Domestic CCTV recommendations

[surrey bloke]

Great forum BTW. Has anyone got any preferences regarding cctv systems around a domestic property.
I am looking to install 5 units around a domestic semi. I have a tower and looking to install high up near the soffits. Looking at remote monitoring whilst the property is unoccupied.

 

[Murdoch]

If you don’t mind me saying but isn’t 5 units on a semi a bit OTT?

And bear in mind you shouldn’t be pointing them over your neighbours property

 

[Richard-the-Ninth]

5 cameras is a bit odd, I wouldn't say OTT

To record/remotely view CCTV cameras, you will need a NVR (Network Video Recorder) and an internet connection.

Recorders are configured for 4, 8 or 9 cameras, not just 5, so you would need to have an 8/9 channel recorder. 5 cameras will work, but you will have 3/4 blank areas on the monitor which look terrible / distracting.

Also mounting a camera high up on a sofit is not a good idea (Unless it's a bungalow) The reason is you will only get the top of peoples heads or the roof of any vehicle.

As for which brand to get, ask 10 different people and you will get 10 different answers

That said, the "way forward" does seem to be POE systems, as you only need to run one cable to each camera. (Conventional systems have 2 cables, one coax the other for power)

POE being Power Over Ethernet.

 

[Geoff1946]

I did this last year, and found that the first decision was between coax connected and POE network system.
I chose network and bought a kit from CPC incorporating a four way NVR and two cameras. I bought another camera.
Ready made cables were a bonus as these look fiddly to terminate.
The system really was "plug and play", and connected to wi-fi and to our phones with no difficulties. I did struggle getting our home computers to show the video and needed assistance there, but my computer savy son sorted it out.
My system was advertised as "Eagle", but nothing on the hardware or very limited supplied instructions says that.
The down side: It only came with quickstart instructions and vague mentions of "the full manual". There was no specific reference or link to find this, and an e-mail to CPC asking for this produced no response. Eventually I found a manual headed ALHUA which seems to match the NVR.
https://us.dahuasecurity.com/wp-con...Recorder_Users-Manual_V2.3.1_20230210-Eng.pdf
It was only really needed to sort the house network problem mentioned above, which I think came down to the system being seen as a non secure source.

 

[surrey bloke]

Thanks for the comments. 5 is odd I guess. I have a close understanding with my neighbours and one in particular. Soffit mounting was a thought about avoiding cables on walls. I might try to locate cameras a little lowers down and hide cables behind down pipes.

A comment that was made was that cameras might deter. But do unwelcome visitors hide their faces. The local police are pushing to get folk to fit door bell cameras. Should we perhaps hide cameras. ??
I was thing about buying a roll of shot gun cable RG59 ?? . Fitting the connectors seems easy enough albeit a little time consuming

 

[Geoff1946]

You only want co-ax if you are going for the "old style" CCTV system. I agree fitting connectors to that is easy.
If you choose a network system you want ethernet cable, which I chose not to make up myself because it looked difficult.

 

[binky]

Poe is simple to fit, bar the RJ45s can be a right fiddle, but you can buy ready made cables in all sorts of lengths these days. If you do decide to make up the cables yourself, buy 'push through' RJ45s they are a lot easier to work with. You may have to make up the cables depending on the waterproof connections on the cameras, they tend to be round screw up fittings you can't always get the RJ45 through.

 

[surrey bloke]

I have had data techs try to show my how to fit push pull through rj45 plugs. Fiddly is an understatement .

I have a TLC and CEF near my residence. cat 5 and others is cheap enough.

 

[UNG]

I would steer well clear of Swann systems more trouble than they are worth

I always favour a mix of visible and covert cameras and the odd dummy camera done right it can catch the unweary prowler out

 

[David R Connell]

I've been using Hykvision since 2016 at that time all my stuff was and is Hikvision. Hikvision now has added HiLook which is more home diy friendly.
Hikvision HiLook with Colorvue cameras works best if you want good quality and the backup when you need it, it aint cheap.
The point about NVRs and the number of inputs, I run on my bungalow 8 cameras on a 9-input NVR (I started with a 6) the empty screen does not give me any problems at all.
Plus the point made about the cameras covering other people's property, descent CCTV setups like Hik have the ability to mask sensitive areas.
I hope this helps, years ago I had cheap CCTV and found it very limiting what you could achieve it's a case I think of, you get what you pay for.

 

[Richard-the-Ninth]

What follows is just my opinion. I am not asking you to agree, or disagree.

Might I suggest that for mounting cameras you lift floorboards and drill through from outside to inside. (You want to do a job you can be proud of?) Fix a plastic adaptable box, mount the camera to the box lid. The one pictured below is mounted to a hollow pole, the cable is inside the pole, and back entry to the box, no visible cables to be seen.

​

If you want to see faces, you should not mount the cameras high up, 9-12 feet is good, if you mount them any higher, you will just get the top of their heads. If you watch any TV programmes that have CCTV footage, yes the cameras are often 25-30 feet up, BUT they have zoom lenses and have zoomed in from far away, which works, but for your average house you can't do that (Not to mention a camera with decent zoom is not cheap, and you have to be watching it all the time)

I have had people knocking at my door asking did my CCTV see (what ever) turns out they live almost the other end of the road from me, CCTV is not like you see in the movies, it doesn't see round corners.
Put it this way, when you are out, do you look for CCTV cameras? no, of course not, and neither do most folk after the novelty has worn off.

