security camera system for home

TinCool

Hi all. I'm looking at the possibility of purchasing a security camera system for my home. Having looked at some of the more popular ones, there appears to be a common thread that it's difficult or impossible to stream/record to a local network drive. Is this always the case? Here's a list of requirements.

1. Needs to be able to record to a local network/NAS drive
2. Wireless cameras (i.e. preferrably battery powered)
3. PIR activated, I guess this is pretty standard
4. Access via phone with alert system (iPhone and Android compatibility)
5. Preferrable hook in to Alexa but not essential

I'd welcome any suggestions?

TinCool

I've just found the Blink system on Amazon. Looks pretty cool, although records to the their secure cloud servers, is free, no monthly subscription.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01M675R...625bea3faaad_S

Anyone had any experience with this setup?

SemperFidelis

If you get a synology or qnap NAS they both have surveillance station software built in that allows the NAS to act as a NVR. This would give you a larger range of cameras to select from.

They usually have movement activated recording that you can customize to avoid trees moving in the wind etc. I haven't seen any PIR activated ones.

FrankGrimes

Similar type question here but I’m looking for advice on best wired cameras for monitoring outdoors, to be powered by POE. Reckon I need 4 total to cover the property, might make it 5 as there’s a flat roof with rooflights so might add one up there to monitor also. Needs good quality night vision and recording without cloud subscription. Budget 1000eur for this setup, to include NVR and HDD, though I do have a spare PC I may run Home Assistant on so may be able to just add a dedicated drive into that?

Connection into a smart home hub (HA or smartThings) with ability to view live feed and recordings remotely would be a big plus. Wanted to ask so as to know what to keep an eye out for in Black Friday sales.

SemperFidelis

Synology or QNAP NAS for recording
POE Switch
Dahua, Hikvison, reolink cameras, you can look at the synology or qnap pages for a list of compatible cameras
Router that supports openVPN would allow you to connect to your network and view cameras from phone as if you were on the local network. This would be more secure than port forwarding to your NAS.

givecredit

TinCool wrote: »

Hi all. I'm looking at the possibility of purchasing a security camera system for my home. Having looked at some of the more popular ones, there appears to be a common thread that it's difficult or impossible to stream/record to a local network drive. Is this always the case? Here's a list of requirements.

1. Needs to be able to record to a local network/NAS drive
2. Wireless cameras (i.e. preferrably battery powered)
3. PIR activated, I guess this is pretty standard
4. Access via phone with alert system (iPhone and Android compatibility)
5. Preferrable hook in to Alexa but not essential

I'd welcome any suggestions?

Arlo do 2,3,4, No Alexa access. They record to Arlo Cloud. 7 day recording is free.
Usually £385, £229 today.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Arlo-Smart-Home-Wire-Free-VMS3330-100EUS/dp/B00TDNYNN0/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1511524867&sr=8-3&keywords=arlo&th=1

oinkely

givecredit wrote: »

Arlo do 2,3,4, No Alexa access. They record to Arlo Cloud. 7 day recording is free.
Usually £385, £229 today.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Arlo-Smart-Home-Wire-Free-VMS3330-100EUS/dp/B00TDNYNN0/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1511524867&sr=8-3&keywords=arlo&th=1

Arlo is great, i have them up for a few months now, battery still going strong and alerts whenever movement is detected. Does what it says on the tin.

Not sure how i would integrate with alexa, cant see the point really?

Pique

Netatmo Presence is at it's cheapest on AMAZON right now, although it's still not cheap.
It's wifi, SD card onboard and FTP upload (no subs). PIR and differentiates between animal, person and vehicle. Alerts via phone app and you can set specific areas to alert for specific things (ie, the driveway to alert for a car or the footpath for a person etc.)
It's not battery powered but you replace an external light and so long as it's within wifi range, you're good to go.