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What's a good surveillance system? (seeing an uptick in attempted thievery)

I

Inquisition8

Member
Hello,

Does anyone have any recommendations for a good surveillance system? I live in a good neighborhood and I'm seeing an uptick of unfamiliar vehicles as well as individuals checking for who knows what around lunchtime (I work remote). While I've yet to have an incident (and hope I don't), it's disconcerting. I'm finally considering getting a camera system, maybe Ring or even higher. Just wanted to hear everyone's thoughts on some good options. No budget in particular, but not exorbitant.

To clarify - when I say higher I mean a general system, not just for packages, i.e. swivel cameras.

TIA
 
I have some Google Nest stuff and like it. Originally I purchased like $1k in Ring stuff but then realized Ring Doorbell doesn't constantly record and rather it just records "events" which is when it detects movement. However it would miss UPS deliveries, me pulling into my driveway and getting out of the car, etc. So once I saw that happen, I decided to get rid of it and got a Nest Doorbell, which is WWWAAAAYYYY better. It has much better quality and you can get constant recording. I pay like $10/month or whatever the fee is so that I can get full video recording all the time and can go back like 30 days.

I also have 2 other nest cameras installed and then the nest home security thing. The cost of this was like $200 cheaper than the Ring stuff and better than it IMO. I should have listened to my friend that recommended Nest from the start after having both himself.

We also live in a good area but we've had a few times in the past few years where at night some kids/people have been trying to get into unlocked cars. No breakins or anyone breaking into the cars, but going into unlocked cars.
 
Ubiquiti UniFi is pretty decent and has really good ability to view recordings/timeline remotely via browser or mobile. The cameras are more but there are no license fees for NVR, etc. If you have the need for few cameras the CloudKey Gen2+ is fine. Otherwise I'd recommend the dedicated NVR. There are plenty of youtubers showing how it works too.
 
I have a hodgepodge collection of ChinaCams, bought one or two at a time, all under $80 each. Two are Pan-Tilt-Zoom, two are fixed. My NVR took a hike on me a couple of weeks back and just bought another ChinaNoName for $60.
 
I've been sort of passively looking into this as well but not really ready to drop the money yet. The type of system I want is expensive. I don't want wireless and I don't want cloud based and I don't want analog. That rules out about 95% of the stuff on the market these days. Basically looking at PoE HD or 4k that can be used with something like Zone Minder or a dedicated DVR. These style cameras are usually around $200+ a pop then maybe another $2,000 or so for the server. I'd probably attempt to do a VM at first but I feel something like this would use a lot of resources so I would want a dedicated box.

Thing is though, even if you get video evidence it's not like police do anything with theft anyway. They get a slap on the wrist then they're out stealing again. So while having surveillance is nice to have it won't really stop theft either. Though it would still be nice to see what kind of activity happens on your property while you're away. If anything, it would be entertaining to see what kind of wildlife shows up like bears, moose etc.

Speaking of which I have a "white van special" system here to test out since my uncle bought it not knowing any better lol.
 
I bought a Wyze camera with pan/tilt recently. It's neat, but most camera systems need to be placed well and have that person identification AI with proper alerts. If you have to go through lots of hours of footage and false positives on motion, it's a pain. My house cameras always go off when a car drives by or when it rains.
 
Red Squirrel said:
I've been sort of passively looking into this as well but not really ready to drop the money yet. The type of system I want is expensive. I don't want wireless and I don't want cloud based and I don't want analog. That rules out about 95% of the stuff on the market these days. Basically looking at PoE HD or 4k that can be used with something like Zone Minder or a dedicated DVR. These style cameras are usually around $200+ a pop then maybe another $2,000 or so for the server. I'd probably attempt to do a VM at first but I feel something like this would use a lot of resources so I would want a dedicated box.

Thing is though, even if you get video evidence it's not like police do anything with theft anyway. They get a slap on the wrist then they're out stealing again. So while having surveillance is nice to have it won't really stop theft either. Though it would still be nice to see what kind of activity happens on your property while you're away. If anything, it would be entertaining to see what kind of wildlife shows up like bears, moose etc.

Speaking of which I have a "white van special" system here to test out since my uncle bought it not knowing any better lol.
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What? Dedicated DVRs with 4K POE cameras are really not that expensive now. Reolink makes a very good system that is about $500 US for a 4 camera kit and less than $1k for 8 camera.

You're right about the usefulness of video evidence however. It's very hard to identify anyone and it's not admissible evidence generally. You'd have to hope you can get a plate or similar and use that to find the person and the property.
 
deadlyapp said:
What? Dedicated DVRs with 4K POE cameras are really not that expensive now. Reolink makes a very good system that is about $500 US for a 4 camera kit and less than $1k for 8 camera.

You're right about the usefulness of video evidence however. It's very hard to identify anyone and it's not admissible evidence generally. You'd have to hope you can get a plate or similar and use that to find the person and the property.
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I was speaking more about building a server with Zone Minder or something similar. The DVRs are cheaper but specific to whatever cameras that come with it so if building a system from scratch not sure if it would be compatible with a bunch of random brand cameras. Or would it? I would also worry that the interface uses ActiveX or something and won't work in Linux.
 
