Advice needed for new setup (newbie)

[ah6tyfour]

My parents are moving into a new home and I'm trying to figure out how to set up a wired PoE system for them. They're moving into the Bay Area, which has surprising numbers of break-ins. I know nothing about this subject, but have spent some time browsing these forums looking for advice. The house was built in the early 80s, so it's not wired. I have only seen a few pictures of the outside, but it looks like there should be at least crawlspace above the ceiling since there are vents higher up that I assume are for the space.

I'm looking to spend around $500-700 on equipment and I'll have to see how to get an electrician to come in to run cable, so not sure how much that would cost. I'd like at least one or two of the Dahua 2mp starlight turrets that seem to be really popular. I'd need at least one with the variable focus option so I can zoom in at the choke point for the front door.

The house has a front door facing the street and the back yard is up against a hill. I figured I'd need something good right above the front door and another camera looking out at the drive way into the street. The back of the house has one half that juts out in a strange way, so I may need two cameras back there as well. Inside, there are a couple choke points that I figured I could cover with a single camera.

I don't intend for this to be complete coverage. Just trying to get the high yield stuff and have a visible deterrent. They will continue the home monitoring service that's already installed. And since it's northern California, there are no extremes of weather. There's lots of sun, but it's generally no lower than 40 degrees and no higher than 90 degrees.

 

[ah6tyfour]

And here's a quick drawing of the inside based on a picture. Sorry, I'm not very artistic. But it shows the general layout and choke points. The two thin rectangles designate sliding glass doors to the back yard.

 

[mat200]

My parents are moving into a new home and I'm trying to figure out how to set up a wired PoE system for them. They're moving into the Bay Area, which has surprising numbers of break-ins. ..
I don't intend for this to be complete coverage. Just trying to get the high yield stuff and have a visible deterrent....

Welcome ah6tyfour

Definitely review the notes here:
IPCamTalk WiKi | IP Cam Talk

I would highly recommend more than 2 cameras on the front of the house.

Looking at the layout, I believe you can DIY w/regards to the cabling - especially as I would place 3-4 cameras on walls outside of the garage space.

2 cameras covering the parking area in front of the garage, one camera by the front door, and perhaps another camera covering the street approach - maybe even an LPR camera.

You could even run conduit outside from the side of the garage where the roof meets the garage wall to the back of the house to junction boxes with out having to do major work inside the house.

If you do the install yourself you should save some significant money which you can then used for better / more cameras.

 

[bababouy]

Go to Harbour Freight and by a set of the yellow fish sticks and a roll of black electrical tape. Poke hole in the soffit where you want your camera and feed about three or four of your sticks into the attic with your cat5 taped to the end. Go up into your attic access with a flash light and find the yellow sticks. Run them towards the area where you want your recorder. This process works better with two people and a pair of walky talkies.

 

[trucams]

An option for multiple cameras and a basic system, without extra features in your expense range might be the Costco Lorex 4K box system to start. Full kit- POE NVR, Cams, Wires and other accessories should be in the $700-800 range. They are manufactured by Dahua and re-branded. Do not have quite the night capability as the starlights but you could mount more cameras around the perimeter and always swap out later IF it is desired. Or, add an existing starlight and mini-wedge for the porch to the existing open ports.

FYI - Some local Costco B&M have a Lorex / Dahua OEM 4K 6x camera kit and 8 port NVR for $800

@mat200 has also been heavily involved in a thread about it on SlickDeals. Go there and do a Lorex Costco search for additional info.