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Re: Home CCTV

Posted: Tue Jul 16, 2019 3:52 pm
by Sundayjumper
After much, much faffing I determined it must be the NVR changing the IP addresses - with the cameras attached to the network but the NVR disconnected they behaved normally. I went back to basics, connected the cameras direct to the NVR instead of via a separate PoE switch, and all is well again. I guess <something> in the network was being awkward. Which is a shame as the proper PoE was one of the big reasons for choosing this system !

Hey ho.

Re: Home CCTV

Posted: Wed Jul 17, 2019 11:24 am
by Richard
There’s something a bit Daily Mail about home CCTV

Re: Home CCTV

Posted: Thu Jul 18, 2019 12:30 am
by GG.
GG. wrote: Mon Jul 15, 2019 5:11 pm I've just pulled the trigger on an Annke 4x 8MP POE bullet camera system. The specs look decent but as SJ found, I'm sure the software and associated app will leave a lot to be desired.

Will update as to how I get on...
So this arrived today - very impressively packaged and the whole thing looks like a quality product. The cameras have decent heft to them and are fully metal bodied (even if the ball mount feels quite scratchy). I plugged one of them in to the NVR unit to test it out and booted it up - even the menu wizard and manual kind of made sense (though I've yet to connect it to the network which is clearly where things tend to fall down with these Chinese systems).

The camera quality hooked up to my HD (admittedly not 4K) TV was pretty phenomenal really for the price - each camera can't be more than say £80 a piece, so subtracting the profit they're making, considerably less than that in materials.

Then came the less good news (and no fault of the kit). I went for a 4 bullet camera kit as there weren't any options I could see offering 2 bullet and 2 dome but its pretty clear that the 4mm lens on the bullet cameras, whilst reasonably wide angle, isn't going to be wide angle enough for the front of the house.

I'm seeing if I can negotiate with the seller (via Amazon) to swap two bullets for two 2.8mm domes (which they also sell) as they're all individually packaged within the kit. Their address is in China so unless they have a native in the UK dealing with sales via Amazon, I'm not going to be holding my breath. If that approach fails I'm going to have to either return the whole lot for a four dome camera kit or spend another £200 on two 4k 8MP domes and either flog the bullets on ebay or have a 6 camera set up... which I really don't need in a terraced house with only two 180degree viewpoints to cover.

Re: Home CCTV

Posted: Thu Jul 18, 2019 9:11 am
by Sundayjumper
GG. wrote: Thu Jul 18, 2019 12:30 am ...(even if the ball mount feels quite scratchy)
Requotes ahoy !

Re: Home CCTV

Posted: Thu Jul 18, 2019 10:38 am
by GG.
Absolutely amazingly, they responded within two hours of me emailing at midnight saying I could send them two bullet cameras to an address in the UK and on safe receipt they'd send me two domes back. I suspect the "Jane" that wrote the message is a Chinese Jane as there were a few giveaways in the writing and clearly responding at 2am means she's likely in Guangdong but fingers crossed they live up to their word.

Re: Home CCTV

Posted: Sun Aug 25, 2019 9:37 pm
by Mito Man
We fitted a Ring camera a week ago and I highly recommend them if you only need a few cameras. They have a very polished app and the model we fitted has floodlights, sirens and two way communication. Other benefits are that we needed CCTV in an area with no power, so plugged a solar panel in and it has a rechargeable battery which it can fully charge as it only records and uploads to the cloud when it senses motion.
The motion detection is very good too with no false alerts from moving trees and it pings your phone as soon as it sees a heat source. You can then activate the siren or speak.
Image
The image here isn’t the clearest as the WiFi router is 200 metres away so it’s downgrading the quality a lot from 1080i.

Well worth looking into if you’re looking for cctv.

Re: Home CCTV

Posted: Tue Aug 27, 2019 3:40 am
by unzippy
Mito Man wrote: Sun Aug 25, 2019 9:37 pm We fitted a Ring camera a week ago and I highly recommend them if you only need a few cameras. They have a very polished app and the model we fitted has floodlights, sirens and two way communication. Other benefits are that we needed CCTV in an area with no power, so plugged a solar panel in and it has a rechargeable battery which it can fully charge as it only records and uploads to the cloud when it senses motion.
The motion detection is very good too with no false alerts from moving trees and it pings your phone as soon as it sees a heat source. You can then activate the siren or speak.
Image
The image here isn’t the clearest as the WiFi router is 200 metres away so it’s downgrading the quality a lot from 1080i.

Well worth looking into if you’re looking for cctv.
How much is the subscription nowadays?

Re: Home CCTV

Posted: Tue Aug 27, 2019 9:52 am
by Mito Man
It is £25 a year for 1 camera or £80 for an unlimited number.

Re: Home CCTV

Posted: Tue Aug 27, 2019 11:13 am
by mik
I don’t think unzippy meant that.

Image

Re: Home CCTV

Posted: Tue Aug 27, 2019 11:53 am
by Mito Man
Oh not sure what’s happened there.

Re: Home CCTV

Posted: Tue Aug 27, 2019 12:56 pm
by Simon
I'd say your bandwidth limit's been exceeded.

