• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Advice on surveillance cameras

Auggie56

Auggie56

FBBO Gold Member
FBBO Gold Member
Local time
12:49 AM
Joined
Nov 14, 2011
Messages
8,876
Reaction score
18,132
Location
NW Ohio
I have an azz for a neighbor, nuff said.

I have three zones to cover, can hard wire each. One will be a couple of feet from the utility wires. There are lights in the area to be focused, forty watt max.
Can these use my cell phone or laptop as a receiver? Plus, one for a reasonable price.

Thanks
 
Way too much on the market to cover, anything from DIY to pro. These will wire back to a ‘dvr’ or it’ll be a cloud based system, or both. Cloud stuff you pay a subscription for typically. Anything today you should be able to access from phone, tablet, web. Some have software. If you have a dvr it’ll have a local UI too, hook a PC monitor up to it. If you have a local security guy, two guys and truck, I would call them to see what they offer and how much. Stay away from the big security companies.
 
We have a 12 camera system, can add four more, from Swan. Got it from Costco. It's hardwired with B&C cables, goes to a 2 terabyte hard drive unit that will upload to the cloud when it gets full. We can watch what's happening on out phones, get alerts, change some settings etc. They do have a higher end unit that takes cat5/ethernet cabling but our install/tech guys said that one has more connection issues down the road due to corrosion from the elements. I did add in a bluetooth pair to the garage for additional security there. Hardwired is harder to hack for dirtbags too.
 
ckessel said:
We have a 12 camera system, can add four more, from Swan. Got it from Costco. It's hardwired with B&C cables, goes to a 2 terabyte hard drive unit that will upload to the cloud when it gets full. We can watch what's happening on out phones, get alerts, change some settings etc. They do have a higher end unit that takes cat5/ethernet cabling but our install/tech guys said that one has more connection issues down the road due to corrosion from the elements. I did add in a bluetooth pair to the garage for additional security there. Hardwired is harder to hack for dirtbags too.
Click to expand...

Is this one, WiFi capable? I'd hate to pull cable.

Thanks
 
Pulling the cable ain't too bad.

The power and video are in the same cable.

With wireless, you'll be changing batteries soon and that will be almost as bad as pulling the cable but you'll be doing it every year.
 
Auggie56 said:
HISEEU Wifi IP 3MP 8CH 2K NVR Kit Wireless Security Camera System CCTV Outdoor | eBay
Click to expand...
Those are hardwired to a plug in but the signal is wi-fi. It looks exactly like the Crystal Vision system I bought off of Amazon a few years ago. I have a lot of floored attic space and a number of receptacle outlets up there so getting power to them was not a major issue in my case. The power out to them is low voltage so a hole just big enough for a bullet connector is all that has to be drilled.

Their benefit to me was not having to drop a bunch of signal cables down through the ceiling in our den where the DVR/screen unit sits. They are a lot better than battery cams that have to have new batteries fairly often but I have had issues with the cameras losing wi-fi connectivity. It’s usually restored by unplugging the power and plugging it back in. This can be done at the camera or up in the attic. The original cameras were especially bad about this and eventually I changed 3 of them out and the more recent cameras are pretty reliable. Mine is only a 4 camera system however and not expandable.
 
AR67GTX said:
Those are hardwired to a plug in but the signal is wi-fi. It looks exactly like the Crystal Vision system I bought off of Amazon a few years ago. I have a lot of floored attic space and a number of receptacle outlets up there so getting power to them was not a major issue in my case. The power out to them is low voltage so a hole just big enough for a bullet connector is all that has to be drilled.

Their benefit to me was not having to drop a bunch of signal cables down through the ceiling in our den where the DVR/screen unit sits. They are a lot better than battery cams that have to have new batteries fairly often but I have had issues with the cameras losing wi-fi connectivity. It’s usually restored by unplugging the power and plugging it back in. This can be done at the camera or up in the attic. The original cameras were especially bad about this and eventually I changed 3 of them out and the more recent cameras are pretty reliable. Mine is only a 4 camera system however and not expandable.
Click to expand...
You think that "catalytic grease" in thous connections would help with that? I think it's the tail light bulb grease in automotive stores. I my case it's in an unheated unattached garage, subject to moisture in the air.
I pop'ed for one at Lowe's, today. It's billed as DYI friendly.

