Advice for a total new guy

[rockh0pp3r 0]

I just bought a house and I'm planning add outdoor cameras to it.

 

Here's what the property looks like: http://i.imgur.com/JJH6dQK.png

 

Someone on another website recommended I do this: https://i.imgur.com/DvgUHvU.png

 

I really like the Hikvision cameras to achieve this, but I do have a couple of questions and I was wondering if anyone here could help me out.

 

 

Should I just go for 4 mm for all cameras?

 

Which PoE/DVR do you recommend to use with these cameras?

 

Can I fence motion detection? For instance, if I point my camera to the street but there is some front lawn in the picture, can I just ask it to notify me if someone steps on the lawn?

 

I really want remote access as I travel often, so iOS/Android/Windows compatibility would be awesome.

 

Thanks!

[Sean Mao 0]

I think every Hikvison DVR' can meet you needs.so just pay attention to your budget on this small CCTV system.Hope you can build you own system soon.

 

---------------------------------

Skype:mxtforever

Email:mxtinlv2015@gmail.com

www.smart-views.com

[MaxIcon 0]

4mm is a good starting choice. You might want to order some and check them out before committing, in case you need wider or narrower in some locations. 2.8mm gives a nice wide view, but less detail, especially as distances increase, and 6mm gives more detail but less field of view.

 

Motion detection exclusion will depend on whether you use cam-based or recorder based MD. Most cams let you exclude areas from MD, but not all recorders will use the cam's MD. Best bet for that is to stick with the same brand NVR as the cams. I use a PC that does the motion detection, so others will have to give their experiences with NVRs.

 

Almost everything has decent remote access, and there are apps like IP Cam Viewer that are also very good performers.

[rockh0pp3r 0]

4mm is a good starting choice. You might want to order some and check them out before committing, in case you need wider or narrower in some locations. 2.8mm gives a nice wide view, but less detail, especially as distances increase, and 6mm gives more detail but less field of view.

 

Motion detection exclusion will depend on whether you use cam-based or recorder based MD. Most cams let you exclude areas from MD, but not all recorders will use the cam's MD. Best bet for that is to stick with the same brand NVR as the cams. I use a PC that does the motion detection, so others will have to give their experiences with NVRs.

 

Almost everything has decent remote access, and there are apps like IP Cam Viewer that are also very good performers.

 

Thanks!

 

Can you recommend a whole system that would cover all the bases?

 

What are you running on your PC?

[MaxIcon 0]

I run Blue Iris, which is a very powerful and flexible app for the money. It requires a fairly powerful PC, depending on how many total MP and what frame rates you want. It supports a wide variety of cams, and I'm running a pretty big mix of brands and models.

 

My current system is an i5-3570 running 10 cams, 18MP total, all at 10 fps, and I've got room to add some more before I run out of CPU horsepower.

 

The plus of PC based is the flexibility and power. The downside is managing a PC and networking. NVRs are much simpler and more reliable, but it they don't support a feature or camera you want, or if the vendor stops updating the firmware, you're out of luck.

 

I'm not familiar with modern NVRs, having switched over to PCs some years ago, but when I used to run DVRs in an industrial setting, the simplicity and reliability were critical.

[rockh0pp3r 0]

I run Blue Iris, which is a very powerful and flexible app for the money. It requires a fairly powerful PC, depending on how many total MP and what frame rates you want. It supports a wide variety of cams, and I'm running a pretty big mix of brands and models.

 

My current system is an i5-3570 running 10 cams, 18MP total, all at 10 fps, and I've got room to add some more before I run out of CPU horsepower.

 

The plus of PC based is the flexibility and power. The downside is managing a PC and networking. NVRs are much simpler and more reliable, but it they don't support a feature or camera you want, or if the vendor stops updating the firmware, you're out of luck.

 

I'm not familiar with modern NVRs, having switched over to PCs some years ago, but when I used to run DVRs in an industrial setting, the simplicity and reliability were critical.

 

Thanks. I can build a small PC for my 5 or 6 cameras. Just wondering as to which part to buy to hook up all the PoEs. Is it a PCI card or something like that?

[rockh0pp3r 0]

I've settled on the Hikvision DS-2CD2032-I camera for my setup.

 

Can you recommend a reliable 8 CH DVR with motion sensing/email/push capabilities? I think I want to go the DVR way for now as it is simpler.

 

Thanks!

[MaxIcon 0]

The cams all hook to the POE switch, which puts them on the local network, and the PC connects to the network from any available switch/router connection. The cams or switch don't have to connect directly to the PC; they're just network resources, like a net drive or whatever.

 

For an NVR, you'll want to stick with a Hik to simplify things; mixing brands sometimes works, but it's easier not to.

 

Be sure to check that the NVR has the bandwidth you need for all your cams. Also, many only have POE on some of the ports, so make sure you either have enough on the NVR or plan on getting another switch.

 

Some people will run a POE switch at one end of the building, which lets you run a single network cable back to the NVR, instead of 4 or whatever. It depends on how far your recorder is from the cams, and how spread out they are.

[rockh0pp3r 0]

The cams all hook to the POE switch, which puts them on the local network, and the PC connects to the network from any available switch/router connection. The cams or switch don't have to connect directly to the PC; they're just network resources, like a net drive or whatever.

 

For an NVR, you'll want to stick with a Hik to simplify things; mixing brands sometimes works, but it's easier not to.

 

Be sure to check that the NVR has the bandwidth you need for all your cams. Also, many only have POE on some of the ports, so make sure you either have enough on the NVR or plan on getting another switch.

 

Some people will run a POE switch at one end of the building, which lets you run a single network cable back to the NVR, instead of 4 or whatever. It depends on how far your recorder is from the cams, and how spread out they are.

 

This is great. For some reason I had overlooked the fact that hooking the cams up to a PoE switch would result in a single cable running from the switch to the router.

 

I have a Netgear WNDR4300 so, in theory, I would have plenty of bandwidth to run 6 cameras to a PC through it, correct?

 

Can you recommend a good PoE switch that will work with most cameras? I think I'm back to the PC idea with this new insight.

[MaxIcon 0]

Switch bit rate capacity depends on your number of cams and what bit rate they're set for, which then depends on resolution and frame rate. For 3MP at 10 fps, 4 Mbps is usually enough, and 8 is more than enough. Hik had a reference doc for this, but it appears to have gone missing.

 

8 cams at 8 Mbps is 64 Mbps total, so any Gb switch will handle that load fine, and most 100Mb switches will be good. I like switches with a Gb uplink, but that's not really required.

 

If you go to Amazon and search on POE switches, you'll see the reviews and recommendations. The TP-LINK TL-SF1008P is a popular 8 port/4 POE port switch, and for a bit more money, you can get 8 POE ports and a Gb uplink.