Wireless IP system

[mmcmullen]

My boss, concerned about potential theft, has asked me to devise a security cam system for the building. Having recently upgraded the wireless, my immediate thought was to do a wireless IP cam system, as it would be the easiest in terms of physical configuration.

Problem is, I've got no idea where to start. Ideally, I'd have a 6-cam system, feeding to a PC. The PC would need to be able to monitor the cams and record on motion. It would be very nice if we could set timeframes for the recording, so that they don't record all day when people are just doing their normal work (at least on some of the internal cameras - the ones by the doors can be set to record every time there's motion).

So... Where do I start? I would think that the software control is the biggest part of it, so I'd like recommendations or reviews.

I will need the cameras, of course, so recommendations there would be awesome as well. There will be 2-3 just overlooking doors (outdoors), 1 overlooking a larger outdoor area (shot from under the eaves of the building's roof), plus 1-2 monitoring rooms indoors.

And, shockingly, I'd like to stay to as tight a budget as possible. Also expandability is a plus!

Here's to hope! Thanks in advance, Cocooners.

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

I would just get a decent web-enabled DVR and not worry about a PC based system.

 

[mdonovan]

I've been doing a lot of research on IP cameras and video servers. Here's what I decided would work for me. It may not work for you. Mines just for a fancy schmancy home video unit.

After a lot of looking I decided on LuxRiot for NVR software. For unlimited cameras on a single server it's about 1500 dollars. The 9 or 16 camera versions are *roughly* $450 and $600 respectively. Every other NVR system you paid a license per camera, some of them were 250 dollars each time you get a camera. And that's on top of a horrendous fee to get the software in the first place. That's a total crock. And from what I read, most of them sucked anyway. It seems like (to me anyway) there really isn't a good, reasonable NVR package out there.

If you want free, zoneminder is free and open source, but some of the reviews I read were less than stellar. There is also a cheap unlimited camera package from pysoft, but my testing uncovered a lot of bugs. Definitely not ready for prime time. I emailed support about a week ago and they never answered me. So they are out.

Some advantages I saw to LuxRiot: they directly support the cameras I decided on, and very important to me (probably less so to most people) is the fact they have an API that allows you to view live or recorded video, receive notification when a camera detects motion, among other things. Their GUI was fairly nice, much better than the others I looked at.

For cameras, I've pretty much decided on Arecount cameras. I looked at AXIS, but they don't have the high res cameras I am interested in. But they do have an open SDK for their cameras. I also looked at ACTi, but I signed up for the SDK, and never heard back from them, so they are out. They didn't really have the megapixel cameras I am interested in either. So I settled on Arecount, although I signed up twice with them for their SDK, and never heard anything from them. I'm starting to see a pattern here! Do all camera/software vendors suck? <_<

My big interest in the megapixel cameras is I want to be able to get a good face capture, and license plate. The analog cameras I have now allow me to see what's going on, but making an id from them would not be possible. The analog cameras will gradually turn into "critter cams" so I can see what's skulking around in the woods.

The other thing that seems to be a requirement with PC based megapixel cameras is a separate GB network with a good switch/router. I just got all my PCs hard wired with cat6, and some extra wires run for some cameras. The Arecount are POE, but I would still need a small wire for the dome heater. They recommended a NetGear POE router. I don't have the info handy, but I found that info after a Bing search. You should be able to find it too


http://arecontvision.com/
http://luxriot.com/

For what it's worth...

Matt

 

[russban]

If cost is a big concern wireless IP is probably not the way to go. Wireless IP cameras can be expensive, with limited choices, especially for an outdoor configuration. Plus you still have to get power to them anyway.

I would agree with BraveSirRobbin, a good quality, web enabled, stand alone DVR would be a good affordable way to go. Combine that with high quality analog cameras and you can have a pretty good system.

 

[fabriziojoe]

I am on a Mac and use a product called SecuritySpy.
The license is based on the amount of cameras (1, 4, 8, 16 or unlimited)
I am running a G5 with 45 axis P3343/44 cameras at a customers building with no problems at all.
There is a web interface with very granular controls for user accounts.
In addition, I reused some of the old analog cameras and connected them to an axis video encoder (works great)/

 

[Helheim]

milestone has free software for up to 8 cameras.

http://www.milestonesys.com/products/ip_vi...are/xprotect+go

 

[mmcmullen]

In a move that has shocked me to the core, the boss has OKd the Logitech Alert 750e setup with two extra cams. Cheap, this is not. But they look like very high-quality cams, and the control software seems very nice. It's slightly lame that, in order to get FULL control and more than 3-minutes of consecutive live viewing over the internet, you have to pay 79.99/year. But for local control, it's all included, and does every neat feature I'd like. We'll be installing the 3 outdoor cams first, and feeling it out from there.

Plus, they are powerline-networked. That should make the installation pretty easy, assuming our powerlines are clean enough.

I'll let you know how it goes - this wasn't my first solution, but it's probably the easiest and nicest in terms of picture quality and features. That is, I'll let you know as soon as they're in stock and ship.