Let's talk home security camera/video options

2,740 Views | 20 Replies | Last: 7 yr ago by texasaggie04
LeftyHound
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AG
I've been researching home camera security options, but wanted to check with the gang here for personal experiences. The main things I'm looking for are wi-fi capable, local recording to a HD (not a micro-SD local to the camera), and the ability to monitor remotely.

What is everyone using?
howdydamnit04
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AG
I have a both a Nest and Blink system. Neither are really perfect. The Nest has great quality and cloud recording but is expensive and doesn't have local backups. The Blink system is cheap, has local backups, and battery powered so you can put it anywhere, but the quality isn't great and it lacks night vision.
TravelAg2004
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AG
I'm going to be putting a Unifi video system in the new house. It's a little more to setup, but I'm loving the interface and how seamless everything works.

https://www.ubnt.com/unifi-video/unifi-nvr/

Cameras are about $130-$150 a piece and their NVR is $350 (I think). But it's all self contained and you can view/manage remotely on your phone for no extra charge. It comes with a 500GB HD, so it'll hold about a weeks worth of video for 6 cameras at 1080P.

Some of their cameras are wireless and some are wired. The wired ones are all PoE, so you only need to run one cat5/6 wire.
Garrelli 5000
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AG
User 5 4 is based out of Waco. He travels to DFW, not sure about Austin. He's a good Ag and you can't beat his prices.
nwspmp
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quote:
I'm going to be putting a Unifi video system in the new house. It's a little more to setup, but I'm loving the interface and how seamless everything works.

https://www.ubnt.com/unifi-video/unifi-nvr/

Cameras are about $130-$150 a piece and their NVR is $350 (I think). But it's all self contained and you can view/manage remotely on your phone for no extra charge. It comes with a 500GB HD, so it'll hold about a weeks worth of video for 6 cameras at 1080P.

Some of their cameras are wireless and some are wired. The wired ones are all PoE, so you only need to run one cat5/6 wire.
Great system and one thing to note as well, if you have a computer running Windows or Linux that has more free space than the 500GB, you can install the UniFi video controller and NVR software and have as much space as you can fit into the computer. I'd recommend a spare computer (should you have one available) rather than your personal desktop.

I run it on a Linux server at home and run an NVR at my workplace. Currently we monitor two UniFi Pro cameras at 1080p and I have recordings going back to early April.
ExPLK
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AG
Check out the Arlo by Netgear. I just received an email from them telling me they are going to begin supporting geofencing and IFTTT.
Tailgate88
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AG
quote:
quote:
I'm going to be putting a Unifi video system in the new house. It's a little more to setup, but I'm loving the interface and how seamless everything works.

https://www.ubnt.com/unifi-video/unifi-nvr/

Cameras are about $130-$150 a piece and their NVR is $350 (I think). But it's all self contained and you can view/manage remotely on your phone for no extra charge. It comes with a 500GB HD, so it'll hold about a weeks worth of video for 6 cameras at 1080P.

Some of their cameras are wireless and some are wired. The wired ones are all PoE, so you only need to run one cat5/6 wire.
Great system and one thing to note as well, if you have a computer running Windows or Linux that has more free space than the 500GB, you can install the UniFi video controller and NVR software and have as much space as you can fit into the computer. I'd recommend a spare computer (should you have one available) rather than your personal desktop.

I run it on a Linux server at home and run an NVR at my workplace. Currently we monitor two UniFi Pro cameras at 1080p and I have recordings going back to early April.
Do you still have to purchase their hardware NVR for this, or do you just buy the software and install on your own computer instead? I don't see the software listed for sale on Amazon?

Edit: Disregard I see the software for download on their website. So it's free as long as you put it on your own computer? That's pretty awesome...

https://www.ubnt.com/download/unifi-video/unifi-nvr
TravelAg2004
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AG
Yeah...the software to run your own NVR is free. Just make sure whatever computer you install it on has at least 2GB of RAM. They use Java for everything and it eats up a lot of memory. And also make sure the computer stays on 24/7.
jbryan10
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AG
quote:
I'm going to be putting a Unifi video system in the new house. It's a little more to setup, but I'm loving the interface and how seamless everything works.

https://www.ubnt.com/unifi-video/unifi-nvr/

Cameras are about $130-$150 a piece and their NVR is $350 (I think). But it's all self contained and you can view/manage remotely on your phone for no extra charge. It comes with a 500GB HD, so it'll hold about a weeks worth of video for 6 cameras at 1080P.

