Moving from ARLO to ? - North Texas

[PattonD]

Hi everyone,

Been running a ARLO system for a couple of years, but want to move from a cloud hosted system to one with my own NVR. My budget is not unlimited, but not trying to just go cheapest. Looking for a PoE system with a minimum of 6 outdoor cameras and going to try and figure out what this week so I can order by this weekend. Started working my way through the Cliff Notes, lots to learn.

At some point I need to replace my ZMODO Ding Doorbell, but unless I can integrate that with this, not a need.

Trying to figure out the system now, the biggest challenge is the install looking clean. Just found a local guy who charges $65 an hour, not exactly cheap, but if I get the wiring in, I can figure out the rest. The biggest concern is once wired, I can upgrade as needed down the road. The good news as used 4 camera ARLO systems seem to sell pretty well, so I will get some money back from that.

Also, do have a little experience with home automation, and have a dedicated computer that I am using as a media server, that could be added on to, but a stand alone NVR system seems like a better idea today. If there is a system that works with IFTTT, that would be a plus.

Any suggestions, watch outs or pointing me to a good deal, would be very appreciated.

Here is where I have my ARLOs

Here are the additional locations I want to add

Patton
Plano, TX

 

[mat200]

Hi everyone,

Been running a ARLO system for a couple of years, but want to move from a cloud hosted system to one with my own NVR. ..

Patton
Plano, TX

Welcome @PattonD

Do take some time to determine what your needs and wants are. Also do take a look at the cliff notes and the various reviews members are doing with cameras.

Check out @SouthernYankee 's welcome to others for an executive summary.

Also, note - your cameras are mounted too high to get a good ID image in general. ( Arlo's due to low resolution 720P and wide FOV have very short ID distances, yes the Arlo Pro 2 is better - but still the wide FOV gives it a short ID distance ).

Having had an Arlo system and going with a good Dahua OEM IP PoE camera setup, I can tell you the quality of image and reliability is vastly superior with good IP PoE cameras - oh, and a plus they have embedded time stamps, so the footage is less likely to be thrown out of court.