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Yontsey
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Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Cleveland-ish, OH
 
2022-08-06, 19:46

Looking for recommendations on IP PoE security cameras with an NVR system. Been looking at Lorex and Ubiquiti but figured it couldn’t hurt to ask for others or if anyone has experience with those brands.

Die young and save yourself....
@yontsey
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turtle
Lord of the Rant.
Formerly turtle2472
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Upstate South Carolina
 
2022-08-30, 09:57

I know I'm really late to the party here but I can't help but recommend Unifi Protect.

The system is solid and you retain all the data, no cloud. The only real challenge is getting the cameras right now. The real plus is that you can add as many cameras as you want though.

Louis L'Amour, “To make democracy work, we must be a nation of participants, not simply observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain.”
Visit our archived Minecraft world! | Maybe someday I'll proof read, until then deal with it.
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kscherer
Which way is up?
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Boyzeee
 
2022-08-30, 10:38

Ditto what Turtle said.
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Yontsey
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Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Cleveland-ish, OH
 
2022-08-30, 16:18

Funny you mention that, last week I ordered a Dream Machine SE and an extra 8TB hard drive. Debating which cameras to go with. Currently building a new home so I’m piecing together my new network system. Got a 24 Port PoE from Ubiquiti too. Gonna add a panel switch and a UPS as well.
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turtle
Lord of the Rant.
Formerly turtle2472
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Upstate South Carolina
 
2022-08-30, 17:41

For my build I went with the 48 port PoE because it limited the number of switches I needed. The one switch does it all for me. APs and cameras alll plug right in. Heck, I've even got a RaspberryPi with a PoE HAT on it plugged right into it.

For the cameras, I wanted to get the G4 Pros, but there were quality issues complained about thatI just can't justify it. I do have some of the G3 and G4 Instant cameras to play around with. They are great. I also use the doorbells and have them integrated into my HomeKit home too (via HomeBridge). I noticed they have a "Pro" doorbell now, but I don't need that so I won't be upgrading.

I like the G4 Dome and will be getting more of those.

The G3 Flex is ok but has such a narrow field of view. I use it on one specific thing since it is so limited. I'm not horribly disappointed in it, but the G3 Instant is a better camera.

Louis L'Amour, “To make democracy work, we must be a nation of participants, not simply observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain.”
Visit our archived Minecraft world! | Maybe someday I'll proof read, until then deal with it.
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Yontsey
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Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Cleveland-ish, OH
 
2022-08-30, 18:38

I think the G4 Bullet cameras would be fine enough for home use. I like the G4 Pros but hard to justify double the cost. I didn’t realize you could use the doorbell in HomeKit. Will probably just go with the standard one but I like the PoE option with the Pro, even tho neither the Pro or the dongle are available.

I got 5 of the U6 In-Walls and 3 U6 Long Range units for the house to start. Wiring each room and behind each tv so I can upgrade later if need be.
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Yontsey
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Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Cleveland-ish, OH
 
2022-08-31, 05:33

G4 Bullet cameras popped back up in stock today so I got 3 Bullets and 1 Pro, for the main camera facing towards the garage doors and the road. Just waiting for the Doorbell Pro to get back in stock (if it ever does) and the PoE adapter.

Die young and save yourself....
@yontsey
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turtle
Lord of the Rant.
Formerly turtle2472
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Upstate South Carolina
 
2022-08-31, 07:45

I'm with you on the price for value of the G4 Pro. I'm sure the image is awesome, when it isn't fogged over. That is one complaint I saw back when it first launched. I'm sure that has been resolved... but I haven't really looked back at it because of the price.

Homebridge + Homebridge UniFi Protect is how you get the cameras and the doorbell into HomeKit. It is simple to set up (and I'd be happy to coach you through it if needed) but means when someone rings your doorbell, the HomePods chime and such. At this point it even convinces Apple to store the camera video in the cloud for you. Not that we want it with our DMPs, but still. Create a "service account" in the camera that will allow your Homebridge instance to log into the DMP and you will have it all in one place. I've got 9 cameras showing in my Home and all are Unifi Protect. My doorbells also ring the HomePods so I can actually hear the doorbell in the basement. If you have an "rtsp" compatible camera you can bring it into Home with homebridge-camera-ui.

For your APs, you don't think that is overkill? Most homes you could get away with one U6 LR, let alone 3 assuming one on each floor. Granted, I don't know your floor plans or size, but that is a lot of APs. I have an IW-HD and it reaches several hundred feet down my yard. Those five you have will likely cover much of your space, let alone the U6 LRs.

Of course I just looked at my network and I have 6 APs total now. No dead spots though!

Louis L'Amour, “To make democracy work, we must be a nation of participants, not simply observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain.”
Visit our archived Minecraft world! | Maybe someday I'll proof read, until then deal with it.
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Yontsey
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Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Cleveland-ish, OH
 
2022-08-31, 08:51

One LR is going to be in the basement, one is going to be centralized in the house main floor (ranch), and then I have one that will be outside on the covered patio to get the backyard area.

The In-Wall units, I did it for the fact that I can take 1 ethernet run and turn it into 4 inputs with a PoE input. The AP is a bonus. 4 of them I'm going to have behind TVs so I can plug stuff in directly, and 1 will be in the office.

I did see that fogged over issue in a few videos but those were from a couple years ago. They said after 72 hours it "burnt off" and then never came back so that made me feel better.

I definitely will be using that Homebridge setup. Wasn't aware of that. When that point comes I will definitely ask for help. Won't be til next year sometime though. I appreciate the help.

