Hello Everyone. Here's what I'm after

[NTL1991]

Hi there. My name is Nick, and I'm from Rhode Island, USA. I've been reading posts here for some time, but now that I'm actively looking to design a PoE IP cam system for my home, I've decided to register.

I have a background in computers and networking, so my main concerns are about camera selection and placement.

My home currently has an enterprise-grade Cisco system. (I started with a Cisco lab, which then turned into a "production system." You learn a lot faster when you accidentally take down the network and you've got family screaming that Facebook or Netflix won't work!)

Anyway, for the network side of things I'm using a Cisco ASA 5520 firewall with an IPSec VPN configured. The ASA is doing the NAT-ing for my Verizon FiOS connection, eliminating the need for a separate router. The ASA is connected to a Cisco 3560 48 Port POE layer-3 switch through a dual-link Fiber EtherChannel connection. There is a second dual-link Fiber EtherChannel from the 3560 to a Cisco 4402 Wireless LAN Controller, which manages 5 Cisco 3502 access points.

I'm planning on repurposing an HP ProLiant DL380 Gen8 server for use as the NVR with Blue Iris software. 96GB RAM, 4TB storage (RAID 1, 2TB usable), redundant PSUs.

I've already created a separate VLAN for the IP cameras, and the 3560 will hand out DHCP addresses in that range, when connected to the assigned switchports.

So that's all the boring stuff. I'm looking at installing about 4 cameras, unless I'm advised to get more. I have a long, narrow lot with very little area up front, along the street. I have two parking spaces up front and a garage at the end of a ~50 foot driveway. I'd love to have one wide-angle camera at the front entry of the house, covering the front steps and sidewalk, and hopefully the two parking spaces. I'd also like a camera attached to the garage, covering the length of the driveway down to the street, as well as the rear entry door to the house. I'd also like another camera (probably mounted on the garage as well) that covers the back yard. I have a satellite photo showing the property, as well as some rough proposals of camera locations, as well as a 3D-ish version. They aren't meant to be exact and I'm not even sure if they're feasible as far as field of view goes, but it's a rough idea of what I'd like covered. Please, by all means give me suggestions!

My main concerns are keeping an eye on the two cars in the front, the front door, rear door, and the driveway. The backyard isn't really an issue but it's nice to keep an eye on.

I do have a cheap Funlux setup now I was testing and here's what I have. They're essentially the yellow and blue cameras in the diagrams. Attached are images from the driveway and back yard channels.

As far as camera selection, I'm looking at a budget of about $200-250 per camera.

I hope I haven't overstayed my welcome already, with just this one post!

Thanks,
Nick

 

[trucams]

Welcome Nick. I would say you need more than the four cameras. You have a huge blind spot on the right side of the house with the chain link (ladder) fence to the back door. The front likely would not effectively be covered with one wide angle camera for actual identification purpose. It would verify something happened but not “who”. It may be better for each side of the front of the house to have a camera instead. If you find out you still want door coverage, perhaps add a small cam there too. Cover the long driveway with a camera at the back left corner of the house pointing toward the street, down the driveway. Swivel the camera on the garage (pointing down the driveway) across the rear of the house to pick up the back, rear door and parking area instead. Leave the garage camera covering the rear yard if that is a view you want. Lastly, consider something down the narrow right side. Even if you don’t put one in now, plan and wire for one at some point in the future.

 

[Joegreen]

Look at dahua cams. There is a member on here that sells them for reasonable prices and they are below your budget per cam which means you can buy more cams. Look into the dahua starlight's for good nightime images.

 

[mat200]

Hi there. My name is Nick, ..
So that's all the boring stuff. I'm looking at installing about 4 cameras, unless I'm advised to get more. ..
My main concerns are keeping an eye on the two cars in the front, the front door, rear door, and the driveway. The backyard isn't really an issue but it's nice to keep an eye on.

I do have a cheap Funlux setup now I was testing and here's what I have. They're essentially the yellow and blue cameras in the diagrams. Attached are images from the driveway and back yard channels.

As far as camera selection, I'm looking at a budget of about $200-250 per camera.

I hope I haven't overstayed my welcome already, with just this one post!

Thanks,
Nick

Welcome Nick,

You have a very nice sized home and property to cover, so I would definitely recommend planning on at least 6-8 cameras.

