T-boner

Hello all. I need a 4 camera IP based setup. The cameras will be located in a house across town. All four will be plugged into a 4 port router that is then connected to the internet via a static IP DSL/Cable line. The NVR will be in my house 50 miles away. I want to be able to watch live stuff occasionally. However, that is not going to be the majority of my usage. Recording video feeds to the NVR for later review is what i really need. I have a budget of $1200. Please let me know if that is possible with what i want to do. Camera and NVR suggestions are welcomed. Also, please suggest a single US based website where i can get everything i need and can speak to a live person should i encounter any problems. Thanks and have a nice day.

Can the router be left in a water proof box with some holes for ventilation? In a climate of 90 degree summers and 45 degree winters, am i looking at premature failure of equipment?

Wow. Those enclosures are no joke. Just what i need but i am even scared to find out how much they are. This will definitely be more than my budget.

I have never heard of a "hardened" router. Is it just built like a tank or does it have things like a built in fan?

Guys, my router and POE switch need to be outside. Of course i will have them in some kind of weatherproof box but now i am concerned about the extreme heat and cold. How do you guys handle this?

I am looking at the TPE-S44 POE switch. I noticed that there are 8 ports in the back to connect the Ethernet cable. Assuming i use 3 of them for POE to cameras, exactly which one of the remaining 5 will i use to connect from the switch to the router? There does not seem to be any of them labelled differently. Also, should i be looking at Cat 5, 5e or 6 for the camera runs?

Still need some help guys. I think i will go for 2 of those TCM-1111 cameras. B&H photo seems to be a reliable site so i will get it from them. I still need help with a decent priced NVR (or should i just get a cheap $350 laptop with a 500GB hard drive and run ACTi's software on it?).

Outside with some motion. I expect some quick action at least every 5 mins.

Continuous recording would have been nice but posts in this thread have made me realize that bandwidth will be an issue. Therefore i am good with motion sensing recordings only.

Unfortunately, that is not possible. NVR has to be away from camera location for reasons related to security (theft actually). However, tell me more about this secondary process. Is it some type of script that is executed at a certain interval and moves all data on the NVR to another location? What would be on the secondary receiving end? Another NVR?

That ACTi camera looks like just what i need. You say they provide free software for the NVR? Does it have to be their own NVR? Looks like the cheapest one they have is $2500

I was looking at no more than 1.3MP camera. DSL/Cable service will be at least 5M down and 1M up. I believe the cap will be 250GB as with most services.

The cameras will actually be outside. Thanks.

Because of security issues, the NVR cannot be located where the camera's are. It has to be with me several miles away. To conserve bandwidth, i can actually make it a 2 camera system. Can someone recommend some good models (camera and NVR) and a web store located in the US where i can get everything i need? Thanks.

Lots of good advice in here. Thanks all. Would it help if i had the cameras on motion sensor mode so they only capture and transmit images when activity is detected?