Don't bother with shotgun cable, it's like fitting halogen downlights, they were good in their day, but not any more. Cat 5 and POE is the way to go. Lots of videos on YT showing how to install a push through Rj45 connector.

Got to agree with binky, push through RJ45's are a doddle. (You strip the cable, lay the cores flat, push them into the plug, surplus comes out the top, and you trim it off) and if you mount the cameras on boxes, no need for waterproof connectors.

Cheap crimp tool and cable tester Click here

I would not bother with dummy cameras, they look like..............dummy cameras, also unless you spend a fortune, genuine powered up CCTV cameras have a red glow at night. (They have infra-red LED's so you can still see in the dark)

I also have to agree with David R Connell, you do get what you pay for. Many many years ago I did use Swann, (Not much else about at the time, and no POE) but I soon realised yes it works, but it's not the best quality, there are loads more brands now.
I find that masking sensitive areas usually means you can still see it, but the NVR doesn't respond to it.

Just saying, personally I find the large black oblong as shown below really annoying (It's 3 cameras on an even number input NVR) but, each to their own.




Something not (yet) mentioned, monitor. You have CCTV but how are you going to see what is happening, who is coming to your front door? Yes you can use "Aux" on your TV but that means you have to find the remote, switch over, miss "the good bit" on TV, may I suggest you have a 2nd TV somewhere solely for the CCTV, yes it can be a bit of a faf getting a cable to it, but once done, you will not regret it. I use a small TV that I got while food shopping, most TV's now have various inputs and wall mounting brackets.

 

[UNG]

Got to agree with binky, push through RJ45's are a doddle. (You strip the cable, lay the cores flat, push them into the plug, surplus comes out the top, and you trim it off) and if you mount the cameras on boxes, no need for waterproof connectors.

I can only agree with you that they are easy to terminate
I don't rate the push through RJ45 connectors as they can be more troublesome and time consuming than the normal types, I have had alot problems with these push through RJ45 connectors even those from reputable manufacturers which when swapped out with the normal or 2 part RJ45 connectors the issue has instantly gone away

One CCTV suppliers course I did a few years ago recommended not using them on POE systems as they had seen a lot of issues where they had been used
I used them on a job last year with HDBT video transmission and despite being told by the connector manufacturer / supplier that the push throughs would work, they didn't even though the cable tested ok the problem was fixed when the RJ45's were replaced with some 2 part one's

 

[Humourme]

fitted a 5 camera Reolink system to my large bungalow, been in over 2 years and never had a problem. App is good and NVR hasn’t missed a beat. I bought the 8 channel NVR with 4 cameras in a kit and added a camera. Amazon sometimes have good deals on or the manufacturer website also has offers…. It is all POE and comes with cables.

 

[binky]

I can only agree with you that they are easy to terminate
I don't rate the push through RJ45 connectors as they can be more troublesome and time consuming than the normal types, I have had alot problems with these push through RJ45 connectors even those from reputable manufacturers which when swapped out with the normal or 2 part RJ45 connectors the issue has instantly gone away

One CCTV suppliers course I did a few years ago recommended not using them on POE systems as they had seen a lot of issues where they had been used
I used them on a job last year with HDBT video transmission and despite being told by the connector manufacturer / supplier that the push throughs would work, they didn't even though the cable tested ok the problem was fixed when the RJ45's were replaced with some 2 part one's

I've had more issues with old style onnectors, but most issues are the crimp tools being cheap and nasty! So I have taken to buying ready made cables, removing the nuisance waterproof shroud and using self amalgamating tape instead. It's fair to say I don't do enough CCTV to merit buying decent crimpers

 

[surrey bloke]

Anyone tried toolless rj45 something like this

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006759339426.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.45.3804NgIsNgIsGR&algo_pvid=3f180cb5-4426-4303-ae6e-8176c08ae0d4&algo_exp_id=3f180cb5-4426-4303-ae6e-8176c08ae0d4-22&pdp_npi=4@dis!GBP!6.71!0.80!!!8.34!0.99!@2103896117175118567388836e5fe7!12000038215831658!sea!UK!0!AB&curPageLogUid=gUdKQGxQhyA1&utparam-url=scene:search|query_from:

Thanks for the comments about neatness and positioning.

 

[Badger]

Thanks for the comments. 5 is odd I guess. I have a close understanding with my neighbours and one in particular. Soffit mounting was a thought about avoiding cables on walls. I might try to locate cameras a little lowers down and hide cables behind down pipes.

A comment that was made was that cameras might deter. But do unwelcome visitors hide their faces. The local police are pushing to get folk to fit door bell cameras. Should we perhaps hide cameras. ??
I was thing about buying a roll of shot gun cable RG59 ?? . Fitting the connectors seems easy enough albeit a little time consuming

If you think 5 is a lot you haven't seen mine comprising 22 in total 5mp poe full nvr at max 12mp

 

[binky]

If you think 5 is a lot you haven't seen mine comprising 22 in total 5mp poe full nvr at max 12mp

You got dodgy neighbours ?

 

[Badger]

You got dodgy neighbours ?

No allows all access points to be seen plus added advantage of a few different models to allow viewing of clients through h my device when they are asking about what different cameras can do and see