New user, hello

So here's my new shopping list. I'll go into a bit more detail for my use case, since I feel that would explain about some previous decisions as well. There was a comment about starting out with a NVR, but I'm using Sharptools for a lot of home automations. And there I read about blue iris to tunnel video to smart home dashboards. So this was a first selling point for simply getting a PC and use blue iris, instead of a workaround and end up with blue iris anyway. I wasn't sure an NVR could handle multiple cameras on 1 ethernet cable, because my next point.

So the profile for the cameras, I live between 2 streets. My garage is at the back and exits on the back street. The driveway is about 30 feet. There is my sliding gate I want to view. Also nexto the driveway are 2 cars and 2 trailers. At some time I'd like to add another camera inside the garage to view another 2 cars.
My house is about 65 feet away from the garage. Internet to the garage is provided by lan over powerline. Hence the thing about 1 cable.

So the plan for these 2 cameras would be, the bullet pointed at the driveway and parking. The dome would be pointed at the house. Just dreaming here, but I'd like to be able to have an overview during the day, but when away zoom in to have a better view of the front driveway nexto the house and the back door.
At all locations are always on garden lights, so lighting is never zero.
 

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Domes are not recommended outside unless it is well protected from the elements. The big issue is that the domes will hold onto water droplets much longer than a turret or bullet and thus any dirt on it can then become problematic. And during a rain event, the camera is basically blind...

1662752882095.png

The domes attract lots of dust. Then rain. Then dirty rain spots. Glare from all angles of the sun. Then over time the sun will "fog" the dome like a car headlight.

Then domes with PTZs can be problematic if they have infrared capabilities - the seal will wear down from extended use and then infrared bleed will start blinding the camera.
 
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wittaj said:
Domes are not recommended outside unless it is well protected from the elements. The big issue is that the domes will hold onto water droplets much longer than a turret or bullet and thus any dirt on it can then become problematic. And during a rain event, the camera is basically blind...

View attachment 139410

The domes attract lots of dust. Then rain. Then dirty rain spots. Glare from all angles of the sun. Then over time the sun will "fog" the dome like a car headlight.

Then domes with PTZs can be problematic if they have infrared capabilities - the seal will wear down from extended use and then infrared bleed will start blinding the camera.
Click to expand...
I'm not fully up and running with the naming yet. I posted the wrong screenshot and updated.

I wonder how they work at where I work though. We have tons of domes outside and most of the time they're okay, except for a few with marring on the glass, which are hell. Rain isn't much of a problem for some reason.
 
You show a dome camera and a bullet camera. The bullet is fine outdoors. The dome camera could be problematic if it is not well protected.
 
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wittaj said:
You show a dome camera and a bullet camera. The bullet is fine outdoors. The dome camera could be problematic if it is not well protected.
Click to expand...
I was planning on placing the dome on one of those arms, so it's facing downwards. Does that help?
Looks like it has a large body and with the small lens cover, hanging downwards, I'd think not much rain gets to it?
 
You're think wrong. It's not only rain, it's condensing moisture from temperature changes because the body of the camera is not water tight/weather proof or even air tight. Over some time, an indeterminate variable, enough moisture will condense to wreck the camera, not to mention fog the inside of the dome. If it's outside, exposed to weather, it needs to be weather proof.
 
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sebastiantombs said:
You're think wrong. It's not only rain, it's condensing moisture from temperature changes because the body of the camera is not water tight/weather proof or even air tight. Over some time, an indeterminate variable, enough moisture will condense to wreck the camera, not to mention fog the inside of the dome. If it's outside, exposed to weather, it needs to be weather proof.
Click to expand...
Will be searching bullets then.

The ones at work, I assume are a different budget class too though, they're Bosch and the likes of that. I'm looking at 6 outside dome camera's right at this moment, they've been there for years, it's been raining today and they're all spotless. Some of them are on arms, some are mounted flat on the walls.
 
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I'd still use turrets over domes any day. No worry at all that way. Domes also are troubled by reflections in the dome, itself, especially at night which can be the most critical time for home surveillance use.
 
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So I ordered 2 new camera's. After some head exploding, trying to wrap my head around everything, I decided I'd need an overview camera anyway and also got 1 vario focal to try things out with.
Went with these 2, since I'm trying to keep a bit of budget system and Hikvision seems to be the cheapest around that doesn't get instant trashed around here :-D
Tried to find reviews of both of them, but can't find very much about them. So I'll see I guess. They seem to have onboard what I need.

Dahua DH-IPC-HFW3241TP-ZS

Hikvision DS-2CD2026G2-I
 
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sgt-flippy said:
So I ordered 2 new camera's. After some head exploding, trying to wrap my head around everything, I decided I'd need an overview camera anyway and also got 1 vario focal to try things out with.
Went with these 2, since I'm trying to keep a bit of budget system and Hikvision seems to be the cheapest around that doesn't get instant trashed around here :-D
Tried to find reviews of both of them, but can't find very much about them. So I'll see I guess. They seem to have onboard what I need.

Dahua DH-IPC-HFW3241TP-ZS

Hikvision DS-2CD2026G2-I
Click to expand...


FYI - posting info on the camera models in question ..

