ipvision

If its connected to the internet it can be hacked. Simple as that. So you have the same issues with any system whether it be IP, Analog, HD-SDI. Firewalls and VPNs wont do anything to stop a real hacker so all you do is simply install a true CCTV system. A closed circuit system that exists by its self inside the facility. You say most companies want remote access? Small business and residential want remote access large companies could care less. For example at Costco they pay a Loss Prevention specialist around $40k a year to sit in front of the surveillance I installed and monitor everything. So who would need remote access to that and out of a company that has 174k+ employees who would they give the access to? So yes if a company is asking for a $100k security guarantee tell them to call me I'll give it to them and I'll walk in there and yank that cat5 cable out the DVR/NVR and collect my check. Companies spending big bucks on large systems have employees they pay to sit there and monitor that system day in and out and they dont need remote access.

I have a customer who owns a local box retail store. It is a very large store, ceiling is about 30ft high. They have a camera located at the entrance (camera is about 20ft off the ground) that they would like me to lower about 5ft for a better shot of the customers entering and leaving the store. Usually I would use a 2 gang junction box on the top and bottom with emt pipe in the middle, fasten the camera to a blank cover and connect that to the box on the bottom, and bolt the top box to the ceiling. This is a decent solution for light cameras indoor, but is not going to work with heavy cameras and outdoor cameras. This camera is going to be outside and will get some rain so I do not see this as being the best solution. I cant use flex pipe obviously, so I am wondering what methods people use to lower cameras? Thanks.

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Currently I am adding 2 ICRealtime PTZ cameras to an existing Bosch system. The existing system is a 16ch Bosch DVR, Nitek 16 port passive video, power and data distribution unit, Nitek 32 port powered video hub with built-in surge suppression and video detection, 12 Bosch fixed dome and bullet cams, 2 Bosch PTZ cams, all wired with cat5, RG59 siamese on the short runs. I was contracted to relocate both of the existing Bosch PTZ cams, and 2 of the existing fixed cams, and add 2 more PTZs. I am running cat5 and 18/2 to each of the PTZ cams I am adding. I will be using the cat5 to transmit video, the 18/2 for control signals, and I will run another 18/2 from the camera to the closest receptacle for power. I am only permitted to work from 4am-10am, I have worked 2 days using a boom lift and I have ran about 500ft of wire with about 250ft left to run until I reach the camera locations. Day 1 the lift the broke down on me 1hr into running the wire. Today was more productive. I will post some pics when I get a chance.

I have a customer that owns a apt complex in the ghetto in Atlanta, GA. 12 separate buildings, building 1 has the office, and is where the internet is. There will be 4 cameras in the office building, I already have my layout for those cameras. My problem is installing 2 cams in each of the other 11 buildings. The buildings do not currently have internet, there are renters that have internet, but I cant really use that, because the renter would be able to disconnect the internet connection at anytime. WiFi isn't an option, because we all know its not reliable enough. I could put a DVR in each building, but the only place to put it would be in the hot attic, and a 4ch dvr for $250x11 gets a little to pricey. Ive considered running cat5 to each building, but it would have to be run underground, inside conduit, and theres a lot of sidewalks I would have to dig under, and as you can see in the pic some of the buildings are separated by parking lots. I only found out about this 2 days ago, and the owner is in a hurry to get something done because theres a lot of theft, prostitution, drug dealing, and violence going on there. Its actually going to be a dangerous place for me to work. So I need to come up with something fast. The only option I can think of would be some cams with sd cards, but the cams are going to be located very high, so it would be to hard to retrieve the card. I could possible relocate the cameras to a lower position so it would be easier, but I would have to go there and look again for a good spot thats lower. Although that could aslo be expensive for 20 sd cams. Let me know what you guys think.

Did you ever do anything with this? I am curios as to how ubiquiti works.

well, that's the difference between doing something for yourself with free or near-free equipment... and doing something for a customer with purpose-built equipment. i would shy away from the dd-wrt route toward the ubiquiti solution as well, if it was for a customer... but on the other hand, it's something that *does work* if done right, and may be suitable on a production site as a "stepping stone" to the final product. I have a lot of places around here that I could market a system like that to. Specifically neighborhoods, apt complexes, building complexes, and other places where there is multiple buildings but I am not ready to do that until I have a system that I know I can throw up quick and is reliable, the best way to make money. Have you or anyone on here used their stuff before?

That is a great question! I plan on asking this to all my distros to see their answers.

