CCTV systems

mutley74

Hello
Looking to upgrade a CCTV system on my parents house. The current system is pre-HD and a bespoke made by the installer with no features for remote access. 
What is a decent brand of CCTV system to use? Is Dahua any good? 
I have used Hikvision before but found the App cumbersome to use.  Any recommendations welcome.  Need remote viewing, night vision and email alerts. 
Thanks. 

a

look here https://ipcamtalk.com/wiki/ip-cam-talk-cliff-notes/
Look on this sites forum, they have some user reviews and samples there too https://ipcamtalk.com, then decide for yourself what you want or need. 

Dahua has a good reputation, but some cameras are language/country locked, so there could be a future firmware upgrade issue when using foreign files, but this is all on the site too

RealGem

I had a Swann system at my last place. It has online access and phone app. I was pleased with the system.

bengalknights

Most systems are generic and usually either made by Hikvision or Dahua.
Dahua is great for its night capabilitys,Hikvision for its ease of use.
It will come down to your budget as to what you want to install (Personally i prefer Milesight and Avgilon systems but they are more commercial/public oriented in there features)

mutley74

bengalknights said:

Most systems are generic and usually either made by Hikvision or Dahua.
Dahua is great for its night capabilitys,Hikvision for its ease of use.
It will come down to your budget as to what you want to install (Personally i prefer Milesight and Avgilon systems but they are more commercial/public oriented in there features)

I used Hikvision before. They changed the app for remote viewing and I found the new one tricky to use. Plus they offer no tech support to end users - only to the installers. My installer went out of business last year, so I could not get much help on my current system. 

cymruchris

I use Hikvision now and find the app on my iPhone works very smoothly, and have two NVR's connected. I have it set up to send me alerts if it detects people in certain areas, and portions of video for certain events. It's a great system, but useful if you have a good computer or reasonable CCTV knowledge when you put it in. I would avoid at all costs the 'kits' that you see on Amazon - NVR plus 8 cameras for only £300 - as when one camera goes down, you'll generally have to get the whole lot refunded and start all over again. (I put an Amazon system in a year ago, two cameras failed, and there was no option to replace the cameras - only refund the whole system).

Far better to order an NVR - and your cameras separately. If you want an easy setup - look for a POE system and POE cameras. This is where the camera and NVR are connected by a standard network cable plugged into either end - and it carries the power and the camera signal simultaneously, with no need to plug the camera in to a mains source wherever it happens to be.

What budget have you set yourself - and how many cameras are you looking to install?

mutley74

cymruchris said:

I use Hikvision now and find the app on my iPhone works very smoothly, and have two NVR's connected. I have it set up to send me alerts if it detects people in certain areas, and portions of video for certain events. It's a great system, but useful if you have a good computer or reasonable CCTV knowledge when you put it in. I would avoid at all costs the 'kits' that you see on Amazon - NVR plus 8 cameras for only £300 - as when one camera goes down, you'll generally have to get the whole lot refunded and start all over again. (I put an Amazon system in a year ago, two cameras failed, and there was no option to replace the cameras - only refund the whole system).

Far better to order an NVR - and your cameras separately. If you want an easy setup - look for a POE system and POE cameras. This is where the camera and NVR are connected by a standard network cable plugged into either end - and it carries the power and the camera signal simultaneously, with no need to plug the camera in to a mains source wherever it happens to be.

What budget have you set yourself - and how many cameras are you looking to install?

It is for a relative. They have had old analogye sony camera's fitted 8-9 years ago. They want to upgrade the system with better quality and enable remote viewing. The existing system has been wired using Cat 5 cable by the installer. So hopefully any upgrade can use this existing wiring. The system has 3 camera and 1 recording unit.  

cymruchris

If there are CAT 5 cables running to each existing camera- you can definitely make use of a POE system (although they do say you get better performance from CAT 6 cables) - what plug is currently at either end of your cables? Does it look like an ethernet connection like you have when you plug something into your broadband router? If they are - that's great - if not - you might need a tool to be able to convert the ends to the right connections.

First things first - you'll need a NVR - and a decent one that runs on Hikvision's app - is the Hilook brand (budget equivalent of Hikvision) - here is a 4 channel POE NVR without hard drive at just over £69 inc vat. You can select them to fit a 1 tb hard drive which will take you up to £115 inc vat for the whole lot - or you can fit your own blank formatted hard drive if you have one (4 simple screws to undo - slip off the casing - plug in your hdd and put it back together - really really easy). Comes with a mouse - and either a VGA or HDMI connection for your existing monitor. 

https://cctvdirectonline.co.uk/4mp-nvr-104h-d4p-4-channel-hilook-nvr-11616-p.asp

There is also an 8 channel version for up to 8 cameras at £146.50 including 1tb hard drive:

https://cctvdirectonline.co.uk/4mp-nvr-108h-d8p-8-channel-hilook-nvr-11617-p.asp

With a POE system like the one above- you fit a standard network ethernet plug onto each end of the cable - one at the camera end, one at the NVR end - then plug one into the camera - one into the NVR - and moments later your camera will be live. There is no need to provide a direct power source to the camera - no need for it to be within a few ft of a mains socket - just put the camera anywhere you want, the power is coming from the NVR along the network cable. 

