Hello,

I got a message from DHL to pay £4.60 for tax duty etc. Is that normal when purchasing from AliExpress? Never had to pay for purchases from China on ebay for example.
 
I must admit the first time I used AliExpress I did think I'd been conned via DHL... If I remember my first charge was quite high about £14 and the lowest about £4 but in all my orders I've only been hit 3 times
 
I must admit the first time I used AliExpress I did think I'd been conned via DHL... If I remember my first charge was quite high about £14 and the lowest about £4 but in all my orders I've only been hit 3 times

Do we know why they have these random charges?

Btw, I received the cameras already!!! Ordered on Monday, arrived today Havent unpacked the parcel yet though.

Im planning on using my QNap Nas as NVR but since I run Plex on it Im worried it might be slow when accessing remotely due to 4 cams traffic. If it's the case then I want to buy a dedicated NVR. Any suggestions which ones are good, work with Dahua and Hikvision cameras? Anybody bought one from Ali?

Thanks guys
 
Do we know why they have these random charges?

Btw, I received the cameras already!!! Ordered on Monday, arrived today Havent unpacked the parcel yet though.

Im planning on using my QNap Nas as NVR but since I run Plex on it Im worried it might be slow when accessing remotely due to 4 cams traffic. If it's the case then I want to buy a dedicated NVR. Any suggestions which ones are good, work with Dahua and Hikvision cameras? Anybody bought one from Ali?

Thanks guys

Only DHL know this, I guess it may be down to what Andy puts on the sales invoice and if customs actually believe it and if they don't they charge the appropriate rate.

I've never used the QNAP NVR software so can't comment on that. I have Synology NAS's and I'm familiar with their products which are quite good.
If you have a spare PC running Intel i3/5/7 you could download Blue Iris - Video Security Software (free 30 day demo) which is one of the best PC based NVR software you can get. If you like it, it will cost you about £60 one of cost.
There are 1000's of threads about it on this forum. Basic setup is quite easy, advanced setup is a bit of a learning curve but the built in help is self explanatory and this forum has a lot of fine tuning tips. Failing that @fenderman is quite an expert at it and manages about +20 systems I believe.

If you did go BlueIris I would have it as a standalone box and keep Plex off it.

If you want to go down the NVR route it's a no brainier to go with a Dahua NVR so you could take advantage of the Dahua IVS with your Dahua cameras. Just remember to factor in the cost of a WD purple drive into your purchase, the largest capacity you can afford. There are pros and cons for and against using a NVR I guess the biggest is the limited in functionality compared to Bluriris and not being able to use the smart features of other manufacturers cameras on your chosen NVR. (But you can still manually add for example a Hikvision camera on a Dahua NVR but not access the smart features just the basic record).

Pros = Quick and simple setup and smart features accessible if same manufactures cameras used, (Blueiris also can do all of this plus ++++)

I have purchased, own and installed Dahua NVR from Ali Express

Aliexpress.com : Buy 2017 New Channel 1U 4K&H.265 Pro Network Video Recorder NVR5216 4KS2,Free shipping from Reliable network video recorder suppliers on Empire Technology Co., Ltd
Aliexpress.com : Buy DAHUA 4/8 Channel Smart 1U 4PoE 4K&H.265 Lite NVR NVR4104 P 4KS2 4108 P 4KS2,free DHL shipping from Reliable nvr 265 suppliers on Empire Technology Co., Ltd
Aliexpress.com : Buy DAHUA 4/8/16 Channel Smart 1U 4K&H.265 Network Video Recorder without Logo NVR4104 4KS2/NVR4108 4KS2/NVR4116 4KS2 free shipping from Reliable network video recorder suppliers on Empire Technology Co., Ltd

As for remote viewing you can always switch to your sub stream for remote viewing if you internet upload connection is low but if that isn't a problem then you can use the main stream. Don't forget your internal IP / NVR traffic has no effect on your internet connection as this is local traffic.