Which Dahua cams, BI to use and setup advice

[Jagradang]

Hi Guys,

Right so its finally time to start planning a big setup for a family member for their new build!

I have previously setup my own system (which needs some improving now!!) so i kinda know what to do and where to go but unsure on the cams i want now. My setup is quite basic - NVR + 3 5231 cams. I need to switch over to BI at some point and add some more cams but that'll happen once i can get some money together.

So.... Looking at the size of their property and location i'm looking at potentially 8 cameras + 1 intercom/camera front gate. I will be looking at building this up in stages with the most important cams first then as money permits add other cams.

overview below but better described in the pictures.

Cam 1
- I think 5231's will probably be best here

Cam 2
- camera at the doorway under covered roof area with second floor balcony
# not sure about this one - was tempted by 1 of the dual lens cameras i saw on here but totally lost on what to choose here
# main purpose is for parcels at door, facial recognition and partial drive coverage not caught by cam1/cam3

Cam 3
- I think 5231's will probably be best here

Cam 4
- Camera to cover narrow alley way - not sure which camera to choose here

Cam 5
# 5231 - to cover back and garden

Cam 6
Mounted under roof second floor - camera covering flat roof
- Not sure which camera here again

Cam 7
- Mounted under roof second floor - camera covering flat roof and garden area main shed area

Cam 8
- internal camera covering doorway - might not get anything here... not sure if it'll be required

cam 9
- Front gate intercom unit - must work with BI/NVR whichever route we go, must have a monitor or something at front door so we can know who is coming and mobile notifications


So here comes the help and Questions :-
1) BI - I'm an NVR guy (as thats all i've used so far) but i know BI is the way forward. I'm definately looking at BI as the VMS but i have to convince family members this is the way to go. I will setup vpn and pfsense/vlan etc.
a) I know the answer - but would you agree BI is the best for this?
b) With Vpn setup can i still get push notifications from the BI client without VPN'ing - I currently have vpn setup - my dahua NVR gives me push notifications for IVS but to view anything i need to VPN and then view it which i like. can BI do the same? push notification alerts in app without VPN but have to vpn to get video/picture?

2) Cameras
- Which cameras for the various locations (as above stated) without breaking the bank totally!!

3) Intercom/front gate camera
a) What is a good front gate solution that'll work with BI - i have been trawling through the forums and been looking at dahua VT intercoms etc. But i have heard Hikvision ones are slightly better? or are none really that good?
b) intercom viewing - tablet at the front door?

4) The biggest key - Viewing cameras
- Easy ones - mobile apps - should be fine for general viewing
a) What is Best way to view the cameras at the front door - including the intercom
b) Best way to view cameras around the house at various locations
i) TV using hdmi modulators
ii) tablets?
iii) web browser ip
iv) hdmi over cat6

5)
a) have I got enough cameras for coverage?
b) Camera positions - have i covered everything or can you see any glaring gaps in my locations?

6)
a) I always thought it best to seperate Cams and network physically by switch but I've read on other people using the same switch and VLANs to the same affect. I'm looking at getting a cisco SG200 managed poe switch - would you say the cams should always be on seperate switch or the same switch is ok as long as VLANs are done properly?
b) what is the idea setup if seperate switches are used (should BI be on same switch as cameras or doesn't it matter?)
- Cams + BI on 1 poe switch > uplink to main managed switch - OR
- Cams poe switch uplink to managed switch > BI on main managed switch.

Sorry for all the questions!

This is a new build project so i have to option of running cables now etc. so i'm hoping to have an idea very soon so i can get the cables in place!

And lastly,

Thank you for viewing the post and any help you can offer! I have read through cliff notes and other forums i have followed for a while but kinda loosing my marbles with all the info at the moment!

So any help please

p.s red in diagram outlines second floor.

 

[Jagradang]

Just noticed Andy posted a list of some new cams coming out. Might need to rethink some of the cameras a bit more..

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

 

[Jagradang]

Andy was fantastic and really helpful as usual.