Many thanks everyone. It's important I get this up a running.

This neighbor is toying with my property after I caught him on a lie and confronted him about it, he said he would get back at me in his own way. Three incidents so far. Nothing of value, but he is unstable and I can see it escalating.
 
Dick neighbors are the worst.
 
Auggie56 said:
This neighbor is toying with my property after I caught him on a lie and confronted him about it, he said he would get back at me in his own way. Three incidents so far. Nothing of value, but he is unstable and I can see it escalating.
Click to expand...

Have you let your local law enforcement agency know about what's going on?
 
Auggie56 said:
You think that "catalytic grease" in thous connections would help with that? I think it's the tail light bulb grease in automotive stores. I my case it's in an unheated unattached garage, subject to moisture in the air.
I pop'ed for one at Lowe's, today. It's billed as DYI friendly.

Many thanks everyone. It's important I get this up a running.

This neighbor is toying with my property after I caught him on a lie and confronted him about it, he said he would get back at me in his own way. Three incidents so far. Nothing of value, but he is unstable and I can see it escalating.
Click to expand...
I actually used NoOx grease on my power and antenna connection and did not see much improvement. I think it was some flaw in the cameras at the time. The newer replacements have been a lot more reliable.
 
Auggie56 said:
Is this one, WiFi capable? I'd hate to pull cable.

Thanks
Click to expand...
They do make wifi capable units. We just preferred to go hardwired as it's more hack resistant. The dvd unit is hooked to our routers directly. On the phone you can view, change some settings. For major changes you must get into the dvd unit which has a monitor and a mouse for changes to parameters. Law enforcement can also get into it if there has been an issue on your property on the neighborhood in view. The cameras have color daytime and IR for night viewing. Of course someone can snip the cables to some cameras but they'll need a tall ladder for access. I used Swan's BT units in the garage so they can be viewed on our phones too. I tried to use Chamberlin/Liftmaster cameras, since those are the door openers we have, but could not get them to communicate and enable. Tech help through them was non existent. Therefore the reason for bt units. I pulled the cable for the two exterior cameras on the new garage prior to sheet rocking. The others got run by the Geek Squad, on our old camera system with 8 units. We had a local tech company add the cables for the new system that gave us 4 more units, swap out old cameras for new plus add the 4. Old system sucked as you needed to be a geek to figure out and were not phone capable. Since we are by the salty pond, the tech guys cleaned up the old connectors, had some corrosion, then used the NoOx grease on all exterior connections. These guys also work on marine stuff so they've found that grease is better than silicone di-electric. They were the ones who said the B&C were a better connection than the cat5/ethernet due to the salt air issues. We did do an upgrade for recording to the cloud as the drive gets full. We did not like the bids we got from commercial companies for install and monitoring. Highway robbery.
 
Another item to ponder on the bt/wifi cameras. They are battery powered, at least the ones in my garage are. Due to having a battery instead of hardwired, you have to remove them periodically for charging. On mine that was a full day per unit. How often do you want to get on a ladder to remove for recharge? During recharge you have no coverage for that unit obviously. I do have mine hooked up to a usb adaptor now for full time power. No big deal since they are inside garage.
 
We bought a Ring camera for our kitchen, works really well. It's nice because it notifies you of any movement via phone then you can observe and even talk back and forth with the person. The one we bought just plugs into an outlet but I'm sure there other options.
 
Thanks everyone, the unit I bought can run off a phone line or our WIFI.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

K
Anyone want to make a few $$$s? Advice on Sniper install
Replies
11
Views
576
kaj750
K
SteveSS
  • Locked
This is the best anti-EV article I have ever read.
3 4 5
Replies
97
Views
6K
Geetex
Geetex
C
Building a mopar
Replies
4
Views
7K
Budnicks
Budnicks
Auto Transport Service
Back
Top