Home security camera system question

sacksjacked

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Wondering if anyone has a system in place and/or any recommendations. Looking to put in place 24/7 recording security cameras that would not need internet to run/record. Probably looking to set up 3-4 cameras and that should cover entire property. Or maybe you know a company who specializes in these sort of installs/setups. Would need to be someone that services Worcester County as thats where this particular property is located. Thanks!
 
So for local recording, make sure the product used bears the official "ONVIF" logo, otherwise you're stuck with one brand for all future upgrades -- with ONVIF you can mix and match cameras and the local video recorder-- all products claiming ONVIF should all interoperate, and will work without Internet/cloud access.

If you're not going to be exposing the gear to the Internet, then less reason to beware made-in-China hardware and software, as long as you can get something reliable. If you buy from an authorized reseller/installer then the major brands generally offer a 3-year warranty.

I see a lot of budget-conscious (aka "skinflint") businesses using Amcrest, Dahua, etc.
 
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Axis Communications has an office in Chelmsford, and the cameras they sell in the USA are not made in China. You'd want to use an authorized installer if you need to maximize the support and warranty.

Watch out with Speco -- a subset of their product line is proprietary, only works with "Speco Zip Kit"; you're locked into their cameras, recorder, viewer app, etc. (to be fair, Axis has/had the same problem with one or two product lines).
 
Good info. Thanks guys. Any idea what a typical 2TB nvr can hold with 24/7 live recording? Are we talking weeks of recording or months?
That depends on the number of camera's and resolution. Look for h265 video compression in the specs. I think Speco told me 30 days with four 4mp camera's and a three TB drive.

 
I have a Lorex NVR 8 Camera capable POE (Power over ethernet) system, that way you only have to run a cat 5 cable to the camera instead of an extra power cable too. It's one of their 4K versions with the dome cameras. Has nice video but it was a pain in the ass to set up for internet recording. Don't believe the IR night visions ranges they advertise with their cameras. My experience is they are about half what they say they are. I've had it 3 years and I believe it cost me $1200 with 4 cameras. When mine is connected to the router I can log into it by wifi and set a wide range of parameters including the mask area where the motion sensing won't record even in the blank areas.
 
Ring alarm, Dahua cameras with Blue Iris running on a dedicated PC. The Dahua cameras are really solid hardware, but I never let them see the internet. I run a total of 5 cameras, with some careful motion triggers, and a 10tb drive in the PC for recording, I keep 2-3 months of motion clips.
 
Axis Communications has an office in Chelmsford, and the cameras they sell in the USA are not made in China. You'd want to use an authorized installer if you need to maximize the support and warranty.

My daughter works for Axis. If you are interested and have any questions I can pass along your contact info to her.
 
I just use a couple Foscam IP cameras on my property. Recordings are saved to my home NAS and I can watch them from the internet through VPN, never paying monthly fees.
 
I have simplisafe as well. Its pretty good. I just scored a Swann 8 camera setup new in box for free though... so lll install that soon. Pretty excited

I use Swann in my house. It won't work with other cameras but mine have been outside in the elements for over a year now with no issues. Good picture in the dark and the DVR is easy to use.

OP you can get them fairly cheap on Amazon or EBAY. I used to install CCTV, there are better systems for sure but unless your living in Fort Knox these will work just fine.

Amazon product ASIN B07XZVBV2FView: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07XZVBV2F/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Edit: Nevermind, just saw that your looking for an installer.
 
Ring alarm, Dahua cameras with Blue Iris running on a dedicated PC. The Dahua cameras are really solid hardware, but I never let them see the internet. I run a total of 5 cameras, with some careful motion triggers, and a 10tb drive in the PC for recording, I keep 2-3 months of motion clips.
I've been running Blue Iris with 6 ReoLink cameras, though I have heard Dahua may be even nicer. I only keep a couple of weeks since I record continuous - that way I am certain not to miss anything if the motion detection is not perfectly configured.

Lots of cameras without the ONVIF logo work on multiple vendor systems, particularly if you see H264/H265.
 
+1 for Dahua.
If buying on amazon or eBay, watch out for knockoff cameras with Dahua name.
Use reputable dealer.
use POE and cat 5. Buy1000’ spool, RJ45 ends, and crimp tool and make your own cables. Takes a little time to snake cable and mount cameras but looks clean and professional in the end.
 
+1 for Dahua.
If buying on amazon or eBay, watch out for knockoff cameras with Dahua name.
Use reputable dealer.
I bought my Dahua from Andy (Empire Tech), he has an Amazon storefront and forum on IPcamTalk; he handles warranty service directly when you buy from him (including via Amazon or Aliexpress).

The Dahua cameras are fine so long as you use a different brand of NVR to record the stream, otherwise the native Dahua video files (the "DAV" format) are a real pain to work with. The user interface in the camera is weird and buggy, but if you use ONVIF recorder that doesn't matter.

