Full Setup Recommendations.... (Reolink vs Amcrest vs Dahua)

E

efaden

n3wb
Jul 17, 2016
10
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There were a few recent break-ins in the neighborhood and my wife is annoyed I haven't installed cameras yet. We already have a full security system, etc and she's trying to get me to just stick up some battery/solar camera's and call it a day. I just can't bring myself to do that. So I am trying to figure out exactly what to get. Ideally I'd like to not be stuck in a single eco-system, but I do want straight forward.

I have an open attic, so I can pull wires across the second floor and easily get to my walkout basement door, but the first floor is a LOT harder and there is no wire. So I'll need a mix of wired(POE) and wireless(I know the limitations of wireless.... but I just need one or two). The ability to add battery cameras would be nice (reolink, lets you use battery cameras with their nvr) so I can do some stuff quickly to make her happy. But.... ugh... reolink.

I was leaning towards a NVR and camera's from either Amcrest or Dahua.

Any basic guidance here?
 
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Show her the images from this thread and you will quickly see how useless battery/solar cameras are:

Thread of consumer based camera examples

You can do as some here do - get a Ring camera or two with the nice easy app for the wife and then invest in better cameras and system that will actually be able to provide useful information.

Wireless cameras still need power, so use a powerline adapter that runs data over your existing electric lines. For more stable than a wifi camera.

And any battery/solar operated camera will only record on motion, so you will miss lots of events.

See this thread for the commonly recommended cameras (along with Amazon links) based on distance to IDENTIFY that represent the overall best value in terms of price and performance day and night.

The Importance of Focal Length over MP in camera selection

Last thing you want is to spend money on a system and the wife still not be happy when the perp comes by and the cameras completely miss the person....

The invisible man, where can he be. Thank goodness he is carrying around a reflective plate to see where he is LOL (hint - the person is literally in the middle of the image at the end of the fence holding that big white rectangle LOL)

I've seen better images on an episode of ghost hunters :lmao:

1708801585568.png





And of course, this is an example from Reolink's marketing videos - do you see a person in this picture...yes, there is a person in this picture.... Could this provide anything useful for the police other than the date and time something happened? Would this protect your home? The still picture looks great though except for the person and the blur of the vehicle... Will give you a hint - the person is in between the two visible columns trying to evade the cop car on the street:

1708801599328.png





Bad Boys
Bad Boys
Watcha gonna do
Watcha gonna do
When the camera can't see you
 
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Thanks so much for the info. I totally forgot about powerline ethernet for those other locations. That's actually a really interesting idea.

I think your right.... just buy a camera or two for her, then invest in an actual system.

Any thoughts on the Dahua WizSense NVR series?

I'm leaning towards Dahua/EmpireTech.
 
efaden said:
There were a few recent break-ins in the neighborhood and my wife is annoyed I haven't installed cameras yet. We already have a full security system, etc and she's trying to get me to just stick up some battery/solar camera's and call it a day. I just can't bring myself to do that. So I am trying to figure out exactly what to get. Ideally I'd like to not be stuck in a single eco-system, but I do want straight forward.

I have an open attic, so I can pull wires across the second floor and easily get to my walkout basement door, but the first floor is a LOT harder and there is no wire. So I'll need a mix of wired(POE) and wireless(I know the limitations of wireless.... but I just need one or two). The ability to add battery cameras would be nice (reolink, lets you use battery cameras with their nvr) so I can do some stuff quickly to make her happy. But.... ugh... reolink.

I was leaning towards a NVR and camera's from either Amcrest or Dahua.

Any basic guidance here?
Click to expand...

Welcome @efaden

in general, avoid Reolink if you need better image captures, especially at night.
( please see the threads on that topic )

note :
Amcrest cameras are typically Dahua OEM so those will work with a Dahua OEM NVR, Amcrest NVRs typically are lessor Dahua OEM models, so often better if you go with Dahua OEM cameras and if you want a NVR would be to go with a Dahua OEM model with more ports than you think you wanted.

Plan to end up getting more cameras later, once you start to learn more about what they are able to do or not. As such, cable N+1+ when running cables ..

Get good quality cables, do not use CCA or super thin wired cables
 
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Appreciate it. I have good quality cat 6 outdoor rated stuff. Not CCA. I think I'm just going to go straight dahua. Now I just need to figure out exactly which cameras to use in which location. I'm planning on about 7 or 8 cameras and getting a 16 channel NVR.
 
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I came here in 2020 after doing my research requesting input on a HIK/NVR system. After getting all my questions answered and further research I went with Dahua/Empire Tech Rebrands and Blue Iris Software. The system has been 100% rock solid and I am 100% happy. If I could redo from scratch I would follow the same path which is high praise (except I would buy a bigger poe switch, I thought 4 cams would be max I would ever use).
 
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efaden said:
Blue Iris instead of a dahua NVR?
Click to expand...

Yes, that is what I learned from my research, BI is an incredible piece of software, it has so many capabilities. It will also do everything you need to do at default settings, and you can grow with the technical aspects as time permits. It also will not limit you to one brand of ip cams. DVR's generally optimally work with matching the NVR to the same brand of cam.

You do need a PC, stand alone is highly recommended. Make sure you read the IPCamtalk cliff notes if you haven't yet read them.
 
I

Thread 'BI vs NVR'

So I am in the process of building my setup and am still trying to figure out the best way to get my video. Should I get a NVR and not use a switch and an additional PC, or go with a POE switch and buy the Blue Iris software? What do most people use? Would one be better over the other?

Looking at getting this switch to use with a spare PC and the BI software. -
Or this NVR -
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efaden said:
I wish blue Iris could run in Linux ... I either need to stand up a vm or buy a separate computer to run it on.
Click to expand...

A NVR might be the right solution for you. There are a lot of NVR users on IPCamtalk, a NVR is not bad, BI just offers extra configurability. Many here pick up Dell refurbs from Dell on the cheap to run BI stand-alone.

Dell runs 40 - 50% off these prices shown, wait and watch for a sale if you go this route.

www.dellrefurbished.com

Dell Refurbished Desktop Computers, shop daily deals from Dell Refurbished Store

Premium Quality Certified Refurbished Desktop Computers from Dell. Shop our everyday low priced desktop computer deals.
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