Security camera set up required after home burglery attempt

[SpankTheMonkey]

* * * * WARNING - security camera newbie alert * * * *
(Please be wary of low flying noob questions)



Good morning Gurus,

Looking to add some well needed security cameras around the home after a thief attempted entry.
Require four weatherproof cameras with excellent image quality and night vision.
Looking at the FOSCAM range.

FOSCAM FI9900EP Mini POE Full HD 2MP 1080p Plug and Play Waterproof cameras (x4)

Either
FOSCAM NVR FN3104H HD Network Video Recorder
Seagate ST4000DM000 HDD 4 TB

Or
MangoCam - Gold Plan ($14.54 per month)

Would storage locally be cheaper or would there be benefits with going with MangoCam?
Is this package decent for the money?
How would I set this up to work? I see that a POE switch would be required.
Do I just need to run an ethernet into the POE switch from my router and then from the switch to each camera?
If I go with MangoCam - how would the set up be optimum?

What else would I need?

Any thoughts, opinions or alternatives are welcomed......

Cheers

Bazza

 

[stoney7713]

I've owned some Foscam and they are way over priced and most are junk. Here's something for almost $90 less and better

Free shipping Dahua IPC-HFW4300S IR HD 1080p IP Camera Security Outdoor 3MP Full HD Network IR Bullet Camera Support POE
[url]http://s.aliexpress.com/vIFRja26
(from AliExpress Android)[/URL]

Yes the switch is connected to the router and the cams plug into the switch.

Local storage vs cloud storage, depends, do you want to pay a monthly subscription forever? Or you could get a NVR or set up a computer with a large HD to record to.

I don't know if these cams can record to a NAS but most can, but a few I've heard have trouble.

It all depends on how tech savy you are.

 

[nayr]

gotta hand it to marketing, you dove in right for the absolute worst..

FoScams are waste of money, much less likely to be let down with Dahua or Hikvision.. get a matching NVR with built-in PoE to keep things simple for you.. you'll get great mobile apps, screw the cloud and paying service fees.. get a NVR and a pair of cameras with diffrent lenses.. one wide angle and one close in, use those to test around and help you decide what to order for the rest of your locations... lots of people go wide angle everything and then have problems getting enough pixels for Id in most situations as they struggle to ID people more than 15ft away.

Seagate are bane on the industry, worst failure rates you can find right now.. get a WD Purple 4TB.. ~$150 it'll hold almost 2 weeks of video 24/7 from 4x1080p h264 cams.

 

[jaclarkaus]

Seems most regulars here hate Foscam on principle.

I have a i9900 and really happy with it (so far) and note that is it much wider than the usual recommended cameras here (which is a good thing). The WIFI was a bit flakey, but wired is fine, though no Power over Ethernet (PoE) means you have to locate power for it.

Apart from that, maybe start with one with some internal recording (some can take a small SD card) and see how you go.

 

[klasipca]

Maybe newer Foscams are improved, but for some of us they left a bad taste a few years back. I am actually hoping to get couple free review units soon, but not expecting anything amazing from 720p resolution.

 

[nayr]

foscams totally deserve the reputation.. they are all like $30-60 cameras, being sold for $100-200.. Might as well throw your money at Huisun or Lorex and you'll at least get what you paid for.

for the range foscams go for retail you can get sooo much better hardware AND software.. there is a whole range of stuff tha'll blow the pants off foscams for under $200

they are not horrible webcams, if you dont pay alot of money for them.. but webcams make horrible security cams.. you wont tolerate low resolution with unstable connectivity unless your watching your puppies at work on your break, or want to see if its raining at the cabin.. for security you need something you can trust.

 

[jaclarkaus]

Maybe newer Foscams are improved, but for some of us they left a bad taste a few years back. I am actually hoping to get couple free review units soon, but not expecting anything amazing from 720p resolution.

Actually they are 1920 * 1080

 

[SpankTheMonkey]

Hi stoney7713,

Could you please recommend a NVR and switch to go with the Dahua cameras.

Thanks in advance

Bazza

 

[stoney7713]

Hi stoney7713,

Could you please recommend a NVR and switch to go with the Dahua cameras.

Thanks in advance

Bazza

I don't use a NVR, from what I know of them, the Dahua NVR's are good choice, especially if your going to use the Dahua cams. Some of the Hikvision NVR's have issues with certain cameras but are still a good NVR.

If you use a NVR, some have POE built in so a switch would not be necessary. I use a TP-Link POE switch, it's what I had, I also use Blue Iris, many people use ebay to find a used POE switch, and they have their favorites, some people don't like the TP-Link brand.

@nayr and @klasipca both use NVR's I believe, or at least know a lot more about them I do.

 

[klasipca]

You can ran any cam on any NVR that supports ONVIF, but if you are going with one brand of cameras then getting NVR from the same brand will enable you to have all features in the NVR. I went with Hikvision NVR because I had lots of Hikvision cameras back then. Now I only have 2, but Huisun is also using Hikvision protocols and benefits from Hikvision NVR as well. I am looking to get another NVR now with 16 channel and still think that Hikvision is as good as it gets.

