Another newbie reporting

G

Graphene

n3wb
Oct 27, 2019
3
0
The Netherlands
Hello all,

I have just bought my self a new house, this house currently has a camera system installed and the family I'm buying this house from said I could buy it from them for € 1200,-
As the family is quite A technical, and I'm a software developer by trade I thought surely I can do better than that. Well, this field seems more broad that I first assumed, and that brought me here.

The current System consists of 5 Hikvision DS-2CD2342WD-I camera's and a NVR.

I'm looking for a system to build upon in the future, like extending it with Internal camera's and hooking it up to Home Assistant. So I expect the swap out the NVR in the future.
I currently have a Esxi server running so setting up a Blue iris installation would be possible (Not 100% sure what 5 1080p camera's would need spec wise)

So basically would like you guys' opinion if I should spend the money on this set, if I could get a better camera's for the same money.
 
:welcome:
-----------------------------------
Welcome to the forum

I believe that the system is over prices. The DS-2CD2342WD-I are $105 each.. on AMAZON in the USA (not sure about taxes in the Netherlands) . Those cameras are not good in low light.
I am a blue iris user.
General information follows.
-----------------------------------
My standard welcome to the forum message.

Please read the IP Cam Talk Cliff Notes and other items in the IP Cam Talk Wiki. The wiki is in the blue bar at the top of the page.

Read How to Secure Your Network (Don't Get Hacked!) in the wiki also.

Quick start
1) If you do not have a wired monitored alarm system, get that first
2) Use Dahua starlight cameras or Hikvision darkfighter cameras or ICPT Night eye cameras (Store | IP Cam Talk) if you need good low light cameras.
3) use a VPN to access home network (openVPN)
4) Do not use wifi cameras.
5) Do not use cloud storage
6) Do Not use uPNP, P2P, QR, do not open ports,
7) More megapixel is not necessarily better.
8) Avoid chinese hacked cameras (most ebay, amazon, aliexpress cameras(not all, but most))
9) Do not use reolink, ring, nest cameras (they are junk), no cloud cameras
10) If possible use a turret camera , bullet collect spiders, dome collect dirt and reflect light (IR)
11) Use only solid copper, AWG 23 or 24 ethernet wire. , no CCA (Copper Clad Aluminum)
12) use a test mount to verify the camera mount location. My test rig: rev.2
13) (Looney2ns)If you want to be able to ID faces, don't mount cams higher than 8ft. You want to know who did it, not just what happened.
14) Use a router that has openVPN built in (Most ASUS, Some NetGear....)
15) camera placement use the calculator... IPVM Camera Calculator V3

Cameras to look at
IPC-HDW2231R-ZS Review-Dahua IPC-HDW2231RP-ZS Starlight Camera-Varifocal
IPC-HDW5231-ZE Review-Dahua Starlight IPC-HDW5231R-ZE 800 meter capable ePOE
IPC-HFW4239T-ASE IPC-HFW4239T-ASE
IPC-T5442TM-AS Review IPC-T5442TM-AS-LED (Full Color, Starlight+)
IPCT-HDW5431RE-I Review - IP Cam Talk 4 MP IR Fixed Turret Network Camera
DS-2CD2325FWD-I
IPC-T5442TM-AS Review-OEM 4mp AI Cam IPC-T5442TM-AS Starlight+ - 4MP starlight+
IPC-T2347G-LU Review of the Hikvision OEM model IPC-T2347G-LU 'ColorVu' IP CCTV camera. (DS-2CD2347G1-LU)

Other dahua 4MP starlight Dahua 4MP Starlight Lineup

My preferred indoor cameras
DS-2CD2442FWD-IW
IPC-K35A Review-Dahua IPC-K35A 3mp Cube Camera

If interested in Blue Iris and other setup items see the following post

Newbie Starter Guide to IP Cam System – VPN setup – Computer Hardware – Blue Iris – Dahua Cameras

This is an intermediate / newbie guide for people just starting out looking for a surveillance setup. I know this setup might not be for everyone and there are many options. You can find a lot of this information in the Wiki: IP Cam Talk Wiki | IP Cam Talk A great place to start in the Wiki...
ipcamtalk.com ipcamtalk.com

Read,study,plan before spending money ..... plan plan plan
Test do not guess

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if you are interested in Dahua and some hikvision cameras, a forum member sells dahua and ships world wide. You can read some of the members recommendations on his service. He also provides cameras to other forum member for evaluation and reviews. His cameras are all 100% international (upgradable), some are the IPC brand but are actually 100% original manufacture dahua or hikvision
you can email him for a quote, or purchase from his Aliexpress store or his Amazon store.

