New Install - Need Recommendations

bigverm23

n3wb
Jan 13, 2025
2
1
Mount Airy, MD
Hi All,

New to this forum and New to IP cameras, so I'm looking for some recommendations.

Picture of front of home is attached. I'd like to attach cameras to the left and right side of the home (indicated with red arrows) under the eaves near the corner.

Those locations are 12+' off the ground. What are my best options in terms of capturing activity and as much detail as possible? What specs do I need to look out for? Assuming I should look at turret style or maybe like PTZ, but i dont really know. I know it's not a desirable height but I'd really like to stay under the eaves.

Please help!

Wireless is preferred but not mandatory
1000002040.jpg
 
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Welcome and nice house!

You only want two cameras?

OVERVIEW or IDENTIFY capabilities?

This thread is used as the go to for the NOOB here outlining the commonly recommended cameras (along with Amazon links) based on distance to IDENTIFY that represent the overall best value/best bang for the buck in terms of price and performance day and night. It might be a 2MP camera in some instances.

The Importance of Focal Length over MP in camera selection

And coupled with that thread is this great thread which will show why all of the same 2.8 or 3.6mm cameras is the wrong choice:

i-want-2-8mm-cameras-everywhere-to-see-everything-this-is-why-you-need-specific-fovs-with-purposeful-focal-lengths.70053/

We would encourage you to look at those threads in detail.

It will probably raise more questions than answers LOL.
 
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Thanks! Well, I wanted to put one on each front corner and then one on each back corner of the house, but starting with 2 on the front.

DETECT and OBSERVE. Motion tracking is a plus.
 
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Thanks! Well, I wanted to put one on each front corner and then one on each back corner of the house, but starting with 2 on the front.

People detection is most important. Motion tracking is a plus.
Welcome to IPCT! :wave:

Be sure to use solid (not stranded) copper (no CCA/Copper Clad Aluminum) CAT-5e or 6 with a jacket rated CMR for use in attics, in-wall, between floors, and in crawl spaces. Add outdoor rating if exposed DIRECTLY to UV and rain. If tucked under siding, under soffit, etc. then a CMR jacket should be sufficient.

Cable is cheaper than labor, I'd pull TWO cables to each of those corners you mentioned for 8 total cameras vs. the 4 you've planned right off. :cool:
 
Thanks! Well, I wanted to put one on each front corner and then one on each back corner of the house, but starting with 2 on the front.

DETECT and OBSERVE. Motion tracking is a plus.

We all think DETECT and OBSERVE until something happens LOL.

As @TonyR points out, run more than one cable so you can add later when you want IDENTIFY quality.

One camera cannot be the be all/see all. The camera to IDENTIFY at 15 feet is a different camera than one to IDENTIFY at 70 feet.

PTZs with motion tracking are a compliment to an existing fixed camera system and not replacements for fixed cameras.

So with only PTZs and no additional fixed cameras - what happens when 2 or more people come up to your house - the PTZ is only catching and tracking one of them, not all of them.

PTZs are not perfect and can lose tracking. Then you miss the person.

What happens when the PTZ is looking left and a perp comes from the right?

That is why PTZs are not a replacement for fixed cameras - they are a compliment to an existing system.

If you rely on a PTZ only it will miss many instances, especially when it is off tracking something else.

You are much better off using fixed cams as spotter cams to point the PTZ to where the action is and then let the autotracking take over from there.

See this thread on how a PTZ compliments a fixed camera system.
 
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Spend some time reading here. I too wanted to go wireless for the lower level of my unlit 600' driveway. But it didn't take me long to understand why wifi is not the answer. Esp if Dori is important to you. Now I am making plans for the required equip and running the wiring underground for 3 cameras.
 
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Oh I missed the wifi part!

Wifi and cameras do not go together.

We have a whole thread dedicated to the wifi cams of the world. How does this quality look to you?

The Typical picture of a Perp on Nextdoor-type Apps with Consumer Grade Cameras like Ring, Nest, Arlo, Canary, Wyze, etc.


There are always ways if you don't want to run an ethernet cable.

You need power anyway, so go with a powerline adapter to run the date over your electric lines. Or take advantage of a basement or attic and run the wire behind downspouts.

Maybe you are fine now one day with wifi cams, but one day something will happen. A new device, neighbors microwave, etc.