Then you need to decide what kind of cameras you want - depending on their location. 

There are dome cameras and bullet cameras. 

There are wide angle cameras (2.8mm) less wide-angle cameras but still wide (4mm) and varifocal cameras where you can manually set the angle during the camera setup which might be something like (2.8mm-12mm). 

There are also PTZ cameras - that you can move around from your phone, zoom in and out, and generally see a lot more. These are a touch more expensive. 

Cameras really have so many options - but again - down to your budget.

For £44 inc vat- there's the HiLook turret camera with a 2.8mm lens - good for covering wide areas indoors or outdoors (up to 30m night vision) - but less suitable if the location of the camera is vulnerable to vandalism.

https://cctvdirectonline.co.uk/2mp-ipc-t221h-hilook-by-hikvision--ip-turret-camera-with-30m-night-vision--poe-11631-p.asp

There's a vandal proof version at £53:
https://cctvdirectonline.co.uk/2mp-ipc-d121h-m-hilook-by-hikvision-ip-dome-camera-with-30m-night-vision--poe-11628-p.asp

And there's a bullet style camera at £48 - again 2.8mm wide angle:

2mp-ipc-b121h-m-hilook-by-hikvision-ip-bullet-camera-with-30m-night-vision--poe-11625-p.asp

Then there's a mini - ptz - pan tilt zoom - camera at about £96 on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/LEFTEK-Starlight-Security-Camera-Vision/dp/B07S8RHVT7/ref=sr_1_21_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=poe+cctv+camera+ptz&qid=1595806659&sr=8-21-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyV1FDUFRFVEtQVE9aJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMjMxMTkyMVNTQ0RJNktLU1JZMSZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMDgwNzQ1MVhPMjhMT1NZR05PMCZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2J0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

This allows you to zoom in and out - move left right up and down. Good if you want to be able to see several areas from one position. 

I use a couple of PTZ cameras in my dad's house - to allow me to look in different directions in the garden, and it allows me to zoom in on him when he's sleeping so that I can make sure he's breathing!  (So as to know he's just sleeping in the armchair). 

See if any of the above sounds like what you might be looking for. (You might not see the prices on the cctv direct website - but I've put the prices there to give you a ball park figure.)

cymruchris

This is the tool for crimping on the network cables: 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07VZTN6YK/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_MuHhFbJWY7G3F

And these are the ends you need:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07MM3FQ3F/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_owHhFbV3XTF09

If you have any more questions drop me a message. 

mutley74

Thank You for your kind detailed reply. 
The existing system is wired using Cat 5 which has baloms at the end to connect to the existing camera connections. 
Which is a decent brand with reasonable support? I have a Hikvision in my own place, but it has no email alerts (installer never informed me of this option) and I find the App is a bit hit and miss at times (especially since the recent upgrades on Android).  

cymruchris

mutley74 said:

Thank You for your kind detailed reply. 
The existing system is wired using Cat 5 which has baloms at the end to connect to the existing camera connections. 
Which is a decent brand with reasonable support? I have a Hikvision in my own place, but it has no email alerts (installer never informed me of this option) and I find the App is a bit hit and miss at times (especially since the recent upgrades on Android).  

It's likely not been set up properly if the machine is quite recent. The Hikvision system I installed at my Dad's a few months ago has email and app notifications - and both come through with regularity, but it does need setting up, and it's not as straightforward as it should be. I've also set up line crossing detection to get an alert whenever someone comes to the front door, or walks through the back door. (Only certain cameras can do this - even if the NVR has the capabilities). 

The old connections you have could be chopped, and the new network connections I mentioned could be easily affixed. 

None of the DIY brands really have much support - it's more likely you find a decent installer that can give you decent support, and knows how to program the systems properly. If you want real support - you'd have to go big brand big price - but that would be overkill for a home install. 

Hilook is an offshoot of Hikvision offering slightly reduced functionality but reasonable prices - it's the first and second NVR I outlined above. I have that 8 way in my garage - 1 camera in the garage, 1 camera in the shed, 2 in the back lane, and 3 in bird boxes. I then have another 8 way (more expensive model - HikVision) in the house, with cameras covering the entire ground floor, garden, front and back doors. 

Are you thinking to DIY? Or get it done for you?