hardwired

Would you be willing to accept a monochrome (B/W) image? If so, something like the Acti ACM-3511 dome with IR might be a reasonable choice, or adding IR to any megapixel camera equipped with a D/N cutfilter. Megapixel cameras are naturally handicapped in low light, due to much smaller pixels on the same size imager. Megapixel camera pixels are usually a quarter of the size of standard resolution imagers, or smaller. (Imagine each window in your house being that much smaller, how much light would get in?)

Try reducing the resolution in the viewing client from "full" to "super high" or "high" for all cameras, this will reduce processor load a lot, and the difference is not really visible in the split screen mode. The resolution will change back to full when you select a single camera, unless you select otherwise in the setup.

There are specific routers made that accept a 3g/4g USB modem plugged directly into them (some are the ones I mentioned above, plus other brands are available). Then, all configuration for adding a DVR/NVR after that is similar to any other broadband setup with a router.

It's worth looking at the scientific/astronomic camera manufacturers to see what's coming for our world, EMCCD came from there, and Scientific CMOS http://www.scmos.com/ looks like it could do quite a bit better than anything we have right now.

To both posters, most likely the best option would be to add a 4g router like the ones from Cradlepoint, WiFiRanger, or others, then you have the option of connecting multiple computers to your 4g modem, and configuring necessary port forwarding and DDNS configuration through that device.

TWO flashlights for when you are in attics. A nice large one, and a small pocket one, so that when you drop your $20 DeWalt flashlight (with a $80 battery on it) down a six inch wide gap that goes down twenty feet between a freezer wall and a exterior wall , you'll at least be able to get back out of the attic (ask me how I know this )

Two different models are being discussed here, the ACM-3511 is an indoor dome w/IR, and has the issue of the camera module rotating while installing the dome, due to the tight fit of the rubber grommet that isolates the IR from the lens (you have to align the camera, then turn the camera counterclockwise a little bit, and then install the dome, rotating the camera back in the process...and yes, it is a little bit of a pain). Also, if you use tall screws in the mounting base, you will damage a capacitor on the PCB while putting the camera on the base (ask me how I know!) The outdoor ACM/TCM-7411 (and evidently, the KCM series) doesn't have that problem. Overall, I've had good luck with Acti products, I use the ACM-5611 and the ACM-4201 a lot (with putting a better lens on the 4201 than the original). Lockups seem to have been fixed with newer firmware updates.

I have multiple Pelco IP domes working with Milestone, and yes, they are in the same subnet. Please tell us a little more about your network configuration. If you only have certain ports (80?) forwarded through routing, you may have problems.

I called exacq and they told they are on the way to support HIKVISION but no schedule. I'm fairly certain that Exacq meant that they were going to support Hikvision IP cameras, not the Hikvision analog capture cards.

I bought a couple of kits of these connectors at ISC West this year, and they seem to work quite well. Not having to have different BNC's for standard and plenum is nice, and they also have couplers, RCA's and both gender ends for BNC's. They are quick to install as well. I have always been a three piece crimp guy, but I'm going to let our installers use these for a while, and see how they do...BNC's are dying fast for us, though, almost everything we do now is IP on CAT5/6.

The ends of the Pelco factory made parapet mounts (PP350, PP450) are just open pipe as well, we do the same thing (spray foam) to seal a piece of flex conduit into it. Besides moisture, bugs can get all the way into the dome unless the parapet mount is sealed.

I use lots of dome cameras, and in my area, temperatures can exceed 115F during the summer. So far, the only significant failures have been with Pelco ICS110 domes, as Soundy noted above (I think the heaters stayed on in some of mine, the inner liner was actually melted on some of them!).

Try a reset with the reset button, and possibly clear your Internet Explorer cache, and try reloading again. I have loaded firmware on a lot of Acti's, and haven't bricked one yet. (Not saying it can't happen, but I've done hundreds successfully)

For smaller systems like what you are describing, the Netgear FS-726TP has worked well for us, 24 port (12 PoE).

Well, roaches do like nesting inside warm electronics. I used to repair VCR's, and they would often be loaded with roaches nesting in them. Not sure that would be a problem with a camera with IR, though, they are (usually) sealed enough to keep roaches out, although an indoor dome might be an exception. This one may be more of a problem, though.....

You could use encoders and decoders from Acti, the one channel encoder is the ACD-2100, and the one channel decoder is the ACD-3100. Keep in mind, you are going to need a ISP service with a fairly good upload data rate, (up to 3 Mbps per camera, if you are trying to get 30 FPS at full resolution, although lower resolutions and framerates are well less than that), and if your ISP has monthly data usage caps, you may well exceed them using this setup (at 300Kbps, 24/7 streaming, that's about 93GB per camera).