He suggested to get a mix of
hdw2231r-zs
hdw5231r-ze
hdbw4231f-e2-m
And a IPC-HDBW4231F-A for the gate

Now just need to look thhrough some reviews of those cameras.

 

[catcamstar]

Hi there,
just some additional marbles to make your decisions easier (or more complex lol):
- do not underestimate the power of IPVM Camera Calculator V3 - choose your location, add the cams offered by @EMPIRETECANDY and you'll see the DORI distances. Hooray for that!
- BI is a favorite for many, but as I opted for "all dahua" gear (cams, intercom, touch screen - see further), with one single app (for both push notifications, preview and playback), I also went for the Dahua NVR.
- dahua VTO/VTH combo has great capabilities including gate opener relais ([Review] VTO2000A & VTH1550CH & VTNS1060A Intercom Kit)
- VTH touch screen can be installed everywhere in the house (eg for babysit to open door), but intercom can be perfectly used by the Dahua app on phone, tablet
- NVR can record 24/7 doorbell cameras, very handy to listen to what people have to say before they ring your bell
- latest NVR and IPC firmwares do eliminate the use of plugins! Hooray for that too! Higher compatibility for live view and playback!
- NVR does have hdmi, and I deployed once an HDMI->utp->HDMI repeater.
- if you do not want to go into the hazzle of POE switches, dahua NVR's do have POE(+) onboard ports too. So you have a "free" vlan
- push notifications do work without being on VPN, however playback/replay does require VPN, but my advice would be an "always-on" VPN anyways. Who trusts 4G connections anyway.
- my personal preference is vlans. Which does not imply POE vlans but it may help. Where to put your NVR/BI depends on what your complete network diagram looks like. For another forum member, I drew this diagram:

This depicts one of the possible scenarios. If you want, you can put the IPC's behind the BI, but then you can never access them from your "LAN", so having them in an (isolated) vlan is wiser, however you have to define the "entrance holes" so BI/NVR can talk to the IPCs.

Hope this helps!
CC

 

[Jagradang]

Hi there,
just some additional marbles to make your decisions easier (or more complex lol):
- do not underestimate the power of IPVM Camera Calculator V3 - choose your location, add the cams offered by @EMPIRETECANDY and you'll see the DORI distances. Hooray for that!
- BI is a favorite for many, but as I opted for "all dahua" gear (cams, intercom, touch screen - see further), with one single app (for both push notifications, preview and playback), I also went for the Dahua NVR.
- dahua VTO/VTH combo has great capabilities including gate opener relais ([Review] VTO2000A & VTH1550CH & VTNS1060A Intercom Kit)
- VTH touch screen can be installed everywhere in the house (eg for babysit to open door), but intercom can be perfectly used by the Dahua app on phone, tablet
- NVR can record 24/7 doorbell cameras, very handy to listen to what people have to say before they ring your bell
- latest NVR and IPC firmwares do eliminate the use of plugins! Hooray for that too! Higher compatibility for live view and playback!
- NVR does have hdmi, and I deployed once an HDMI->utp->HDMI repeater.
- if you do not want to go into the hazzle of POE switches, dahua NVR's do have POE(+) onboard ports too. So you have a "free" vlan
- push notifications do work without being on VPN, however playback/replay does require VPN, but my advice would be an "always-on" VPN anyways. Who trusts 4G connections anyway.
- my personal preference is vlans. Which does not imply POE vlans but it may help. Where to put your NVR/BI depends on what your complete network diagram looks like. For another forum member, I drew this diagram:

This depicts one of the possible scenarios. If you want, you can put the IPC's behind the BI, but then you can never access them from your "LAN", so having them in an (isolated) vlan is wiser, however you have to define the "entrance holes" so BI/NVR can talk to the IPCs.

Hope this helps!
CC

Sorry was away for a couple of weeks but just come back.. Thank you for the reply and really helpful diagram. helped me clear out some ideas. Will let you know how i get on..