The Official Home Surveillance Systems Thread.

[CantRepeat]

Originally Posted by Dylan

I read that link, and am mostly confused.

I think I'll roll the dice on the fact that no one is going to want to look at a 24hr loop of my driveway and/or sideyard. I keep my gold bars stored off site, as well and my sinister experiments are kept in the basement.

Change all of the default ports, turn off or remove all of the built in accounts, you can't shut off "admin" but change the default password. You don't need to run port 80 to access your device over the web. Just by doing these small things you can greatly increase the security of the DVR. Make sure you are running a good router firewall (you can disable UPnP, this should stop the dvr from adding any forwards to your router). DO NOT put any device on DMZ, ever. One of the biggest security risks is people running default configurations on well known devices.

It seems my directv dvr opens and forwards more ports then anything else. Well, it used to but I don't use the DirecTV APPs so it's off.

If you are running wireless access make sure you have the access restriction set allow only the MAC addresses you input. Run WAP2 personal with AES encryption and use a lengthly generated password.

You can check out this forum. There seems to be some really smart guys there. They do seem a little bias on the cheaper costco and bestbuy bundles but they do have great info on why. Seems there is a some what high failure rate.

http://www.cctvforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=28670

Originally Posted by john jones

I have been looking at camera security king equipment. They have the 4 channel and the 8 channel system. Does anyone have any opinion on them? I went and looked at the swan system at frys the other day. It sure seemed cheaply made.

Anyone have any good feedback on any of their systems?

I did get a package deal from security camera king but wished I had not. The DVRs are top notch. I pick up this one.

http://www.securitycameraking.com/8-...9081-prd1.html

It's a little less expensive because it doesn't have a dvd burner in it. I didn't need one. In my previous post I mentioned these are made by http://www.dahuasecurity.com/ which from my readings is a very high end company in surveillance gear.

I used the build a system with security camera king and pick up 4 cameras. Two of their base cameras(they have no control over their features) and couple of outside dome cameras(these do have adjustments for lens/shutter). After Jim's recommendation I pick up two Digital watchdogs. With noise reduction and the street light I can even get color video at night. Without adjusting the DWD cameras I can see they are very nice. Once I get the camera picture adjusted on all of them I'll upload some photos.

[JimN]

Originally Posted by CantRepeat

Change all of the default ports, turn off or remove all of the built in accounts, you can't shut off "admin" but change the default password. You don't need to run port 80 to access your device over the web. Just by doing these small things you can greatly increase the security of the DVR. Make sure you are running a good router firewall (you can disable UPnP, this should stop the dvr from adding any forwards to your router). DO NOT put any device on DMZ, ever. One of the biggest security risks is people running default configurations on well known devices.

It seems my directv dvr opens and forwards more ports then anything else. Well, it used to but I don't use the DirecTV APPs so it's off.

If you are running wireless access make sure you have the access restriction set allow only the MAC addresses you input. Run WAP2 personal with AES encryption and use a lengthly generated password.

You can check out this forum. There seems to be some really smart guys there. They do seem a little bias on the cheaper costco and bestbuy bundles but they do have great info on why. Seems there is a some what high failure rate.

http://www.cctvforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=28670



I did get a package deal from security camera king but wished I had not. The DVRs are top notch. I pick up this one.

http://www.securitycameraking.com/8-...9081-prd1.html

It's a little less expensive because it doesn't have a dvd burner in it. I didn't need one. In my previous post I mentioned these are made by http://www.dahuasecurity.com/ which from my readings is a very high end company in surveillance gear.

I used the build a system with security camera king and pick up 4 cameras. Two of their base cameras(they have no control over their features) and couple of outside dome cameras(these do have adjustments for lens/shutter). After Jim's recommendation I pick up two Digital watchdogs. With noise reduction and the street light I can even get color video at night. Without adjusting the DWD cameras I can see they are very nice. Once I get the camera picture adjusted on all of them I'll upload some photos.

One of the most important things is to disable UPnP but re: passwords- this vulnerability enters through port 9000 and doesn't even need a user name or password.

The DVD burner is an added expense most don't need and saving video to a thumb drive is faster, anyway.

Which DW cameras?

[CantRepeat]

Originally Posted by JimN

One of the most important things is to disable UPnP but re: passwords- this vulnerability enters through port 9000 and doesn't even need a user name or password.

The DVD burner is an added expense most don't need and saving video to a thumb drive is faster, anyway.

Which DW cameras?

Jim,

I pick up the V4367WTIR and the B1363TIR. I have not installed the bullet yet but I got it for range. I'm going to set it up to overlook the shop and boat. I need to run some conduit for the cables. The 4367 is very nice. With just the street like 100 meters from the drive way it still does color at night. I need to set it up and work on the noise reduction for night.

The DVR I pick up has some really great features I'll be setting up. Like uploading captures to both my NAS box and an offsite server. I have the email alert for motion detection set up already.

I'm not sure if my DVR is using port 9000 but I blocked it along with telnet. Good routers are very useful!!

