NVR Advice Requested

[CalgaryGuy 0]

Hi all. I'm looking for some NVR advice for buying a new NVR on Amazon.ca. I have a pretty good/above average CCTV system now with 8 outdoor cameras that used to work really well until a couple of months ago. It is a non-brand name, rebranded as "The Surveillance Shop" here in Calgary—which is supposed to be a good commercial/industrial distributor. The dome cameras cost about $350 each a few years ago, and when two died on me (LEDs burnt out) I tried to replace them with the exact cams. However, they did not make these anymore, only higher resolution version replacements for about $500. The originals were all set up at their highest resolution (2048*1536) or 3MP on my NVR, but the two new ones can do 3840*2160 or 8 MP, so this is how I initially set them up. While I am no expert in NVR config and don't understand all the settings on the NVR, I did do all the CAT6 wiring myself, tested it, and it was working fine for 5 years until I replaced the two cams that failed.

That's when the problems started. Ever since hooking them up a six months back the NVR started behaving strangely. First, I noticed that I lost the ability on all cams to playback in reverse. I would get a error msg that said, "No Resource Available." I don't know what kind of NVR it is other than it is standalone, 8 CH, and I believe uses a Linux based OS. The other thing that happened is that whenever I searched for Motion Events—such as I do every AM when I wake up—it would show none on the channels with the two new cameras, just the older, lower resolution cams. In fact the only way to see Motion Events on the channels with the two new cams is to dumb them down in resolution to 3072*1728 (5MP).

It burns me that I had to pay for more expensive cams that the salesperson at "The Surveillance Shop" in Calgary said would work, but I need to dumb down the extra resolution I paid for just so I can search for Motion Events. I still have the issue of not being able to do playplack in reverse as well (on any channels). "The Surveillance Shop" abandoned me I guess because they had no solution and couldn't solve the problem, and there never was any documentation that came with the NVR in terms of configuration. I also found out that the $1700 NVR they sold me likely could have been bought online for a fraction of the cost, so I am through with these brick and mortar security stores.

I'm willing to buy a new NVR but don't know what to look for, as I don't know why these problems are occuring. It seems the higher resolution of the new cams started all the issues, so I want a NVR that can grow as I will inevitably have to replace other cams with higher resolution in the future. It seems like there is a resource shortage on the NVR of some sort. As I have a Mac for a computer I wanted a standalone NVR that was not dependent on the computer. I'd still prefer this approach, but want a decent OS on the NVR that allows for video download to flashdrive, reverse playback, slow motion playback, etc.

What should I be looking for in terms of specs? All of my cams I just plugged them into the ethernet ports on the NVR and they worked (all are POE). I want something similar to this as well.

Am I looking at this the wrong way? Are NVRs considered old fashioned now and should I be thinking of a software/PC solution instead (I will if I have to).

Looking for advice please.

[tomcctv 190]

Hi. You have been paying crazy prices

your problem is trying to use 4K cameras with a none 4K nvr. Yes they will work but your existing nvr will downgrade there resolution to 4 or 5 mp

 

how many cameras do you have and do you know what app you used for remote viewing 

[CalgaryGuy 0]

I have 8 cams. I don't normally use an app for remote viewing because I don't understand enough about firewalls and security and am worried about getting hacked. So I just view locally on a screen attached to the NVR. However, the few times I have remote viewed on my phone I have used Guarding Vision. The ability to remote view isn't a requirement for me.

I know I got ripped on the NVR. But WRT cams, all my neighbours who bought cams from Amazon were disappointed. Most of the cams are designed for USA moderate climates. In Calgary we get extremes from -45C to +36C, so most cams fail in a year or so. The ones I have at least last 5 yrs. or more.