Kyle_Gates

That worked well thanks! As for Blue Iris. I have no doubt you probably speak the truth. I'll have to give it another chance.

So I just hooked up a Hikvision DS-2CD2432F-IW. I also have two DS-2CD2032-I's as well. I have always just used the web interface with them (Tried a Blue Iris trial a while back and was incredibly unimpressed). They are all hooked up via POE (Not using wifi with the 2432). I have them set to record to an external HDD hooked up to a Windows 10 desktop and I have never had any recording issues. The only issue I am having is that audio does not record with the new 2432. During live viewing the two way audio works great but there is no sound of any kind with the recordings. When I playback a video, VLC does show an "audio track" but nothing plays whether it is selected or not. Any ideas? Potentially relevant settings: Record File Size- 1G Video Type- Video&Audio Video Encoding- H.264 Audio Encoding- G.711alaw (Not sure what the different audio encoding options change)

So, just an observation here. I recently decided to get into some very basic home security. I went ahead and purchased the Lorex LW-2962H system (2 wireless cams with 2 way audio and micro SD recording). I will say I really liked the whole 2-way audio gimmick but the video seemed like there could be improvement. Well, I had made said purchase on a whim before doing any real research. After a week of doing said research I decided to go a different route. First off, wired seemed to be the way to go. More invasive install sure but, just seemed like it was better all the way around. In the end, I went with: Two HikVision DS-2CD2032-I's (Bullet, 3mp, 3mm, POE) One HikVision DS-2CD2332-I (Dome, 3mp, 2.8mm, POE) One TP-LINK TL-SF1008P (8 Port POE switch (only 4 ports are POE) Total cost, around $350 (I did already possess all the CAT 6 cabling I needed and all tools required for running said cable. I also already have a 20 TB server up and running so I will not need to purchase equipment to record too.) Finished the setup today and so far am very impressed. Might not be what you can get by dropping multiple thousands but is lightyears beyond many of the "all-in-one" systems I looked at first. I'll see about getting some footage up so those interested can take a peek. In the meantime I took a quick screen grab of the outdoor cam:

So, I am 100% new to the security system arena but i find myself in need of a system of some kind. I can be quite modest 2-4 cameras just for the exterior of a small home. After quite a bit of looking around and review reading and such I figure a small POE system would be great. The issue is, while I can find systems with many different options (720p and up, night vision, decent mounting options, weatherproof, DVR or SD Card recording, etc) I seem to be running into a wall when it comes to finding something with audio. I grabbed a small wireless 2 cam Lorex system from a local shop and it not only offers audio but it has two way audio. While I really don't need to way communication, cameras with the ability to capture audio would be great. the issue with the Lorex system of course is that the captured video is...a joke. So the question is simple, are there any decent, reasonably priced 2-4 cam POE systems out there that can capture audio or am I looking at the $750+ arena for such a thing? Thanks! -Kyle