Multi-site IP night/day cameras? (pref. no dedicated DVR)

[nippoo 0]

Hi there,

 

So here's the setup: we've got a couple of houses; our primary residence with a 16TB storage array and server in the basement, and a country house with internet constantly on (but no server etc).

 

We'd like to be able to monitor each house while we're in the other one, etc etc. I anticipate we'd probably want 2-4 cameras per house. Video quality and night recording are probably the important factors. (and then whatever extra - optical zoom, pan/tilt, etc etc, if the cost can stay under a few hundred £/$). At least one, if not all of them will be outdoors, unless that's completely impossible.

 

I've also got about 3TB of storage on a server hosted in a datacentre - the internet connection obviously wouldn't allow for three 720p upload streams simultaneously, but it would be nice to make use of that where possible, just in case thieves nick the storage array

 

I like the idea of PoE. We've got wi-fi everywhere, but if I'm going to run a cable (for power) I might as well run Gigabit Ethernet.

 

The Ubiquiti AirVision system sounds pretty nice out of what I've looked at so far. If anyone's got any other systems they could recommend, that'd be awesome. I'm happy to play around, but I want something that's ultimately reliable and user-friendly. It'd be nice if both houses could go with the same system, and doubly nice if everything could be hosted on my datacentre server to reduce the risk of data woes, but maybe I'm asking too much...

 

(and yeah, since I've got so much gear at home already, the idea of a dedicated DVR isn't out of the question, but seems a little odd...)

[ipvision 0]

Hi there,

 

So here's the setup: we've got a couple of houses; our primary residence with a 16TB storage array and server in the basement, and a country house with internet constantly on (but no server etc).

 

We'd like to be able to monitor each house while we're in the other one, etc etc. I anticipate we'd probably want 2-4 cameras per house. Video quality and night recording are probably the important factors. (and then whatever extra - optical zoom, pan/tilt, etc etc, if the cost can stay under a few hundred £/$). At least one, if not all of them will be outdoors, unless that's completely impossible.

 

I've also got about 3TB of storage on a server hosted in a datacentre - the internet connection obviously wouldn't allow for three 720p upload streams simultaneously, but it would be nice to make use of that where possible, just in case thieves nick the storage array

 

I like the idea of PoE. We've got wi-fi everywhere, but if I'm going to run a cable (for power) I might as well run Gigabit Ethernet.

 

The Ubiquiti AirVision system sounds pretty nice out of what I've looked at so far. If anyone's got any other systems they could recommend, that'd be awesome. I'm happy to play around, but I want something that's ultimately reliable and user-friendly. It'd be nice if both houses could go with the same system, and doubly nice if everything could be hosted on my datacentre server to reduce the risk of data woes, but maybe I'm asking too much...

 

(and yeah, since I've got so much gear at home already, the idea of a dedicated DVR isn't out of the question, but seems a little odd...)

 

 

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

[Peter_ 2]

I haven't heard much of anything positive for the ubiquiti cameras, although they make great wifi devices. Many IP cameras can record to an internal SD card, drop footage to a NAS/DVR, or email you events. I have a couple Mobotix cameras for my home and they record all events internally, and have dedicated sensors for day and night. (Review here: http://www.plazor.com/reviews/review-mobotix-dualnight-m12/). That's a bit out of the several hundred $ price range, but they work pretty much flawlessly indoors or out.

 

The 'new' big camera brand here lately is Dahua, with their inexpensive (~200$) outdoor dome (1080p) (Review here: http://www.networkcameracritic.com/?p=848).

 

You really won't get ptz until around $1k minimum, well at least decently at least. And almost all cameras are wired/poe for reliability and range, and plus it makes setup easy! As far as brands to look at, I'd recommend Axis, Mobotix, or Dahua - these are the main players right now.