Help with a direction for setup

[Jackyboy]

Hi all,
Long time lurker, first time poster. I wanted to ask a question and some advice as I couldn't seem to find the information anywhere.

I currently have the Arlo system with 3 cameras but I have issues with the lag on them and video quality so i've been trying to weigh up the pros and cons of switching to a NVR or PC BI system.

I can always use the Arlo's for inside and my new setup for outside but I wanted to outline what is important to me and the wife especially as we are moving into a new estate which is always a little prone to thieves ect on new builds.

Our setup would be rather simple with 5-6 cameras situated to cover all outdoor space with our main requirements being:
- Highish camera quality + night vision
- Outdoor usage
- Home Automation to view cameras, work with sensors (or anything else in my setup ie Home Assistant / Smartthings) and potentially switching modes or turning on/off notifications
- Notifications when motion detected (mobile preferable)
- Control areas of cameras where to look for motion
- Arm/Disarm notifications or recordings (which has been the great thing about the Arlo in that you can easily setup geo or manual arm/disarm of different modes (full on, full off, geo, backyard only, frontyard only ect)
- Quick to access
- Wife friendly
- Mid costs
- low power usage (trying to limit my power usage with my solar/battery setup
- i'd like it to be offline but if it needs to be cloud then so be it

I know there's a bit there but i'd love some direction from the smart people on here. Do I upgrade to the arlo pro (which, apparently, improves on the lag and pic quality), do I get IP cams and NVR or do I get IP cams, a dedicated PC and BI. I don't know if my needs are on the higher end to require a dedicated PC or if they can be met via an NVR??

Thanks
Jacky

 

[mat200]

Hi all,
Long time lurker, first time poster. I wanted to ask a question and some advice as I couldn't seem to find the information anywhere.

I currently have the Arlo system with 3 cameras but I have issues with the lag on them and video quality so i've been trying to weigh up the pros and cons of switching to a NVR or PC BI system...

I know there's a bit there but i'd love some direction from the smart people on here. Do I upgrade to the arlo pro (which, apparently, improves on the lag and pic quality), do I get IP cams and NVR or do I get IP cams, a dedicated PC and BI. I don't know if my needs are on the higher end to require a dedicated PC or if they can be met via an NVR??

Thanks
Jacky

Welcome Jacky,

It's easy to get swamped with information here, so I wanted to share some notes with you

Please check out @giomania 's notes:
Dahua Starlight Varifocal Turret (IPC-HDW5231R-Z)

I have also made which are a summary of a lot of the reading I've been doing here,:
Looking for some advice and direction!

I'm still learning a lot, and wanted to share my experience so far. Note I too started with Arlos and some other cameras.

Advice:
JUNK the Arlos, DO NOT spend the money on batteries.
Skip the Arlo Pros - take that money and instead invest it in better POE based IP security camera system.

Yes, it will take you some DIY learning and work to get it up, but once it is up and operational you will see an amazing quality difference.

I went the customize your own kit with the recommendations from people here with more experience than I and picked a Dahua NVR and cameras. ( please see the notes )
There are tons of options in a Dahua NVR - and you will be able to do many of those items on your list, it just will take some learning time.

Have fun and definitely take some time to read the great advice here.

 

[Silas]

Hi all,


Our setup would be rather simple with 5-6 cameras situated to cover all outdoor space with our main requirements being:
- Highish camera quality + night vision Going with either Dahua or Hikvision units will provide this
- Outdoor usage As above, sound units for outdoor use
- Home Automation to view cameras, work with sensors (or anything else in my setup ie Home Assistant / Smartthings) and potentially switching modes or turning on/off notifications This is not an easy given, and would require greater research, check out the forums for that topic
- Notifications when motion detected (mobile preferable) Motion Detection sound good, but in practice the sensitivity is very hard to get right to avoid false alarms
- Control areas of cameras where to look for motion Good units have the ability to select areas to monitor
- Arm/Disarm notifications or recordings (which has been the great thing about the Arlo in that you can easily setup geo or manual arm/disarm of different modes (full on, full off, geo, backyard only, frontyard only ect) Not 100% sure what you mean
- Quick to access Good units come with application and internet based access
- Wife friendly Good luck with that ;-)
- Mid costs Dependent on if you are happy to go 'international'
- low power usage (trying to limit my power usage with my solar/battery setup That could depend on what units you go for
- i'd like it to be offline but if it needs to be cloud then so be it Cloud based would be dependent on your bandwidth and options selected

I know there's a bit there but i'd love some direction from the smart people on here. Do I upgrade to the arlo pro (which, apparently, improves on the lag and pic quality), do I get IP cams and NVR or do I get IP cams, a dedicated PC and BI. I don't know if my needs are on the higher end to require a dedicated PC or if they can be met via an NVR?? I would agree with mat200 and not go with the Arlo's, as for NVR/BI, that is down to what functions you require, and if you NEED the WAF, then NVR

Thanks
Jacky

 

[looney2ns]

I second trashing the Arlos. Anything "wireless" is a very poor choice for security cams.

 

[Tizeye]

1. I agree, junk the Arlo's and definitely don't go Pro...however, retain for interior as may work as a backup. I purchased the Pros during the 3 weeks in Europe as time ran out on fine tuning the alerts on the exterior system before departing. Darn moths creating false alarms and couldn't fine tune the NVR system's synsitivity. Figured alert if actual intrusion through the Arlo's but also had the exterior footage for retrieval. Ease of use with quick arming/disarming was it's strength which supported the WAF. Would NEVER use the Arlos (original or Pro) outdoors despite their marketing as their ultra-wide angle lens, while good for rooms, is terrible for ID of persons/cars license etc outside. Same could be said for other 'popular' consumer systems such as Nestcam, etc. The killer for me and reason for return (and one of the few low star ratings on Best Buy) was the poor system design. 1) not truly wireless as base unit must be hardwired to router, limiting placement, 2) Alarm is built into the base unit as opposed to a separate module that can be mounted anywhere (a complaint and suggested improvement on Arlo's own forum), and 3) The base unit has one multi-use button on top labeled "Sync (to add cameras)/Alarm Off". So let's see...You see an intruder and sound the alarm. They either run or are drawn to it and your entire wifi system - push a button and they turn off the alarm you initiated, unplug (or steal) and your whole system is down. BRILLIANT ENGINEERING/DESIGN THERE!
2. Despite the SmartHome initiative, most are proprietary within their own system. Mixing them, Arlo, Ring, Nest, and others, doesn't really work.
3. NVR would probably be most wife friendly. One thing to be aware of is the fan noise can be an issue.
Good luck.