Del Boy

DS-2CD2120F-IW or DS-2CD2132F-IS are good units. I've heard people use them in the cold but I'm not personally 100% sure, I think they will be ok.

As long as it's PoE 802.3af (and obviously 8 ports) with UTP Cat5 minimum cable then 200ft will be ok.

What country are you in? I would say the best option is to obviously throw out the existing rubbish. 2nd best option get a hybrid DVR/NVR and install a few extra new decent 1080p cameras. The only problem is that once your boss sees them... they'll probably get rid of the analog rubbish.

Hi, I'm a bit busier on the other forum but have become addicted to this hobby. I hope to be able to help people here and be part of the community! (Also will need some help too now and then!) Del Boy

DS-2CD2132F-IS does not necessarily mean 3-axis. F actually means it has an SD Card slot. 2132 2015 model is 3-axis. Most DS-2CD2132F-IS (chinese versions) are 2015 models and hence have 3-axis, but some are old 2014 chinese versions which don't have 3-axis. It's the 2015 model which is key, not the F.

I have used a 6mm HFW4300S for numberplate recognition with no problems. In fact, the number plates are smaller than yours in my image. The key is tweaking the shutter speed. Also have a PTZ with an auto-iris and zoom which has no problem catching number plates. My other observation is I'm catching numberplates at less of an angle but have no problem with cars doing 40mph.

+1, there are brands that can match Hikvision and Dahua, some that are even better but Zmodo and Foscam aren't two of them. There's a reason this stuff is cheap on eBay and amazon. Sure it's better than analog rubbish... but only just!

Rather than waste money on wireless or wired adapters, get an NVR and stick it in the garage attic, then connect it to your network with a wireless AP. Few main advantages 1) More reliable 2) You're not going to be using up your wireless bandwidth as you'll be only using on demand to view NVR recordings or live-view 3) Better range 4) Cheap storage 5) Expand it later when you discover need (from footage) to have an additional camera However... you could just get a DS-2CD2132F-WIS, a 12V PSU and 64GB card to record to. That would be the easiest and cheapest solution and covers what you need. If it's outdoor, get a 4mm lens. This is an IP66 outdoor cam. DS-2CD2132F-IS(W) Specs here.

Your best bet is to ask the seller how to do it. They should have instructions.

Sorry Pete, I have no idea!

You can over-volt it slightly. Don't go OTT though. Try 10% and see if that works.

Is the unit grounded via the power plug?

What's the AWG of the wire you are using? This makes a massive difference to the line loss. Cheaper wire I've used has been 26AWG but the 22AWG stuff goes much further. I'd rather invest in thicker wires than shielding to start with.

Hi Lazertech, Sounds like sub streams are working but mainstreams aren't. Try turning down the mainstream bitrate on all the cameras. If you have them all at 8000kbps for example, the NVR might not be able to cope (worrying if only 2 cameras). Might not fix it but worth a try. Cheers, Del Boy

Agree with above. I'd rather spend $200 on 2 cameras, one 12mm and one 6mm, both pointing the same direction. 12mm just for the number plates and 6mm to capture the whole frame. PTZ cameras can be good if they can autofocus quick enough, as you can see working well in this video: acXks5JXvQY Night-time, I think some BLC would help too: y6ISLsFYHBE I used a Dahua HFW-4300S 6mm and it was sharp enough to capture the field-of-view and the number plate but the cars were going slow coming through a gate. It was also out of the way of the headlights, when I tried the camera lower like the video above, it couldn't capture a number plate at all. Cheers, Del Boy