I am thinking of setting up a home security system. At a bare minimum, I want to have cameras that are recording all the time. If not too expensive, I also would like to have a centralized system that could monitor doors, windows etc. If any of you guys have any such system in use at your homes, please give your inputs. Also, is anybody using IP cameras for surveillance? What are the ways in which I can record the video for multiple cameras?
Anybody Here Using Home Security System
- Thread starter unni
- Start date
I'm not aware of any cheap options that include sensors for doors and windows. I personally use a single wireless camera on the main door entrance, the software that comes with it is a fully featured DVR with control up to 16 cameras.
My friend opted for a hardware dvr with 4 cameras and a 300GB hard disk. Both seem to be working fine, the choice comes down to your specific securirty need and available space, etc. If you already have a file server and want minimal wiring, the wireless IP solution is quite good. Plus you can add cameras very easily and processing speeds are far superior to a DVR.
DVRs are much more user friendly, and the cost may be a little lower if you don't already have a PC of some sort. The cameras are quite a bit cheaper, for example, but installation costs can be significantly higher.
My friend opted for a hardware dvr with 4 cameras and a 300GB hard disk. Both seem to be working fine, the choice comes down to your specific securirty need and available space, etc. If you already have a file server and want minimal wiring, the wireless IP solution is quite good. Plus you can add cameras very easily and processing speeds are far superior to a DVR.
DVRs are much more user friendly, and the cost may be a little lower if you don't already have a PC of some sort. The cameras are quite a bit cheaper, for example, but installation costs can be significantly higher.
Set out your requirements first. IP cameras are more expensive than coax connected cameras. You might even opt for a wireless IP camera.
1/4 or 1/3 field view required ? resolution ? night vision ? How many cameras required ? DAC on various DVR differ in quality so a high resolution camera may not be clearly projected on viewer. So DVR specs are also relavant.
1/4 or 1/3 field view required ? resolution ? night vision ? How many cameras required ? DAC on various DVR differ in quality so a high resolution camera may not be clearly projected on viewer. So DVR specs are also relavant.
Thanks guys for the replies.
While researching about this, I came across some of the products offered by Zicom (link). However, I am not sure about how reliable those are. I remember one of my friends getting a similar product from a local start up company few years back, which ended up getting triggered even during thunder!
Almost one year back, some thieves broke into my house. Only my parents where there at that time and it was night. The thieves broke 4 locked doors (one of them was fully metal) and managed to reach the main hall. There was one zero volt bulb in the hall. The thieves removed that to make it fully dark. Luckily, my dad was awake at that time, and he saw the light going off, and their torch light. He shouted and they ran away. Yesterday, mom was telling me about a similar break in in a house 1 km from ours where they took away items including a big screen TV. That's the reason for making this thread.
The main thing I am looking for is reliability. It should run with as minimal human intervention as possible, considering that my parents are the primary users.
Regarding cameras:
While researching about this, I came across some of the products offered by Zicom (link). However, I am not sure about how reliable those are. I remember one of my friends getting a similar product from a local start up company few years back, which ended up getting triggered even during thunder!
Which camera and software are you using? Does the software work without somebody having to check every day? How is the recording quality? From where did you buy? Also, if you remember the DVR name, please mention that as well.
Almost one year back, some thieves broke into my house. Only my parents where there at that time and it was night. The thieves broke 4 locked doors (one of them was fully metal) and managed to reach the main hall. There was one zero volt bulb in the hall. The thieves removed that to make it fully dark. Luckily, my dad was awake at that time, and he saw the light going off, and their torch light. He shouted and they ran away. Yesterday, mom was telling me about a similar break in in a house 1 km from ours where they took away items including a big screen TV. That's the reason for making this thread.
The main thing I am looking for is reliability. It should run with as minimal human intervention as possible, considering that my parents are the primary users.
Regarding cameras:
- Number of cameras: I am thinking of 4, but would like to add 2 or 3 more in the future.
- Nightvision: Yes
- Field of view: I am not sure about this.
- Resolution: Good enough to make out the faces, and also should give smooth recording. Almost all the wireless IP camera recordings I have seen look like its playing back photos that were taken every 1 second or so. I would like the video that gets recorded to be smoother (continuous).
- Type of camera: I was thinking of wireless cameras since the house is about 1500 square feet with two floors. I plan to keep the cameras on the front, back as well as on the second floor. So, wired cameras could be difficult to setup. However, if wired cameras are more reliable, I will go for them.
- DVR: I am not sure about the type of DVR needed. Are there standalone DVRs for wireless cameras?
Last edited:
Sorry for asking this way, but I have no idea what products are available in India in this category. I couldn't find much info on YouTube either. So, please let me know if you have any particular product in mind.
This is the one I use (and bought from the same seller, IIRC but I can't be sure now): http://www.ebay.in/itm/Tenvis-Wirel...5?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_203&hash=item5896371e07
Software is bundled with the camera. One sets up the camera on your network and the second is the DVR application. The first is not optional, the second one is, in case you already have a DVR software installed you won't need it. Motion sensing is part of the software, you can assign an area for auto detect and it should sound an alarm when it detects any movement there (including friendly movement).
Quality is sufficient to file a police report and the facial features are fairly easy to recognise. Night vision works pretty well, camera works better at night or in dark indoor environment and has problems with sunlight or brightly lit rooms. Higher resolution needs more space. Daily usage for 18 hours recording is ~12GB in my case.
You have to check and delete files once in a while. Apart from that if you have a good connection, preferably wired, no checking is required, I'm on my seventh month of continuous usage.
This is for reference only to get an idea about products available
http://www.adisysonline.com/
http://www.adisysonline.com/