xprotect.
The motion detect capabilities of products such as the Hikvision cameras with software such as Blueiris and XProtect can be quite sensitive & flexible; you can set masks to exclude areas of view such as trees & bushes blowing in the breeze.....this has the effect of dramatically reducing the amount of data recorded. In my setup the cameras detect motion and then video is uploaded to my server, including 5 seconds before and after any 'event'.