Hey everyone new member from Houston slowly learning everything before I make a purchase. I have a full home security with Vivint but cameras are trash. My truck got stolen last week and I could hardly see the car that drove up and couldn’t see anyone go into the truck. That’s the main reason I’m looking to upgrade cameras. Looking into blue iris and checking out computers also. Going to buy a couple IR blasters since I really need good night vision for over 100’ or more. Also looking to purchase a good LPR that can snap pics of every vehicle in and out of my culdesac. I look forward to reading some more info on cameras and hopefully can find something soon.
New from Houston
- Thread starter Bballejo
- Start date
fenderman
Staff member
- Mar 9, 2014
- 36,892
- 21,407
You are not going to capture anything useful 100 feet from the camera unless you use a long lens or a ptz.
SouthernYankee
IPCT Contributor
Read study plan before spending money.
The correct camera placement and cameras are critical a good surveillance video.
I live in the clear lake area.
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My standard welcome to the forum message.
Please read the IP Cam Talk Cliff Notes and other items in the IP Cam Talk Wiki. (read on a real computer, not a phone). The wiki is in the blue bar at the top of the page.
Read How to Secure Your Network (Don't Get Hacked!) in the wiki also.
Quick start
1) If you do not have a wired monitored alarm system, get that first
2) Use Dahua starlight cameras or Hikvision darkfighter cameras if you need good low light cameras.
3) use a VPN to access home network (openVPN)
4) Do not use wifi cameras.
5) Do not use cloud storage
6) Do Not use uPNP, P2P, QR, do not open ports,
7) More megapixel is not necessarily better.
8) Avoid chinese hacked cameras (most ebay, amazon, aliexpress cameras(not all, but most))
9) Do not use reolink, ring, nest, Arlo cameras (they are junk), no cloud cameras
10) If possible use a turret camera , bullet collect spiders, dome collect dirt and reflect light (IR)
11) Use only solid copper, AWG 23 or 24 ethernet wire. , no CCA (Copper Clad Aluminum)
12) use a test mount to verify the camera mount location. My test rig: rev.2
13) (Looney2ns)If you want to be able to ID faces, don't mount cams higher than 7ft. You want to know who did it, not just what happened.
14) Use a router that has openVPN built in (Most ASUS, Some NetGear....)
15) camera placement use the calculator... IPVM Camera Calculator V3
16) POE list PoE Switch Suggestion List
17) Camera Sensor size, bigger is general better Sensor Size Chart
Cameras to look at
IPC-T5442TM-AS-LED . Review IPC-T5442TM-AS-LED (Full Color, Starlight+) - 4MP starlight
.................... Dahua IPC-T5442TM-AS-LED review
IPC-T5442TM-AS ..... Review-OEM 4mp AI Cam IPC-T5442TM-AS Starlight+ - 4MP starlight+
IPC-B5442E-ZE ...... Review - OEM IPC-B5442E-ZE 4MP AI Varifocal Bullet Camera With Starlight+
IPC-T2347G-LU ...... Review of the Hikvision OEM model IPC-T2347G-LU 'ColorVu' IP CCTV camera. (DS-2CD2347G1-LU)
IPC-HDW2231R-ZS .... Review-Dahua IPC-HDW2231RP-ZS Starlight Camera-Varifocal
IPC-HDW2231T-ZS-S2 . Review-OEM IPC-T2231T-ZS 2mp Varifocal Starlight Camera
IPC-HDW5231R-ZE .... Review-Dahua Starlight IPC-HDW5231R-ZE 800 meter capable ePOE
IPC-HFW4239T-ASE ... IPC-HFW4239T-ASE
IPCT-HDW5431RE-I ... Review - IP Cam Talk 4 MP IR Fixed Turret Network Camera
IPC-T5241H-AS-PV ... Review-OEM IPC-T5241H-AS-PV 2mp AI active deterrence cam
DS-2CD2325FWD-I
N22AL12 ............ New Dahua N22AL12 Budget Cam w/Starlight -- low cost entry
Other dahua 4MP starlight Dahua 4MP Starlight Lineup
My preferred indoor cameras
DS-2CD2442FWD-IW
IPC-K35A Review-Dahua IPC-K35A 3mp Cube Camera
If interested in Blue Iris and other setup items see the following post
Newbie Starter Guide to IP Cam System – VPN setup – Computer Hardware – Blue Iris – Dahua Cameras
This is an intermediate / newbie guide for people just starting out looking for a surveillance setup. I know this setup might not be for everyone and there are many options. You can find a lot of this information in the Wiki: IP Cam Talk Wiki | IP Cam Talk A great place to start in the Wiki...
Read,study,plan before spending money ..... plan plan plan
Test do not guess
sebastiantombs
Known around here
Welcome, from Spring TX.
