Hi, looking for advice on a good system

Danb

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Hi, I have recently started researching camera systems. I started looking at Arlo systems, then Lenox systems, and now I’m here to piece together one. My main goals is to keep an eye on my driveway, and if people decide to visit my backyard. This will be paired with an alarm system eventually.

One goal I would like is to get alerts when persons walk into my driveway. I know nothing is perfect and I keep the car doors locked but it’s a start.

I’ll start out with one camera on the corner of the house looking at the driveway. It’s about 6 feet from the top of the driveway. The downside is that there is a motion light 10 feet behind the camera on the front of the garage. I’m not sure how that will change things. I only plan on 4 cameras, maybe 6. I don’t want it to look like a prison.

The camera I plan on starting with is the forum favorite Dahua IPC-HDW5231R-Z. Should I use a NVR or should I use blue iris? I am no stranger to pulling cable as pulled some when I wired a few rooms for cat5 for the internet.

Any help is appreciated. I am still reading everything, I just feel a little overwhelmed.
 

RicRat2009

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Hi and welcome!
I felt the same way, but you will soon realize that only you will know what you need and want. What you can and can't do.
PC or NVR? Depends on if you like to tinker or just want plug and play. I like to tinker and find the PC route gives me many more options. Either way you will need to run or pull cable.
Just read a lot and find what fits your needs and good luck.
Huge amount of great information here!
 

mat200

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Hi, I have recently started researching camera systems. I started looking at Arlo systems, then Lenox systems, and now I’m here to piece together one. My main goals is to keep an eye on my driveway, and if people decide to visit my backyard. This will be paired with an alarm system eventually.

One goal I would like is to get alerts when persons walk into my driveway. I know nothing is perfect and I keep the car doors locked but it’s a start.

I’ll start out with one camera on the corner of the house looking at the driveway. It’s about 6 feet from the top of the driveway. The downside is that there is a motion light 10 feet behind the camera on the front of the garage. I’m not sure how that will change things. I only plan on 4 cameras, maybe 6. I don’t want it to look like a prison.

The camera I plan on starting with is the forum favorite Dahua IPC-HDW5231R-Z. Should I use a NVR or should I use blue iris? I am no stranger to pulling cable as pulled some when I wired a few rooms for cat5 for the internet.

Any help is appreciated. I am still reading everything, I just feel a little overwhelmed.
Welcome Danb,

Your house will not look like a prison unless you like to wear orange jump suits and put up barbed wire around your yard and place a workout bench in the middle ;-)

Seriously, don't worry about how many cameras you put up - put up as many as you need to meet your needs. You can paint them to match your house and thus reduce their appearance.

I picked up a Dahua OEM NVR5216-16P-4K2S and would recommend that or the Blue Iris on a windows i5/i7 PC + external PoE switch route.
 

Danb

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Thanks all. I keep forgetting how small the cameras are. It’s a cape style house, no soffits, no eves to hide anything. It’s already white which is a plus.

I’ve been searching for a PC and can get a windows 10 i5-4570 for $230 But now I need a switch and BI. I saw on one thread I could use my Amazon fire tv to show the camera feeds. Can an NVR do that? I’m really looking for push notifications for when someone is around the house at night and I’m at work.

I’m thinking i5-4570 4gb ram and 1TB HD for $236 on Newegg.
Dahua IPC-HDW5231R-Z For ?
POE switch for $85 BV-Tech 8 Port Gigabit PoE+ Unmanaged Switch – 130W – 802.3at – POE-SW800G https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F6DL2FS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_VGmHAb71HN2H3

And cat 6 wire and various connectors. Should be a start for now.
 
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fenderman

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Thanks all. I keep forgetting how small the cameras are. It’s a cape style house, no soffits, no eves to hide anything. It’s already white which is a plus.

I’ve been searching for a PC and can get a windows 10 i5-4570 for $230 But now I need a switch and BI. I saw on one thread I could use my Amazon fire tv to show the camera feeds. Can an NVR do that? I’m really looking for push notifications for when someone is around the house at night and I’m at work.

I’m thinking i5-4570 4gb ram and 1TB HD for $236 on Newegg.
Dahua IPC-HDW5231R-Z For ?
POE switch for $85 BV-Tech 8 Port Gigabit PoE+ Unmanaged Switch – 130W – 802.3at – POE-SW800G https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F6DL2FS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_VGmHAb71HN2H3

And cat 6 wire and various connectors. Should be a start for now.
for a few bux more you can get a 6th gen i5...will support h.265 hardware acceleration, when its ironed out in BI...the 4th gen cannot..only h.264 acceleration..
Windows 10 pro should activate on this machine HP ProDesk 600 G2 SFF - Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz, 4GB DDR4, 1TB HDD, No OS | eBay
this one advertises that it will and is a tower which will hold 2x3.5 drives plus a 2.5 for ssd...
HP ProDesk 600 G2 MT Core i5 6500, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, Win7 Pro | L1Q38AV | eBay
if you are network savvy this switch is worth the extra 15...ZyXEL GS1900 Series 8-Port GbE Smart Managed PoE GS1900-8HP B&H
 
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Camit

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for a few bux more you can get a 6th gen i5...will support h.265 hardware acceleration, when its ironed out in BI...the 4th gen cannot..only h.264 acceleration..
Windows 10 pro should activate on this machine HP ProDesk 600 G2 SFF - Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz, 4GB DDR4, 1TB HDD, No OS | eBay
this one advertises that it will and is a tower which will hold 2x3.5 drives plus a 2.5 for ssd...
HP ProDesk 600 G2 MT Core i5 6500, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, Win7 Pro | L1Q38AV | eBay
if you are network savvy this switch is worth the extra 15...ZyXEL GS1900 Series 8-Port GbE Smart Managed PoE GS1900-8HP B&H
Fenderman quick question what does Microsoft consider a pc upgrade ? I have a couple of hard drives with Windows 10 on them, if I put them into one of these machine on eBay with no hard drive will it work with the Microsoft licensing? in other words with it stay as a active copy of Windows ? I know I’ll have to reinstall window because of the drivers ect...
 
