# Home security now feel vulnerable



## kinnon (Jan 15, 2012)

Hi all hope your days going ok 
As some of you may know from earlier posts I have recently moved into my first home. Everything was going great until this morning. I opened my front door to an open car door all the trays etc open and the car was soaked luckily there wasn't any damage to the car or anything missing as toolsin boot etc still there  ( I'm guessing that I forgot to lock it :s) anyway closed it all up and locked it ( checked it this time! But neither the dog (German shepherd) me or the Mrs heard a peep. 

but the Mrs is worried and says we need some cameras was wondering if any of you could recommend/own a set of security cameras or similar I think we need 2 as a minimum. Ideally I would like a wireless option so I don't have to run wires round the house etc wiring for the power would obviously be ok. 

We do have a nest thermostat I was looking at the drop cam but not sure if it records etc and 2 would be £300+ Which seems expensive 

Any help would be greatly appreciated 
Thanks


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## DLGWRX02 (Apr 6, 2010)

Thats a shocking thing to wake up to, having done that myself. I have no experience with wireless but I would always be paranoid of interference etc, wired CCTV is much more reliable and if put in properly is very discrete. My 4 camera system cost me under £300 with a 1tb dvr aswell, I bought a cheapo 14 led tv to use as a monitor seperate though. I installed it over 3 years ago And it's still working perfectly. And the footage it's captured has been used in court twice for various prosecutions by the police. If I knew how to, I can also link it to my iPad and android phone to view any of the cameras from anywhere in the world as long as I have an Internet connection.

Appolagise it wasn't Swann, i found the link was this
http://www.saverstore.com/product/2...DVR-CCTV-4--Camera-System-with-1TB-Hard-drive


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## ffrs1444 (Jun 7, 2008)

I've also got Swann well worth the money


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## Warriors2013 (Aug 10, 2013)

Many camera/cctv systems advertise HD quality cameras etc etc etc, but there is a huge difference in picture quality, especially with night-time images and these are the ones most likely to capture the creatures of the night prowling!

Its worth spending extra on good quality cameras that will capture clear day/night images, rather than trying to save a few quid and finding out, when its too late, that the images are blurred and useless for identification! I have lost count of the times I have been to peoples houses to collect evidential CCTV, only to find it less than useless!

A few things to consider:
How much are you looking to spend and how many cameras do you want (you say minimum 2).
How will you review/view footage? 
Do you want to record the footage or simply view/review it?
Do you want to be able to view/review footage remotely?
Distance from home to object you want to protect?

Wireless systems, while convenient, I believe, can suffer from interference in certain circumstances ( I have no experience with wireless, so can't confirm).

POE (Power over ethernet) cameras are wired, but draw power from the ethernet cable, rather than needing separate power supply, so only require one cable to each camera.

I recently installed my own Hikvision cameras and NVR. They are plug and play wired cameras and are fantastic quality, day & night. I can view/review footage on my TV but I can also view/review remotely, via my mobile phone. I also get emails when something triggers the camera, when I am away from home.

There are loads of options to consider and I would suggest you think carefully abut exactly what you want/need, before pulling the trigger on something that potentially may not do what you want it to do!

As an example, the following images are taken from one of my cameras;










Same camera at night, and this area has no street lighting and is therefore very dark at night!


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## hobbs182 (Jul 10, 2013)

Hikvision are unbeatable from what I've seen and installed in the past, swann are useless hence sell them in the likes of maplins at a fairly cheap price considering. 

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk


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## K777mk2 (Jun 30, 2016)

swann from maplins, have at home , my lads home and also at work.

my nephew works for a major alarm company and whilst the bank the service dont use swan, he recommended it for home use.

they have been great, and i even put an extra one in the loft once to spot a rat, and caught it get walloped in a trap 

things to consider are how many cameras - front/back/side.
memory - the can eat memory if you have more than 2 cameras, personally i like to have upto 4 weeks recorded. so more cameras means bigger hard drive.
remote access ? do you want to be able to check cameras from your mobile ? do you want activation alerts (i havent on any, because i would suspect all sorts of "movements" like cats would send you a message.

they are more of a deterrent than actually recognising a burglar. only thing we ever recognized was a neighbour looking for his dog in our garden, and a next door neighbour coming home ****ed.

Well worth spending £200/250 to keep people off your pride and joy.


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## Wrigit (May 2, 2007)

I went for the netgear Arlo system and it has been great, really easy to setup.

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/smart-...PLA=1&ef_id=V4TLKAAABL6LvJz3:20160715075840:s

Bought after a similar thread on here last year.


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## ffrs1444 (Jun 7, 2008)

Snap shot of my Swann HD via IPhone using the App swan view


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## Warriors2013 (Aug 10, 2013)

hobbs182 said:


> Hikvision are unbeatable from what I've seen and installed in the past, swann are useless hence sell them in the likes of maplins at a fairly cheap price considering.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk


I agree with that. I have seen them myself and there is no comparison between these and the more expensive systems, such as Hikvision etc.. Swann cameras/systems are quite good during the daytime, but at night (when you are more likely to need it!) they are next to useless.

Its like many things, you get what you pay for! Personally, I would rather spend the extra for something that I know will do what I want it to do, when I want it to do it.


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## PugIain (Jun 28, 2006)

I have a wireless Foscam on the front of my house. It works fine, never had any issue. Decent night time performance too, although the spiders love building webs near it!

The only thing I've had to do is drop the quality of the image. I don't have fandangled fast broadband, and on top quality it was slowing my network down a tad. No hardship really.


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## SKY (Sep 25, 2011)

My system at home is made by a firm called indigo vision. 
Top end gear in honesty. Well worth the additional investment over a basic system.


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## Mowbs (Nov 2, 2015)

I don't know what kind of set up you have where your car is parked but if you have the right kind of place even better than cctv is some kind of alert when someone is creeping around.

CCTV is great, but as others have said getting a good image of someone at night can be difficult, especially if they are aware of your cameras. And even then it's too late to protect your car, by the time you're watching back to see what happened the damage or theft has been done. 

I have a couple of Dakota Alert sensors on 2 trees in my driveway (google them) that are linked to a wireless chimer in my house, it is an amazingly simple way of giving piece of mind even while you're in bed and sleeping. They are set with different chimes on each sensor so I know if someone is in my driveway and approaching my car / house. I don't even need a door bell anymore. They have quite a focused beam so I have them set high enough that aminals wont set them off, but people or cars will. They are quite expensive but you do also get cheaper driveway alarms (have a look on eBay) which are more like PIR security light sensors but will alert you with a chimer (and probably be set off by your local cats)

I wouldn't be without mine, when used in conjunction with CCTV I just open my app when the chimers are activated so even when in bed you are aware of what or who is creeping about outside. 

Any chavs trying my door handles at night will find themselves getting chased by me in my boxers with a length of 4x2 and I'll have the pleasure of watching it back on CCTV later. Not a pretty sight!


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## Kev.O (Dec 10, 2015)

Swann cameras are re-branded HiKvision cameras, just the bottom of the range.

The more expensive HiKVision range are fantastic, I'm looking to install some outside my house using an NVR.


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## sshooie (May 15, 2007)

I'm not a great advocate of CCTV, having been in the security industry for 25 years I'd say it has little if any deterrent value, however...HIK Turbo are excellent, swerve the swann stuff imo.

http://www.cctvkits.co.uk/hikvision-3mp-1536p-2-4-cam-kit-builder.html

can be sourced cheaper elsewhere obv.


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