Thinking about getting a home surveillance system that will have about 4 outdoor cameras and say 2 indoor cameras. Want to be able to receive event log on my android smartphone and ideally access live video feed using the smartphone. Is there anything like that?
Do not want to pay for the alarm service, but rather get one of those in the box (install and enjoy).
Any recommendations?
Tons and tons of systems out there that can do that. If you want High Def and order from china you'll pay a quarter of what you will from anyone here.
Is it possible for you to draw a sketch of your property and where you want the cameras located, and the direction you want them to look? Take a screen capture from google satellite map (check bing too, sometimes their photos are clearer) and marker it up in Paint
If you want absolutely top of the line stuff (
WDR, adjustable zoom lens, super wide angle 90 degree wide view to super tight get a license plate zoom), 1080p or better image quality, etc.) you're looking around $150 per camera. An 8 channel 1080p (8 x 1080p x 30FPS
per camera) NVR is $75 (all prices are plus shipping, cheap if you're not in a hurry, a bit of money by DHL to have it in a day or two). Be careful when you see NVR's advertised as "8 channel 1080p", what they usually mean is 1 x 1080p camera, and the rest at 480p!!! This $75 NVR can text your cell phone when there is motion, you can connect in with your phone and view any/all of the cameras live, or view past recorded events, etc. The NVR comes without a hard drive so I would recommend a least one (preferrably two)
3TB Red Edition WD hard drives.
The cameras I've mentioned are PoE (power over ethernet). You can get a cheap
TP-link PoE switch for $50 that'll run three cameras, so to run your full six just get two of them.
Use Cat6 ethernet cable to run from the switches to the cameras. Get the cable from here (outdoor cable for the outdoor cameras, indoor if you want for the indoors):
http://www.justonecable.ca (if the cost for cables starts to get too crazy you can get a 1000ft roll for $200 and buy the crimper and connectors to put the ends on yourself. This way you only have to drill a 1/4" hold through your wall(s) vs. 1/2" with a connector on it). You don't need shielded unless you are running it parallel to 110v AC lines (i.e. zip tied to the 110v power cable).
So that's pretty much it:
6 x cameras
1 x NVR
2 x PoE switches
6 x Cat6 cables for cameras
? x Cat5 cables to connect switches together, switches to your router, router to NVR, etc.
Think of the PoE switches as "splitters". So for example, say if you've got a driveway camera, front door camera and indoor garage camera, you could put the PoE switch say in the garage (need to plug into power there), then run the three cameras to the PoE switch in the garage and only a SINGLE cheap (cat5) network cable back to your router!!! Really cuts down on the wiring mess and having to drill holes and run cable everywhere
I personally NEVER buy or use cameras that don't have WDR (wide dynamic range). Some people think it's not required. Here's an example with and without WDR:
It helps in EVERY situation, not just ones with super difficult lighting situations. Take my basement live pool cam for example (this is one of those $150 cameras I told you about, in 720p mode so I can stream it on my website in full quality):
There is NO lighting down by the plazma TV, in real life it looks WAY darker than in this security image. WDR darkens areas that are too bright (think car headlights, the sun, backlit window, the reflection off the glossy wood edge of my pool table, etc.) and brightens areas that are too dim (shadows, etc.). Really amazing stuff.
Just so you know all the options:
1080p WDR adjustable zoom: $150
1080p adjustable zoom: $130
720p adjustable zoom: $80
720p fixed zoom: $65
If any of this sounds like the way you want to go just let me know and I'll PM you the links where you need to order the cameras and NVR
Any questions just let me know.
