Newbie Setting Up an IP System for Home

[YellowYoYo 0]

I'm new to cctv stuff and hope someone could explain in a little more detail about how to set up a surveillance system for a small residential home. I'm hoping to get a couple megapixel IP cameras and connect them to a poe switch. I would have the switch and my pc connected to my home router. Is that a viable setup for equipment?

 

My idea was to have my computer act as my recorder to store my video feeds to its hard drive. That's where I'm confused as to what I need to make that work. If I'm using IP cameras, I don't need an internal dvr card and instead use some kind of camera management software, right? What kinds of activities are done by my computer+software and what is handled by the embedded systems of the cameras themselves? How powerful of a computer will I need?

[buellwinkle 0]

Depends on the cameras, some can record on their own, most require an external device to record, in your case your PC running NVR software. Some companies give you free NVR software that only works with their cameras, some charge you extra or you can buy any NVR software. I have reviews on cameras and software on blog and may be a good start.

 

If you do run NVR software on your PC to record events, it will consume that PC, it will run 24/7 without ever going into any energy saving mode.

 

A good way to go may be with cameras that don't require a PC, like Axis cameras that work with Camera Companion where the cameras record on their own and you view the recordings and cameras via their free software or Mobotix where the recording is done from the camera and you use their free MX ControlCenter to view the cameras and recordings.

[Digiscan 0]

Depends on the cameras, some can record on their own, most require an external device to record, in your case your PC running NVR software. Some companies give you free NVR software that only works with their cameras, some charge you extra or you can buy any NVR software. I have reviews on cameras and software on blog and may be a good start.

 

If you do run NVR software on your PC to record events, it will consume that PC, it will run 24/7 without ever going into any energy saving mode.

 

A good way to go may be with cameras that don't require a PC, like Axis cameras that work with Camera Companion where the cameras record on their own and you view the recordings and cameras via their free software or Mobotix where the recording is done from the camera and you use their free MX ControlCenter to view the cameras and recordings.

Don't forget that dahua you recently reviewed, too

 

Maybe this is another thread, but I'm not clear on how something like Mobotix with its decentralized software (meaning the camera is autonomous and does not require centralized DVR) differs from other cameras, many of which can record themselves. I suppose it must come down to features and management of the videos/jpgs? That Dahua you reviewed, for example, requires no PC monitoring anything for its basic recording features. All it needs is an FTP drive somewhere to stick its data on.

 

OP, what you describe is what I have. Router with laptop wirelessly connected and a POE switch providing power to a Dahua camera, which is independently monitoring everything and recording to an FTP server hosted on this PC. If the PC goes down I lose recording, but only because the PC is hosting the FTP site. If the FTP was hosted no a NAS drive, then the PC is totally out of the equation.

[goldserve 0]

Depends on the cameras, some can record on their own, most require an external device to record, in your case your PC running NVR software. Some companies give you free NVR software that only works with their cameras, some charge you extra or you can buy any NVR software. I have reviews on cameras and software on blog and may be a good start.

 

If you do run NVR software on your PC to record events, it will consume that PC, it will run 24/7 without ever going into any energy saving mode.

 

A good way to go may be with cameras that don't require a PC, like Axis cameras that work with Camera Companion where the cameras record on their own and you view the recordings and cameras via their free software or Mobotix where the recording is done from the camera and you use their free MX ControlCenter to view the cameras and recordings.

Don't forget that dahua you recently reviewed, too

 

Maybe this is another thread, but I'm not clear on how something like Mobotix with its decentralized software (meaning the camera is autonomous and does not require centralized DVR) differs from other cameras, many of which can record themselves. I suppose it must come down to features and management of the videos/jpgs? That Dahua you reviewed, for example, requires no PC monitoring anything for its basic recording features. All it needs is an FTP drive somewhere to stick its data on.

 

OP, what you describe is what I have. Router with laptop wirelessly connected and a POE switch providing power to a Dahua camera, which is independently monitoring everything and recording to an FTP server hosted on this PC. If the PC goes down I lose recording, but only because the PC is hosting the FTP site. If the FTP was hosted no a NAS drive, then the PC is totally out of the equation.

