Spec me a CCTV System

Caporegime
Joined
21 Jun 2006
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38,372
just read a review
sounds a bit crap if it cant record the events !!

Good motion detection. However, potential buyers be aware that Neos records 12s of video to cloud and then has a 5 minute cool off period before recording again. This means that the burglars can run round and round your house and not be recorded to cloud.
Apparently a SD card will record all events but this is only useful after the robbery and assumes that the Neos has not been stolen.



i need it recording all the time, think this wont work

i don't know what your expecting?

they all do this.

unless you want to buy a proper camera and a NVR but good luck getting both for £25

this does the same job for £30 a sd card costs peanuts £5 should be enough.

also i think the last thing a burglar will want to steal is cameras but that's just my thoughts.

you can always pay for cloud recording on a subscription basis. again this will cost more. my nest hello is £40 a year for 1 camera for 5 days of cloud storage.

it's not crap at all this is pretty much how all cameras operate. you either need local storage (sd card or a NVR) or a cloud subscription.
 
Soldato
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Bucks
Can I get some recommendations for a suitable NVR for this set up?

- 5-6 Unifi G3 flex cameras connected to an 8 port Netgear POE switch
- Netgear POE switch connects to a 24 port managed Netgear switch
- Have a rack with patch panel with space for an NVR to sit on a shelf

The Unifi UVC-NVR seems very good but also pricey at £300+.

It would need to have a split screen HDMI output (so I can feed into a modulator and transmit around the Coax in the house, Coax also all terminates at the rack), and also be nice to view the CCTV on a phone/app etc.

Any recommendations would be welcome.
 
Soldato
Joined
1 Nov 2008
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4,413
Bumping this as it didn't seem worthy of its own thread but Apple are launching a service called HomeKit Secure Video which will work just like the Nest system apart from none of the video is sent to the cloud for analysis, it's all done on-device (the HomeKit 'hub' so ATV, HomePod or iPad) and is encrypted end to end. Also if you have the 2TB iCloud package you get 10 day recording on up to 5 cameras for free, the 200GB package gets you 1 camera, and it doesn't use up your iCloud storage. I'm seriously considering swapping out my Nest equipment as I'm already on the 2TB iCloud package and it'll save me $300/year on the Nest costs. Hopefully the software will be as good as the Nest software as that's the only thing that would keep me paying for it. The HomeKit cameras should be around the same price as the Nest cameras too as they're already quite expensive.

https://www.macrumors.com/2019/06/06/apple-secure-video-icloud-storage-requirements/

I guess we're not going to see what cameras are available to use with this until Septermber and iOS13?
 
Soldato
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The Darkside
Can I get some recommendations for a suitable NVR for this set up?

- 5-6 Unifi G3 flex cameras connected to an 8 port Netgear POE switch
- Netgear POE switch connects to a 24 port managed Netgear switch
- Have a rack with patch panel with space for an NVR to sit on a shelf

The Unifi UVC-NVR seems very good but also pricey at £300+.

It would need to have a split screen HDMI output (so I can feed into a modulator and transmit around the Coax in the house, Coax also all terminates at the rack), and also be nice to view the CCTV on a phone/app etc.

Any recommendations would be welcome.

If you went down the route of opting for Ubiquiti cameras then you really should stick with their NVR. Ubiquiti cams are not in the same league as Hikvision/Dahua etc and it wouldn’t make sense buying one of their NVR’s and then wanting to use Ubiquiti cams.
 
Soldato
Joined
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19,205
Location
Norfolk, South Scotland
Can I get some recommendations for a suitable NVR for this set up?

- 5-6 Unifi G3 flex cameras connected to an 8 port Netgear POE switch
- Netgear POE switch connects to a 24 port managed Netgear switch
- Have a rack with patch panel with space for an NVR to sit on a shelf

The Unifi UVC-NVR seems very good but also pricey at £300+.

It would need to have a split screen HDMI output (so I can feed into a modulator and transmit around the Coax in the house, Coax also all terminates at the rack), and also be nice to view the CCTV on a phone/app etc.

Any recommendations would be welcome.

Unifi Cloud Key Gen2+ and upgrade the HDD to 5Tb. Even if you buy the ludicrously expensive rack mount bracket for the Cloud Key it's still less than the UVC-NVR.

Unifi use vanilla ONVIF so you can use any NVR but if you have an existing Unifi ecosystem then the UCK Gen2+ is a no-brainer.
 
Soldato
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Norfolk, South Scotland
1080 is 2MP and cams are moving on.

At the minute the DS-2CD2335 3MP Hik cam’s are the best all round cameras. Superior low light and great during the day. They have a slot for an SD-Card.

If one of your cams are subject to bad weather, you can get a ‘hood’ attachment over the cam that shields the camera but tbh, the cams should be built so you don’t need it.

Stick to Poe. So much easier for installation. One cat cable powers and sends data.

There are new Hik EasyIP 4.0 cams out now. I am sorting out some to test. They will be my choice of cams if I like them. The new low light 8MP cam should be interesting.