Don't jump in to LPR until you understand what you are doing and have read through the LPR threads.
Before you jump on a bunch of cameras, it would be a good idea to buy one and test it out at different positions, day and night, with a person in the area that you want to ID.
Don't jump in to LPR until you understand what you are doing and have read through the LPR threads.
Before you jump on a bunch of cameras, it would be a good idea to buy one and test it out at different positions, day and night, with a person in the area that you want to ID.
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area651
Getting comfortable
I'll say what you're proposing is quite ambitious. I typically warn new members that a lot of this is a hobby and don't get your hopes too high about what your system will do for you in a police investigation. Even IF you get a good picture, without a license plate or short of the perp holding his ID right up to the camera, you won't get far with the police. Houston police told me "well that's what you have insurance for" and that they weren't about to "put out an APB for a 5'6" hispanic male, medium build" in Houston. That's 1/2 the population. Before anyone gets hurt, I'm not targeting this description as criminal. I'm just saying a common person you'll find anywhere in Texas. Also most likely the car that brought the criminals had paper tags on it and was likely stolen itself. Your best bet is to lock your stuff up as much as you can.
As for setup advice, look to the wiki here Choosing Hardware for Blue Iris . As for cameras, here's where it can get crazy expensive. As I understand & I'm not the authority on it as I don't even have it set up, is that LPR takes its own camera just for the plate reading and placement is crucial. Good luck in a cul-de-sac. Then you'll want another camera that looks at the cars overall. And after $500(?) in cameras alone, congratulations, youve got a picture that the police likely won't be able to do much with. Best case though I admit is they're running their real front plate and not just a stolen/expired/fake paper plate.
I'm not trying to deter you from trying. I'm just trying to help you get a good understanding of the complexity of it all.
one more thing. STAY AWAY FROM WIRELESS!
Welcome from another Houston member, Cameras add up but take your time buying them. I have ten cameras up but i didn't buy them all at once. I also purchased refurbished cameras from empiretech andy here on ipcamtalk. That saves money as well. I have a PTZ camera (sd49225t-hn) capturing license plates at this time. i plan on adding an LPR camera later. But take your time read the forums for the different cameras. Looney2ns has a lot of camera reviews that you can check out and bigredfish has some as well. Feel free to ask a lot of questions but make sure you check out the wiki area as southernyankee has pointed out. if you have any questions feel free to ask. One thing i have learned on here is to have two cameras in each area. One for an overview and one for a zoomed in view, which will give good facial recognition. Good luck.
Thanks for all the advice and welcomes everybody. I am still looking at the wiki and cliff notes but so far I think I have my new set up together. Now these will just be the first cameras I’ll be installing will add more later. I’m still looking into LPR cameras to add to my camera system, I have a few I have my eye on. So far this is what I’m looking at getting:
Blue Iris
WD Purple 2TB Surveillance Hard Disk Drive
HP ProDesk 600 G1 DM 4th Gen Core i5-4590T
Dahua PTZ SD49425XB-HNR (1)
Dahua IPC-T5442TM-AS-LED (1)
IPC-T3241-ZAS (2)
Once have my BI setup complete I’d be able to add some higher quality cameras down the line. Thanks for all the help everyone!
Blue Iris
WD Purple 2TB Surveillance Hard Disk Drive
HP ProDesk 600 G1 DM 4th Gen Core i5-4590T
Dahua PTZ SD49425XB-HNR (1)
Dahua IPC-T5442TM-AS-LED (1)
IPC-T3241-ZAS (2)
Once have my BI setup complete I’d be able to add some higher quality cameras down the line. Thanks for all the help everyone!
sebastiantombs
Known around here
You may want to consider increasing that drive size depending on how long you want to have a record for. It's cheaper, in the long run, to oversize at the beginning than have to keep adding drive space.
You are exactly right I’ll be going with a 8TB. Thank you!
FWIW, I have 18 cameras recording 24/7, 9 are 2MP Dahuas, 2 are 4MP Dahuas, and 7 are 2MP low bit rate cameras that do not take up much storage space. I have two WD Purple drives at 10TB each. That's 20TB of storage for the recordings. The only stuff written to these disks are the camera clips in BI direct-to-disk format. This gives me about 27 days of recordings. The reason I keep them so long is that we travel a lot and are gone for 4-6 weeks at a time. If that were not the case, I would not keep the recordings that long.
I also have a 500GB SSD to keep all of the JPGs and clips that I want to keep for a longer time.
I have now jumped down the LPR rabbit hole and will have two cameras for that. Also will be adding about 3-4 2MP Dahuas and 1-2 4MP Dauhas in the future. Some of those will replace the 2MP low bit rate cameras. So my plan is to add another 10TB drive, which would max out my drive bay. But all of this is being done over time and more as a hobby than a need.
