Security Cameras

[Chas]

Anyone on here have security cameras? If so, what brand/kind and how do you like them?

I have a couple WiFi type connected to my alarm system, but I was thinking about getting a separate, wired (POE) system with a DVR to record 24/7. I would need about 8 of them.

Thanks

[AaronM]

Simplisafe has been good for me. Easy install, cloud recording. Haven't needed it yet but better to have and not need, etc.

[Deckman]

I use Zosi, 5MP cameras, NVR with 2T Hard-drive. It records 24/7 for about a week (6 cameras) before over-writing. Only problem has been night infra red system has failed on 3 cams. Just ordered newer 8Mp system with 8 cams from Amazon. These have Human detection which will save HD space as the older system saves a lot of false motion pictures. Cams also do not need infrared as they have a starlight option.

[leilanidude]

POE is great. What you have to do though for the recorder, is to build a cabinet to house it, inside a relatively obscure place in the house, like a closet in which it has some ventilation holes and will be very difficult for a thief to get to it, to either steal the recorder itself or to smash it.

[terracore]

My first system was wired. One of our coco palms was hit by lightning and one of the wires was close enough it fried the entire system. (I was equal distance from the palm as the CCTV wire was and almost got fried as well, but that is a different story). I had a computer monitor that was hooked up to my computer and the DVR so I could switch back and forth and when the CCTV system got fried it traveled through the monitor (without harming it) and into my computer, frying the GPU.

My next system was "wireless" meaning it had a complicated wireless process to make the DVR work but each individual camera still needed a power source. I'm still using it though some of the cameras have quit working and the system is not worth maintaining so it's basically become a "backup" video source until it's gone from component attrition.

I bought a camera to test it. It was optional POE or wireless with a USB power source. When I installed the included software to set it up it included a trojan that tried to use my computer to mine bitcoin for somebody. No wonder the camera was such a great deal. Fortunately I recognized that my fans aren't supposed to be running that loud when I'm not gaming or rendering video or something so I was quickly able to recognize and mitigate the problem.

Now I'm using another wireless system (still needs wired power). It stores the video and sound 24/7 on an SD card I can access anywhere with internet on the camera and stores "alerts" also in the cloud. It can also send alerts etc.

[Chas]

Thanks everyone. Good info. I'll look into it further as I complete some of the other 100 things on my list of things to do. Nice to have the info ahead of time and make an intelligent decision once the time comes.

[terracore]

The newer cameras have some interesting features. Some of them can detect a person (as opposed to simple motion detection which would alarm on any type of movement) and alert you and can even track them. They can also do the opposite, like if it expects to see people periodically (like in an elderly person's yard or home) and it goes a preset time without detecting their activity, it can push an alert that it's time to check on grandpa. There is another feature called "image anomaly patrol" that uses cloud AI to push an alert to anomalies in imagery that don't fall into other categories. Like maybe it detects water is starting to pond somewhere it's not supposed to (like your living room). Some of the advanced features require a cloud subscription. The "cloud" can also push an alert if your camera disappears from it's universe (like a power or internet outage). Many of them come with audible alarms too if you want to use that feature. They aren't as loud as a siren from an alarm system but they are loud enough to be noticed.

I know you're thinking, a lot of these features open doors to privacy violations and they probably do. Most of them have a gizmo that automatically physically covers the lens when the camera is powered off or in privacy mode.

Similarly to an iPhone where you do a standard OS update and it usually comes with new features, the newer cameras get features added to them after purchase. Some of them happen by firmware updates, some of them happen on the cloud end of it. Personally I have enough bills to pay and don't need to add a new one so I'm happy to stick with the free features.

[kalakoa]

I'm happy to stick with the free features.

It's possible to roll your own feature camera with commodity Raspberry PI hardware.

[Chas]

A couple years ago I worked in the Burglar/Fire alarm field. I was amazed at what the new systems do. Like you said, they can be programmed to detect abnormalities in behavior via the cameras, motion, door and other sensors. Pretty cool, but yes, subject to privacy issues.

We used Alarm.com through Qolsys panels, which are much more secure than the most of the "over the counter" brands. They worked quite well for people who had parents that insisted on aging at home. They could look at their parent's account to see activity or even be notified of changes in normal behavior, depending on how they configured it.

Once you installed the alarm panel, you had the basics of a smart home system. Depending on how much you wanted to do/spend, you could control/automate lights, locks, garage doors, water sensors, HVAC and all kinds of stuff, all using only one app on your phone.