The same DAV format issues are found in other cameras made by Dahua and relabeled by Amcrest, FLIR, Swann, etc.

Lots of cameras without the ONVIF logo work on multiple vendor systems, particularly if you see H264/H265.
That is true, but the logo is the easy way to have confidence in interoperability, and the protocol usually makes configuration easier. Downside is there are non-ONVIF members putting the letters "ONVIF" on their products, but not actually conforming to the standard.

The other reason I like ONVIF is that it allows you to manage many camera settings from the NVR so you don't have to log into the camera's own (often buggy, see above) web interface.
My daughter works for Axis. If you are interested and have any questions I can pass along your contact info to her.
That's cool, they make some great products; my last delivery actually shipped directly from Sweden.
I'll PM you with questions and contact details.
 
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We use ACTi at Hopkinton Sportsmens. These are high end $$ ($200-$600 each); probably more than we need, but the video interface is really nice. They are targeted for commerical installation so they have a retail that is about 2x the actual price (so installers can show the price sheet to their customers).

At this price level, they get repaired, not junked. I had one die after a few years and it was a flat $80 for the repair. I shipped it to the CA office and about two weeks later I get an email that I have a package coming from Taiwan. The actual camera I sent (my labels were still intact) was sent to Taiwan for repair and then came back 2 day shipping through Alaska. ACTi has also provided direct customer service whenever I had an issue with the software setup.

Their software is really nice, and free up to 16 cameras (if one exceeds that, there is room for negotiation - BTDT at another installation). I supports almost all standard cameras but the license fee beyone one non-ACTi camera is about $50 each.
 
That depends on the number of camera's and resolution. Look for h265 video compression in the specs. I think Speco told me 30 days with four 4mp camera's and a three TB drive.

I was thinking probably go with 8mp 4k resolution, so I would probably be looking for higher storage to at least get 30 days full of recording in there before it loops over.
 
Most systems you want to set to record on motion.
I also install camera systems mostly Lorex. Which I have at my house. I am also a certified Axis installer. I will install anything the customer wants but no guarantees if it’s some cheap junk which some people buy.
 
I was thinking probably go with 8mp 4k resolution, so I would probably be looking for higher storage to at least get 30 days full of recording in there before it loops over.
DVRs in a box present a maintenance issue - you can't easily replace the OS disk; re-install the software; add more and larger recording drives; etc. Much more maintainable if you build your own from a PC.
 
DVRs in a box present a maintenance issue - you can't easily replace the OS disk; re-install the software; add more and larger recording drives; etc. Much more maintainable if you build your own from a PC.
I've noticed that many modern NVRs put the OS on separate flash boot media, so you can just swap out disks to upgrade storage.

Another option if you don't want to maintain yet another Windows/Linux OS is to buy a consumer storage server (NAS) with onboard surveillance recording (NVR) built-in. Most of the makers (e.g. ‎Asustor, ‎Netgear, ‎QNAP, ‎Synology ) include a license for a few channels of NVR with their NAS products, and it's easy to upgrade disk space.

I was thinking probably go with 8mp 4k resolution, so I would probably be looking for higher storage to at least get 30 days full of recording in there before it loops over.
Definitely a case for setting record-on-motion. Depending on how good you are at tuning out motion events (e.g. Axis has "swaying object" detection which avoids triggering on vegetation in the wind) you can get months of storage in a few terabytes.
 
Good info. Thanks guys. Any idea what a typical 2TB nvr can hold with 24/7 live recording? Are we talking weeks of recording or months?

I believe my lorex is 2TB.
With 7 cams, video storage stream @ 1920x, I seem to get ~2 weeks of recordings.
...and, they're recording 24/7 cuz I can find the setting to record only on motion
:) - haven't had the time to play with them.

Sparky installed them - great work/great guy
 
I believe my lorex is 2TB.
With 7 cams, video storage stream @ 1920x, I seem to get ~2 weeks of recordings.
...and, they're recording 24/7 cuz I can find the setting to record only on motion
:) - haven't had the time to play with them.

Sparky installed them - great work/great guy

would like to have at least a full 30 days of 24/7 recording on a dedicated PC so I am likely looking at more memory than 2TB. I have been checking out the Lorex and Reolink systems for a hardwire setup. Will have to have Sparky come by for an onsite consult.
 
would like to have at least a full 30 days of 24/7 recording on a dedicated PC so I am likely looking at more memory than 2TB. I have been checking out the Lorex and Reolink systems for a hardwire setup. Will have to have Sparky come by for an onsite consult.
Reolink NVR does allow external add-on storage, and might work with other brand ONVIF/RTSP cameras, but they make no promises.

Personally, before investing in a "system" I would buy one camera and try it out, especially for nighttime viewing.
 
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