Planning to buy NVR any suggestion and brand

[Moyeen]

Planning to buy NVR any suggestion and brand? what I should avoid purchasing?

Thanks

 

[SouthernYankee]

Buy an NVR and cameras from the same manufacture. Mixing cameras and NVR will cause a lost of features in the camera. Stick with a standard brands like Dahua or Hikvision. Do not buy reolink, ring, nest or Arlo .

Do not mix chinese hack cameras and international camera / NVR. A number of manufactures will block the use of mixed Chinese and international equipment
====================
if you are interested in International Dahua cameras, a forum member sells dahua (and some Hikvision) and ships world wide. You can read some of the members recommendations on his service. He also provides cameras to other forum member for evaluation and reviews.
You can email him for a quote, or purchase from his Aliexpress store or his Amazon store. The cameras are fully upgradable, he posts upgrade software when available.

I recommend email andy
Andy is running Black friday specials. 2020 Black Friday From EmpireTech-Andy

Andy
@EMPIRETECANDY
kingsecurity2014@163.com
Andy's ipcamtalk vendor forum: EmpireTech Andy
Andy's AliExpress store: Empire Technology Co., Ltd - Amazing prodcuts with exclusive discounts on AliExpress
Andy's Amazon store: Amazon.com

 

[tigerwillow1]

I'll add that my Dahua NVR has been extremely reliable over several years. UI-wise it's kind of a mixed bag: Not the most user friendly or intuitive thing around, but once you learn its nuances it's fairly easy to get your job done. Certainly not anywhere close to being the least user friendly software out there. I use the smartPss utility to do almost all of my viewing, and log directly onto the cameras to configure them, so I don't use the NVR's direct connect or web interface very often. It just goes on reliably recording day after day. You also will be faced with the decision of getting an NVR with a built-in POE switch or using an external switch. I prefer external which gives a lot more flexibility at the expense of having to learn a bit more about networking. You'll probably get responses promoting Blue Iris instead of an NVR. I once considered switching and decided to stick with the NVR. Had I started with BI and considered switching to the NVR it wouldn't surprise me if I'd be saying the opposite thing. I have to say with all of the information out there it's hard to get it right the first time. I started small, and after what I learned over six months or so I dumped what I got originally and started over.

 

[eyeontheprize]

I'll add that my Dahua NVR has been extremely reliable over several years. UI-wise it's kind of a mixed bag: Not the most user friendly or intuitive thing around, but once you learn its nuances it's fairly easy to get your job done. Certainly not anywhere close to being the least user friendly software out there. I use the smartPss utility to do almost all of my viewing, and log directly onto the cameras to configure them, so I don't use the NVR's direct connect or web interface very often. It just goes on reliably recording day after day. You also will be faced with the decision of getting an NVR with a built-in POE switch or using an external switch. I prefer external which gives a lot more flexibility at the expense of having to learn a bit more about networking. You'll probably get responses promoting Blue Iris instead of an NVR. I once considered switching and decided to stick with the NVR. Had I started with BI and considered switching to the NVR it wouldn't surprise me if I'd be saying the opposite thing. I have to say with all of the information out there it's hard to get it right the first time. I started small, and after what I learned over six months or so I dumped what I got originally and started over.

I am leaning towards getting a external switch as well. Do you have recommendations for a switch? As well as Dahua NVR model? Will probably run run 8-10 cams to start.

 

[tigerwillow1]

My NVR is a Dahua 5216-4ks2. It supports up to 16 cameras and 2 hard disks. If you think there's any chance of wanting 16 cameras you should look at the 32 camera models. Some models support 4 hard disks if you'd think you'd want that. There are 4000-series NVRs that cost a bit less, giving up some features and performance. I don't think it's worth it for the money savings. For a switch I recommend used small business or enterprise switches from ebay or another source. They are plentiful and screaming deals IMO. I'm using a cisco 28 port switch that has 24 POE ports and 4 gigabit ports. Some think that it's overkill, but with all of my home devices hooked to it I'm using all the ports and sometimes wish for a few more. When looking at a used switch make sure you get a "green" model, and not a power hog. Check the specs. These switches can be loud with fan noise so you don't want them in a living area. Decide if you want any POE+ ports. I don't have any and sometime wish I did. Another consideration is if you want to use a few distributed switches to reduce cabling. I'm using all home runs to the single switch, as you have to do with an NVR with built in POE ports. There are some smaller (8 port or less) POE switches that use and external power brick and don;t have a fan.

 

[sebastiantombs]

Watch the bandwidth specs on the NVR and try to plan for the resolution that you are aiming for. 4K cameras will consume double the bandwidth of 2K cameras and NVRs will stop processing when they hit saturation or refuse to connect the next camera when bandwidth is maxed out.

 

[mat200]

Planning to buy NVR any suggestion and brand? what I should avoid purchasing?

Thanks

Welcome @Moyeen

The most popular setup by members here is:
Blue Iris on a used PC ( i7/i5 newer gen ) with an external PoE switch.

If you are looking at the NVR route, get a more powerful NVR and the next level up of channels it can support, as we always under estimate how many cameras we feel we need.

 

[bigredfish]

I recommend the Dahua 5000 series if you stick with Dahua cameras. The 4000 series is under powered.

Pro Series

Pro Series

www.dahuasecurity.com

Id get the one with built in PoE. They are simpler and with the added benefit of better security with the cameras being on their own subnet,

*****Most dont realize that if you decide you want to run on an external switch, you still can! Just dont use the built-in PoE ports and run cameras and NVR to the external switch. I do a mixture of both.

 

[sebastiantombs]

This is definitely a case where bigger is better.

 

[slip kid]

What are the cost comparisons for NVR and BI/PC in the 16 camera range?

One thing I like about an NVR is in a power down situation it restarts back to recording without a human interface on power up. I'm moving sometime next year but still need to put something in place until that time.

 

[sebastiantombs]

A PC can easily be set to auto start on power up, auto login and if BI is running as a service it starts recording all by itself. Actually, if BI is running as a service there's no need for an auto login. Auto start on power up for the PC is in the BIOS of the PC itself.

 

[ljw2k]

What is your budget?

 

[slip kid]

What are the cost comparisons between a 16 channel NVR and a comparable BI/PC; using up to a few 5442 type cameras. Not asking about a system price. Just the comparison price of an NVR and BI/PC.

I have no confidence or ability to change a BIOS in a PC. It's easy for someone who can do it, but not me and definitely not the other people in this house who can't operate a remote control efficiently.

I see a lot of threads of people with tech issues concerning the PC setup and suspect it's a user proficiency issue more than bugs, but that's a turn off.

 

[tigerwillow1]

You can browse Dahua NVR prices on Andy's aliexpress store here: Empire Technology Co., Ltd - Amazing prodcuts with exclusive discounts on AliExpress . I believe the most used models for forum members are "4K Super Level NVR". If you use paypal you can buy direct from Andy, bypassing aliexpress and amazon. It's possibly a few dollars cheaper that way. I look at the cost of the NVR as the tail wagging the dog because in most cases the big bucks are in the cameras and the big labor is in running the wires to the cameras.

 

[ljw2k]

Ancotech CCTV have the best prices and excellent service Skype ancotech_cctv

 

[slip kid]

Skype? I don't Skype.

Wiring isn't a problem. I've done some cat6 & jacks in bedrooms and the living room back to a router. Finishing wiring might be my problem as I lose focus.