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I would suspect port 554 as that's the rtsp port

That Dahua would be a nice price to feature fit to what you want. If you choose to power it over Poe beware it requires Poe+ due to its 20 watt power consumption where standard Poe is 15 watts

Not exactly sure why you can somewhat see from out of network but a couple of things I would try are changing the default ports and then forwarding the new ones. For instance, I don't typically use 80 because a lot of ISPs block it so I usually choose to change it to another number such as 85. I also saw somewhere on the forum here that 554 gets blocked too but I have no experience with that.

The dvr programming should have a spot where you select from a list of ddns services and then there should be space below where you would input the ddns name

When it comes to ip ptz cameras, you'd very likely be looking at 2 megapixel cameras that probably do 18x to 20x zoom. To get two for $1500, you'd have to look at brands like Dahua and you still may go a little over. For around $1500 each, the Geo Vision is pretty good bang for the buck. You're not gonna get a wide angle view when zoomed in. Also if night views are important, you will need to do something about lighting

I would definitely advise against wifi cameras. Just not as reliable and its usually not that difficult to run cat 5 cables.

If the cameras are not wdr (wide dynamic range), you will have that issue where theres bright light situations like that.

You can run Cat 5 or 6 to each for data along with another cable for power. Is it possible for you to pick up power somewhat local to each camera?

Hello and welcome. I hope you get your questions answered

For ip cameras to your spec, you have a lot of choices. What price range per camera are you thinking? Some good ip cameras in the lower range are Duhua, Geo Vision, Hikvision and Vivotek. I have used Geo Visions on a few occasions in my side work and have found them to be good bang for the buck. Currently I'm doing a job that has 25 Brickcoms and 20 or so Advidias. I have used the Advidias before and they're ok (I believe they're OEMd by Hikvision) but I'm pretty impressed with the Brickcoms. They may be a little over budget though for a home project but they're far from the high price end.

If you're going to have someone install it, it may not be a bad idea to have them supply the system as well. I personally am not a fan of the packaged systems especially the ones sold at big box stores

Agreed, bicc, keep in mind that viewing the video from the dvr straight to the monitor is very different then streaming it through the web browser across a network to another computer. That's how it works.

I have had plenty "same" cameras installed where one views not in compatibility view and the other not. just because the cameras are basically the same doesn't mean anything. verify the firmware versions and make sure they are up to date.

Some cameras may only show in MSIE but maybe not v8. You may need to use comparability mode on IE. also have you made sure your firmware on the camera is the latest.

I've got a small job of adding one camera to a historic home where I'm told cabling is not an option. The customer wants an ip camera that is wireless. I explained to the customer that a power source will still be needed and said there is one near by. The camera manufacturer to be used (icrealtime) doesn't have a wifi camera and I'd rather not rely on wifi for an outdoor camera anyway. I'm thinking about using a pair of trendnet powerline network adapters along with a Poe injector so in the end I just have a single cat cable at the camera. As far as I see this should work fine and simple. I've seen some talk around here about powerline adapters but I haven't seen where anyone simply said they used this setup and it worked fine. Any opinions are welcome Thanks

Hi Irishlad, In the case of ip cameras, you wouldn't be using a DVR. DVRs are for analog cameras (coax cable). For IP cameras you would use an NVR which can be a manufactured nvr plugged into the router or a computer running nvr software. Alternatively, many ip cameras have sd card slots and you can record right to the card. What cameras are you planning on using. Not all manufacturers cameras will work with all nvrs.

Maybe I'm missing exactly what you're asking but because the dewarping quad view and all that is done through the nvr software, you'd have to remote into the nvr software to see any if that on the iPad

Yeah that link I gave can be set, I believe to any where between 1 second and 3 minutes but I read further on and it seems it wouldn't work for what I was supposing he wanted to do which is censor live video.

I was confused about why you'd need a feature like this but through google searches it sounds like maybe for video streaming or some kind of broadcasting where you'd want the delay to allow for censoring live footage or something. If its for streaming, I found this software which would allow for a settable delay. http://www.xsplit.com/posts/325

Also look into Nice Vision. It may very well do what you need here.

In a lot if ways, a dedicated nvr will be less of a headache. They really are made to serve the one purpose so they don't have the extra stuff that a PC will have. Typically I believe, an nvr would probably be more stable but a PC running software also has its benefits. Either one, Nvr or Software will have some limitations to what cameras they will support. But if in the future, you decide to get different camera models, you will need to make sure they're supported by the recorder. If they're not supported by the nvr, you will have to make the choice to get different cameras or possibly change the nvr. The same thing is true for the PC based one but changing the software will most likely be cheaper. Another benefit of the nvr is size. Another benefit of the PC is scalability. Many NVRs come with built in Poe switch. Most of the ones I've seen are just 4 ports but still. Whichever route you go, make sure you think hard about which manufacturers cameras you want to use, frame rates you're hoping to get and how much storage you need. And make sure it all jives together.

For what you're looking to do, there are many options. Most nvrs or nvr software will do as you're looking for. Emailing of events, privacy masking and erasing over older data as hard drive space fills are pretty standard features on most software. Keep in mind, you're not gonna smooth broadcast like video going out for just anyone to log onto and see. There are things that come into play such as frame rate. When choosing cameras, watch for what the max frame rate is. For instance, you may find a camera that does full hd but at 15fps where it may do 720p at 30fps. Speco makes some good equipment but I've only used their analog cameras. There are many good brands if cameras such as Axis, Avigilon, IqInvision, Digital Watchdog. Here on the forum there is a good thread about the basics. Also look at Axis' website, they have a good section that teaches about ip cameras

Then your options are pretty open to what dvr you'd like to use.

That article is good and in depth. On pretty much any decent size job I'm on with the company I work for, the electric contractor pulls all cat 6 for network including the ip cameras. On my side work, it's usually small 2 cameras or so type stuff. I usually use cat5e. These are usually small businesses or residential.

Are the cameras ip or analog? Are all the cameras fixed position or are some PTZ? From what you describe, I'm assuming its a pc based dvr so you probably have analog cameras that terminate to the dvr with BNC connections. You should be able to just swap out with a proper sized dvr from another company. You would also probably be best posting some pics for more help. From your descriptions of the wiring, I'm a little confused but thinking maybe your cameras have been wired with utp and baluns. Utp can be cat5e (or 6) or possibly 4 conductor cable.