Andy
@EMPIRETECANDY
kingsecurity2014@163.com
Andy's ipcamtalk vendor forum: EmpireTech Andy
Andy's AliExpress store: Buy Products Online from China Wholesalers at Aliexpress.com
Andy's Amazon store: EmpireTech-Andy @ Amazon.com:

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  • Like
Reactions: aristobrat and EMPIRETECANDY
Likely the sellers are charging you not just for the cameras and NVR but also for the cost of running cat cable they may have paid for. If I was selling my house, I'd try and get that cost back if I could. That said, you'll definitely want to upgrade the cameras...if not now, then definitely in the relatively near future. If it were me, I'd pass on the system, have them take down the cameras and NVR. Then I'd invest in better quality cameras and a dedicated Blue Iris computer with loads of storage in the form of a WD purple drive(s). I don't see the sellers trying to pull out cabling...but make sure they don't. If need be, you can pull new cat cable if the existing is sub par or ping tests on the existing lines have lost packets.
 
  • Like
Reactions: aristobrat and EMPIRETECANDY
Thank you both for the advice, as I was already expecting it to not be a good deal. This has made my mind up. (Might suggest a cheaper price and re-purpose the cameras for less important areas) So I guess I will start reading up on the bee's knees of IP cameras.
 
Graphene said:
Not 100% sure what 5 1080p camera's would need spec wise
Click to expand...
Just a heads up that in addition to the resolution, settings like FPS, bit rate, and iFrame interval play a super big part in how much data the cameras will be generating, which in turn factors into the specs BI needs to handle it all. A 1080P camera set to 15 FPS, VBR, and an iFrame of 30 is going to generate a lot less data than the same 1080P camera set to 25FPS, CBR at 8912 kbps and an iFrame of 25. In the past, running BI on a VM hasn't always had the best results -- some folks had good luck with it, others not so much. There have been a couple of good threads over the past 2-3 months from folks having good luck with it, hopefully you're able to find those and see the specifics.

The most popular cameras here are ones that do the best in low-light situations, @SouthernYankee's post has links to some good owner reviews. Both Hikvision and Dahua make cameras like this... Hikvision's low-light models are called Dark Fighter and Dahua's are called Starlight. Both do great IMO but it's usually easier and less expensive to get the Dahua models because the forum has an awesome vendor Andy (@EMPIRETECANDY) that has been taking care of forum members for years.

Hope to see you around the forum! :)
 
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Reactions: SouthernYankee
aristobrat said:
Just a heads up that in addition to the resolution, settings like FPS, bit rate, and iFrame interval play a super big part in how much data the cameras will be generating, which in turn factors into the specs BI needs to handle it all. A 1080P camera set to 15 FPS, VBR, and an iFrame of 30 is going to generate a lot less data than the same 1080P camera set to 25FPS, CBR at 8912 kbps and an iFrame of 25. In the past, running BI on a VM hasn't always had the best results -- some folks had good luck with it, others not so much. There have been a couple of good threads over the past 2-3 months from folks having good luck with it, hopefully you're able to find those and see the specifics.

The most popular cameras here are ones that do the best in low-light situations, @SouthernYankee's post has links to some good owner reviews. Both Hikvision and Dahua make cameras like this... Hikvision's low-light models are called Dark Fighter and Dahua's are called Starlight. Both do great IMO but it's usually easier and less expensive to get the Dahua models because the forum has an awesome vendor Andy (@EMPIRETECANDY) that has been taking care of forum members for years.

Hope to see you around the forum! :)
Click to expand...
I was reading up on the requirements of Blue Iris (something with a nice formula) I really appreciate the extra information and am eyeballing @EMPIRETECANDY and this store now :D
 
Use 100% total copper cables, no CCA (copper clad aluminum) . The cable from the camera to the switch is not high speed data so 5E will work.
 
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