Very happy with the Ring Floodlight camera.

I've got a Dahua camera sourced from Ali expess hooked up to my QNAP server.

QNAP are fine if you want something basic, but don't do the alerts very well.

Also more than 2 camera's require you to buy a license.

I ended up recording 24/7 and keeping 7 days of coverage. If you are willing to commit more HDD space you can keep longer.

The plus side is the mobile app seems to work for live viewing (again alerts are not really viable so historical playback is time consuming)
I connect via a VPN to home to avoid opening the camera to the world.

Overall I'd recommend QNAP if you just want a basic system for 1-2 cameras recording 24/7. More that that and I'd probably consider a NVR system.

The ring cameras sound fun to try also :)

KrazyKid:

 

I've got a Dahua camera sourced from Ali expess hooked up to my QNAP server.

 

QNAP are fine if you want something basic, but don't do the alerts very well.

 

Also more than 2 camera's require you to buy a license.

 

I ended up recording 24/7 and keeping 7 days of coverage. If you are willing to commit more HDD space you can keep longer.

 

The plus side is the mobile app seems to work for live viewing (again alerts are not really viable so historical playback is time consuming)
I connect via a VPN to home to avoid opening the camera to the world.

 

Overall I'd recommend QNAP if you just want a basic system for 1-2 cameras recording 24/7. More that that and I'd probably consider a NVR system.

 

The ring cameras sound fun to try also :)

 

By the way Ring has been recently purchased by Amazon - so it will have good on going support. Will definitely have Alexa support too. I have had minimal issues. 

mouarg:

 

SirHumphreyAppleby:

 

These are all 1080P cameras. If you want detail, you'll appreciate going for something with higher resolution.

 

 

Thanks! Do you have any suggestions for the higher resolution cams? After your comment I went looking for 2K+ outdoor cams and found Amcrest, Lorex, Reolink, Revo America so far. I'm not familiar with any of these brands :S

 

I've only used Dahua cameras. The firmware is a little buggy, and the Web interface doesn't work very well, but I've had no issues with video quality and we only use it to feed Blue Iris. Our cameras are all 3MP, but we're considering upgrading one to 6MP. The oldest camera has been installed outside without any issue for four years, with only minimal protection from the guttering and a down pipe.

For higher pixel counts, I suggest looking for h.265 support to reduce file size. I see one other user posted that they keep 7 days of video. After discovering an attempted break-in six days after it happened, I've increased my retention to around two weeks (determined by storage used in my case).

KrazyKid:

 

I've got a Dahua camera sourced from Ali expess hooked up to my QNAP server.

 

QNAP are fine if you want something basic, but don't do the alerts very well.

 

Also more than 2 camera's require you to buy a license.

 

I ended up recording 24/7 and keeping 7 days of coverage. If you are willing to commit more HDD space you can keep longer.

 

The plus side is the mobile app seems to work for live viewing (again alerts are not really viable so historical playback is time consuming)
I connect via a VPN to home to avoid opening the camera to the world.

 

Overall I'd recommend QNAP if you just want a basic system for 1-2 cameras recording 24/7. More that that and I'd probably consider a NVR system.

 

The ring cameras sound fun to try also :) 

I've been thinking about doing something similar as I have a QNAP TS220. Are the cameras you run wired or wireless? (link would be appreciated). Roughly how much disc space are you using?

Dratsab:

KrazyKid:

I've got a Dahua camera sourced from Ali expess hooked up to my QNAP server.

QNAP are fine if you want something basic, but don't do the alerts very well.

Also more than 2 camera's require you to buy a license.

I ended up recording 24/7 and keeping 7 days of coverage. If you are willing to commit more HDD space you can keep longer.

The plus side is the mobile app seems to work for live viewing (again alerts are not really viable so historical playback is time consuming)
I connect via a VPN to home to avoid opening the camera to the world.

Overall I'd recommend QNAP if you just want a basic system for 1-2 cameras recording 24/7. More that that and I'd probably consider a NVR system.

The ring cameras sound fun to try also :) 

I've been thinking about doing something similar as I have a QNAP TS220. Are the cameras you run wired or wireless? (link would be appreciated). Roughly how much disc space are you using?