OT: CCTV. Monitoring / security systems

[UdderlyOffroad]

18 hours ago, zardos said:

Memory card in camera and configure camera to record to it and email you stills of motion events.

Honestly, using storage on board the cameras kind of removes the point for me, I want to be able to control and record it from my home office.  Albeit it does simplify the wiring!

 

19 hours ago, Happyoldgit said:

Thanks chaps, much appreciate the input.

But my head hurts already, I need more of a big dummies guide

So, can someone point me in the direction of this or that kit or maybe bundle of bits from this or that supplier to nail together without the need to understand unfamiliar acronyms.

I concur this thread’s taken in a turn down a techie avenue!  In your situation, I’d call one of the reputable suppliers and buy a 4 IP camera kit, one of the known brands, e.g. Hikvision.  Explain to them on the phone you’re going to need to hook these up via powerline adaptors.  This is because you don’t want them to sell you a recorder (NVR) with Power over Ethernet as PoE and Powerline won’t work together*.

 

When the kit and the powerline adaptors arrive:

1) ‘sync’ the powerline adaptors on multiway powerstrip (per the quick start guide, usually just involves pressing a button on the adaptors). 

2) plug all the cameras in and get the recorder working ‘on the bench’.  Hopefully the kit you buy should have fairly straightforward instructions for this

3) Plug all the cameras into the powerline adaptors and ensure the system still works on the bench

4) Take a camera and powerline adaptor to the outbuilding, connect up temporarily, and ensure the recorder can still see the camera. If it doesn’t work, test the connection back to the main building using your laptop, to ensure it ‘sees’ the internet.

5) Install cameras permanently

6) rinse and repeat steps 4 and 5 for all cameras

7) Then, if you’re worried about the cameras ‘phoning home’ like Fridge,  you can setup the parental controls on your router (!) to stop the cameras being able to access the internet directly.  Google your routers model no and ‘parental controls’ and you should find a straight forward guide.

Doing it this way should ensure you only add one variable at a time, so if something doesn’t work, you can go back to the last step.

 

*That’s not entirely true; I have a powerline adaptor in my outbuilding, but also a PoE injector to power the external camera.  2 boxes that look almost identical but do the diametric opposite!  There are combined adaptors that do both, but they’re quite spendy.  I’ve had that particular setup rigged up temporarily in my detached garage and it worked ok. 

So to be clear, powerline adaptors make it possible to have wired network connection by ‘piggybacking’ into the building’s mains electrical wiring.  Using a pair of these adaptors, it’s possible to get a network connection to outbuildings that are too far away for wifi signals, and where you want to avoid the expense of burying cable.  They’re not as fast as proper network wiring, but are more than sufficient for all but the most High Def of CCTV cameras.

Power over Ethernet (PoE) does the opposite trick, by using some of the unused cores in network cable to power low-consumption devices, e.g. cameras.  This is desirable because it means you only need to run one cable to the camera.  Especially in outdoor installations, it makes weather proofing the whole assembly easier.  So most (but not all) IP cameras will be capable of be powered either using PoE or via a power adaptor included with the camera.

But, and here’s the gotcha, some kits won’t include separate power adaptors for the camera, as the power will come from the NVR.  Hence the need to call the supplier and double-check before slapping the cash down.

Matt

 

 

[FridgeFreezer]

Someone reputable like HikVision eh?

If it's made in China, don't put it on your home network/broadband. Also don't feed it after midnight and don't get it wet

[zardos]

1 hour ago, UdderlyOffroad said:

Honestly, using storage on board the cameras kind of removes the point for me, I want to be able to control and record it from my home office.  Albeit it does simplify the wiring!

This suggestion was only an interim setup to help ease in all this technology, with the end goal of multiple camera's with some NVR/NAS solution.
It also reduces the initial cost and complexity of a multiple camera setup with NVR/NAS as this would be quite expensive, allowing some learning time before a big outlay and keeping the costs down if it was decided to no go forward with the project due to complexity.

The onboard storage still allows remote control and viewing of the recording BUT yes if an intruder removes the camera then the evidence is gone. This would be fixed when the setup progresses to the NVR/NAS

Even with a NAS setup my camera still has a memory card and is setup to swap recording to the memory card if the network ever fails.

But saying that, that type of kit probably does simplify the setup of a multiple camera setup as it is all designed to work together and you would be able to get better support.

BUT while the NVR can have take 2 hard drives, I'm have not looked in detail if it supports data redundancy as I would recommend having data redundancy, so it one hard drive fails then the NVR won't stop working and you still would have all the recordings.

I would also recommend not buying IR lights from use IP as they are very expensive, you can get much cheaper lights from Ebay/Amazon

I would also probably only buy 1 4mm camera to start with so you could move it around between the proposed install locations to see what field of view it gives as you might want a wider angle view or a more focused(zoomed) view in some locations.