Browse Forums Safer Living 1 Jan 01, 2019 9:18 am Hello all. As the heading requests, I'm after recommendations for security cameras for our new home, plus the associated system to manage that and view footage. I have been browsing through similar threads here and elsewhere, and frankly have been left overwhelmed by options and choices. Therefore, I thought it best to outline the desired outcomes, available infrastructure and limitations and let the learned folk here make suggestions. The house is new. It is rectangular in shape, approximately 30m x 6m. It is single story. It has no readily accessible ceiling cavity due to the type of roof. It is in the country on a 10 hectare block. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ We have a network hub in the house, which contains a 24 port Netgear switch, half PoE and half not. We (meaning the company we contracted) have run Cat6 cables for cameras to six locations around the house, one each on the short ends, and two each on the long ends so that camera angles could interlock. The bare cables come out the walls at about 2.6m height (where the red crosses are) Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Our internet connection is NBN fixed wireless through Telstra. We have a WD four-bay NAS with 16TB capacity that is largely empty. I have no particular biases or prejudice with respect to brand or system type, but I do have some preferences and there are limitations. My preferences can be changed by logical argument or unavailability, but the limitations may not be able to be overcome. So, here is the requirement: * Primary purpose: security (deterrence, monitoring and proof). * Secondary purpose: monitoring (fire, animals, whatever) Six cameras: Wall mounted. Good quality, able to identify faces. Must be relatively attractive, black in colour or able to be skinned predominantly black. Wall mountable. Preferably powered by PoE, not battery (unless they are rechargeable and run for a year), and certainly not a power adapter (too late now due to building structure). * Recording: If such a thing exists, I would love for the cameras to be able to record to the existing NAS. If not, adding a new recording box (DVR/NVR?) would be able to be accommodated. I really don’t want to record to the cloud, especially if that comes at an ongoing cost. * Expandability: It would be nice if I could add some extra cameras, both external and internal, permanent or temporary, and if the system was flexible enough to handle battery powered wireless cameras from time to time. For example, to cover the inside of the house, or the tractor shed or the fox snooping around our chicken coop. * Management: the software to run this system must be OS X or IOS based, with a preference for the former, and I don’t want a dedicated computer allocated to this system unless someone makes a strong argument for installing on in my network cupboard. * Viewability: preferably viewable from anywhere in the world through an iPad or iPhone app, or less desirably through a web browser. * Installation/setup: the company that did our wiring can help install, but I'll probably do the configuration. * Cost: I want quality and am prepared to pay for that, but the sky is not the limit. I well understand luxury goods and the Veblen effect, and I am not about paying for a name just for the name sake. Please think more value for money, but at the higher end. I think that about covers it, except to add that the company that wired for us was asked to provide, but they only install one professional level system, and it is windows based – hence why that was not acceptable. Sorry for the long post. Happy to answer anything I might have missed. Re: Recommend security cameras + supporting system 2Jan 02, 2019 8:08 am My solution is 2 systems, wired and wireless I have experience with Arlo Pro2 wireless camera system and it is excellent. It will give you 5 cameras in the cloud for free for 7 days and you can view anywhere on I phone/Ipad and turn on and off as required remotely. I choose to pay $100/ year for up to 10 cameras with 30 day cloud. You can now buy 3 camera system for $700 or buy two sets(6cameras) for $ 1400 and the base station runs off your modem router. Super easy to set up yourself. For wired system I have Hikvision 8 camera 4MP system recording to 2 tb disk 24/7 and that will overwrite every 7-10 days. Its excellent and I choose not to have remote control but if there is an issue I can review the footage on site. You will need a screen and I simply hook it up to my TV On Arlo I pick up wallabies at night, birds, even bugs and spiders if they crawl on to the camera Make sure you have UPS or solar as without power nothing will work. Hope this helps you Foremost Building Expert in Australia,assisting with building problems/disputes, building stage inspections,pre-contract review advice for peace of mind 200 blogs http://www.buildingexpert.net.au/blog Re: Recommend security cameras + supporting system 5Jan 02, 2019 4:03 pm You will be probably surprised, but most of the Chinese security cameras you can get from Aliexpress those days are offering HD1080Ps+ set ups with Night Vision with iOS/Android control. It will cost you less than US$500 for the set of 8 POE cameras with NVR and all cables. Hikvision is also a Chinese brand, by the way, you will be able to get some really good offers closer to Chinese New Year. Re: Recommend security cameras + supporting system 7Jan 03, 2019 8:36 am Most of the cheap camera models are not vari focus and do not support H.265. Thus during install they cannot be 'custom' setup. Many NVR have limited incoming bandwidth. Many NVR do not support ONVIF and H.265 Re: Recommend security cameras + supporting system 8Jan 03, 2019 1:51 pm IamSAM Most of the cheap camera models are not vari focus and do not support H.265. Thus during install they cannot be 'custom' setup. Many NVR have limited incoming bandwidth. Many NVR do not support ONVIF and H.265 You will be surprised, but most of them do. In fact, it is harder to find the ones which DO NOT. Re: Recommend security cameras + supporting system 10Feb 24, 2020 10:44 am The software will allow you to control the NVR fan, however it is best left to the default. The fan and the storage hard disk are behind the inevitable hum. Re: Recommend security cameras + supporting system 11Apr 28, 2021 11:37 am If the fan making a noise is still an issue Dahua offers a recorder that's fan-less (NVR2108-8P-4KS2), but I recommend not installing that recorder somewhere that's not well ventilated since you don't want to over-heat it and have it build to much dust which can cause problems in the future. TRANTECH SECURITY WHOLESALER 26 Davies Ave, Sunshine North VIC 3020 T: (02) 8722 0348 (Syd) T: (03) 9079 5566 (Mel) www.trantechsecurity.com.au It's all about wireless, self install now. The cost/benefit of wired setups for the house are no longer what they used to be. Lots of wireless options. Eufy, Arlo and… 2 6840 It seems very clear to me that your contract states that a security account does NOT need to be established so the answer to the builder is NO. 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