Remember thieves WILL turn away from a camera if they know it is there, so place 2 camera apart with their FOV covering your most important areas you need to cover. ( update: as in cross covering the area )

( example parked cars, front door )

ps - think you need more RAM in the server ... J/K ;-P

 

[NTL1991]

All I can say is wow! This is why I'm here... Thanks for the excellent info, @trucams and @mat200!

Wire is cheap and pretty easy to pull so I'm flexible with where the cameras are put. I've already pulled UTP to the garage (2 cables, one for an IP cam, the other for an access point). If I need more cameras mounted on the garage, I can put a small 8-port 3560 switch with PoE in the garage, but I'm trying to keep my power distribution centralized in the home so I only have to maintain a single UPS for battery backup.

I'd really like some kind of camera at the front door. Would a wider-angle FOV allow me to keep the other two front cameras on the sides of the house, as shown? I'd rather not have them directly on the front of the house if I can prevent it. One under the portico or adjacent to the front door is fine. And I can see swiveling the camera on the garage to cover more of the back door of the house. It should be noted that there is typically a car parked in front of the R/H garage stall, which may block a direct line of sight to the door.

The R/H side of the house is a pretty big blind spot but the only good thing is that the lot slopes slightly down to this side, so entering by window on this side wouldn't be the preferred route in. There's no bulkhead or anything to ease entrance into a window here, either.

I wish I had some idea of a good overall camera that'll cover any of these locations decently enough to test these locations out and post my results. I can make a nice "wireless" rig with a PoE switch, access point, and a long extension cord with some UTP and temporarily mount and adjust them while seeing results live on my phone or tablet.



And the eBay listing for that server had a title of 8GB RAM and 200GB HD. It was a consignment shop selling it, they had no idea it was customized and were going by the stock specs! Lucky for me

 

[mat200]

HI NTL1991,

In general your cameras are too high, remember < 8 feet high = better chance at a good ID image.

You can test placement options with a friend wearing a baseball cap and hoodie.

By the front door - at 5 feet high I like to place a Dahua OEM mini-dome wedge starlight, and keep enough light around the clock to keep it in color mode. Len 2.8mm as people will be right in front of the camera when they knock on the door. ALSO covering the front door area but further away you can have a camera 6-8 feet high with a 3.6mm lens.

There's a new camera which is being reviewed soon which has 2 cameras in it, which maybe perfect to see those by the front door AND packages on the ground. It's a new model, I don't recall the model number. Could be a great front door camera. [ update; Seeing double - New Dahua dual Starlight IPC-HDBW4231F-E2-M/M12 ]

 

[looney2ns]

Welcome, read the info in the Wiki link at the top of the page.

 

[NTL1991]

Excellent reading, Thank you, @looney2ns! Lots of great info there.

I'm going to be purchasing my first camera and I want something that'll integrate well somewhere in my plans. Would a turret-style, like the Dahua 2MP Variofocal Turret IPC-HDW5231R-Z, be a good candidate for any locations in my plan? These cameras would pretty much all be wall-mounted. Are additional accessories or brackets required for sidewall mounting of these Turret style cameras?

If I get the go-ahead, I'm going to order one and make a test rig so I can post my results and get some feedback.

Thanks again, everyone.
Nick

 

[mat200]

Excellent reading, Thank you, @looney2ns! Lots of great info there.

I'm going to be purchasing my first camera and I want something that'll integrate well somewhere in my plans. Would a turret-style, like the Dahua 2MP Variofocal Turret IPC-HDW5231R-Z, be a good candidate for any locations in my plan? These cameras would pretty much all be wall-mounted. Are additional accessories or brackets required for sidewall mounting of these Turret style cameras?

If I get the go-ahead, I'm going to order one and make a test rig so I can post my results and get some feedback.

Thanks again, everyone.
Nick

Hi NIck,

The IPC-HDW5231xx camera is a good one to pick up and test with, as it makes a great one to keep and use.

Recommend also picking up the following to play with
1) Junction box - PFA130-E
2) Wall Mount PFB203W ( PFB204W for IPC-HDW42xx cameras )

This will give you a chance to determine if those are useful for your installation or not.

I really liked using them as they gave me a chance to make smaller holes in the walls and gave me room to put the connection in the box/wall mount.

Also pickup a power source for your PoE camera, and a microSD card - this will allow you to run a complete recording cycle to test your possible positions.