CCTV IP Cameras for Home - Recommended HIKVision, Thoughts?

Ldamop on 24/09/2017 - 18:30
Last edited 24/09/2017 - 19:22

Hi ozbargainers,

I've just built a house and looking at IP cameras (after new neighbours just got broken into). I've got a synology NAS so can get a couple of IP cameras added for free. Looking at the HIKVision range, mate has a few and raves about them.

Wondering where the best place to buy, or any other recommendations? Im looking at a wide angle one for the front (from front door/porch towards the road) and another wide angle for the rear (from alfresco area outwards).

Should I look at getting a dedicated NVR to run them, or just use the synology (using surveilance station) for free.

Cheers!

Electrical & Electronics

Comments

  • outlander on 24/09/2017 - 18:41

    All I have is the thoughts. Still interested in hearing them?

    • dogboy on 24/09/2017 - 18:58

      No thanks

      • outlander on 24/09/2017 - 23:24

        Too bad, they were good ones

        • dogboy on 25/09/2017 - 08:26
          +1

          You didn't say they were good ones! Aww..

  • dogboy on 24/09/2017 - 18:57

    I am also interested in this as well as how to store the recording device securely so that it cannot be tampered with by the thieves if they break in.

  • haydio on 24/09/2017 - 19:01

    Hikvision cams are great, have around 70 of them at work. I'd see how you go with your Synology and if you get more cameras upgrade to a Hik NVR.

    PS. Don't forget to set a password

    • damop on 24/09/2017 - 19:21

      Thanks mate. The HIKVision PVRs dont seem too bad price, so convenience of it all, might just get a 8x NVR.

  • jason101 on 24/09/2017 - 19:54
    +3

    I use the Hik product at my house and I introduced them to our workplace as well, we've since install about 40 at work over the past 3 years and zero failure rates so far - they are great but I would rank them at "enthusiast" level. There is a reasonable degree of "farting around" to get them working perfectly.

    We also have a small warehouse for our business and I just upgraded the cameras there to the hikvisions as well - I would thoroughly recommend going for the PTZ variant of the cameras in a few locations as opposed to the fix lens - they are so much better (ie no guess work as to whether to go with 2.8mm or 4mm or 6mmm fixed zoom etc).

    Things to be mindful of:

    1. You need to buy a POE switch (even if you have a hik nvr to power the cameras) there is a fair amount of bench testing and set up which cannot easily be done via the nvr directly).

    2. Some scandalous eBay sellers (all chinese in my experience) do NOT provide a working password with the camera's. Fair enough they hack the firmware of a chinese only model so it works in english - but nothing worse than them then not providing a working password and then stuffing you around. In the end I have had to go through a somewhat convoluted process of gathering info and then emailing it to Hik to get a hard reset (this cannot be done locally without a code provided by hik which is unique to your camera and the time stamp in the camera)

    3. Be aware that some Hik NVR's only support up to 3mp cameras - so if you buy the 4mp it wont work until you locally log into it and tell it to use a lower res.

    4. Ditto most newer cameras support H.265 however the common NVR's only support H.264+ at most - "incompatible stream" comes up - this took me a long while to work out.

    5. Note on some of the cheaper NVRs on ebay (the ones I have bought) have somewhat confusing model numbers, ie the 7608 supports up to 8 camera, it has only 4 POE ports on the back, so you have to daisy chain up a POE switch just to get your 8 cameras working…

    If you need a hand let me know happy to help if I can.

    I just installed a new camera outside our warehouse yesterday and was blown away with the non infra-red versions night vision (we have a pretty basic LED light out the front all night - here is a pic.

    https://imgur.com/a/Nbs6G

    • damop on 24/09/2017 - 20:01

      Thanks mate, good info.

      Couple of things, i work in IT for a living, so happy with a bit of farting around. Also I have a Cisco 48pt gigabit POE switch that I will be using for my other networking equipment, so no POE on the NVR isnt a deal breaker. Also, have access to POE injectors if needed.

    • damop on 24/09/2017 - 20:24

      For the front and rear, id be better off going for a wide angle I think. Have you had much success with them?

  • [Deactivated] on 24/09/2017 - 20:12
    -4

    CCTV is great for looks. serves nothing on a security point of view.
    My neighbor had 4 of his 4mp cameras stolen in broad day light while everyone was home.
    The thief didnt even bother to cover his face & the cops could'nt give a damn.
    All cctv does is attract attention.

    • outlander on 24/09/2017 - 23:26

      Why is this being negged? He's not wrong in what he's saying

  • Brucet on 24/09/2017 - 20:38
    +2

    I suggest u install house alarm first.