Some of their cameras are wireless and some are wired. The wired ones are all PoE, so you only need to run one cat5/6 wire.

Where are these wireless ones? They all appear to be PoE on the website.
TravelAg2004
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AG
Looks like they just pulled it off the main page today. Anyways, here's a link.

https://www.ubnt.com/unifi-video/unifi-video-camera-micro/

A little more info. Looks like they are discontinuing this and preparing to release a 2 gen version in the coming months. They know this camera is super popular, so they are updating it and will have a new version out soon.

https://community.ubnt.com/t5/UniFi-Video/Has-the-UVC-Micro-been-discontinued/m-p/1558202/highlight/true#M56523
jbryan10
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AG
quote:
Looks like they just pulled it off the main page today. Anyways, here's a link.

https://www.ubnt.com/unifi-video/unifi-video-camera-micro/
Yup, found it in the "related products" section. Could this software be run on one of those intel compute sticks you think (one with 2GB ram)?
TravelAg2004
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AG
My guess is no, but I honestly don't know much about them. My concern would be storage. The NVR software is not only the tool to configure and manage the cameras, but also where all the video is stored. So you'd want to run it on something that has plenty of storage.

Some folks on their community forum were discussing possibly running it on a Raspberry Pi, but there was some concern about the performance since the Pi network port and USB ports are on the same chip. So it would have to swap back and forth to read data from the network then write to a USB attached storage.

I'd look into getting one of the intel mini-pcs so you could put some decent storage on it. I'd also recommend wiping it and running a linux server OS (like Ubuntu 14.04) instead of Windows.
jbryan10
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AG
Final question: Is there an option in the software to notify you (via text/email) when motion is detected?

EDIT: Yes. Found the answer in the forums. Totally going to buy one of these ASAP.
TravelAg2004
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AG
Yeah...I just have the 1080p bullet cam I've been testing out. Running the NVR on my own server, so I can't speak to its performance, but I'm loving it all.
cfriedman
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AG
Anyone know someone who installs systems? I got one on black Friday but I can't get the cable through the attic in tight spots.
R
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quote:
Is there an option in the software to notify you (via text/email) when motion is detected?
Just keep in mind that if your motion settings are too sensitive or the camera is in a location with constant motion (tree limb blowing in the breeze, shadow of tree limb blowing in the breeze, car headlights shining across field of view, cat's favorite place to screw off all day) you can easily annoy the crap out of yourself.
jaggiemaggie
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AG
What kind of server set up do you have?
R
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This is their box specs.
https://dl.ubnt.com/datasheets/unifi/UniFI_Video_DS.pdf

Intel D2550
4GB RAM

While for a low camera count you may be able to get away with 2GB I wouldn't recommend it unless you have something like that laying around that you can just try it out on.
txamu11
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AG
Is there any downside to getting these for $87 each
Link 1
vs these for $131 each.?
Link 2
I need 6 cameras. The only difference I see is resolution, size, and Link 1 above is an older model. Am I taking a risk that they will not be supported by the software soon?
TravelAg2004
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AG
Yeah...the Gen1 cameras (the first link) only work up to version 3.1 of the NVR software.

Here's a community post on the topic: http://community.ubnt.com/t5/UniFi-Video/Gen1-cameras-airCam-airCame-Dome-amp-airCam-Mini-will-not-be/m-p/1193187

Here is the 2nd generation of camera: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1054061-REG/ubiquiti_networks_uvc_3_unifi_video_camera_ir.html

I'm holding out for the G3s so that I can do them all at once.
R
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The big differences to me are that the cheaper model has:

1MP
RJ45 Ethernet Connection with PoE and POE Adapter
47 Horizontal Field of View

The new model
2MP
85 / 72 Horizontal FOV
Ethernet Port with PoE Technology

You are getting close to double the field of view with the newer model and can just plug in your cat5 without any of the other crap. Now if you're just pointing it at a front door 47 degrees is plenty field of view but if you want to cover a lobby or parking lot you probably want a bit wider field of view. I'm not sure how support works with the ubiquiti cameras as I've only used their point to point systems.







texasaggie04
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AG
I just bought the amcrest WiFi 1080p. It says it can store locally to SD card, ftp, or a NAS. I just haven't hooked it up yet so I can't say how well that part works.
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