 

Digiscan, don't forget that the Dahua cameras can record to an internal SD card when the FTP server is not available (has anyone tried this?). It is also possible to use the PSS software to view recordings that go into the SD card of the camera if you choose to save there instead of FTP. For me, I generate 8GB of data a day from one Dahua camera, recording at full 1080p, 8Mbit/sec with motion detection.

[bigzee110 0]

Digiscan, don't forget that the Dahua cameras can record to an internal SD card when the FTP server is not available (has anyone tried this?). It is also possible to use the PSS software to view recordings that go into the SD card of the camera if you choose to save there instead of FTP. For me, I generate 8GB of data a day from one Dahua camera, recording at full 1080p, 8Mbit/sec with motion detection.

My Dahua camera is recording to a class 4 sandisk sd card. It works perfectly fine 95% of the time but there are a few dropped frames. I am purchasing an NVR soon to see if the dropped frames issue can be resolved (It could also be b/c my sd card is class 4... maybe a class 10 would eliminate the issue?).

[buellwinkle 0]

You shouldn't use a class 4 SD for 1080P as it's putting out 6-8Mb/s and class for is 4Mb/s, at minimum class 6 and really class 10 to be safe and they are pretty cheap now. I didn't get any dropped frames via FTP. Also, you have to use PSS to view the video recorded on SD card.

 

Why is Mobotix different? The NVR software is built into each camera. From anywhere on the internet, from any browser (PC/MAC/tablet/smartphone) you can view the cameras, live, look for recordings and play back recordings. Also, Mobotix is an establish player with proven reliability and support and to some, it's worth the premium. Also at night, the B&W sensor is way better than any color sensor I've seen at night.

 

In contrast, Dahua would require PSS to review the recorded video, so you would need a PC. Not saying it's bad, but I couldn't get it to work. Any insight on how to get PSS to view recorded video from the FTP server or SD card would be appreciated. I can manually view the video from the FTP server with their player but it's difficult to manually comb through hundreds or thousdans of files spread out in a sea of directories that a several levels deep. Not saying it's impossible or difficult, just tedious. Ideally, if it can manage the videos FTP'ed where you can scan through a timeline or thumbnails, that would be awesome.

 

So why FTP instead of SD card, because FTP is cheap and remote. With SD cards someone steals the camera, all the recordings go with it. Also, a 64GB uSD card for each camera is going to cost a lot more per GB of storage than a 1-3TB NAS that can handle several cameras.

[Digiscan 0]

Why is Mobotix different? The NVR software is built into each camera. From anywhere on the internet, from any browser (PC/MAC/tablet/smartphone) you can view the cameras, live, look for recordings and play back recordings. Also, Mobotix is an establish player with proven reliability and support and to some, it's worth the premium. Also at night, the B&W sensor is way better than any color sensor I've seen at night.

 

Thanks! I think OP will value this, too, so wasn't quite a thread-hijack

 

buellwinkle I did get this camera to connect in PSS just now. This is using late-July firmware for the camera and the default port and password. I've not tried anything like playback or whatever, but the camera is connecting and streaming real-time.

[buellwinkle 0]

I got the camera to play on PSS but not able to record in it of itself or view recordings from the FTP server.

[YellowYoYo 0]

Thanks for the info. I'd ideally want a setup that doesn't use a whole bunch of electricity, so I guess I don't want to have a dedicated recording server on 24/7. I think I'd prefer to set the cameras to only record when triggered by motion so I save storage space and electricity. Is there a way to set the cameras to record to the SD card and then sync with my computer when I decide to turn it on? I was hoping to get some Dahua cameras and only turn my computer on when I want to view live camera feeds or manage the stored video on the SD card.

[buellwinkle 0]

If you record to SD card, you'll need to have their PSS software to view the recordings. Not sure how that works, did not try it. You can have the Dahua FTP recordings and you can buy a NAS drive for pretty cheap these days, like $129 for 1TB up to $229 for 3TB from WD and Buffalo. The problem is how do you view the recordings, not easy. You have a bunch of directories and files to open one up at a time to view. NVR software provides more than that with timelines and/or thumbnail views to aid in finding what you recorded.

 

Also consider a Dahua NVR. Probably won't use up much more electricity than a Tivo or other PVR. And they are cost effective. I'm going to be doing a review on one pretty soon, just waiting for it to arrive.