School me on Wireless Security Camera Systems

wikdsvt

wikdsvt

Club Member
I like wireless, as I do not want to run wires all through the house to the cameras.

I'd like one that has motion activated cameras, night vision, indoor/outdoor, you can talk through the camera and watch it live on your telephone. It would be nice to get alerts on the telephone when there is movement.
I would put a camera:
1. front door
2.front of house
3. in garage
4.back of house
5. inside house facing front door
6. inside house facing rear doors
7. maybe on the side of the house as well.
i would like it to be easy to set up.


On Amazon there are 10,000 different systems.

What should I look for in a camera system? 1080, or better? 1Tb or better? etc...
 
The problem with wireless is that you're going to have to replace batteries regularly - which can be costly, and an absolute PITA if you're planning to mount the cameras up high - or run 120v power to each camera (or only put them where you already have a power plug, which is probably not an option).

Wireless is a viable option if you're only talking a Ring doorbell camera and maybe 1-2 pointed through windows or mounted outside at ground level. Anything more sophisticated than that, PoE is the way to go... even when pulling Ethernet cables is a PITA.

There's also the security side of wired vs. wireless too, but guessing you're not that worried about it. e.g. it's not that hard to jam 802.11 if someone was targeting you and guessed/knew you had wireless security cameras. This may come off a bit paranoid, but you probably wouldn't be putting up 6+ cameras if security wasn't a concern.
 
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I have had the Nest system for a couple years at the house. The cameras were on sale through google store a while back and I already had the thermometer so I thought...what the heck buy a couple cameras since they weren't terribly expensive and if it's no good no big deal.

Ends up, the nest system is actually amazing. It is pretty perfect, and I am very happy with it. Just plug the camera into power and connect it to Wifi. Image quality is really good, have sound, can communicate through camera, motion/person detection with phone alerts, and a lot of other useful features.
 
I heard the same for wireless, batteries out the ass....And if they're easy to change, then the camera is easy to access, which means it can be moved or taken...
 
DarkoStoj said:
I have had the Nest system for a couple years at the house. The cameras were on sale through google store a while back and I already had the thermometer so I thought...what the heck buy a couple cameras since they weren't terribly expensive and if it's no good no big deal.

Ends up, the nest system is actually amazing. It is pretty perfect, and I am very happy with it. Just plug the camera into power and connect it to Wifi. Image quality is really good, have sound, can communicate through camera, motion/person detection with phone alerts, and a lot of other useful features.
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Same, I don’t like the changes google has done to the app, but they work great and the doorbell no has optional seasonal thing.

My friend swears by wyze, not sure how great they hold up outdoors, but they are decently cheap, and clarity and connection seem ok. They watch his dogs really well all day
 
I have a bunch of Reolink cameras. RLC-410 of various configurations and RLC-420 in various configurations. My favorite by far are the 5MP POE version of each. I have a couple of their other cameras but they aren't all that great of a value. Anyway, you can catch them on Amazon supersale for $38/each about every two months. These have provisions for microSD cards (of which I put a cheap 64GB card in them).

These are the least chatty and most robust cameras I have found under $100.

I have several of their wireless cameras that happen to run on 12v (just like all of their POE cameras will run on 12v also). So I hook them to a lawnmower battery and a 15w solar panel and screw them to a tree in the woods. Eventually I'll put vaults in the ground and run power and ethernet farther out into the woods. I poured the vaults and have the wire, I just haven't gotten around to it. Right now I just have a couple 350' runs out from the garage.

I have been slowly replacing my older cameras, including the original non-SD card 4MP Reolink ones I bought 5 years ago for $100/each, with these. I have probably another 12 cameras to replace. Slowly replacing old foscam/hikvision/swann/lorax/etc of which some are pushing 15 years old. I have around 40 live cameras around the "estate". Not all of them are actively being monitored as I have a lot of overlap.

I have another 20+ game cameras (mostly 720p cheapies that run on 8AA and a 32GB SDcard) out in the woods. These I'm notorious for not checking very often except September through December to see if any two-legged animals are in the woods. The batteries last about 3 months.

