Recommended PoE Home Security Cameras

Forums › Gadgets, robotics, home automation, electronics (including wearables) › Recommended PoE Home Security Cameras

Paul1977

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#272160 12-Jun-2020 09:45

Not sure if this is the best sub forum for this.

We have pre-wired for 4 PoE security cameras to be positioned under our soffits. What cameras would people recommend.

Not looking for bargin basement stuff, but don't want to go crazy either.

Thanks

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Hammered
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#2503432 12-Jun-2020 09:58

Moved to the more appropriate sub-forum.

People often mistake me for an adult because of my age.

Keep calm, and carry on posting.

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technician14

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#2503433 12-Jun-2020 10:03

Dahua or hikvision are really good to but can get cheaper ones, depends what your wanting to look at etc

Stu

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#2503440 12-Jun-2020 10:16

We're in a similar boat. The issue I've had is with trying to find the right gear, at the right price, but locally sourced and supported.

People often mistake me for an adult because of my age.

Keep calm, and carry on posting.

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Paul1977

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#2503449 12-Jun-2020 10:27

technician14: Dahua or hikvision are really good to but can get cheaper ones, depends what your wanting to look at etc

I was looking at Dahua, but there are so many different options. Could anyone recommend a model with a good balance between price and performance. Ideally want 4MP (or better).

technician14

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#2503454 12-Jun-2020 10:46

I install dahua gear and it's locally supported, what's the area etc you want to cover, wide angle or close zoom in, prices aren't bad but it's better gear than Arlo, Swann etched

Paul1977

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#2503460 12-Jun-2020 10:56

technician14: I install dahua gear and it's locally supported, what's the area etc you want to cover, wide angle or close zoom in, prices aren't bad but it's better gear than Arlo, Swann etched

Thanks @technician14 I think we've pre-wired the positions in such a way that we probably don't need wide angle.

EDIT: we have one next to the garage door to cover the driveway, another to cover front gate and driveway/garage door form a different angle, one covering the back yard, and one covering the path up the utility side of the house.

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sbiddle

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#2503505 12-Jun-2020 11:02

Asking "what camera is best" is IMHO a bit like asking which router is the best to buy - it's not a question with a simple answer. To provide an answer means asking providing requirements.

What are you recording to? Do you want remote access? How is the light? Do you want amazing low light footage or just OK? Do you want to be able to identify number places? How do you want your motion detection to work?

technician14

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#2503514 12-Jun-2020 11:14

Prob just the 2.8mm are fine but depends how wide or or far away etc, thats true do you want to record, have apps, what gear do you view on etc

Paul1977

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#2503516 12-Jun-2020 11:19

sbiddle:

Asking "what camera is best" is IMHO a bit like asking which router is the best to buy - it's not a question with a simple answer. To provide an answer means asking providing requirements.

What are you recording to? Do you want remote access? How is the light? Do you want amazing low light footage or just OK? Do you want to be able to identify number places? How do you want your motion detection to work?

We use NX Witness at my workplace and I am thinking of using this as the backend for recording and remote access. This can handle all the motion detection etc in software regardless of what camera is used.

Being able to identify a license plate would be nice, which is why we want at least 4MP. We'd want decent low light performance, but wouldn't pay extra for it to be "amazing".

cisconz

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#2503518 12-Jun-2020 11:23

I have this system that I got from the distributor - https://www.elive.co.nz/smartview-dahua-vk2200-8-channel-ip-surveillance-kit.php Works well for me.

Hmmmm

timbosan

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#2503519 12-Jun-2020 11:25

sbiddle:

Asking "what camera is best" is IMHO a bit like asking which router is the best to buy - it's not a question with a simple answer. To provide an answer means asking providing requirements.

What are you recording to? Do you want remote access? How is the light? Do you want amazing low light footage or just OK? Do you want to be able to identify number places? How do you want your motion detection to work?

+1 on this - the cameras are just a small part of the overall solution. As @sbiddle says you need to take into account what you are going to do with the video - record it (so NVR, NAS, Server, Cloud, SD Cards etc.). Are you looking for notifications (email, TXT, iOS, etc.)? Do you also want to move the footage offsite for backups?

I brought 3 Dahua cameras a few years ago, without much of a plan, and just had them email me movement notifications which turned out to be pretty useless. Now I have set up XProtect (which is free and they have a mobile app) and record to that. Works really well. I can also access my cameras and all recordings remotely.

If I did this all again I would definitely get a Starlight camera (or 2), and a couple of 4K cameras and some IR lights. I would also buy the supported Dahua's cameras as I have odd problems such as 1 camera doesn't work on the 'snapshot' URL which I use for Homekit integration. The 'cheap' Dahua's have hacked firmware (covered in many forums including Geekzone)

You could always buy a 'kit' with cameras and a NVR, pretty much guaranteed to work together and a nice simple place to start?

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Paul1977

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#2503521 12-Jun-2020 11:30

cisconz:

I have this system that I got from the distributor - https://www.elive.co.nz/smartview-dahua-vk2200-8-channel-ip-surveillance-kit.php Works well for me.

@cisconz costwise that seems pretty reasonable. It says backup to USB/Network, do you know if it has any ability to for cloud backups at all?

Paul1977

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#2503525 12-Jun-2020 11:35

Overall requirements:

Record at least weeks worth of footage.
Record on motion with the ability to create exclusion zones (so car driving past doesn't set it off).
Record several seconds before motion starts and after motion ends
Text or email notifications possibly a good idea
Cloud or offsite backup of most recent footage (for if someone breaks in and actually steals the DVR/NVR as part of a robbery).

EDIT: I see some cameras can also have SD cards for if the DVR is unavailable. Is this generally a rolling recording so even if the DVR was stolen, the camera might still have the last hour or so of footage (from before the DVR was taken offline)? This might eliminate the need for offsite backups?

technician14

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#2503568 12-Jun-2020 11:45

You don't want weeks worth of footage unless your a business that needs it, motion only detects motion then records for a certain timeframe, you can get notifications if you want, motion is better for recording playbacks, you can mask out areas so it records areas you want to cover

cisconz

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#2503575 12-Jun-2020 11:58

technician14: You don't want weeks worth of footage unless your a business that needs it, motion only detects motion then records for a certain timeframe, you can get notifications if you want, motion is better for recording playbacks, you can mask out areas so it records areas you want to cover

Motion is also not perfect, If only a week is wanted, better to record all and flag motion in case the motion is missed.

Hmmmm

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