ideas for a reliable security camera system

[surveillancelot]

Hi guys!

Even though I have several years of experience looking for a good surveillance system, this is still kind of a newbie question, since I'm not an expert in any aspect. So could I get your ideas what kind of system you would recommend for me?

I have a warehouse/garage that is used by a few other persons as well. We have had robbers every now and then. Our alarm system is working pretty well, and because of that we haven't been focusing on cameras anymore so much, even though it would be wise. The garage is for our hobbies, so we are basically quite low budget (but if we find a good system, i think we could reconsider)

We have had several problems with cameras, it went pretty much like this:

First we had some old computer and a webcam. It used motion detection feature. it took snapshots when it saw movement. Poor quality pictures, was able to take about 1-3 pictures of a person walking by. 99,9% pictures were unnecessary (irrelevant movement, like trees and shadows). By adjusting this we were able to cut down the amount to 99,5%. A lot of work for one person to maintain. The computer was also crashing when it was not used.

Then we tried a better computer with video card and "normal" security cameras. We tried several software. Those were quite hard on the computer, it was crashing, running out of memory. This also required a lot of work for one person, even though the picture/video quality was good. At this point we realized that computer based systems suck in our case.

Then we had IP cameras for a while (foscam). After really hard configuration I was able to get it working, for a while. We can't have cable internet at the garage, just a 3G. The system was barely working (internet was a big reason, since upload speed is so slow). There was also no good feature to record. Also the DNS service was problematic, static IP is not possible with 3G.

For a few years, we haven't had any video surveillance system in use. So maybe times have changed.

My requirements/ideas for the system are:
-needs to work by itself, no constant maintenance
-really reliable system
-if it tilts, it has to restart on its own (would be good if it would restart if electricity is down)
-sending alerts, viewing by internet, saving to cloud is a plus (not required)
-Wireless system is preferred, but cable is possible. My assumption of wireless systems is that they're unreliable.
-Recording only when there is movement is a plus, but reliability comes first
-Recording in loop might be a good idea, but in that case it should be able to record at least a few days, preferably a week or two
-If using wireless cameras (easy to install), we could put as much as 5 cameras, but even with 2 cameras we could make a working system.
-A nice feature would be to be able to confirm that the system is functioning, on the other hand, if there is possibility to check the cameras online, it does the same thing, as well as cloud upload.

Any ideas what kind of system we should go for?

 

[olli]

I think you should take IP cameras and NVR which is a device meant to be used to record IP cameras.

Hikvision is the best quality vs price: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1loKNZBfMYreKzVVxS2Tpcmr8_7qMfevNFEB5yX1iZ3Q/view#gid=0

Indoors camera Aliexpress.com : Buy 2014 New Hikvision dome camera DS 2CD2532F I S W, audio,Wifi ,3MP Mini dome,Up to 10m IR Network camera,DS 2CD2532F IWS from Reliable camera camera case suppliers on CCTV CAMERA CHINA | Alibaba Group
Outdoors camera Aliexpress.com : Buy New Arrival 3Mp Audio I/O interface,Alarm I/O interface Mini Dome Camera POE Wifi IP CCTV camera DS 2CD2132F IWS from Reliable cctv camera and monitor suppliers on CCTV CAMERA CHINA | Alibaba Group

Both models have WiFi.

NVR for example, up to 8 cameras, the more cameras, the less quality Aliexpress.com : Buy Hikvision NVR 8CH Plug & Play POE*8 network interface 2 SATA HDD 4TB each,Up to 6MP / 5MP / 3MP Use large equipment engineering from Reliable hdd storage suppliers on CSST wholesale market | Alibaba Group

And then buy a router with 4G/LTE. That'll have better upload speeds than 3G. If your operator does not support public IPs, you will need a VPN. For example https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/pages/buy-vpn/ . You should choose the server in your country or at least nearby, that'll give better speeds.

Finally, when you have cameras & NVR & router, you just plug the cameras to NVR and the NVR to the router. Then you can view the cameras remote with your mobile phones / tablet.
If you don't want to use wires, you just connect the NVR to the router and set up WiFi details to all cameras. Please do note that despite using Wi-Fi you still need to run the power wire. But I think wifi solution will suit you, at least provided your router has good wifi antennas (please google the model to find out).

 

[fenderman]

@surveillancelot Foscam is crap so im not surprised that you had issues. Forget wireless still need to run power..so you may as well run ethernet...go with a hikvision system...if you are not comfortable ordering from china or need warranty and support look at Nellys security
Nelly's Security - The webs top source for New Security Cameras, Analog Surveillance Systems, and High Definition IP Systems.
Be prepared to spend about 800 or so for 4-5 cameras...one of the reasons you had problems was because you were using subpar equipment.
Member @RyanODan from nellys can help you design a system.
Costco is another great option...Lorex 8 Channel HD NVR Security System with 2TB HDD and 4 1080p Cameras

 

[olli]

If he is going to place the cameras nearby power outlets, it's easier to run just power cable and use wifi or homeplug.

 

[fenderman]

If he is going to place the cameras nearby power outlets, it's easier to run just power cable and use wifi or homeplug.

Wifi is simply no ideal, its a temporary or last resort...its not that difficult to run cable..lots of hassle is avoided....

 

[RyanODan]

"My requirements/ideas for the system are:
-needs to work by itself, no constant maintenance
-really reliable system"



It's better to run cable than *hope* your wifi cams will work consistently.


Hint: Do it right the first time and you'll be saving yourself a ton of work in the long run or take the easy way out and pay for it later.

With that being said, I do have 2 indoor wifi cams that work great. I would never make a full wifi system though.

 

[surveillancelot]

Thanks for the replies. Nice to see that you really understood my problems, most likely you have been dealing with these earlier. The structural complexity of building makes it a real pain in the ass to wire all cameras. Now that I read your comments, I think I'll aim to wire two cameras (most critical ones) and use 2 or 3 wireless cameras. Unfortunately I'm not from USA, from north europe in fact, so I guess I have to order from china directly.

How long cables can be used without problems, if using POE? One ideal camera location would be so far that it would require around 80m to 100m wire. Is it possible/ does it effect reliability?

And another question still, if using cameras that were mentioned before, how much memory (for example GB/h) does the video take? All of the Hikvision NVR's are sold without hard drives, right?

 

[bp2008]

Consider powerline networking gear. It may work better than WiFi.

100 meters is the advertised maximum for PoE (and for ethernet LAN in general). To accomplish this, make sure you use good quality cable as the quality of the cable will matter more than ever. May even be a good idea to go with shielded cat6. Whether it will affect reliability or not, I cannot say. I have never run one that far.

The storage space required depends on a few things.

1. Motion-triggered recording, or constant recording. There is a huge difference between the two.
2. Bit rate of the camera. For 2-3 MP video you will probably want to use at least 6 Mbps bit rate (Mbps = megabits per second). According to google, 6 Mbps times 1 hour is 2.7 GB (gigabytes). That is just for one camera.