What's a good cctv system?

rawk100

I want to get a cctv system for my house, a couple of external cameras should do it (one for the back and one for the front). I want night vision with a range of about 25m. Wifi cameras would be nice but not essential. Not bothered about being able to surf in remotely although again it would be nice. Budget of around £250. Can anybody advise what's a good or bad system as I haven't a clue and don't know where to start!.....

bazxkr

Maplins usually have some good offers on these setups & you can go into the store and usually see a demo.

My CCTVs go into a surveillance pci card on my PC but I'm gonna change that for one of the Swann 8 channel kits.

My cameras are Sony night vision & have been working for over 10 yrs now . You set them to operate how you want but mine are set up for movement sensor triggering the recording of each camera

You can also monitor the cameras from work on your phone if you have the system networked. If you only need two cameras I would think you could get sorted for £250/£300

Iamnobody

As with a lot technology CCTV is now cheap enough and good enough at consumer level to be a viable option.

I mentioned it to my wife and she wasn't keen at all. Thought it would make us look dodgy! Eh!?

Anyway I'm interested in this thread even more so if you can conceal the cameras so it isn't that obvious.

Rocker

I looked in Maplins a few months ago and they have several CCTV systems, one I remember had 4 cameras and a wall mounted LCD screen/control unit.  Price included wires etc.  Looked pretty good value too.

rawk100

I'll go into maplins this week and see what they say then, hopefully they'll be able to point me in the right direction.

Sambostar

You want to point it at the hot neighbour's bathroom, that's where you want to point it.

rawk100

Sambostar;804861" said:

You want to point it at the hot neighbour's bathroom, that's where you want to point it.

Unfortunately my neighbour has features that are not unlike a wilderbeast's......and an ugly one at that......!

roundthebend

What's the deal with installing them? External electrics need sign off don't they?

chillidoggy

I don't think so. Not if it's on your property, anyway. Unless you're getting a contractor to do it, then it's different.

rawk100

Went into Faplins today and after i finished messing with the remote controlled helicopters I looked at some cctv kits. They come with cameras, recorder and all the cables you need. The recorder looks a bit like a DVD player and it just plugs into the wall socket, the cameras are powered at 12vdc from the recorder so no installation certs are needed. The kit I looked at had 18m of camera cable although you can buy longer lengths. The recorder will plug into your tv via the hdmi connection, or you can plug it into your router and browse in on you iPad, phone, etc. Gonna do a bit more sussing later this week...

bazxkr

@rawk100 Maplins have the 8 channel swann with 4 cameras kit at £199.99 at the mo with maybe a 20% cashback too ! Might be worth looking at in case that deal changes...Maplin don't hold these special deals for long

The remote surveillance is handy... can see how long the milkman spends so long in my house every morning once I've gone to work !!

I'd update my system if weren't for the money being diverted toward GAS LOL

rawk100

@bazxkr thanks for the heads up, I was in maplins earlier in the week and didn't notice that deal so will go and have another look...

hubobulous

I can't help I'm afraid, but my initial reaction to your post was, 'I hope everything is ok and that you're not being harassed etc'. Best wishes unless there's a far less stressful need for this :-)

Lestratcaster

Thought I'd revive this thread as I too am looking for a CCTV system to overview the back of our garden where our newly converted garage is. We'll probably need another at the other end to face the back of our house and maybe one for the front of the house too. Obviously things have changed a bit since 2015 as technology is even more advanced.

Those Swann ones look pretty good but are there any other recommendations? Something reasonably priced, not a fuss to install and easy to use. 

When converting I ought to have told the electrician to install wiring for cameras, but we can mount cameras onto it provided it has a power supply? And we'd want one as priority to face the garage from the back of the house anyway.

Brize

Two points: First, you can easily buy a CCTV system that provides power over ethernet (POE), which means that you only need one cable from the camera to the recording device (NVR).

Second, be wary of noisy NVRs. I bought a Hikvision system, because I liked the look of it and was familiar with the brand. The NVR was so noisy, though, even in the loft, that I found it next to useless. In the end, I had to scrap it and start again, wasting a lot of money in the process. Amusingly, when I went back to the (online) retailer, his suggestion was to remove the fan from the box!

I ended up with an XVision NVR, which doesn't have a fan and is therefore silent.

vasselmeyer

Can I suggest the Netgear Arlo system? It works outside for up to 6 months on batteries so no additional wiring needed. Here's a review:

Lestratcaster

That Netgear one is very appealing esp the battery powered option, as I would welcome not having to drill holes into the outside and inside of the house walls. Plus the best view coverage to the back of the garden would be right underneath my bedroom window as it overlooks the entire back garden. So sticking it just underneath my window would ensure total coverage.

Blaendulais

I looked at it on amazon but the reviews are not great

spark240

The budgets kits tend have lots of gadgetry but poor performance when you really need the footage...I note @Brize had issues with Hik Vision, though we have used these a lot and never had any problems

mudslide73

I run an Avigilon system at work with Avigilon external cams and Hikvision internal cams. There's nowt wrong with Hikvision cameras - a lot of them will record onto SD if you don't fancy the NVR thing too. 

Brize

spark240 said:

The budgets kits tend have lots of gadgetry but poor performance when you really need the footage...I note @Brize had issues with Hik Vision, though we have used these a lot and never had any problems

Only noise issues in a domestic setting.