Red Squirrel said:
The DVRs are cheaper but specific to whatever cameras that come with it so if building a system from scratch not sure if it would be compatible with a bunch of random brand cameras. Or would it?
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There are a couple of protocols. One is ONVIF. As I noted above, my cameras are different brands but the unbranded NVR found them easily.

Make sure you're looking at NVRs (Network Video Recorder). DVRs (Digital Video Recorder) are usually only for cameras that connect via dedicated coaxial cables. Some are hybrid and will do either, but not necessarily a mix of both types.
 
Red Squirrel said:
Thing is though, even if you get video evidence it's not like police do anything with theft anyway. They get a slap on the wrist then they're out stealing again. So while having surveillance is nice to have it won't really stop theft either. Though it would still be nice to see what kind of activity happens on your property while you're away. If anything, it would be entertaining to see what kind of wildlife shows up like bears, moose etc.
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Agree; it's more of a deterrent than anything. I installed a Laview 8 channel POE system 4 years ago because we'd had some mail stolen a few times. I specifically installed a 4k camera to watch the mailbox so that we might have a chance to catch plate numbers. No more theft for a couple of years. When we finally did catch someone drive up and take our mail, they came from the opposite direction, and in Alabama there is no front plate, so didn't catch a tag number. I got a good still shot of the guy and his car from the video. Reported to the police, but it went nowhere. Without a tag number, I just don't think they have the time to do much else.

I don't know if Laview is still around? They are/were the consumer grade of Hikvision. I've been generally satisfied with the system. It's been running for 4 years now with almost zero issues, other than occasionally needing a reboot for whatever reason.
 
In my current living situation on the 3rd floor unless your daily ride is a hook & ladder or you can climb like freaking Spiderman there's only one way in and that's a door at the bottom of steep stairs.

Since far as I know there are not any super-heroes out to get me, all that I'm concerned with is securing my apartment with super-loud stuff that's difficult to shut off. (in my neighborhood alarms get noticed)

So far its 99% cheap Chinese-made junk or too expensive/elaborate with nothing in between.

🙁
 
Red Squirrel said:
I was speaking more about building a server with Zone Minder or something similar. The DVRs are cheaper but specific to whatever cameras that come with it so if building a system from scratch not sure if it would be compatible with a bunch of random brand cameras. Or would it? I would also worry that the interface uses ActiveX or something and won't work in Linux.
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As @Lost_in_the_HTTP said, you should be looking at NVR not DVR. Most NVR are simply IP based routers with an interface, so you can access the cameras outside of their proprietary applications if you wanted to, but to go back through the footage you have to use their access, or directly access with the NVR. Most NVR are not camera specific, any IP camera can be used. The Reolink I mentioned does have specific cameras for it, but they don't cost any more than normal IP cameras.
 
I LOOOVE Ring cameras. I have 3 of them- one in my driveway, one in my back yard, and a doorbell cam. They work very well, cloud storage is cheap, and I can access them instantly anywhere (with motion sensor notifications too). Can't tell you the number of times they've come in handy. I even helped solve a neighborhood car break-in wave in 2019 with footage from my driveway cam (caught some kids breaking in to a neighbor's car, and the nightvision got a good shot of one of their faces).
 
Boils down the logistics, your local cops' culture, and just how tight you want to monitor things. If you live in a densely populated neighborhood, you might have HOA rules, ordinances on where a fence can be installed, etc.

You might need multiple systems to run a tight ship.

Ring cams are motion detection-only. So if there is a gap where you need continuous video, you are out of luck. You also want at least make sure the internet line has some difficulty of access.

Lighting is also useful. You brighten up the area, and the "blinding flashlight trick" fails and the cameras' motion sensing is more reliable.
 
deadlyapp said:
As @Lost_in_the_HTTP said, you should be looking at NVR not DVR. Most NVR are simply IP based routers with an interface, so you can access the cameras outside of their proprietary applications if you wanted to, but to go back through the footage you have to use their access, or directly access with the NVR. Most NVR are not camera specific, any IP camera can be used. The Reolink I mentioned does have specific cameras for it, but they don't cost any more than normal IP cameras.
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Had no idea there was even a difference I thought both words were interchangeable.


On subject of security anyone know the name of the chemical they put in compressed air cans so people don't huff it? It's a biterant and makes it hard to breathe basically and tastes really foul. A good security measure would be to have a bunch of that stuff release into the room if someone breaks in. Going to look into that with my off grid property as I will want to make stuff super secure as people will basically have days to loot as much as they want. I've heard stories of entire cabins being stolen. They just cut it up and steal it in parts over the course of a week. I guess it would not really stop that though... need to just make it a pain in the ass by embedding steel cables into the walls etc.
 
Red Squirrel said:
makes it hard to breathe basically and tastes really foul. A good security measure would be to have a bunch of that stuff release into the room if someone breaks in.
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Just get a big-ass canister of this! 😛


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