Dahua DH-IPC-HFW3241TP-ZS
1662872516785.png


Hikvision DS-2CD2026G2-I

1662872397988.png
 
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So now onto the dumb questions, I don't immediately find an answer for or I still need to research.

Blue iris has loads of settings, I want continuous recording and I saw a few tips. But since I only have 1 drive, is there any use of the "stored" folder? It's just moving stuff, but not really? I have now set it to cut videos every 15 minutes, I figured that would make for easy viewing and searching, but might be overkill?

All the alerts stuff, should they be set in the app that comes for the camera, or set in Blue iris? Or does it just depends which works best to my liking?

Remote view, so port forwarding and all that stuff is no good. But is it okay to use the oem camera app for viewing outside the lan? They don't ask to open ports, is it a cloud thing and is it safer? I've been looking at that VPN router, but they way our isp works, it is a possibility my tv will no longer work. And the way my house is setup, I can't easily move things and it would compromise my wifi for example.

That's a few things going through my head I'm not up to speed on yet...
 
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The best pratice is to configure both the main stream and sub stream vides streams for each camera. Then set them to record, in each camera, either with "continuous + alerts" or "continuous + triggered". This records the sub stream until there is an alert or trigger, depending on your selection, and switches to the main stream for the event duration. I use a "combine/cut" time of one hour to minimize the number of files and to make reviewing footage easier, kind of a compromise.

Alerts and trigger can happen from either source. I use BI mostly but have clones that use camera triggers. I also have clones that use DeepStack to further reduce false alerts. A clone is a copy of another camera and does not significantly impact CPU utilization or system loading overall. I have them configured to only record on alerts because the "master" camera is already recording 24/7 should I need it.

The camera apps all open ports on your system so they are not secure either. You can use OpenVPN to connect to your LAN securely. OpenVPN is a built in feature in Asus and a lot of Netgear routers. Alternately you can use ZeroTier to access your Blue Iris server. Both are encrypted inbound services, not outbound like a VPN to hide your surfing habits. ZeroTier is fairly easy to set up, point and click configuration. OpenVPN requires you to export a "client"vpn" file, install the OpenVPN client on you mobile device and import that client.vpn file into the program on the remote (client) device. It's not hard to do, just a few more steps than ZeroTier. I use both because sometimes OpenVPN can be blocked by some internet service providers.
 
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sebastiantombs said:
The best pratice is to configure both the main stream and sub stream vides streams for each camera. Then set them to record, in each camera, either with "continuous + alerts" or "continuous + triggered". This records the sub stream until there is an alert or trigger, depending on your selection, and switches to the main stream for the event duration. I use a "combine/cut" time of one hour to minimize the number of files and to make reviewing footage easier, kind of a compromise.

Alerts and trigger can happen from either source. I use BI mostly but have clones that use camera triggers. I also have clones that use DeepStack to further reduce false alerts. A clone is a copy of another camera and does not significantly impact CPU utilization or system loading overall. I have them configured to only record on alerts because the "master" camera is already recording 24/7 should I need it.

The camera apps all open ports on your system so they are not secure either. You can use OpenVPN to connect to your LAN securely. OpenVPN is a built in feature in Asus and a lot of Netgear routers. Alternately you can use ZeroTier to access your Blue Iris server. Both are encrypted inbound services, not outbound like a VPN to hide your surfing habits. ZeroTier is fairly easy to set up, point and click configuration. OpenVPN requires you to export a "client"vpn" file, install the OpenVPN client on you mobile device and import that client.vpn file into the program on the remote (client) device. It's not hard to do, just a few more steps than ZeroTier. I use both because sometimes OpenVPN can be blocked by some internet service providers.
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Superb, thank you!

The issue I have with remote viewing, besides the security risks, is I'd like to view them from my workplace. Which has a pretty secure network and a lot of block filters. Since I'm also not an administrator and use a different machine every day, I'm not sure if OpenVPN is even an option. Trying to access my forwarded port didn't work, simply wouldn't load. I'm afraid to plunge into one or another system, only to discover it won't work.
And then I wonder, if I keep everything on LAN, except for using the app to view, I might be fine. I might be too trusting, but how dangerous can those apps be if thousands of people are using them solely for this purpose?
 
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Thousands, millions, of people are being hacked constantly. If you feel the risk is worth it, fine. I'd just use OpenVPN or ZeroTier on my phone and not worry about using PCs at the office at all. Solves the whole problem.
 
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sebastiantombs said:
Thousands, millions, of people are being hacked constantly. If you feel the risk is worth it, fine. I'd just use OpenVPN or ZeroTier on my phone and not worry about using PCs at the office at all. Solves the whole problem.
Click to expand...
I don't have my phone at work. My only outside communication is that pc.
 
sgt-flippy said:
I might be fine. I might be too trusting, but how dangerous can those apps be
Click to expand...
Then why ask if you can load a certain app onto your phone and ask how safe it might be?
 
Bottom line if you are in a DMZ that is not allowed access to the internet and you are not allowed a cell phone, then how does anyone in your position access the internet?
Possibly describing the topology of your internet access would be helpful.
You obviously have a unique situation and keep revealing details of how limited it is.

For example:
Are you are work currently? How are you able to access this forum?
 
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