If you can hold out for a few weeks, they might be worth buying instead.

3MP gives you very little in terms of video quality and fills up your storage faster. I would argue strongly that the best image quality at the moment is the 2MP STARVIS sensor fitted to many Dahua units. And there is the ongoing rumbling rumour about HIKVision's point to multipoint protocol that is about as secure as a very unsecure thing apparently.
 
Soldato
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The Darkside
3MP gives you very little in terms of video quality and fills up your storage faster. I would argue strongly that the best image quality at the moment is the 2MP STARVIS sensor fitted to many Dahua units. And there is the ongoing rumbling rumour about HIKVision's point to multipoint protocol that is about as secure as a very unsecure thing apparently.

Yes but the Hik 2325/2335 for the past two years has been the equivalent to the Dahua 2MP Starlights. I use both types depending on the job. There are several comparisons that show a properly tuned Hik 2325/2335 producing a slightly better low light image. The 2MP starlight turrets do offer more features though.

Now we have the full colour night vision cams and that has opened a new debate.
 
Soldato
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Bucks
If you went down the route of opting for Ubiquiti cameras then you really should stick with their NVR. Ubiquiti cams are not in the same league as Hikvision/Dahua etc and it wouldn’t make sense buying one of their NVR’s and then wanting to use Ubiquiti cams.
Unifi Cloud Key Gen2+ and upgrade the HDD to 5Tb. Even if you buy the ludicrously expensive rack mount bracket for the Cloud Key it's still less than the UVC-NVR.

Unifi use vanilla ONVIF so you can use any NVR but if you have an existing Unifi ecosystem then the UCK Gen2+ is a no-brainer.

Thanks both.

It doesn't look like the Cloud Key Gen2+ has an HDMI or similar output? I need the DVR to put out a split screen CCTV output, which then we can then feed into the COAX around the house, so any TV can be tuned to a certain channel to see the split camera screen.
 
Soldato
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Norfolk, South Scotland
No, but it can be viewed on any PC with the software client installed.

If you want something with an HDMI port then you're looking at a specific NVR from Dahua or HikVision but they won't work as well with the UBNT cameras.
 
Associate
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Peterborough
1080 is 2MP and cams are moving on.

At the minute the DS-2CD2335 3MP Hik cam’s are the best all round cameras. Superior low light and great during the day. They have a slot for an SD-Card.

If one of your cams are subject to bad weather, you can get a ‘hood’ attachment over the cam that shields the camera but tbh, the cams should be built so you don’t need it.

Stick to Poe. So much easier for installation. One cat cable powers and sends data.

There are new Hik EasyIP 4.0 cams out now. I am sorting out some to test. They will be my choice of cams if I like them. The new low light 8MP cam should be interesting.

If you can hold out for a few weeks, they might be worth buying instead.
Any update on these cameras? I’m after a 4 camera system POE with an NVR I’m more interested in good footage at night, wondered if there was a top recommendation for around £600 excluding HD
 
Associate
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Outside
Just installed two DS-2CD2385G1-I in 2.8 and 4mm options. What I hadn’t realised is that different Hikvision models have very different dimensions.

My neighbours have a set up and just assumed it would look the same but with a junction box and wall mounted it’s huge. Must be an extra inch or so wide :o
 
Associate
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Hoping someone might be able to help me with a HIKVISION DS-7208HUHI-F2 / N we're currently using at work. I don't know the full details of it if I'm honest, but I'm looking at increasing the storage we have. It has a 1tb storage drive in there at the minute, this gives us almost 4 days worth of recordings.

If I can get a 6tb or 8tb drive in there, it'll massively increase the length of time we can keep footage before being overwritten, presumably? I don't suppose there's going to be any compatibility issues with a larger capacity WD Purple drive?
 
Associate
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I’m trying to price up a 4-5 camera Hikvision system with an NVR but I’m finding those that list prices having cameras listed as HiWatch by Hikvision but those claiming to be authorised all require you to log in.

Are Hikvision trying to deter those wishing to install systems themselves? Are you allowed to name who you use here or is that against forum rules?
 
Soldato
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They don’t want to deal with retail customers. They act as distributors to installers.

I only use Dahua and Security Dynamics are my distributor. But they won’t give you prices unless you’re trade.

And even then the prices are little better than I can get on Chinese sites.
 
Associate
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They don’t want to deal with retail customers. They act as distributors to installers.

I only use Dahua and Security Dynamics are my distributor. But they won’t give you prices unless you’re trade.

And even then the prices are little better than I can get on Chinese sites.
Thanks for replying, so basically, if I want Hikvision or Dahua then I’m going to have to get someone in to install it for me and I won’t be able to myself?
 
Soldato
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19,205
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Norfolk, South Scotland
No, you can buy from the rainforest, European grey dealers, the Chinese version of eBay and even a couple of UK resellers if you speak to them on the phone. A lot of installers make £40-£100 on each camera so they don’t want you shopping around for prices.
 
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