Die young and save yourself....
@yontsey
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Yontsey
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Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Cleveland-ish, OH
 
2022-09-08, 09:17

After looking over what I had, I returned the USW-24-POE and upgraded to the USW-24-PRO-POE. With everything I had going, I needed more PoE power. Wanted to have room for upgradability in the future too with the wife getting a new prominent job.

Die young and save yourself....
@yontsey
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turtle
Lord of the Rant.
Formerly turtle2472
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Upstate South Carolina
 
2022-09-08, 09:32

I'm surprised you didn't go with the USW-Pro-48-PoE. I say this because I'm at only 28 ports free right now and I know I'm going to be connecting more into the network when I add solar and batteries and other things in my house. 24 ports go quickly. Now if you have the space, it might be better for you to add a second switch that isn't PoE to be cheaper. I just went with the PoE 48 because it shrunk my stack.

Side note, the USW-Flex-Minis are awesome and powered by PoE.

Get one of the SFP+ jumpers to go from the DMP to the PoE. No need in making that go over copper. Normally you can get the cable for under $15 since it is s short. Here is one on Amazon for $10. I have the 2m version I'm connecting my NAS to the switch with. The one I have connecting the DMP to the switch is a Unifi branded one, but it doesn't need to be.

Here is what my rack (networking) looks like. I put the PoE on top because I use it like a shelf for my ISP's router (required) and my mom's Time Capsule as well as a Raspberry Pi running my proxy and temp monitoring.


I also don't currently use any other switch ports on the DMP, more because I don't need them yet. While I have 10Gb between the DMP and switch, I would rather not have to leave the switch since all my internal traffic stays in that switch.

Oh, and you can see my Protect Flex on the edge of the rack too.

Louis L'Amour, “To make democracy work, we must be a nation of participants, not simply observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain.”
Visit our archived Minecraft world! | Maybe someday I'll proof read, until then deal with it.

Last edited by turtle : 2022-09-08 at 09:56.
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Yontsey
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Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Cleveland-ish, OH
 
2022-09-08, 10:12

I actually thought about getting just a standard 24port switch for non-PoE devices. I'll cross that bridge if/when I get to that point.

How do you like your Synology? I currently have thousands of movies and tv series on external-HDDs running through AppleTV but that seems like a way better solution for what I have going on. I saw they have an AppleTV app too so I wouldn't even have to really mess with anything. More peace of mind with backups as well. I currently use CCC and back up from one HDD to another.

Die young and save yourself....
@yontsey
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turtle
Lord of the Rant.
Formerly turtle2472
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Upstate South Carolina
 
2022-09-08, 10:18

I love my NASes. Have two of them. I actually go into a lot of detail in this thread.

The short answer, I store my media on my main NAS (in the picture) and use Plex to share the media through my house/devices.

Louis L'Amour, “To make democracy work, we must be a nation of participants, not simply observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain.”
Visit our archived Minecraft world! | Maybe someday I'll proof read, until then deal with it.
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drewprops
Space Pirate
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Atlanta
 
2023-08-21, 12:47

Out of curiosity, do people post cameras pointing back at their homes?


...
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turtle
Lord of the Rant.
Formerly turtle2472
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Upstate South Carolina
 
2023-08-21, 12:52

You mean like me mounting one in my yard looking at my house? I'm sure some people do that. Especially now that so many solar powered wireless cameras exist now. Those all require a service with a third party right now though. I mean, we can build it with a Unifi Protect G3 or G4 Instant and a custom built solar power system. Most solar powered cameras limit data collection to conserve battery life though. I'm been trying to find one in the open market that doesn't use "a cloud service" but haven't been able to.

Louis L'Amour, “To make democracy work, we must be a nation of participants, not simply observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain.”
Visit our archived Minecraft world! | Maybe someday I'll proof read, until then deal with it.
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Yontsey
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Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Cleveland-ish, OH
 
2023-08-21, 14:54

Haven't considered that tbh. I have 6 on the outside corners of my house, plus the doorbell, and one on the inside of the garage. I have a pretty good field of coverage and have plenty of room for expansion if need be.

Die young and save yourself....
@yontsey
  quote
turtle
Lord of the Rant.
Formerly turtle2472
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Upstate South Carolina
 
2023-08-21, 14:58

Personally I keep toying with the idea of getting an Instant and putting it out in the yard. I don't want to waste the time or money doing it right now though. My cameras a positioned so I can see anything crossing the threshold into my house be it door or window. In Virginia the law was (so I was told anyway) that the camera had to see them cross the threshold. The obvious entry didn't count if you can't see the frame of the window/door in the camera view.

One in the yard would be good for some perspective, but I don't want to bury a network cable. If I ever build a pump house or something like that where I run power and networking to it then I would totally do it without question.

Louis L'Amour, “To make democracy work, we must be a nation of participants, not simply observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain.”
Visit our archived Minecraft world! | Maybe someday I'll proof read, until then deal with it.
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drewprops
Space Pirate
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Atlanta
 
2023-08-21, 18:23

I have a solar powered one that I'm thinking about mounting in a defunct gas lamp post in the front yard. It would blinded by lights at night though, so...


...
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turtle
Lord of the Rant.
Formerly turtle2472
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Upstate South Carolina
 
2023-08-21, 19:12

Have you tried? Some of those cameras are really good about managing lighting at night. Set it out there one night to test it. Of course, you don't have to leave your lights on outside at night either.

Louis L'Amour, “To make democracy work, we must be a nation of participants, not simply observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain.”
Visit our archived Minecraft world! | Maybe someday I'll proof read, until then deal with it.
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