I have had so many different kinds of camera systems I can’t remember all of them. Right now I have cameras attached to ADT security systems, Swann systems that are wired and Dlink wireless cameras. I also have the first generation Wilife cameras which are wired via the electric lines and plugs in the house.
The ADT stuff is poor, one Swann is a 8 camera system that is about a year old. The 16 camera system is the latest and greatest 1TB system from Swann. They both run the Linux OS. Just the DVR for the 16 camera system was about $900 without cameras. I bought the Swann and Dlink gear at Fry’s.
I would have told you not to use wireless like others have but I have changed my mind about that. The Dlink DCS-932L wireless cameras work perfectly. If you have a lot of space between the cameras and the router this may not be the best solution. They cost about $100 a piece. The place those are watching is a pretty small townhouse so the cameras are not too far away from the router. They are a breeze to setup if you have a router with UpNP. I can watch them from my iPhone, iPad and Android devices along with any browser. If there is any movement in front of the camera it emails me a camera shot. When watching them live they have sound too. This biggest downside is that they do not record things and save them.
The Wilife gear is pretty cool. Plug and play. The Wilife cameras are very good. But expensive. I understand that the current generation is really good but cost some bucks.
For a wired system I’d go with the SwannView or something like it.
It would have been helpful if you had posted what you are trying to watch. If a house how big? Do you need cameras outside that might be in the weather? Is the house two story? Etc, etc.
There are inexpensive things you can do besides cameras. Fake cameras for example that have a blinking light that comes on at night. Motion detection lights. Keeping shrubs and whatnot from blocking windows where the bad guys can hide while breaking in. If you go to Home Depot in the motion lighting section they have a battery powered motion sensor that sends a signal to a device you plug in to the wall. You can plug anything in to the device that plugs in to the wall. Say you have a garage you want to protect. You can setup the sensor up in an eve or some high spot outside and then inside the garage plug in a radio that is “on”. Whenever something moves the sensor send a signal to the inside device and the radio blares. Or, plug in a blinking light. Crooks will leave if they are surprised.
Best of luck...
I want to watch a small one story house with a detatched garage. Need to be able to monitor remotely.
I’ve been searching since I first posted. The number of different systems is astounding.
Not so much worried about the price as reliability, support, etc.
“Crooks will leave if they are surprised.”
Not only that, it deters. My brother owns a couple of restaurants and 2 of them, the cameras don’t work. However, he never told his employees that. It’s the perception..
You wouldn’t know the name of that would you? Thanks