Re: Home CCTV

Posted: Tue Aug 27, 2019 1:10 pm
by tim
Synology Surveillance Station for the win, AFAIAC.

Re: Home CCTV

Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2020 11:32 am
by Ascender
Mito Man wrote: Sun Aug 25, 2019 9:37 pm We fitted a Ring camera a week ago and I highly recommend them if you only need a few cameras. They have a very polished app and the model we fitted has floodlights, sirens and two way communication. Other benefits are that we needed CCTV in an area with no power, so plugged a solar panel in and it has a rechargeable battery which it can fully charge as it only records and uploads to the cloud when it senses motion.
The motion detection is very good too with no false alerts from moving trees and it pings your phone as soon as it sees a heat source. You can then activate the siren or speak.
Image
The image here isn’t the clearest as the WiFi router is 200 metres away so it’s downgrading the quality a lot from 1080i.

Well worth looking into if you’re looking for cctv.
Holy thread bump Batman!

Which model did you buy [mention]Mito Man[/mention] ?

Any issues with them now you’ve had them a while?

I’ve finally had it with this janky Chinese shit. The Ring doorbell is such a brilliant piece of kit - utterly reliable, easy to use etc. I can’t believe how bad all these old-school CCTV systems are - its almost as if the industry wants to maintain this illusion that its all really difficult to do, by making things like firmware updates an utter PITA - so all about job protection.

Re: Home CCTV

Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2020 12:08 pm
by mik
I am using Ring Stick-Up cams. Also battery powered - I have fitted solar panels - just bought 2 spare cells and I zip up the ladders if they are running low. Battery life depends how often it is triggered but even the busiest camera goes 4 weeks between charges.

They don’t have large antennas on them so need a decent WiFi signal.

Otherwise I agree wrt the motion sensing - very good. Audible warning of motion also v useful, although I’d like to be able to mute that on all phones at once (if I mute this for 2hrs on my phone as I know I will be outside - it doesn’t mute on others phones).

Re: Home CCTV

Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2020 12:31 pm
by Ascender
mik wrote: Mon Apr 27, 2020 12:08 pm I am using Ring Stick-Up cams. Also battery powered - I have fitted solar panels - just bought 2 spare cells and I zip up the ladders if they are running low. Battery life depends how often it is triggered but even the busiest camera goes 4 weeks between charges.

They don’t have large antennas on them so need a decent WiFi signal.

Otherwise I agree wrt the motion sensing - very good. Audible warning of motion also v useful, although I’d like to be able to mute that on all phones at once (if I mute this for 2hrs on my phone as I know I will be outside - it doesn’t mute on others phones).
That’s interesting as its the stick-up cams I’m looking at now.

Is there any value to the solar panels then if you’re still reliant on swapping batteries out every month or so?

Re: Home CCTV

Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2020 12:48 pm
by Mito Man
We only have the ring spotlight cams (besides the doorbell) as we really needed the alarm function to deter people which has worked brilliantly. We only had them in the woods originally which has stopped all trespassing and now use them around the house after kids started breaking in recently.

The first one we fitted was a battery model due to location which didn’t last very long, with the solar panel now I haven’t recharged it since February as the days are long enough now. The only thing with the battery model is that the picture quality and night vision isn’t as good, it doesn’t seem as alert as it’s always power saving.

If you have power nearby then I’d go for the hardwired model - the only thing is that the plug on it is a solid vulcanised job so unless you cut the cable in half and void the warranty you’d need to drill a plug sized hole in the wall - hence you still have to bring the power outside the house in a waterproof box if you want to avoid that. Maybe the stick up cam is different.
When speaking to my friend who first introduced me to these he said that being mains voltage is a major advantage as criminals cutting visible wires is pretty common which is easy with your normal 12 volt DC camera but you wouldn’t want to do it with these :lol:

Re: Home CCTV

Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2020 12:55 pm
by Mito Man
I’ve just taken some screenshots of the battery powered cam and the hardwired
Image
Image
Pretty clear to see the top one is battery powered.

Re: Home CCTV

Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2020 1:48 pm
by Ascender
Thanks [mention]Mito Man[/mention] that’s really interesting, especially the difference in quality.

I’ve got holes for POE cameras already, but the connector to the cams seems to have a 90 degree connector on it, so I’d either have to cut the wire or make a bigger hole.

How long is the power adapter & cable you get for these?

Other option is to just put one on the outside office pointing back at the house rather than having one on the house pointing out the way.

Re: Home CCTV

Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2020 2:19 pm
by Mito Man
I’d say it’s about 5 metres long.
Yeah if I could just have cut the cable I could have stuck it in the junction box but as it’s a shed I decided to just holesaw the much cheaper plywood as you know it’s sods law that the camera then dies after 6 months...
Image
:lol:

With the brick garage boring a massive hole isn’t an option so bought one of these https://www.screwfix.com/p/pro-xt-13a- ... -10m/4097x hid it and plugged the camera into that.

Edit - just thinking that you could probably unscrew the base of the camera and if you’re lucky the cables that end may just be screwed in, just need to check there’s no warranty void type stickers... I didn’t try.

Re: Home CCTV

Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2020 3:09 pm
by Ascender
Good thinking....

I’ll order a single plug-in camera for starters and then go from there I think.