We have several dozen Hikvision cams in operation. They are shut off from the Internet via vlan isolation due to security concerns about what they are phoning home. Our vendor has warned us that due to the recent US / UK bans on Chinese electronics manufacturers, the sourcing of replacements and general availability for these cameras will be affected. Further, if Hikvision US closes then you will need to go to mainland China for drivers, which has its own issues.
Quick comment on the Synology / Surveillance Station. It’s a solid piece of software, many advantages and easy to use, but if running more than 20 cameras (Synology claims it supports up to 40 on our 12-bay model) then you’ll need robust hardware. Our NAS was pegged at 99% CPU with 28 licensed cameras and we experienced lots of dropped frames and choppy video. Cameras were set to 15 fps / H265. I changed this from H264 and saw a reduction in bandwidth, but no improvement in FPS. With 40 cameras, they would have to be 640x480 @ 10fps, I suspect.
If running under 20 cameras then Synology NAS is a solid device and fairly cheap. You supply the HDD. We did have to replace the chassis once when it failed to come back after a post update reboot. Synology tech support replaced it with a brand new unit.
Since it has been a few years since this tutorial has been posted, does anyone have any new recommendations for more modern cameras? I would prefer PoE but WiFi could potentially be acceptable too.
Live in a townhouse so WiFi may end up being easier. My neighbor would like one for themselves too. If anything PoE for my unit and WiFi for theirs.
Have old hardware that’s going to be turned into a server when I come across a case and new PSU for it. Possibly a specific hard drive for their recordings only so we can have separate privacy and access/notifications/video for their drive.
Would like decent-ish distance and night vision/IR for the front that faces our parking lot.
Wyse Cam Pan v3
IP65 weather resistance and decent night vision, tilt, pan , zoom, motion detection and tracking. 1080p res, roughly $35 each. 4.3 rating on Amazon with 9K reviews.