  • PR0r on 24/09/2017 - 22:03

    Dahua Starlight Varifocal Turret (IPC-HDW5231R-Z) is an excellent camera I came across last year.
    Great, detailed review over at ipcamtalk which hopefully sells it to you. I purchased one before Christmas last year and it's absolute quality. The night vision is extremely good, camera was easy to install/use too.
    There's an AliExpress supplier active within that forum above, I purchase from his store for around $250. Can link to anyone if need be. I was in your shoes and was set on an HIK Vision cam and upon researching found this. In my opinion it's comparable to a Xiaomi phone.

  • JimmyF on 24/09/2017 - 22:20

    Should I look at getting a dedicated NVR to run them, or just use the synology (using surveilance station) for free.

    Synology is pretty darn good as a NVR. So give it a go and see what you think of it ;)

  • vicosads on 25/09/2017 - 08:15
    +1

    Dahua is another chinese brand that makes very similar gear to Hikvision may want to look into them aswell. Whatever you do stay away from mainstream budget stuff like Swann.

  • nickw444 on 25/09/2017 - 08:59

    Glad I saw this post now - I actually was researching this after having some malicious damage to vehicles outside the front of my house.

    I decided that i'm going to go the zoneminder route (but also considered synology, but steered away due to licensing costs - make sure you factor this in if you're using >2 cameras). As for which cameras i'm going to buy, I guess i'm still undecided. Past threads point me toward Hikvision or Foscam.

    I guess with the zoneminder software I'll have flexibility to try other cheapo cameras as well, as the hardware compatibility list is pretty extensive.

  • boccos on 25/09/2017 - 09:02

    Hikvision, fiddly to set up but great clarity, even at night. Around $130 per camera.

    • [Deactivated] on 21/10/2017 - 22:19

      Which camera would that be?

      • boccos on 22/10/2017 - 08:03

        Hikvision IR Mini Bullet Camera Model DS-2CD2042WD-1. (4MP 1/3"Cmos)

  • exceladdict on 25/09/2017 - 09:40

    We had trouble with our gear being stolen, so now in addition to a local NVR, back up some cameras offsite using www.mangocam.com

    They have great tech support and you'll get a couple of cams at 720p over most 100/40 nbn connections.

  • damop on 25/09/2017 - 10:09
    +1

    Thanks for the all the info guys, I just bought 2x Dahua IPC-HDW5231R-Z cameras (one for front and one for back), and will use my Synology (surveillance station which is free for first 2 cameras). Until I get more cameras, then will move to a Dahua NVR when I get more financial. Picked up the cameras for about $180AUD each delivered from aliexpress. True Ozbargain style, I got an extra 6% cashback with cashrewards.

    • PR0r on 25/09/2017 - 14:02

      Great choice, and price! You'll be very pleased with the quality of that camera both day and night. Do you mind linking to the seller you used?

    • [Deactivated] on 21/10/2017 - 22:20
      +1

      Can you please provide a link to the supplier? How is your setup going?

  • MondaySleeper on 25/09/2017 - 11:35

    I recently moved to my new home and came across the same situation. My suburb seems to be calm and safe (at least it looks like that. not many incident reported when I asked around). I decided to go with Alarm first as it’s the most important thing as it helps to deter the intrusion by alarm and flashing light. Camera is good for the evidence part and by the time you get that evidence, crime has been committed. Believe me, police won’t do anything with that even if you hand it over. Even if they catch the bulger, your chances of getting them back is slim.

    I asked around for proper PoE based camera and found it’s very costly. Around 2.5K for the bare minimum setup because of the cabling cost. Wi-Fi is available but you need the power point nearby. So decided to go with Arlo (during 20% eBay sale) and I am happy with it. It captures and saves in the cloud. But Arlo doesn’t record continuously. It has alarm as well. So if you get the notification that someone is there at the door trying to break in, you can trigger the alarm even before the other Aram goes off (the sensor based alarm triggers one the break-in happens like door is opened or sensor finds some motion in the room). Also, you can control some equipments using IFTTT but I haven’t tried it yet.

    The only concern is that unlike other CCTV camera, this guy looks like detached and anyone can easily steal it. I got a separate mount and spray painted with white colour to camoflash but still it shows off itself as it can easily be taken away. If you are mounting high enough, then no issues.

    • Heybargain on 26/04/2018 - 17:20

      Looking at the arlo, how are you getting on with them 6 months on?

  • Rkadian on 10/07/2018 - 17:11

    Just putting it out there

    https://www.marketwatch.com/story/army-rips-out-chinese-made…

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