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fenderman

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Fenderman quick question what does Microsoft consider a pc upgrade ? I have a couple of hard drives with Windows 10 on them, if I put them into one of these machine on eBay with no hard drive will it work with the Microsoft licensing? in other words with it stay as a active copy of Windows ? I know I’ll have to reinstall window because of the drivers ect...
likely not...it doesnt care about the drive, it looks at the motherboard...that said, the first pc has a w10 sticker, so at one point it was activated...as long as the original mobo is there it should activate not problem...the second listing indicates that it will activate w10... I would email the seller on the first...if you dont need more than 1 3.5 bay, its a good price....that unit will hold a 2.5 and a 3.5...if you remove the dvd I believe it will hold another 2.5 with an adapter...
 

Danb

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likely not...it doesnt care about the drive, it looks at the motherboard...that said, the first pc has a w10 sticker, so at one point it was activated...as long as the original mobo is there it should activate not problem...the second listing indicates that it will activate w10... I would email the seller on the first...if you dont need more than 1 3.5 bay, its a good price....that unit will hold a 2.5 and a 3.5...if you remove the dvd I believe it will hold another 2.5 with an adapter...
Wouldn’t that mean I have to buy win 10? I’ve been out of the computer game for a while.
 

fenderman

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Wouldn’t that mean I have to buy win 10? I’ve been out of the computer game for a while.
No Windows 10 is available as a free download from Microsoft and will activate automatically on any system that has previously been activated with Windows 10... That second listing will certainly not require a Windows 10 license as the auction says it will activate.... I'm 99% sure the first listing will also activate just fine as it's unlikely that motherboard was replaced... Simply download the Microsoft media creation tool
 

Danb

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That's makes sense. Now if I wanted a decent NVR, not pro, what would I be looking for.
 

fenderman

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That's makes sense. Now if I wanted a decent NVR, not pro, what would I be looking for.
depends on what cameras you have, what functions you want...tons of threads on them...way less functionality than blue iris...
 

Danb

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depends on what cameras you have, what functions you want...tons of threads on them...way less functionality than blue iris...
For the tim3 being I’m only going to run 3 outside cameras and one inside to watch the dogs/back door. My outside cameras would be IPC-HDW5231R-Z, inside Is TBD. Im looking for the outside to send push notifications when someone comes on the property at night. Not looking to save video for more then a week until it re-records. Other then those things, I am flexible. I’m just trying to see what would work in my situation.
 

fenderman

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For the tim3 being I’m only going to run 3 outside cameras and one inside to watch the dogs/back door. My outside cameras would be IPC-HDW5231R-Z, inside Is TBD. Im looking for the outside to send push notifications when someone comes on the property at night. Not looking to save video for more then a week until it re-records. Other then those things, I am flexible. I’m just trying to see what would work in my situation.
blue iris is much more flexible with respect to push notifications/schedules...try the NVR, when it drives you bonkers, come back..
 

fenderman

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Blue Iris it is. I don’t want to spend money twice.
understand that pixel based motion detection is not perfect, you will need to spend some time with blue iris setting up zone crossing to minimize false alerts...
 

CCTVCam

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Fenderman quick question what does Microsoft consider a pc upgrade ? I have a couple of hard drives with Windows 10 on them, if I put them into one of these machine on eBay with no hard drive will it work with the Microsoft licensing? in other words with it stay as a active copy of Windows ? I know I’ll have to reinstall window because of the drivers ect...
I've rebuilt my entire PC before and never had to buy a further copy of Windows. I'm sure I've usually carried something over, but often in the past, it's been a new MB, Memory, CPU, GPU etc, so most of the main pc. What you will find is that Windows will refuse to activate and will prompt you to call Microsoft who upon you explaining you've upgraded your pc will promptly activate Windows for you. So I wouldn't worry too much about upgrading. What MS are looking out for is the same copy being reported on 2 different pc's and the activation hoop is just an initial way to put off people who might be tempted. I suppose it probably also gives them your phone number and a voice recording of you stating it's on just the 1 pc should they ever need to pursue you for piracy. But if you're doing no wrong, you'll have no issues. You're allowed to upgrade and they recognise this. Probably is best not to make out you changed everything though.
 

fenderman

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I've rebuilt my entire PC before and never had to buy a further copy of Windows. I'm sure I've usually carried something over, but often in the past, it's been a new MB, Memory, CPU, GPU etc, so most of the main pc. What you will find is that Windows will refuse to activate and will prompt you to call Microsoft who upon you explaining you've upgraded your pc will promptly activate Windows for you. So I wouldn't worry too much about upgrading. What MS are looking out for is the same copy being reported on 2 different pc's and the activation hoop is just an initial way to put off people who might be tempted. I suppose it probably also gives them your phone number and a voice recording of you stating it's on just the 1 pc should they ever need to pursue you for piracy. But if you're doing no wrong, you'll have no issues. You're allowed to upgrade and they recognise this. Probably is best not to make out you changed everything though.
That might work with an actual license key but if you have no key to provide they will not simply give you a key...
 
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