Home CCTV recommendations

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dimsim

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Topic # 104432 18-Jun-2012 20:28
ok, after some hardware and software recommendations to setup some home surveillance I've been playing with the ubiquiti aircams for the last few weeks and for their price I've been pretty impressed. The airvision software is a bit clunky, doesnt run as a service, is resource intensive and not good at storage management but does work well on my iphone and does notify me of movement etc. The aircam quality is ok but not great, basically it works but i think ill wait until they release their pro version before I revisit them. The other cam I've tried this week was from Level 1, the FCS-5051 a 2MP IR Bullet. A completely different kettle of fish to the Aircam. A solid IP66 housing that felt solid and secure. It also had features that I was interested in, like inbuilt NVR, image transfer to FTP and email notification on movement etc all on-board. The image quality was pretty good but i didnt really get a change to fully test it outdoors. There is a 5MP unit due shortly which id also like to test. Unfortunately the Level one cam wont FTP video to offsite only still images, so I've started to look at a NAS that will backup to clouds like Amazon of via FTP etc. Both QNAP and Synology seem to have products wehich will do this. So after the rant my questions... 1. NAS recommendation that will work with wide variety of IP camera and backup realtime to cloud. 2. IP Camera for outdoor day/night use that will work with the above ($700-$1000) or if there is a free open source NVR product i could install on an old Core2 laptop and use that as the NVR... infact id probably prefer this..

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143 posts

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Reply # 642903 19-Jun-2012 06:00
Been playing with ispy (http://www.ispyconnect.com/) Using cheep wireless ip cams from Trademe. Works ok. Run 3 cams with no problem.

sbiddle

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Biddle Corp

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Reply # 642907 19-Jun-2012 07:49
You'll probably really struggle with cloud based backup simply because it's not an option I've ever heard anybody want before. The concept of IP CCTV is to backup streams to a NAS, and when you've typically got a minimum of few hundred GB of data per month most people aren't going to want to them move this over the internet and couldn't afford the bandwidth or upload speed to do it. The AirCam stuff is pretty poor at present so I'd avoid it. Lots of potential, but right now the quality is pretty poor and it's a matter of getting what you pay for. *Need help configuring your Linksys ATA or IP Phones for New Zealand? Check my blog post

dimsim

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Reply # 642911 19-Jun-2012 08:27
sbiddle: You'll probably really struggle with cloud based backup simply because it's not an option I've ever heard anybody want before. The concept of IP CCTV is to backup streams to a NAS, and when you've typically got a minimum of few hundred GB of data per month most people aren't going to want to them move this over the internet and couldn't afford the bandwidth or upload speed to do it. The AirCam stuff is pretty poor at present so I'd avoid it. Lots of potential, but right now the quality is pretty poor and it's a matter of getting what you pay for. i was hoping with motion detection recording only that id get away with 10-30gb a month. I have about that spare on my allowance so thought an offsite backup was a good idea.

sbiddle

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Reply # 642912 19-Jun-2012 08:31
Well if you don't have much movement it could be that, I'm mainly just use to larger systems and/or systems with a lot of movement. I just don't know what you'll get in the way of cloud based backup, mainly because it's not something I've seen in a feature set and never come across anybody who's wanted (or had a need) for it. *Need help configuring your Linksys ATA or IP Phones for New Zealand? Check my blog post

BuffyNZ

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Reply # 642913 19-Jun-2012 08:33
I use www.zoneminder.com to detect motion and then it emails the video to a gmail account. Works well for me.

davidcole

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Reply # 642914 19-Jun-2012 08:33
What is a good brand of IP CCTV - pretty set and forget? Either for a house or a shop? Previously knows as psycik NextPVR Based HTPC: 2 x HVR3000 - DVB-S - Freeview, HVR3000 - DVB-T Freeview\|HD, Nova-T 500 - Dual Freeview\|HD, Digital Coax --> Yamaha RX-v540, 8600GT --> Samsung LA46A650D via HDMI Clients: Popcorn Hour A-100, 1xATV2, 1xATV3 Windows 7 Ultimate Host 4x2TB + 1x1.5TB using DriveBender, VMWare Server 2 with 1xW7, 2xW2k3 1xUbuntu 11.10 Desktop, 1xWHS2011, Plex

TinyTim

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Reply # 642926 19-Jun-2012 09:00
CCTV = great for getting pictures of the top of the intruder's cap visor. Not so good for getting evidence.

dimsim

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Reply # 642931 19-Jun-2012 09:04
davidcole: What is a good brand of IP CCTV - pretty set and forget? Either for a house or a shop? For outdoor, I'm leaning towards the level one range. Mid-range pricing around $1000, great build quality, good quality images 2MP+ (FCS-5051) or 5MP (FCS-5061) onboard NVR/motion dectection, PoE, can email on motion and ftp images offsite.