I also have a 500GB SSD to keep all of the JPGs and clips that I want to keep for a longer time.
I have now jumped down the LPR rabbit hole and will have two cameras for that. Also will be adding about 3-4 2MP Dahuas and 1-2 4MP Dauhas in the future. Some of those will replace the 2MP low bit rate cameras. So my plan is to add another 10TB drive, which would max out my drive bay. But all of this is being done over time and more as a hobby than a need.
Blue Iris
WD Purple 2TB Surveillance Hard Disk Drive
HP ProDesk 600 G1 DM 4th Gen Core i5-4590T
Dahua PTZ SD49425XB-HNR (1)
Dahua IPC-T5442TM-AS-LED (1)
IPC-T3241-ZAS (2)
Once have my BI setup complete I’d be able to add some higher quality cameras down the line. Thanks for all the help everyone!
[/QUOTE]
It's good your going to get more TB hard drive, don't forget your switch and router just for the cameras.
I use this switch in my system
and this router (only the router, i did not need the mesh points) I connected the switch and my bluiris computer to this router, and then this router to the internet providers router. This router lets me block the cameras from the internet.
There are many routers and switches you can use, it all depends on your situation.
WD Purple 2TB Surveillance Hard Disk Drive
HP ProDesk 600 G1 DM 4th Gen Core i5-4590T
Dahua PTZ SD49425XB-HNR (1)
Dahua IPC-T5442TM-AS-LED (1)
IPC-T3241-ZAS (2)
Once have my BI setup complete I’d be able to add some higher quality cameras down the line. Thanks for all the help everyone!
[/QUOTE]
It's good your going to get more TB hard drive, don't forget your switch and router just for the cameras.
I use this switch in my system
and this router (only the router, i did not need the mesh points) I connected the switch and my bluiris computer to this router, and then this router to the internet providers router. This router lets me block the cameras from the internet.
There are many routers and switches you can use, it all depends on your situation.
As an Amazon Associate IPCamTalk earns from qualifying purchases.
It's good your going to get more TB hard drive, don't forget your switch and router just for the cameras.
I use this switch in my system
and this router (only the router, i did not need the mesh points) I connected the switch and my bluiris computer to this router, and then this router to the internet providers router. This router lets me block the cameras from the internet.
There are many routers and switches you can use, it all depends on your situation.
[/QUOTE]
I have a Google Router connected to my regular Internet router. I’m going to connect my NVR to the google router. I will do more research and see if I can add something better down the line
As an Amazon Associate IPCamTalk earns from qualifying purchases.
Thanks for the help everyone I got up with Andy last night and ordered some stuff. I went with
Dahua PTZ SD49425XB-HNR (1)
Dahua IPC-T5442TM-AS-LED (3)
NVR5208-8P-4KS2E
I plan to later on add another camera in the front of the house by the PTZ camera. I chose an NVR because I want the auto tracking to work to the best of its abilities. Now I just have to order a screen some cat5 and crimpers.
Another question I have is how do you know where the wires go when you crimp them?
Dahua PTZ SD49425XB-HNR (1)
Dahua IPC-T5442TM-AS-LED (3)
NVR5208-8P-4KS2E
I plan to later on add another camera in the front of the house by the PTZ camera. I chose an NVR because I want the auto tracking to work to the best of its abilities. Now I just have to order a screen some cat5 and crimpers.
Another question I have is how do you know where the wires go when you crimp them?
sebastiantombs
Known around here
You follow the EIA/TIA standard of 568B which is -
Pin 1- White/Orange
Pin 2 - Orange/White
Pin 3 - White/Green
Pin 4 - Blue/White
Pin 5 - White/Blue
Pin 6- Green/White
Pin 7 - White/Brown
Pin 8 - Brown/White
The pins are counted left to right with the contacts facing away from you and the lock tab on the bottom.
The big key is to have the same pair on pins 1&2 and 3&6 on both ends of each cable. Also, get yourself an inexpensive cable tester just to be able to confirm good connections, end to end.
Pin 1- White/Orange
Pin 2 - Orange/White
Pin 3 - White/Green
Pin 4 - Blue/White
Pin 5 - White/Blue
Pin 6- Green/White
Pin 7 - White/Brown
Pin 8 - Brown/White
The pins are counted left to right with the contacts facing away from you and the lock tab on the bottom.
The big key is to have the same pair on pins 1&2 and 3&6 on both ends of each cable. Also, get yourself an inexpensive cable tester just to be able to confirm good connections, end to end.
SouthernYankee
IPCT Contributor
@djernie
That video is wrong. The color coding, pinout and wire twists must be to the 568B standard.
That video is wrong. The color coding, pinout and wire twists must be to the 568B standard.
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