Advice needed on CCTV cameras

arciere

bingo_bango wrote: »

Analog cameras - hence the 'bit of a pain' to wire. And yes, that means directly wired to DVR, which then sits on the network.

The DVR does accept IP cameras (as long as they have ONVIF support) and will operate as an NVR / DVR hybrid. Think it's a max of 2 IP cameras on that basis though.

I take the point about OP wanting WiFi, but for their budget it might not be entirely possible to get that. I did consider the same type of setup initially, but ruled it out on cost.

I bought something similar before I decided to use my PC. I think it was a small-ish box based on the Hikvision sofware. The problem was that my cameras were all IP and that NVR only accepted 1 IP camera (despite what the description said). Plus, the max resolution it supported for IP cameras was really low (no full-HD support, let alone 4K).
A similar NVR, but IP instead of mainly analog and with support of full-HD cameras, was hundreds of £££ (HDD excluded)
EDIT: the other thing that I forgot to mention is that these NVRs, not sure for what reason, sometimes don't work with cameras not directly connected to them (I'm referring to IP cameras), so even if you have your cameras on the network, they will need to be directly connected to the internal switch, rather than simply be on the same network.

Lil306

arciere wrote: »

That is actually my current setup, I have a DVR software installed on my PC which runs 24/7. Not a solution I particularly like (the PC wasn't built for this purpose) or that I was looking for, but all the others seemed less practical (NVRs are expensive, especially if you want full HD or 4K resolution).
The only reason I did that was because I didn't want any of the data to be stored on the internet. Unfortunately the vast majority of cameras for 'home-use' with remote access connect to their own servers in order for you to be able to see them from your phone. So, if you disable internet access on those camera, you are pretty much isolated.

I've been using iSpy personally for probably about 3 years now (used to use Debut) both good software, never once had an issue just requires PC to be running 24x7

I'm now running one of the Hikvision DVR boxes. Can't really complain. My Hikvision camera is 1080p and only costs £20. I'm upgrading to the 5MP / 8MP ones soon for some more quality. The Hikvision AHD Cameras @ 8MP seem to be limited to about 15fps, I prefer true motion so I generally try to aim for 25-30 fps, either way they're loads better than my existing setup

I'm loving the Hikvision DVR too. h.265+ compression is really really good.