I use iSpy and Blue Iris to monitor the IP cameras meaning record/etc. The SD card on the camera is just nice to have for backup. I rarely use it.

Tendelux (also on Amazon) sells nice UV-filtered 850nm light sources. I haven't found anything that is affordable that is better than these. Most of the IR cameras without UV filters get burnt out by the sun. These are 12v also, but I often power them with POE adapters that knock POE down from 48v to 12v.

Do not mount cameras so high you can't clean the spider webs off with a broom. Plus at that height it can be difficult to see faces.

Quite a few of my cameras (especially the ones on the house) are "temporary permanent". Meaning I ran the wires under the siding and up behind the gutter downspout vs going in through the attic. Eventually I'll run them all through the attic.


Cameras are a great deterrent. I have never had anything stolen.. except some firewood.. but all of my neighbors have been broken into, a couple more than once. I have had people drive the 350' up my driveway, get out of their vehicle, see the pile of cameras I have in the back porch (only place they're really obvious) then get into their car and back down the driveway past 2 different opportunities to turn around (trying to make sure I don't get their license plate).

I have gotten a lady fired from USPS for littering (throwing lit cigarette butts in my yard repeatedly, but mostly I was sick of her doing burnouts in my driveway and flying past my back door at 30mph) and a guy re-assigned from FedEx for doing a donut in my yard. I have given footage to the police of a guy who broke into everyone else's house but not mine which got him arrested because I had a clear picture of his face when everyone else had shit cameras. I have deterred countless people that come to my house "looking for work" with fortnite hands by pointing to the cameras.
 
I have two Amcrest 4mp WiFi cameras. One bullet style and one PTZ indoor camera. Found them on Amazon and I’m very happy with both. They do need power ran to them though.
 
Contact mike Johnson 94lt1z some shit on here.

Justpressplay.com

He’s don’t all my camera set ups. Smart guy
 
WayFastWhitey said:
Same, I don’t like the changes google has done to the app, but they work great and the doorbell no has optional seasonal thing.

My friend swears by wyze, not sure how great they hold up outdoors, but they are decently cheap, and clarity and connection seem ok. They watch his dogs really well all day
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I used to have about 20 wyze cam's at my work since they are super cheap and it was better than having nothing. I was using them as a temporary setup until I got a chance to install my huge mega $$$$ system. They are super awesome and great for how cheap they are. To use them outdoors you need to buy a weather enclosure, then if you want to record for playback you need to install a micro SD. The next is a lot better all the way around and this is a time where I think the extra $ is worth it even though the Wyze is great. Also, after a Wyze gets decked out, the price difference is a lot smaller.
 
Have a Lorex/FLIR system. It’s OK. I don’t get sound, but the cameras are pretty good and it was easy to set up. Running the Ethernet cables was a PITA, but once it’s done, it’s done. The cables are already laid... so, I should be good whenever I decide to upgrade to cameras with sound.

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I have a bad ass Lorex system, but my ring system kills it. I hate to say it but ring/nest have a superior advantage over DVR systems now. The software that ring/nest provides is just amazing, along with the ease of use. I have ring doorbell, flood light, and alarm system. This spring I will be replacing all cameras with ring wired cameras.


Cliffnotes| Ring/Nest are wife/family friendlly. I also love the intergration with alexa.
 
My company is actually looking for a system right now. They are having me look at a few places as the last camera setup was a complete CF on the service and warranty end. But like most places, they don't want to spend major $$$$. Based on what they have sent me, they are looking for 16 cameras, 1080 or 4k with range of clarity. Sounds not needed as this is warehouse usage and some outdoors. 1+TB of storage, expandable, possibly hot swap-able. ability to offload a segment of video to a thumb drive if an event is recorded.

Lorex, Camtech, and a few local security places were thrown into the mix. The security places are $16k+ so thats not going to happen from a budget zone. Any thoughts or words of advice? Personally, I'd bite the bullet from a warranty perspective, but hey, not my money.
 
Ask yourself if you want to own the storage, or trust someone else with it, and how long you want to keep that storage.

I have a Unifi system and love it.
 
