Acti Hardwired System for Residential

[hilario23 0]

I'm interested in some advice for completing my new home security plans. I close on my newly built home in a month and have budgeted roughly $1500 for a surveillance system.

 

I'm set on hard wiring my home. Aside from the security benefit, I want to have the piece of mind that I can set this up on my own (of course with help from experienced people like you). I've also decided that for the software compatibility and for what the value/quality is presented, I'd like to stick to an Acti Camera setup, and for ease I'd like to stick to a separate, yet accessible NVR.

 

I'm going to set up the ACTi ENR-1100 and I'm looking to power 4-5 camera's to start with. This will include 2 different 2MP+ outdoor, and 2-3 indoor 1MP types.

 

I suppose my first concerns are ensuring all I buy will come compatible for my purposes. I'm a little confused on two beginning things. First, the cabling. I'm looking at cat 5e or cat 6. For my purposes, am I gaining a whole lot going with one or the other?

 

Secondly, I want to ensure I am looking at the right type of switch. Right now I'm looking at the Netgear ProSafe GS510TP 8-port 10/100/1000 POE Smart Switch. There seem to be many different recommendations or ways to go with setting up the switch/network. Lets just assume for ease of this thread that I want to stick with at least 5 ports accessible to POE hook-ups, and I would like to have room to expand (a little, but I don't think I'll expand much so 8 should be fine).

 

Does anyone see any issues with this setup? I have done lots of research online, and I've even spoken to ACTi and a local surveillance store, but no one really has actual set up examples to really give me that "see how this really sets up" feel. My home is a single story ranch and from one corner of the house to the spot where I'm running the NVR (middle closet) I'm looking at 4 of the cameras running about 100 ft TOPS and the 5th camera will run about 150-170 ft.

 

I realize I'm looking at a whole bunch of stuff here. Feel free to chime in with whatever advice you have. I would love to have a practical advisor locally I could just pay to help me along the way, but like most have probably discovered, digital setups are newer in residential homes today.

[ssnapier 0]

That switch is a good one and it is VERY popular. As for the cable, just go with CAT-5E. The choice of Acti is a decent option, and my only concern is your budget. I am just running rough numbers in my head, but I am thinking you might be a camera or two short at $1500. Send me a private message, because I have another idea that might be able to do exactly what you want and it will fit your budget too.