 

[nayr]

I am running a Dahua 4216-4k so I can access the Dahua IVS Features, like facial detection etc.. you can find an 8cam version of this with built in PoE.. I like it because it supports h265 cameras, and while I dont have any yet.. I would like to get some UHD cameras sooner or later.

 

[hiky]

Looking to add some well needed security cameras around the home after a thief attempted entry.
Good on you for having enough security in place to already foil a burglary

Require four weatherproof cameras with excellent image quality and night vision.
Most folks on here want you to have the best bang for buck but be careful with your wishes, excellent image quality and night vision can only be recommended by distance to subject and budget, if you want very good at both... nothing is cheap cheap

Is this package decent for the money?
Honestly ... who knows ? it might work for you or it may be totally useless, it all depends on you scenario, distance, lighting availability even weather in your area, Nayr simply hates Foscams because they are mostly what he said, me i have no opinion on the latest stuff as i have never seen it, others have seen it and they find the cams ok for there situation which may not be the same as yours

How would I set this up to work? I see that a POE switch would be required.
If you purchase a Hikvision or Dahua NVR the cameras are powered by the NVR as its ports are POE so no need for extra switches

What else would I need?
If you gave the members a budget, some pics, the best you can of the areas you wish to protect you would get a good shout at what is needed

Any thoughts, opinions or alternatives are welcomed......
Generally the more you pay the better the product in CCTV.. (generally) if you want great night time video, POE and an NVR to record with then Hikvison darkfighter cameras are very very good, attached to a decent Hik dvr directly with no extra switches BUT 4 x darkfighters and an NVR to suit is going to make your eyes water a tad... but you did say at the start "Require four weatherproof cameras with excellent image quality and night vision."

 

[SpankTheMonkey]

Good morning all,

Thank you for all your help.

Going to purchase http://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/bezrp1dA as recommended by stony.

[h=1]Dahua IPC-HFW4300S IR HD 1080p IP Camera Security Outdoor 3MP Full HD Network IR Bullet Camera Support POE[/h]
Have never dealt with http://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/cTp8lfGU
Their prices are far lower than all other suppliers but would be due to shipping from China.

Has anyone ordered through them?
What was the outcome?
Is there any likelihood of receiving a fake product?

Cheers

Bazza

 

[Abbell]

I have ordered from Aliexpress. They are a conglomeration of vendors so some are better than others. The one you are looking at seems to have a decent rating.

 

[t84a]

Interestingly, when you go to purchase that camera, you need to select PAL or NTSC. So what does one select?

 

[Abbell]

What is the difference between NTSC and PAL?


There are two television display systems in commercial use: PAL(common in Europe and parts of Asia) delivers a frame rate of 25 fps (frames per second) with 625 lines, while NTSC (used in the U.S. and Canada) delivers a frame rate of 30 fps using 525 lines.

 

[nayr]

choose NTSC if given the option, however unlike the analouge predecessors they are exactly the same digital encoding so both are compatible.

I have PAL NVR hooked to a NTSC TV and a couple PAL Cameras, the rest of my cameras are NTSC.. every thing works well together.

all things being equal, I like having a bit better resolution offered by PAL Sub-Streams; its more appreciable than the difference from 25-30fps.

 

[SpankTheMonkey]

Good morning Gurus,

Leaning more towards a "Dome camera" - purely for aesthetic purposes .

Would this cut the mustard for a basic home set up?

Original Dahua DH-IPC-HDBW4421R IP Camera 4MP 2688*1520 Onvif Dome Camera Full HD 1080P Support SD card and POE IPC-HDBW4421R


http://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/bPGF93Au

Any reasons why not to go dome?

Was about to pull the trigger on:

[h=1]Free shipping Dahua IPC-HFW4300S IR HD 1080p IP Camera Security Outdoor 3MP Full HD Network IR Bullet Camera Support POE[/h]
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Free-shipping-Dahua-IPC-HFW4300S-IR-HD-1080p-IP-Camera-Security-Outdoor-3-Megapixel-Full-HD/1588022775.html?shortkey=vIFRja26&addresstype=600

All comments welcomed.

Cheers

Bazza

 

[CamFan]

What is the difference between NTSC and PAL?


There are two television display systems in commercial use: PAL(common in Europe and parts of Asia) delivers a frame rate of 25 fps (frames per second) with 625 lines, while NTSC (used in the U.S. and Canada) delivers a frame rate of 30 fps using 525 lines.

With HD, the video is the same resolution (usually 1920 x 1080), but the refresh freq is different. NTSC is 60 hz (actually 59.94hz) and PAL is 50hz. These are broadcast standards and don't matter unless you are going to directly display them on a TV or Monitor that has limited frequency support.

Watching camera video on a computer monitor, it doesn't really matter what freq you use.

 

[fenderman]

Y
Foscam's IP camera kit is a good choice.

Foscam is a TERRIBLE choice so is samsung, nest, and reolink. Basicially every manufacutre you listed is a bad choice.