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Good Afternoon,

Are there any recommendations for a complete camera/DVR system with at least 4 cameras and the ability to view off-premises via Android or Iphone? I have found a system from HIKvision but need more options.

Thanks,

7 Spice ups
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I’m using the Ubiquiti Protect system with their cameras.

2 Spice ups
3

I was going to actually recommend Hikvision as this is what I have. Are you going to have it monitored remotely or is just for in house?

1 Spice up
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I’ve got some experience with camera/DVR systems. Most of the packaged solutions, are, to be blunt, complete crap. They usually have some Linux-based DVR, which is never updated (so no patches to the OS), and some proprietary playback software.

All of my recent installations have been Ubiquiti cameras. If it meets your retention needs, their DVR box is a quick way to be up and running. Otherwise, you can stand up a system and install the software for no extra charge. Either way, you can keep the underlying OS updated. Video exports are MP4 files.

3 Spice ups
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I have Smonet all around my house. It has good picture quality both day and night with and you can view your cameras on an app and set up motion detection alarms and notifications. the playback is easy to use and setup is simple. Plus its not a bad price. My 4 camera system and NVR and a 1TB HDD was $216 and it’s upgradable to 8 cameras. Mine are wireless I don’t know if thats a perk for you or not. Plus additions cameras are $50-$75 depending on what you want.

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Tbh I have found Hikvision cameras to be great! But thier DVR was a bit lacking for us (we have almost 40+ HD camera’s) so we use Luxriot VMS running on a spare Windows server with DAS, the only downside is you need a decent spec machine to run the client software smoothly as running archive investigation on 20+ video streams at the time is quite intensive. We previously used all Axis cameras and software which was good but quite expensive, having the ability to use different makes / models of camera is much better and I believe it also supports centralisation of multiple ‘cheap box’ DVR units. What I like is the built-in dewarp, custom events and features such as ANPR

Luxriot has a broadcast web server and App’s available but I would suggest keeping them safe and only permitting access via VPN. There is also a free version, which limits you to one remote user I think: LUXRIOT EVO :: Luxriot

Outside of Luxriot and other commercial systems there are a few opensource systems and I have heard good things about the system Qnap provides with thier NAS’s but I can imagine these are only designed to support a handful of cameras

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Ubiquiti UniFi FTW.

I also install FLIR, Hikvision and Panasonic, systems but I like Unifi for the under 20 camera price point.

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Hikvision and their close comrade cousin Dahua are going to be anywhere from 70% or more of the products you run into because along with their own brand name, they are relabeled by dozens and dozens of other brand names. They are also some of the most cyber-insecure and hacked technology products in the world, so great care should be taken when connecting them to any network, much less an Internet connection if you’re doing remote management and viewing.

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Mostly in-house monitoring, but need that option to view just in case. I plan on using POE, not wi-fi cameras and a 1TB drive should be enough for what is needed.

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I personally use amcrest cameras and Milestone VMS, It runs as a VM and does everything I need If under 8 cameras then the VMS is free. I am still looking for a good and cheap 180/360 camera though. I have one that is a fisheye and picks up good but it doesn’t dewarp. Also I only use POE cameras with a small POE switch.