buellwinkle

Before you do that understand that it will void your warranty, so if it were me, I would ask Lorex to get you the firmware first.

You can run Zoneminder, it's free open source Linux NVR software. For pay software, Exacq can run on Linux. For an Atom processor, I would recommend Exacq. Zoneminder is a CPU piglet and doubt you'll get more than 2 HD cameras on an Atom processor where you may get 8 or more cameras with Exacq. Exacq has a lower cost entry level package called Start that may fit your needs.

If you are using simple PoE switches, make sure only the cameras and the one NIC on the PC are on that switch and nothing from the other 192.168.0 subnet. If you want to share the two subnets on a single switch, make sure it's a managed switch with VLAN support and create a VLAN for each subnet.

The reason it tries to change the camera to mjpeg is because you are using an old version of what they call "Device Pack". Install the latest one, I believe I 6.9 and change it back to h.264 from Milestone.

Most if not all Axis cameras can do this. For example, I have an old M1031-W (WiFi) that detects motion on it's PIR motion detect and can email or ftp as many images as you like, in my case I have it send 4 images, 1/2 second apart.

I tried contacting Bandit but no matter where I send an email from it rejected, tried 3 different email services. They have no phone number posted. So maybe it's all just smoke & mirrors.

Try Milestone XProtect Go (free for 8 cameras and 5 days recording), it works well with ONVIF cameras and has free smartphone apps. Also, someone said HD Witness works with ONVIF.

Exactly. I should be getting a 3MP Hikvision varifocal dome for testing soon and we can see how the varifocal stacks up against the fixed lens. I know in the same exact spot, a Dahua 3MP bullet was soft in comparison and not able to read plates at the same distance.

Never been impressed with Vivotek products and my last test was their Supreme version, not very supreme. Are you looking specifically for a 5MP IR bullet? I did a review on the ACTi E33, did OK if you have enough light. The 5MP camera that did the best for me was the Axis P3367-VE (outdoor vandal dome, no IR) but slightly above your price range and no IR LEDs.

Tough to do as when day breaks over China it will be Saturday, so at best you'll have to wait to find out on our Sunday evening. I put in a request yesterday and got confirmation they have my request, hopefully they will respond by Monday. What's funny about China is they don't have the same sense of stressed out urgency that Americans have, LOL. I think if I moved there I would stress out too many locals. I wanted to put in an order for 100 cameras with one manufacturer that has been taking a week to give me a simple quote so I can send them $, then they say it will take 45 days to make the cameras once they start and have met their minimum manufacturing requirements.

With my 12mm lens, I can cover about a 50' width at 70-80' so it depends on the distance from camera to subject. With the standard lens, you can hit a 50' width at about 20', but then you can't get detail at 70-80'. Of course at that price and his $500 budget, he can get 3 of them in different lens configurations to suit the situation, they come in 4, 6 & 12mm. I would say get a varifocal lens, but to get the sharpness in detail on a lower cost camera (under $500), you need fixed lenses. Here's a car about 70-80' away, the street is 33' wide so you can use that as a gauge. The home lots are about 60' wide, another gauge. Click on the image to see it larger, then click on the 4 arrows in the lower right to see the full 3MP resolution.

You can say that about IR bullets too, when the glass gets dirty you would see IR reflecting back off the dirt, just a problem with the lens and IR LEDs sharing the same glass. Some new cameras are coming out with a separate lens and LED, off the top of my head the ACTI D31/D32 and the Hikvison DS-2CD2332-I.

I've used Synology and currently Milestone XProtect with my Dahua cameras with old and current firmware via ONVIF without any problems. If you are into ONVIF and want to snoop around the camera to see what version it's using, what commands it supports, check ONVIF Device Manager, it's free.

Having gone through the booth recently at ASIS and double-checking on their website, don't see any Avigilon 5MP IR domes. The ACTi E73 is a fixed dome with IR of you need 5MP with IR. Or you can get an illuminator, a small Raytec for under $400 would probably work well, the RM25.

I would say the best 5MP camera I tested in low light is the P3367-VE. But there's plenty of indoor domes with IE LED's for lighting, like the D55 you mentioned, good value. I'm very happy with my indoor ACTi domes even though they are a few years old, they still have a good image at night.

In your budget, consider the Hikvision bullet ds-2cd2032 with a 12mm lens. I use that at home and I can read plates during the day at about 70-80'. You can get them for as little as $177 shipped.

The Bandits are sold through ADI. But I agree, would not want it to go off on a motion detect. If I had full view of the situation from a camera that alerted me, 2 way audio to provide a warning to get out or die from poisonous gas, then I could see triggering it remotely, if not just for the YouTube funniness value, LOL.

That is so cool. They have no idea if its poisonous I think I found their website - http://www.banditsolutions.com/ What I was thinking was a bright strobe light. That would make it hard for them to see anything but I guess you can throw something in front of it.

Don't have an E33, but my E32 records fine, full 15fps at 3MP. What do you have the "slowest auto shutter speed" set to on the camera?

Are you using your Android device from within your WiFi network or via 3g/4g? Also, with their latest version, you don't have to do anything special, it just worked for me where previous versions like 2.1 you had to setup the mobile server.

What device pack are you using? I had issues with 6.7 and 6.8 only working with MJPEG but 6.9 fixed problems with that.

Or you can just buy Hikvision 3MP IR mini domes or their varifocal lens version, pretty cheap, like $179 and $239 respectively. Swann/Lorex are OEM distributors of the camera made by Hikvision.

You stole that camera, should work out well for you. VGA is plenty with PTZ, that's the point of PTZ, you want more detail, you zoom in.

It seems very reasonable to me. Check out the ACTi E97, 10MP indoor dome, should be out mid-November and the price will probably be around $250-270 for an introductory period. Perfect for a jewelry store, you'll be able to grade the diamonds as they are being stolen, LOL. The E96 Fisheye is out now, $260ish until the end of October I believe (then it magically almost doubles in price). May pay to get those for overview shots of the crime in progress and use the 10MP to get closer in detail.

Which one are you talking about because the Dahua the OP mentioned is not PoE, it's 12V. Do you use it with the 7" tablet display or can you use it with any tablet with an app of theirs. Does it comes with rfid tags to use with it's built in card reader (didn't really provide specs for it).