Setting up an outdoor security camera with 24/7 recording

Forums › Home Workshop DIY › Setting up an outdoor security camera with 24/7 recording

mattwnz

20159 posts

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#207850 16-Jan-2017 18:33

I am looking at setting up an IP security camera to be used looking out onto a driveway, and connected to a PC to record video. Unfortionately the need for this has arisen due to a changing community and more crime.

I don't need it connecting to the internet at all, so it is solely the camera and the PC, and possibly a switch with PoE inbetween. I was wondering if anyone else here has done this recently. I want to do it fairly cheaply, so don't want to use any of these subscription systems for cloud storage. I already have a dedicated PC already to use for the job. I did come across this camera which looks quite good, but there are also so many other https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01E7QO3AA?ref=emc_b_5_i Has anyone setup such a system recently, and can suggest a camera and software to run on the PC?

Also I have read about problems with some IP cameras being infected with spyware, and hackers being able to provide a backdoor to your network due to this. Is there a way to find out which cameras maybe affected by this?

richms

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#1704328 16-Jan-2017 18:46

Stick with dahua or hikvision gear and you will be fine for not getting embedded malware. Quite a bit cheaper on aliexpress but be aware that the cheap ones are china domestic models that are adjusted to show in english, so if you try to mix vendors you might get a language error between the gear. You will need to search for hik nvr or the model number since aliexpress are quite strict on the trademarks being used on there to sell things.

The cheap white hikvision square NVRs are a chinese specific model. I was told that the chinese govt has requested that the vendors make more affordable systems available domestically which is why those models are not made in english.

Also most of the cheap no brand $25 cameras will come with some CMS software that will do all you need as well. But those are the cameras that you really want to make sure do not have any connection to the internet since they will probably become botnet fodder if they can get ports open.

Richard rich.ms

mattwnz

20159 posts

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#1704330 16-Jan-2017 18:50

richms:

Also most of the cheap no brand $25 cameras will come with some CMS software that will do all you need as well. But those are the cameras that you really want to make sure do not have any connection to the internet since they will probably become botnet fodder if they can get ports open.

Thanks will have a look. The botnet stuff is why I wanted to do it from a standlone PC not connected to anything else, so there was no risk to other devices on the network.

davidcole

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#1704365 16-Jan-2017 20:44

I thnk the dahua come with smart pss which can record, but better is that they come with a software NVR. The hikvisions may do that also but I've never bought one.

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sbiddle

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#1704374 16-Jan-2017 21:01

The botnet risk is really just from allowing external access / port forwards.

lokeynz

105 posts

Master Geek

#1704379 16-Jan-2017 21:03

+1 on the Dahua and Hikvision camera recommendation - turn off any UPnP features and change the default password should be enough to keep these from broadcasting themselves to the internet.

As for recording, I found the Dahua NVR a bit painful to search through recordings and really painful to export the recordings.
I'd recommend Milestone Xprotect for PC based recording software - rock solid, easy to look back through recordings and as of late last year free for up to 8 cameras.

rp1790

738 posts

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#1704450 17-Jan-2017 07:37

If you are looking for some Hikvision cameras I have three that I am pitting up for sale, and a Hiklvision NVR with 4 TB HDD.

If interested let me know and I'll get the model numbers and let you know a price.

premiumtouring

355 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1704457 17-Jan-2017 08:08

Some good recommendations in this thread.

Firstly, I own both Hikvision and Dahua cameras. As someone mentioned, most important thing to remember is that as long as you're not forwarding ports on these cameras you'll be fine. Also, keep in mind that getting the official English version is often worth the extra $ as it has been proven multiple times recently that firmware updates are going to be important moving forward to avoid vulnerabilities.

Secondly, do not mix and match cameras. Often the software iVMS or iDMS will only work with their brands of cameras. However, as someone recommended Milestone now offer a completely free version of XProtect. XProtect is one of the most convoluted pieces of software I've ever used - menus within menus, but because it's free, rock solid, and uses almost no CPU I can't do anything but recommend it.

If you need notifications of "people" or "cars", with a rules based system that can connect to IFTTT or run code/commands I highly recommend Sighthound. Very impressive (but limited) software for people detection. This isn't to be used as a replacement for 24/7 recording, it's to supplant the lack of proper motion detection/notification that XProtect doesn't provide you.

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richms

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#1704472 17-Jan-2017 08:56

Also keep in mind that since they are IP, you are able to have them go to several different recorders and PCs up to the bandwidth limit of the camera and your network. Most cameras seem to be ok up to 4 full quality streams out of them at once, so you can have 2 lots of software running and a hardware NVR somewhere else and also something to watch it on etc.

Richard rich.ms

chevrolux

4962 posts

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#1704488 17-Jan-2017 09:10

I've been using the Hikvision stuff for quite some time now. Just got the cameras and their NVR. Cameras are then all plug/play if connected via the PoE injector on the NVR. Then just basic stuff like others have said. Disable UPnP, no port forwards, VPN access only for remote viewing. Depending on the sites depends how serious we get with the network. For 8 cameras and above I go to the effort putting them the NVR/Cameras on their own VLAN (or maybe just LAN via an isolated port from a Mikrotik router). Then firewall rules blocking internet access outbound. But really not required if the network is set up sensibly in the first place.

Lately though I have been using the Dahua cams with the Hikvision NVR. Dahua's cams are full metal and have audio too. They work perfectly with the Hikvision NVR's being controlled by ONVIF.

sparkz25

750 posts

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#1706990 21-Jan-2017 14:47

check out the unifi gear, i use the uvc domes and they look nice and tidy around my house as i have mounted them in the soffit and you dont even notice them at all, the quality is 720p and they work great at night for short distance, but the new unifi g3 records in 1080 and the night time recordings are amazing they work really well in low light, for the nvr the software is free and you can load it on to any pc u like, i have my nvr running on a virtual ubuntu server 14.04 and have given it a 1tb storage space and it works really well with a max of 5% cpu usage 99% of the time and from the 2 gig of ram that has been assigned to the nvr the max it uses is 500mb and has proven reliable for what i want even remote access works a treat

chevrolux

4962 posts

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#1707031 21-Jan-2017 16:34

Hikvision beats the Unifi gear hands down for image quality and stability.

The thing I like most about the Unifi gear though is the Web interface is now html5 based and responsive so works well on the phone. Hikvisions Web interface is terrible. However, iVMS software/app works very well instead.