[JimN]

Originally Posted by CantRepeat

Jim,

I pick up the V4367WTIR and the B1363TIR. I have not installed the bullet yet but I got it for range. I'm going to set it up to overlook the shop and boat. I need to run some conduit for the cables. The 4367 is very nice. With just the street like 100 meters from the drive way it still does color at night. I need to set it up and work on the noise reduction for night.

The DVR I pick up has some really great features I'll be setting up. Like uploading captures to both my NAS box and an offsite server. I have the email alert for motion detection set up already.

I'm not sure if my DVR is using port 9000 but I blocked it along with telnet. Good routers are very useful!!

I have used mostly non-IR cameras and they still show color at night. With the AGC, you can crank up the gain and still not have blown out images. Also, the HME is great if someone comes along and thinks headlights or a bright flashlight will blind the cameras- all that does is show up as a dark spot where the light source is. If you or a neighbor has a bright light that will be in the camera's view, you can use the Privacy feature to block it and keep the AGC from darkening the whole image.

If you want to see something cool- look at the camera's image on the display and cover the lens with your hand- it goes dark, switches to B&W and you'll see the lines in the palm of your hand. I went to a distributor product show a few years ago and the training manager from DW had me do that- it's one of the main reasons I started using their products.

[CantRepeat]

Originally Posted by JimN

I have used mostly non-IR cameras and they still show color at night. With the AGC, you can crank up the gain and still not have blown out images. Also, the HME is great if someone comes along and thinks headlights or a bright flashlight will blind the cameras- all that does is show up as a dark spot where the light source is. If you or a neighbor has a bright light that will be in the camera's view, you can use the Privacy feature to block it and keep the AGC from darkening the whole image.

If you want to see something cool- look at the camera's image on the display and cover the lens with your hand- it goes dark, switches to B&W and you'll see the lines in the palm of your hand. I went to a distributor product show a few years ago and the training manager from DW had me do that- it's one of the main reasons I started using their products.

I have not done any adjusting on them yet but I believe there is a day and a night adjustment on them. I think I can adjust the IR at night to be low or secondary after the AGC has been adjust so that it only uses so much of the IR power. We'll see. At this point I'm still learning.

Thanks for all the tips.

[JimN]

Originally Posted by CantRepeat

I have not done any adjusting on them yet but I believe there is a day and a night adjustment on them. I think I can adjust the IR at night to be low or secondary after the AGC has been adjust so that it only uses so much of the IR power. We'll see. At this point I'm still learning.

Thanks for all the tips.

The dome cameras- did you play with the little rubber "joystick" button inside? The number of settings can be intimidating, but they also do more than any other camera I have seen.

[CantRepeat]

Originally Posted by JimN

The dome cameras- did you play with the little rubber "joystick" button inside? The number of settings can be intimidating, but they also do more than any other camera I have seen.

Only slightly. I wasn't sure what most of them did so I figured I'd keep reading up on them before going to deep. Out of the box they are 10x better then the other 4 I have but I think they will be more then worth if they are ever really needed.

[JimN]

Originally Posted by CantRepeat

Only slightly. I wasn't sure what most of them did so I figured I'd keep reading up on them before going to deep. Out of the box they are 10x better then the other 4 I have but I think they will be more then worth if they are ever really needed.

I'm always amazed by the poor video quality when I see a news report of a gas station or bank robbery. The videos I usually see are one step away from being like a Bigfoot or UFO video and I just laugh when they say "Please call this number if you can identify this person", but it's impossible to see if the person actually has a face, is wearing a ski mask or any other details.

[john jones]

Thanks for the replies.

I am having a tough time deciding on this system:

http://www.securitycameraking.com/co...9098-prd1.html

or
http://www.securitycameraking.com/co...9023-prd1.html

I am trying to stay in a budget around 700.00. This is for home use. The 4 channel is probably enough, but I know how it goes I will want 1or2 more cameras and wished I had bought the 8 channel system.

It appears that they have an economy system and a step above economy in both the 4 channel and the 8 channel, what are the differences between the economy and the next level higher?

[JimN]

Originally Posted by john jones

Thanks for the replies.

I am having a tough time deciding on this system:

http://www.securitycameraking.com/co...9098-prd1.html

or
http://www.securitycameraking.com/co...9023-prd1.html

I am trying to stay in a budget around 700.00. This is for home use. The 4 channel is probably enough, but I know how it goes I will want 1or2 more cameras and wished I had bought the 8 channel system.

It appears that they have an economy system and a step above economy in both the 4 channel and the 8 channel, what are the differences between the economy and the next level higher?

Any time I hear "You can't find a more advanced ________, anywhere" and the package price isn't high, when I know there's a lot out there that does far more, I run. What he's working with is the GUI, not the hardware. However, it does seem to be very full-featured.

What I wanted to see is the video of lights off and night. That's where some cameras really set themselves apart from the others.

This shot has the time stamp on it and I just saved it, remotely. This is the worst view you'd get- it's online, not a decent res feed from the DVR to a TV or monitor. The yard has a big Maple tree that blocks most of the light from the alley, too. Anything that comes in is from the side yards, under/through the tree or farther away,