Haven't seen a multiport DSLAM like you are describing, but Netsys makes a single port model similar to the MX2Wire (NVF-200POEKIT), as well as VDSL DSLAMS (I've used a number of these, and they have performed well). They might be worth contacting, to see if they can OEM something for you. I've also used DSLAM gear from Planet, http://www.planet.com.tw/index.php, and it has worked well.

On the power side, 12 volt DC supplies with battery backup are readily available, but if you are using 24 volt AC, and not wanting to use a UPS, this might fit, http://www.altronix.com/index.php?pid=2&lang=1&model_num=RESERV2. It's the only 24 VAC solution I've seen, so far.

For the recording side, Exacq's EL series recorder, http://www.exacq.com/products/exacqvisionELS.html would fit for the power and Mac requirements, as well as the 16:9 monitor format and backup features, and allows for adding IP cameras later, but if you are only comparing prices to something like the Q-See stuff, the price might be a little of a shock.

Ubiquiti's website is http://www.ubnt.com.

Looks like the ones that do a full load test are in the few hundred dollar range, this one looked fairly nice http://www.powerwerx.com/tools-meters/computerized-battery-analyzer-3-cba-iii.html(full PC logging, and pretty high accuracy)... OR, just plan on throwing the batteries away (er...recycling them!) after three years. They seem to usually start going bad fairly soon after the three year mark on average, from what I've seen.

Stardot cameras use a DC auto iris lens. I did find Fujinon zoom megapixel lenses rated for up to 1.3 megapixel, that would at least be better than standard resolution lenses, and Fujinon lenses have seemed to be better than most, in my opinion... However, they seem to retail at nearly $5000 USD. You might want to consider a camera with an integrated zoom lens, such as the Sanyo VCC-HD4000 4 megapixel, with a 6-63MM zoom range, or the Avigilon 2MP camera with a 5-85MM zoom range. What zoom range are you looking for? Another option to consider might be to get the camera closer to the subject, if possible, and use a wireless bridge back to your viewing/recording location.

The Mobotix T24 IP door station, with the Mx2wire extender system to allow running the signal and power up to 500 meters, would be a nice option, but certainly not the cheapest. The Aiphone products have worked well for me in the past, as well, but you'd get a lot more features with the Mobotix (up to you if you need all those features, though).

If that's the Pelco EH5700 series enclosure, they weigh somewhere between 13-18 pounds, plus the arm & whatever the heck they've got in that enclosure. Looks like they're trying to overcompensate for something.... Kind of like the camera version of the middle age guy with the Trans-Am and the comb-over, maybe?

Yes, there's certainly no lack of (biased) opinions on the subject, that's for sure! I've tested/and/or considered a pretty wide range of products on the market, as well as following feedback from other users on several manufacturers forums, as well as wireless internet provider forums. My general opinion is that products that are targeted for the CCTV market are generally overpriced in respect to their performance. That doesn't mean that they are necessarily bad products, but for my usage, the cost/performance ratio just doesn't match up. (and, for more basic users, ease of usage may be a stronger consideration than it is for me). Discussions about various modulation schemes may be interesting (and are...to me, at least), but are somewhat outside the realm of what most users need-a reliable data link carrying a reasonable rate of data, at a price the customer can afford. My personal choice for a large number of my installations has been Ubiquiti equipment, due to the fact that their price/performance ratio has been the best currently available.. Perfect? no, they have their quirks, along with any other product, as well as having fairly severe supply problems (although that's not necessarily a bad thing, as indicating their products are selling as fast as they can ship them). They have almost no direct support available (people using their products generally have a high(er) level of knowledge about setting up wireless gear), although they have a robust forum group (and wiki) that is fairly helpful. So, not necessarily for everyone (having said that, several of my local wireless internet providers, as well as many others around the country, with thousands of customers each, are changing all of their customers to Ubiquiti equipment) There are a large number of products out there with higher performance in some instances... But, they also come with a price tag that is well in excess of the cost of several megapixel cameras, or more...And I haven't come up with a really good way to justify that kind of pricing to most of my customers (the government sector has been an exception to that, though!) I am always looking for other options, though, and for more complicated installs, have been using equipment from Mikrotik (even less user friendly, though, although much more powerful for routing functions). Overall, just watch out for marketing hype, and do your homework before deploying wireless.. My recommendation is to at least read "Wireless Networking in the Developing World",http://wndw.net/download.html, to get a better knowledge of how wireless works, and experiment with various products, before deploying wireless links to your customers.