Depends on how low they go. For customers that are extremely cheap, I tell them to call someone else. It takes more time to install a garbage system then a pro system, and usually we are not paid by the hour. For customers who just want basic and cant afford pro, I usually just install Zmodo. You can find their cam/dvr packages almost everywhere, they are cheap, and good systems. They also have good tech support, very knowledgeable guys which is not common in this industry. I use these systems usually for people who just want a basic 4-8ch system for security and dont really care that much about remote access.

the trick i've found with dd-wrt is in getting the right version for the specific hardware. my main router is an asus rt-n16; i picked up a couple rt-n12s to go with it using wds. i had to use a newer firmware for the 12s (they didn't add support until build 18xxx-something), so i flashed the 16 with the same version, and had all kinds of problems (including the vpnd being broken). i tried several different builds on the 16 but ended up going back to build 16484 (which i'd been running for months before getting the 12s), and the latest build at the time (19342) on the 12s, to get everything rock-solid. at this point, it's running a 5mp and 1.3mp camera off one, and a 2mp and 3mp cameras off the other, with zero dropouts. Im really liking the idea of setting up a ubiquiti mesh network. I have had several jobs where a wireless mesh network would have came in very handy, but I did not want to waste all my time dealing with what you just described. No one paid me to waste all that time trying to set up that wds last time, and I dont plan on doing it again. I just need to find a good ubiquiti distributor with support.

Yes, and now that you have pointed that out, I see the problem. I should have used directional antennas correct?

I have set up a few wds with dd-wrt it just wasn't reliable enough. I thought at first maybe I was doing something wrong, but after buffalo tech couldn't get it working right either I gave up. Plus cascade port forwarding is a pain. Maybe it was the hardware I was using. I really like the Ubiquiti idea. I'm assuming your talking about the unifi stations?

Thanks.

I was thinking the same thing about mounting them on poles. And yes I can tap into the power. I have a degree in NSA so networking isnt a problem. But I would always recommend against wifi because the signal can go out at the most important moment. Its just not reliable enough.

I just want to say thanks to everyone who has contributed so far. Its great to be able to have people to reach out to for ideas that work in the same field. I am a one man operation with to much work to handle, and I greatly appreciate any advice or help you guys give me.

I have installed a lot of dahua and I really like their pss software. So you are saying install sd cams that can be managed wirelessly with the pss software. That sounds like an excellent solution. I just have always been told to stay away from wifi when it comes to cctv because it is not that reliable. But I guess if the video is being stored on the sd card, and then being downloaded with pss software then that would work great. What do you think? Also could you please elaborate on the multipoint wifi. I have set up wireless distribution systems before but they were very unreliable. Thanks, Kris

They did not give me a budget. They are cheap Indians, no disrespect. They want me to plan everything, I told them I was going to give them two different estimates with 2 different options. They just want 2 cams on each building to try to catch drug activity and other stuff so they can evict people. They know nothing, all the decision making is up to me. I believe they want to catch the people coming in and out of the apts more then anything.

$ 250 is expensive ? SD card camera expensive ? For them or for you ? $250 is expensive when you multiply it x11 SD card camera would probably be to expensive for them, because again its 20 of those.

Interesting idea, but I'm trying to be invisible to the jokers that come and take the GPS in the middle of the night. It's fine being visible as a deterrent, but when it comes to prosecution I'd like as little connection as possible. A month or two ago, two guys walked down the culdesac (pretty rare) since enclosed and tried the neighbors car doors. As they were coming across I think they saw my dome cams and left. Two other times I've seen people inside cars down at the end of the culdesac rummaging around. Classic situation people around here have too much money (2nd median income in the country) and don't lock the car doors. So people know where to come for an easy GPS. They may have seen the IR units, but you have to know what they are. Anyway, just trying to be as invisible as possible to the neighbors, thieves and teen vandals... I like the idea though. It looks like the cameras are doing their jobs, running off the theives. I love it when people notice cameras, they have that look on their face cause they know if they can see the cam, the cam can see them, and has their image now. Would you rather they kicked your door in and left with your tvs, money, jewelry and dvr,? I say crank up the IR's, and tell your neighbors you have cameras. The cameras are there to help protect everyone in the neighborhood.

Purchase directly from distributor or oem.

Ganz... $75 to end user is fine, but I am thinking in terms of installer/reseller costs.

Way to expensive for 700TVL, keep looking. You can get a MegaPixel camera for half that, and twice the image quality. That price is for 8 camera's, so thats about $73 each, which is a pretty inexpensive, but I don't see any DSP listed - like Effio and I don't see an OSD mention either. I think you could get a similar camera WITH DSP and some OSD adjustments to tweak the camera for your specific needs in that same price range ($75/ea) give or take $20'ish. (ie: around $100 or so) I've seen a few mentions of Empire security which uses Effio, Qvis which uses Nextchip, and CNB ($120ish) which uses Monalisa and Blue-i. The empire's are 700tvl and the qvis and cnb are 600tvl. Ya your right, I didn't even notice the "8x". Still a little pricey though.

The maximum resolution your DVR can record is D1, so 1080p cams would be useless. Dont spend anymore then $500 on a cam that can record at D1.