Jaxson

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Reply # 642943 19-Jun-2012 09:17
TinyTim: CCTV = great for getting pictures of the top of the intruder's cap visor. Not so good for getting evidence. That's the deal, you either go with dummy camera's as a deterrent, or quality cameras to give you solid evidence after an event. There's not much point at all playing with anything in between. If you're after real ones you may also need to provide adequate lighting to get a worthwhile detailed shot.

BuffyNZ

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Reply # 642950 19-Jun-2012 09:23
I think it depends on your goal. For me, mine is hooked into my alarm system. When the alarm is armed, so are the camera. When the alarm goes off, I get a email and a text. I check the gmail account, see if I recognise who set the alarm off, and then ignore it. When the 'I dont recognise the person' situation came up it was dealt with in a slightly different way.

meesham

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Reply # 642952 19-Jun-2012 09:25
BuffyNZ: When the 'I dont recognise the person' situation came up it was dealt with in a slightly different way. You release the hounds?

dimsim

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Reply # 642955 19-Jun-2012 09:26
Jaxson: TinyTim: CCTV = great for getting pictures of the top of the intruder's cap visor. Not so good for getting evidence. That's the deal, you either go with dummy camera's as a deterrent, or quality cameras to give you solid evidence after an event. There's not much point at all playing with anything in between. If you're after real ones you may also need to provide adequate lighting to get a worthwhile detailed shot. I agree, it totally depends on what you want to see. For example the Ubiquiti Aircam produces a good enough image to be able to read a number plate during the day and will email you an image of any motion detection so you know what's going on. Its good enough to know if its your neighbour flogging your grapefruit or a lite fingered delivery guy but not good enough to standup in court.

TinyTim

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Reply # 642962 19-Jun-2012 09:36
dimsim: Jaxson: TinyTim: CCTV = great for getting pictures of the top of the intruder's cap visor. Not so good for getting evidence. That's the deal, you either go with dummy camera's as a deterrent, or quality cameras to give you solid evidence after an event. There's not much point at all playing with anything in between. If you're after real ones you may also need to provide adequate lighting to get a worthwhile detailed shot. I agree, it totally depends on what you want to see. For example the Ubiquiti Aircam produces a good enough image to be able to read a number plate during the day and will email you an image of any motion detection so you know what's going on. Its good enough to know if its your neighbour flogging your grapefruit or a lite fingered delivery guy but not good enough to standup in court. It's not so much a quality issue, but the intruders purposely try to hide their faces - keep the cap low etc. The police still don't know who tried to use my wife's credit card at a service station even though they have the recording.

dimsim

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Reply # 642964 19-Jun-2012 09:49
TinyTim: dimsim: Jaxson: TinyTim: CCTV = great for getting pictures of the top of the intruder's cap visor. Not so good for getting evidence. That's the deal, you either go with dummy camera's as a deterrent, or quality cameras to give you solid evidence after an event. There's not much point at all playing with anything in between. If you're after real ones you may also need to provide adequate lighting to get a worthwhile detailed shot. I agree, it totally depends on what you want to see. For example the Ubiquiti Aircam produces a good enough image to be able to read a number plate during the day and will email you an image of any motion detection so you know what's going on. Its good enough to know if its your neighbour flogging your grapefruit or a lite fingered delivery guy but not good enough to standup in court. It's not so much a quality issue, but the intruders purposely try to hide their faces - keep the cap low etc. The police still don't know who tried to use my wife's credit card at a service station even though they have the recording. sure, so much of it depends on the environment your going to put it into. In my circumstance I want to protect my rural property. To do this I need to keep track of vehicles coming and going as no-one will be walking here on foot. There inst a lot of motion but when there is I want to ensure the footage is of good quality, available remotely and protected so it too doesn't get removed along with my TV. :) And the most important part of all this is to catch them so they cant come back again.

oxnsox

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Reply # 642977 19-Jun-2012 09:58
TinyTim: dimsim: Jaxson: TinyTim: CCTV = great for getting pictures of the top of the intruder's cap visor. Not so good for getting evidence. That's the deal, you either go with dummy camera's as a deterrent, or quality cameras to give you solid evidence after an event. There's not much point at all playing with anything in between. If you're after real ones you may also need to provide adequate lighting to get a worthwhile detailed shot. I agree, it totally depends on what you want to see. For example the Ubiquiti Aircam produces a good enough image to be able to read a number plate during the day and will email you an image of any motion detection so you know what's going on. Its good enough to know if its your neighbour flogging your grapefruit or a lite fingered delivery guy but not good enough to standup in court. It's not so much a quality issue, but the intruders purposely try to hide their faces - keep the cap low etc. The police still don't know who tried to use my wife's credit card at a service station even though they have the recording. Mostly it's about Camera placement. Installers put things where they aren't easy to tamper with, but easy to install. Few folk will pay the install price to cleverly mount a camera at eye level so the view is recognisable. A good install thinks about the captured image not about the camera viewing angles.

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