Spec me a CCTV System
- Thread starter Sirrel Squirrel
- Start date
Aahahahah will do
Did I do bad?I don't think they come close in low-light or nightime, but day seems clear from the many YT reviews I've now watched... I feel dirty.
They’re fine. What you need to bear in mind is that all the sensors used in the cameras come from 3 or 4 mega-suppliers who are also suppliers to Hikvision and Dahua. Where Hikvision and Dahua are at the cutting edge of CCTV, Reolink and Swann are using the same parts that were in Dahua and Hikvision 3-5 years ago. They also set out to supply a retail market place whereas Hikvision and Dahua tend to sell through resellers so they don’t bundle cables or other consumables with their cameras. I have no doubt NVP will be perfectly happy with his new system. Whether he would have been even happier with a more expensive system from Hikvision or Dahua we’ll never know.
It’s also worth bearing in mind that he got 4 5MP IR Black & White cameras for about half what the price of two full-colour Dahua’s. That might be VERY important or it might be a complete waste of two cameras.
Don't forget my wrench!
In terms of cameras, 4 for the price of 1 means I can have full coverage of the drive+path and of the garden too.
Regarding quality, hopefully this will be sufficient for now - we'll be moving house soon (hopfully before Christmas) which will most likely warrant splashing out and getting the decent full colour nighttime ones then. I can leave this set in as a selling point
In terms of cameras, 4 for the price of 1 means I can have full coverage of the drive+path and of the garden too.
Regarding quality, hopefully this will be sufficient for now - we'll be moving house soon (hopfully before Christmas) which will most likely warrant splashing out and getting the decent full colour nighttime ones then. I can leave this set in as a selling point
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They’re fine for a bit of incidental sound. If you want bat-like hearing then all Dahua cameras have a microphone IN 3.5mm jack and I would suggest using that with a good omnidirectional microphone rather than use the built-in one.
I don't require the ability to listen to conversations, ambient noise is fine. But knowing I wouldn't have to purchase another accessory is good. The Tapos have served their purpose for what I use but the App is very clunky and not an ideal setup. The resolution is ok but I would like the night colour cameras as I have plenty of street lighting available.
What's the Hik and Dahua app like? I would prefer continuous recording with motion notification. With the talk setup you only get one or the other.
Curious to hear people's thoughts on the security of these IP cameras. I've bought a Yi Cam on offer and would like to ensure 'hackers' are kept at bay. I read that there is custom firmware available and a note of RTSP and that it opens up FTP protocols etc etc but it's all a bit complex at the moment.
If anyone could provide a 'quick guide' I'd be all ears!
If anyone could provide a 'quick guide' I'd be all ears!
The russians used to try to get at my old Swann (Hikvision?) DVR lol. Could see attempts blocked a couple of times a week.
Some manufacturers have been caught with their pants down, like Dahua a while back with DDoS and backdoors open. But so long as you run a reasonably tight ship on your network, whilst there's almost always a way, it's a lot better these days.
also like the recording audio option.When you say a "tight ship on your network" could you elaborate a little. I mean I have a typical 'supplier' router and have done the usual password updates. I will likely also move to ensuring any connections are approved by me rather than just having the connections password protected. I understand the typical points of protecting a network from local attempts but when it's someone attempting to get in over the internet rather than in my own back yard so to speak, I'm a little lost.
General things like locking down ports, especially if you don't require external access. If you have IPS available, enable it, though you're unlikely to have this function if you have a typical ISP supplier router.
But like I said, generally these days it's a lot more secure than it used to be. Just ensure it's kept updated and keep an eye out for news on the devices getting compromised.
Does it communicate with an app? If so, what method does it use? All the big names (especially all the big consumer brands) use P2P to link their systems to phone apps and these are inherently insecure. As far as I'm aware of the consumer market brands only QNAP, Synology and Ubiquiti use secure transport protocols to communicate with their apps. Obviously I'm not talking about Bosch/Hanwha/Avigilon/Verkada. But Hikvision/Dahua/Reolink/Swann all use P2P as their app access protocol and it's completely insecure. From a very quick look, it appears the Yi Link app is also P2P. Generally it's a dead giveaway is if you need to scan a 2d barcode to feed the app with device details. You can attempt to secure whatever port you like but if the device is sat there waiting for a P2P link on 37777 it will let you enter details and if you haven't changed your login details then its easy and even if you have it's not insurmountable.
The custom firmware notes the ability to enable RTSP and then also the "possibility to disable all the cloud features while keeping the RTSP stream." Are the cloud features likely to be the P2P you speak of? Is RTSP a good idea or is that going to open up more security issues?
I understand that RTSP is real time streaming use of the camera but further than that I'm still at the research stage