To cut a long story short, I came home to a trashed front room. The 3 dogs knocked over my computer desk and an end table, scratched out the window screens and clawed the trim on the big front window looking out. Clearly something/one on the porch had agitated them a lot. No sign of attempted forced entry, but you would have to be an idiot to try and enter a house that now has 2 pissed of labs and a large GSD...
Anyhow, I've always thought about installing a DVR and cams, but never got around to it, and now it's a priority. Anyone able to recommend a good setup from experience? I've got TC 2.0 for the alarm at work, and gDMSS lite for remotely viewing the cams there, but I had no part in setting it up or buying the hardware. Just looking for a good place to start and want to avoid garbage.
Depends on what you want. Indoor cams are one third to one tenth the price of outdoor cams. Consumer WiFi indoor cameras are practical and economical. I recommend 1080p over 720p, but some of the sharper 720p cameras produce better image quality than bargain brand 1080p cams, so mileage may vary. Foscam is popular, but hit or miss. Giga uses them to cover acres and has positive things to say. I've seen good units and bad units, without rhyme or reason.
https://www.amazon.com/Amcrest-ProHD-Wireless-Security-Camera/dp/B0145OQXCK/https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JAJ9U8KKeep in mind, this is a $100 dollar camera. It's not a Bosch or Axis. It has lots of features for the price tag, but it's not going to be amazing. Optics are one of those things where money still counts for a lot. If you're willing to spend a couple more bucks, move up to Hikvision. Better quality at the expense of fewer cameras is a valid strategy, just prioritize placement. You can also cheat on the night vision picture quality by adding IR lighting. Not the one in the camera, you actually want to disable that if practical, and use external IR lighting. The lower rung of 'real' cameras is ACTi or Hikvision, which is my go-to for folks without deep pockets or high threat environments. But there's some stuff between the professional and consumer line.
https://www.amazon.com/TRENDnet-Megapixel-Resolution-monitoring-TV-IP311PI/dp/B00I3GKMC4/For outdoors, you might be able to cheat by using a higher quality indoor camera or lower quality outdoor camera in a semi protected placement. Within an aftermarket bubble or better yet under an overhang. Rain and snow is what does the number on outdoor cameras. Dust isn't a concern here but much be in your area. Very fine dust is more of a concern. Cloud cameras are a valid thing to ponder, but be aware they usually come with either sharp limitations or a monthly cost. It may seem low, but two cameras at $5-10 a month could get you a pretty nice setup after a couple of years. It can also eat up your bandwidth. Higher resolution footage at lower fps is usually the best general strategy. Wired is always better than wireless.
To price sensitive but paranoid (always good habits, imho), I've sketched out local storage for outdoor cams in semi protected locations with primaries being lower range of professional gear (eBay or B&H are your friend), a couple of indoor cams at the higher end of the consumer range (amazon), with a cloud cam or two as backup. Good compromise solution.
I generally recommend a NAS as the NVR. They're more expensive overall, but over lots of other features. Dedicated NVRs are cheaper. Make sure the model you buy has a user replaceable hard drive option. Your hard drive will eventually fail. Have a plan in place for when that occurs.
The holy bible, torah and quaran of IP cams reviews is
http://www.networkcameracritic.com/If you do any in-wall cabling, ONLY use riser (CMR) or plenum (CMP) rated cabling. Preferably UL and flame rated, but it should be anyways if it's CMR/CMP. If it's in the open (decks or behind bookcases), it's not a huge factor.
