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Best PoE Outdoor security camera?

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  • Nov 8th, 2020 12:21 pm
Deal Expert
Aug 2, 2004
38395 posts
12020 upvotes
East Gwillimbury
CoolDudeClan wrote: Any thoughts on this for a bottom of the basement budget POE system?

https://www.amazon.ca/JOOAN-Security-Mo ... ewpoints=1

I saw someone mention their JOOAN cameras are okay.
You get what you pay for with cheap systems. But I believe a cheap system is better than nonsystem

I think if you can get 3 to 5 years use from the JOOAN system, you’ve done okay.
Sr. Member
Nov 1, 2015
625 posts
309 upvotes
BC
Ive been researching camera systems for months. Ive decided to go with a 4 channel POE system but I'm still not sure what brand to go with. My budget is $500 for a 1080p 4 camera system with NVR and minimum 1TB HDD.

I've researched:

HikVision
Swann
GW Security
Techage
LTS
Amcrest
Trendnet
Annke
Loxcam
Hiseeu
CDD
Dahua
Q-See
Lorex
Sannce
Ubiquiti
D-Link
Anran
Ezviz
Nest
Jooan
OOSSXX
Zmodo
Zclever (lol)
Defender
Netgear
Reolink
HJT

The camera systems that are priced around $199-$399 seem very hit or miss in terms of reviews. #1 complain being support and #2 complaint being dead camera's or NVR. Im not sure if the people buying these systems just lack basic networking skills to troubleshoot a simple problem or if it is actually the equipment that is at fault.

The systems I researched that range from $399-$699 seem to be a lot better in terms of reviews. My question is for those of you who have owned one of the brands I mentioned above which one would you go with if you had a budget of $500 and why?
Newbie
Dec 2, 2008
99 posts
46 upvotes
Montreal
Can someone point me to the resources involved with setup? I've seen many of these systems such as the Lorex at Costco and I remember viewing something about surveillance camera installation at Canada Computers but what is the cost for this? There is the budget for the system themselves but is everyone installing these devices themselves? What is the cost of hiring a professional to install these devices around the house if one were to order the system in advance from an online or brick and mortar retailer? I'm in the Montreal area if anyone from around here has had to pay someone for this before.
Deal Addict
User avatar
Apr 19, 2004
1049 posts
622 upvotes
Earth
Nites07 wrote: Ive been researching camera systems for months. Ive decided to go with a 4 channel POE system but I'm still not sure what brand to go with. My budget is $500 for a 1080p 4 camera system with NVR and minimum 1TB HDD.

I've researched:

HikVision
Swann
GW Security
Techage
LTS
Amcrest
Trendnet
Annke
Loxcam
Hiseeu
CDD
Dahua
Q-See
Lorex
Sannce
Ubiquiti
D-Link
Anran
Ezviz
Nest
Jooan
OOSSXX
Zmodo
Zclever (lol)
Defender
Netgear
Reolink
HJT

The camera systems that are priced around $199-$399 seem very hit or miss in terms of reviews. #1 complain being support and #2 complaint being dead camera's or NVR. Im not sure if the people buying these systems just lack basic networking skills to troubleshoot a simple problem or if it is actually the equipment that is at fault.

The systems I researched that range from $399-$699 seem to be a lot better in terms of reviews. My question is for those of you who have owned one of the brands I mentioned above which one would you go with if you had a budget of $500 and why?
You missed EyeoNet
Deal Expert
Aug 2, 2004
38395 posts
12020 upvotes
East Gwillimbury
Nites07 wrote: Ive been researching camera systems for months. Ive decided to go with a 4 channel POE system but I'm still not sure what brand to go with. My budget is $500 for a 1080p 4 camera system with NVR and minimum 1TB HDD.
With that limited budget, you probably will not get IP cameras. More likely TVI (Analogue)

