Suggestions for home security?

[Ace2cool]

Needing a security system for my house now. Recent break-in and doubtful it's going to get better due to proximity to the offenders. Have a detached garage that I'd like monitored as well so wired is probably not an option. Don't wanna have to trench to run a wire. Anybody have any suggestions on what they use? Notifications and phone apps aren't necessary, but would be preferred. Local DVR/NVR also preferred. I don't want to have to pay a subscription fee for something I can hide in the attic or whatever.

[centralcoaster33]

Dead bolts, window stops/ locking latches, Tall perimeter fencing, light and airy landscaping, motion activated lighting and a guard dog will complement any camera surveillance system. I've looked into the systems a bit, but not come to a conclusion myself so I'm curious what others will suggest. I too am interested in similar features. I don't want grainy footage either. I want identifiable faces.

[szh]

Check with MinisterofDoom ... I think he works for a security company in Utah (Vivint as I recall) and can provide you with a ton of info.

Z

[MinisterofDOOM]

I don't work for Vivint (although I know some of their management and they're good folks) but I do indeed work for an alarm company in Utah.

I know more of the telecom/back-end side of things rather than the in-home hardware/install side, but a few things come to mind for this:

Pretty much all commercial-grade security cameras these days are the same. They're nearly all made by some company in China and rebadged under 50 trillion brands. They all work the same, but they also all have the same factory-configured default logins, so make sure you change your settings unless you want wardialers checking out your very-accessible IP cameras.

There really aren't any good wireless cameras, especially on the professional end of the spectrum. Last summer, I tested some Logitech Arlo Pro cameras (wifi with battery, no wires at all) and the cameras themselves were good, but the cloud service was AWFUL and made the cameras basically useless. Nothing else is really wireless; you'll at least need power. But even with just power, wifi cameras tend to have sub-par quality anyway (limited range, lots of compression artifacting). Most ethernet (vs coax) cameras support PoE, so if you can pick up a cheap PoE switch or some PoE injectors, you just need to run a single ethernet cable to each camera and you're set.
Arlo did allow for local storage in addition to their cloud storage (which varies depending on your subscription tier). I plugged a 3TB USB hard drive into mine and never worried about paying for added storage online.

Alarm.com has added a lot of really cool MIY (monitor-it-yourself) stuff lately, including a very robust video suite with smartphone app and web viewer support as well as alerting (either directly to you or through your alarm company's monitoring center--or both--depending on your preference). A lot of alarm companies and panels work with Alarm.com, so it might be a good option if you're looking for easy access to your cameras anywhere, any time.

[Ace2cool]

I'm aware of the install route, as I used to install cameras for Nissan. So the install stuff I've got covered. I just really don't wanna trench but I wanna have something inside the garage. I guess if it comes down to it, I could just set a small 200GB DVR in the ceiling of the garage or something. Something with local access only. Just would like everything accessible for remote viewing, and especially the garage, since it is detached. PoE is good stuff, but does require direct access. We used to use Avigilon at Nissan, but they are ridiculously overpriced. it would be roughly $4-5k for how I want to spec my system. Not gonna happen. Great cameras, but just not worth it.

Why do you say the wireless are crap?

[MinisterofDOOM]

I've never round a wireless camera that doesn't suffer from video degradation and artifacting, especially when the frame gets busy (as in, you know, when watching a thief moving around in the camera's FOV). Unless it's using some proprietary wireless tech that stays well out of the 2.4GHz range, it's going to be an awful experience. Even 5GHz wifi isn't a fix because it suffers from shorter range and greater degradation through walls. So you're either dealing with huge interference issues (every house in a hundred feet has at least one 2.4GHz wifi ap, plus fifty million 2.4GHz bluetooth devices, plus a microwave, plus possibly cordless phones and baby monitors...) or crappy range. Either way, you end up with bad video quality.

[centralcoaster33]

So you can get a clear signal and have power going with just a CAT 5 to each camera from a central location? Are resolution and night time clarity really all the same? I really want identifiable faces, not just whether or not someone had a hat or hoodie. Of course prices matter. Can reasonable systems actually be had for a grand or two, what's the average ballpark for a home?

[szh]

All my security cameras are wired for a good reason - I would be concerned about the video quality and interference and throughput using WiFi.

One important advice with regard to the type of cameras/recorders. Do not get analog video cameras with an analog recorder - these simply do not have the quality necessary to see what is going on when viewed later. I checked out and returned the first el-cheapo analog system I purchased before I installed it, even though it claimed to do "near 1080P" quality, the video image sucked.

My system at home is a Q-See 8-channel NVR (purchased from Costco - excellent sale prices!) that provides Power-Over-Ethernet (POE) wiring to the six cameras around the house perimeter. Thus, it uses a single Ethernet cable to each camera - this carries the video data encoded by the IP camera and the power to run the camera electronics and processors.

If I had used analog cameras, I would have had to use video cables (thicker) and a power cable - and the video quality would have degraded for the 100 foot runs I needed to reach the recorder from the more distant corners of my house.

My cameras are 1920 x 1080 resolution (i.e., 1080P) at 60 Hz and well suited to the task. The NVR recorder has a 2TB drive (WD drive rated for surveillance) and stores about 30 days of recording, since my NVR is set to record on motion detection rather than continuously. Two of the cameras are set to trigger together if either senses motion - this allows me to cover the full front of my house for any motion.

Also, Q-See app on my Android phone allows me to see the real-time camera feeds remotely - easy access from my phone anywhere in the world!

Later, I plan to add one or two cameras (hence the reason I purchased the 8-channel NVR) for excellent coverage of anybody standing at the front door - this will be newer 4MP cameras that can record in higher resolution than 1080P, at a frame rate of 30 per second since the NVR I have cannot do those higher resolutions at 60 frames/sec.

BTW, I had my system professionally installed (labor was about $180 per camera average). The installers did a great job of hiding the cables inside the outside walls, stringing the Ethernet wiring very unobtrusively, including using weather and damage protected metal pipes channels along one side of the house to the attic and down to my office where the NVR is located.

Check out the Q-See NVR systems at Costco - you may well be surprised at how good they can be. Not cheap, but my entire system was $799 for the NVR and cameras and about $1150 additional for the professional install.

Z

[szh]

So you can get a clear signal and have power going with just a CAT 5 to each camera from a central location? Are resolution and night time clarity really all the same? I really want identifiable faces, not just whether or not someone had a hat or hoodie. Of course prices matter. Can reasonable systems actually be had for a grand or two, what's the average ballpark for a home?

In general, the answer to your question is YES. I would recommend CAT 5e or CAT 6 cables (one to each camera) instead. There is no real cost difference!

With my current 1080P system, I can easily identify people and faces during the day. At night, the cameras turn on their Infra-Red LED bulbs (range of 50 to 60 feet), but the recording will be B/W and not color. This makes accurate faces at night a bit more difficult to recognize unless they are closer to the cameras, but I can figure out people I already know (like if neighbors walk by our house).

Check out this Costco system: https://www.costco.com/Q-See-8-channel- ... 41506.html ... the price of $599 is excellent, particularly since this system has 4 MP cameras to begin with (my older system from a few years ago didn't!)

Look at the sample videos near the bottom of that Costco link too - they can show you what to expect. My recordings are definitely similar, although at 1920 x 1080 rather than at the 2688 x 1520 resolution of these new cameras.