New Setup - Home Use - Budget Build - POE

[RichP]

Hello all, I am looking and just starting to research some home cam options. After some research I see that most of the amazon kits are junk in comparison to other alternatives and/or piecing together a system. I am looking to have 3-5 outdoor camera's to be used with an NVR and want to use POE. I have tons of cat6 cable and the plan is to fish the cable through exerior walls into the unfinished basement then bring the cable back up to a wall plate/keystone jacks where the main tv/modem/router is located. I have a nice pc however its also me media center so id prefer to avoid using it for this and use an NVR. I mostly just want camera's for remote viewing or have the option to view if something were to happen. We have had some recent break in's including one of our own vehicles, packages stolen and misc in the area as of lately. The house has a relatively small footprint on the outside and the cam's can be mounted under the easement out of the weather.

Is this doable with this budget? Is there a specific nvr I should be looking at? The issue I keep finding is when I find a camera with good reviews its not compatible with another brand NVR. I was originally looking at the reolink rlc-410, 4 cam setup for $475 which comes in under budget but heard mixed reviews on here about them.

Cliffs/Requirements:
Budget - $600, if i need to start with only 3 cameras to make this happen that's ok, id be fine with getting 2 cameras on the front of the house and 1 on the side for now and building up as funds allow.

Remote Viewing via iphone/android required.

POE - I like this option as I have cat6,jacks,fittings etc already on hand

Local storage on an NVR, I dont want to have to deal with SD cards or removing camera internals to view recorded data, I dont mind adding an additional drive for storage on an nvr, I have plenty of HD's laying around in the 2-4TB range. Ideally i just want to know that if something happens I can view the recordings or i have the option of live viewing the cameras remotely. Ill hook the nvr up to a tv but this would hardly ever be used or monitored.

System must have date/time stamp option

Thanks!

 

[mat200]

Welcome RichP,

Check out the various notes we have:
Resource Guide on IP Technology for all Noobs
Resource Guide on IP Technology for all Noobs

Recommend avoiding Reolink as there are better values, remember quality of image is important.

If you need low light performance you will want to look at the Dahua OEM starlight models.

Remember to have the best chances to ID suspects you want to mount the cameras 8 feet or lower.

You will probably end up needing more cameras than you initially plan for, as well as other potential sensors / external IR lighting - so plan to over cable ( N+1+ )

Right now is a great time to plan for what you want to accomplish with a security camera ( please see the notes on this ).

Vehicle break ins typically happen at night, so you want at least 2 low light cameras covering your driveway ( which is where I am guessing you park at night ).
IF you park on the street you will need cameras with a better "zoom" or a way to place cameras closer to your parking areas.


If you're seriously considering the reolink kit -> then get this instead:
FYI - Some local Costco B&M have a Lorex / Dahua OEM 4K 6x camera kit and 8 port NVR for $800

It is currently $100 lower at Costco and you can add 2 Dahua OEM starlight cameras to that kit.

Lorex disables the more advanced IVS functions - which many of us like, so it maybe nicer to get a Dahua OEM NVR which supports those functions as well as cameras. Of course that will cost a bit more.

Another option people really like is running Blue Iris on a windows i5/i7 PC and an external PoE switch.

Lots of great options, and yes it will take a bit of thinking about how to accomplish your goals.

 

[BubbaJoe]

There is a lot of knowledge on this board. Don't rush this. Read and read more. Go with dahua cams and put them at 6 feet off the ground. Iding someone with cams at 6 feet is very easy. I use BI so can't help with the nvr. But go dahua you wont regret it.

 

[RichP]

Thanks for the quick replies. I am pretty determined to go an nvr route as I don’t have the budget or time to build another pc purely for cameras. My main rig would Work but I’m already using it for so many other things I don’t want to over tax it constantly.

We do park in the driveway, garage is packed with projects at the moment.

6ft high cameras won’t be an issue as the porch is completely covered.

RIght now I have my modem and 8port router in the center of the house on the main tv. Cat6 is going from every room to the basement then back up to this location. Ideally I want to run Poe, cat6 from each camera into the basement then back up to this centralized location. Essentially this is the main family room. I’d have the nvr on the tv via hdmi but mostly monitor the system via phone app.

I’ll check out that Cosco system and put together a system from Dahua and see where the price ends up. My main concern for now is only the front of the house but long term I’d like to get cAmeras for the back and side so a minimum 8channel system would be ideal. We don’t plan on getting any other ‘home security’ and to be honest we wont be living here for more than a few more years but I’d like some extra eyes in the sky to watch our property. I generally keep one sea doo and my car in the driveway plus the gf’s car.

Thanks again for the info, I’ll dig into those sticky’s of information this evening.

 

[looney2ns]

You don't "need" to build a computer for Blue Iris, you can get a refurbed unit for $100-300 that will handle it. Same cost as a decent NVr.
Ebay and Dell Outlet.

No need to run all the camera cables back up to the TV. Find a nice spot in the basement for a POE switch, then just run one cable to the NVR/Computer location from the POE.

 

[Fastb]

RichP, welcome to the forum.

The NVR will have a fan inside. They make noise. The poe version of nvr is louder than the non-poe version.
There are fan-less versions of poe switch available.

Just saying, consider "noise" when deciding where to place components....