Cameras connected to Wifi routers (whether wifi or not) are problematic for surveillance cameras because they are always streaming and passing data. And the data demands go up with motion and then you lose signal. A lost packet and it has to resend. It can bring the whole network down if trying to send cameras through a wifi router. At the very least it can slow down your entire system.

Unlike Netflix and other streaming services that buffer a movie, these cameras do not buffer up part of the video, so drop outs are frequent, especially once you start adding distance. You would be amazed how much streaming services buffer - don't believe me, start watching something and unplug your router and watch how much longer you can watch NetFlix before it freezes - mine goes 45 seconds. Now do the same with a camera connected to a router and it is fairly instantaneous (within the latency of the stream itself)...

The same issue applies even with the hard-wired cameras trying to send all this non-buffer video stream through a router. Most consumer grade wifi routers are not designed to pass the constant video stream data of cameras, and since they do not buffer, you get these issues. The consumer routers are just not designed for this kind of traffic, even a GB speed router.

So the more cameras you add, the bigger the potential for issues.

Many people unfortunately think wifi cameras are the answer and they are not. People will say what about Ring and Arlo - well that is another whole host of issues that we will not discuss here LOL, but they are not streaming 24/7, only when you pull up the app. And then we see all the people come here after that system failed them because their wifi couldn't keep up when the perp came by. For streaming 24/7 to something like an NVR or Blue Iris, forget about it if you want reliability.


This was a great test that SouthernYankee tried and posted about it here:

I did a WIFI test a while back with multiple 2MP cameras each camera was set to VBR, 15 FPS, 15 Iframe, 3072kbs, h.264. Using a WIFI analyzer I selected the least busy channel (1,6,11) on the 2.4 GHZ band and set up a separate access point. With 3 cameras in direct line of sight of the AP about 25 feet away I was able to maintain a reasonable stable network with only intermittent signal drops from the cameras. Added a 4th camera and the network became totally unstable. Also add a lot of motion to the 3 cameras caused some more network instability. More data more instability.
The cameras are nearly continuously transmitting. So any lost packet causes a retry, which cause more traffic, which causes more lost packets.
WIFI does not have a flow control, or a token to transmit. So your devices transmit any time they want, more devices more collisions.
As a side note, it is very easy to jam a WIFI network. WIFI is fine for watching the bird feed but not for home surveillance and security.
The problem is like standing in a room, with multiple people talking to you at the same time about different subjects. You need to answer each person or they repeat the question.

Test do not guess.

For a 802.11G 2.4 GHZ WIFI network the Theoretical Speed is 54Mbps (6.7MBs) real word speed is nearer to 10-29Mbps (1.25-3.6 MBs) for a single channel


And TonyR recommends this (which is the preferred way IF you want to do wifi but still isn't perfect)

The only way I'd have wireless cams is the way I have them now: a dedicated 802.11n, 2.4GHz Access Point for 3 cams, nothing else uses that AP. Its assigned channel is at the max separation from another 2.4GHz channel in the house. There is no other house near me for about 300 yards and we're separated by dense foliage and trees.

Those 3 cams are indoor, non-critical pet cams (Amcrest IP2M-841's) streaming to Blue Iris and are adequately reliable for their jobs. They take their turns losing signal/reconnecting usually about every 12 hours or so for about 20 seconds which I would not tolerate for an outdoor surveillance cam pointed at my house and/or property.

But for me, this works in my situation: dedicated AP, non-critical application and periodic, short-term video loss.... if any one of those 3 conditions can't be achieved or tolerated, then I also do not recommend using wireless cams. :cool:
 
Hi All,

New to this forum and New to IP cameras, so I'm looking for some recommendations.

Picture of front of home is attached. I'd like to attach cameras to the left and right side of the home (indicated with red arrows) under the eaves near the corner.

Those locations are 12+' off the ground. What are my best options in terms of capturing activity and as much detail as possible? What specs do I need to look out for? Assuming I should look at turret style or maybe like PTZ, but i dont really know. I know it's not a desirable height but I'd really like to stay under the eaves.

Please help!

Wireless is preferred but not mandatory
View attachment 212012

These are the locations I would consider testing out ..

1736813003802.png

would need to add more positions or double up for watching the street area