You could pickup a copy of Blue Iris, run it on good Intel-based Windows PC or small server, 16 Hikvision or Dahua IP cameras. Probably ~$4-5k n/inc install. That's assuming you want something wired, on-prem, no cloud or Internet-based solution... and were DIY'ing it. Problem is you need someone with the skills to implement and maintain it.

The problem with all of the residential class systems is they're designed for ease of setup and use. Few are designed for a setup w/ 16 cameras, or work when wifi is down, or the Internet is down, or 120v power is off. And you'd probably spend more in batteries than the purchase cost of the system.
 
Thanks for the feedback. I think I may end up using the Lorex. Called a few places and they offered a pretty hefty discount since I am looking at 2 smaller systems instead of 1 large system.
 
I have a Lorex system. It is wired (all PoE cameras), color and nightvision. It came with a DVR. I do not have the system hooked up to my home internet so it is a standalone system that cant be hacked remotely. I did not want to go with a cloud-based system that anyone else could potentially have access to. The Ring system is a cool concept but I don't like the fact that people are giving police access to monitor the system for crime on your street...
 
furian76 said:
Thanks for the feedback. I think I may end up using the Lorex. Called a few places and they offered a pretty hefty discount since I am looking at 2 smaller systems instead of 1 large system.
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My advice on the Lorex, sign up for new letters. They will email rebates. I got a couple hundred off of the system. I would suggest buying the best DVR you can now and then upgrading the cameras later. I went with the 8-port setup and 2 middle of the road cameras. I plan to eventually buy some Pan/Zoom cameras and add more as I run more cable if needed. Also, I think the max effective length of the PoE is 300 feet. If you do go that route, make sure you are getting cameras that are rated for that DVR (PoE vs needing external power) I like the idea of running a single network cable to each camera and having it be "self powered", its much simpler to install if youre going with a wired system.
 
I have now exceeded 70 cameras. Most of them are Reolink, some are Dahua Starlight, and some are Loryta (crap firmware, same camera as a Dahua Starlight). I think all but 5 are PoE. I have eliminated all my old cameras (I had some that were pushing 15 years old). I think I'm down to 5 or so RLC-410 4MP left.

Best bang for the buck is Reolink RLC-520. For less than $50 you have a decent camera that isn't flaky and that includes putting a 64GB SDCard in it. The cheapest I have purchased them is $32 shipped and another $8 for a 64GB SDcard.

I have some PTZ, some PT, and a couple Z cameras. Other than for looking for pets in a house, I'll take multiple fixed cameras over one that I have to move.

Reolink has a NVR. I have it. I have it screwed to the wall in the garden shed. It is solid mediocre, and I only paid $120 for it. If you plug cameras into it directly you can't connect to the cameras directly, you have to go through the NVR. You *can* connect to the cameras over the "LAN" port and record them, essentially allowing you to record on the camera, on the NVR, and on a third piece of equipment. Since it will record 8 cameras, it can tax a gigabit network port.

Most of my recording is done by iSpy now. It's easier to move configs around using it. It slaughters multiple servers, a laptop, and a desktop. Pretty much everything is 8 seconds of pre-record and 180 seconds of post-record. Having a decent (modern) GPU/APU is a must. Intel HD630 and an I5 is the minimum that is tolerable.

I am using almost only cheap BVTech switches. They have some 8+1+SFP switches for $70 that are nice, even have a tool-less DIN mount. I have one of these buried in a box in the ground. I also have a bunch of their 4+1 port switches. Slowly been replacing various other consumer grade switches because of flakyness or failure.

I have a couple cameras running on PoE repeaters (think two-port PoE-powered switch) successfully.

I've been trying to find some decent NVRs but haven't found any yet. Would like to migrate away from using PCs.
 
I have the ring stick up battery cameras, I have owned it about 4 months and just had to charge the batteries for the 1st time about 2 weeks ago on the highest distance settings. They have been good and the $50/yr for ring to store the footage doesn't bother me. I selected to not share the info with the "neighborhood" as what ring calls it. They are simple to take down to recharge the batteries too. They are an outdoor camera and have been great, help solve a boys being boys case in front of our house in July too. Completely wireless system, runs off the wifi and has 1080 video, sound, and can communicate through device. Pretty good system if you can find them on sale at all.
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