The 1 terabyte will give you 2 or 3 days max at 1080p of continuous recording. That is not adequate. You should get enough storage for at least 30 days. Out door cameras will be constantly recording because there is always something moving to activate the recording.
Deal Guru
User avatar
Apr 4, 2001
11802 posts
620 upvotes
Ubiquiti is decent but you won’t get it within your small budget.
Newbie
May 27, 2018
65 posts
24 upvotes
TomLafinsky wrote: With 4 cams recording 24/7 at 1080 I get 87 hours of recording with 1 terabyte. Paid US$180 and the cams work even when temp is down to -30C. Extremely happy with my setup. Not a single problem in 4 years.
I too need to setup security systems. Can you list the parts with model #s? Thanks.
Deal Addict
Jan 31, 2007
4809 posts
1803 upvotes
Alot of the security systems made have security issues, that never get patched. I like Foscam, they seem to be realasing fixes often.
Sr. Member
User avatar
Feb 25, 2003
627 posts
492 upvotes
Vancouver
EEE2 wrote: Alot of the security systems made have security issues, that never get patched. I like Foscam, they seem to be realasing fixes often.
So true. Hikvision seems to be the most popular and the one with most problems. Probably because they rebrand as OEMs to sell under other brands. Here is a list I found:
https://ipvm.com/reports/hik-oems-dir

Also, there is a backdoor exploit which was discovered 2 years ago for Hikvision cameras that is still an issue:
https://ipvm.com/reports/hik-hack-map

All this is relevant if you are planning on accessing your cameras from outside your network.
Member
Dec 1, 2006
215 posts
98 upvotes
TomLafinsky wrote: With 4 cams recording 24/7 at 1080 I get 87 hours of recording with 1 terabyte. Paid US$180 and the cams work even when temp is down to -30C. Extremely happy with my setup. Not a single problem in 4 years.
Can you share what products you are using
Sr. Member
Nov 1, 2015
625 posts
309 upvotes
BC
I spoke to Andy. He is trying to sell me Dahua NVR for $180 USD with Dahua Starlight 2MP Camera for $115 USD each. After conversion the price would be $852 CAD for a 4 camera setup. After tax and shipping I'm looking at about $1000. Also, the chance of having to pay duty could potentially bump that figure up to $1100+.
Sr. Member
Nov 1, 2015
625 posts
309 upvotes
BC
Ive been researching the ubiquiti cameras recently and they look quite promising. I've seen how well their AP's work so I might give them a try.
Member
Feb 11, 2009
413 posts
148 upvotes
Ubiquiti system is super nice and I've been wanting to get them but I just can't understand the fact that there are no screws to attach the camera to the mounting bracket. Anyone could just unscrew it and leave with it unless you mount them high enough.
Deal Fanatic
Jan 15, 2004
7631 posts
2175 upvotes
My Lorex cameras from Costco is working fine today in GTA with a wind chill temp of -38 this morning.
Deal Addict
Dec 12, 2003
2883 posts
1622 upvotes
golden wrote: My Lorex cameras from Costco is working fine today in GTA with a wind chill temp of -38 this morning.
When did Costco sell PoE Lorex? They seem to only carry BNC versions now
Sr. Member
Feb 23, 2008
886 posts
87 upvotes
Nites07 wrote: They have always sold the poe systems.

https://www.costco.ca/Lorex-8-channel-U ... 03204.html
Is this system any good? I was looking at it with the flyers that came out a few weeks ago highlight this. I see that it comes with 2TB hard drive but I don't know how long it would last with 6 cameras connected to it and perhaps would want to upgrade the hard drive but basically throwing away the hard drive in it. I asked Lorex and it doesn't look like this can take a 2nd hard drive like some systems they sell.

When I talked to Lorex, I think they tried to steer me to this system which is a Pro system according to them but it can do 30FPS (not sure if that would be over kill and 15FPS would be good) and up to 16 cameras which is over kill for my home needs and a hefty price with this in USD. This system can do 2 hard drives but I guess 1x8TB drive would be adequate but I don't know how much can fit on one.
https://www.lorextechnology.com/4k-ip-c ... IP164i-1-p


I see a lot of people referring to getting Dahua or Hikvision camera systems but I don't see a lot of references to reliable sources and complete systems. I don't know if I would care about a warranty per se as they are probably going to work properly if they work past the first month. I guess the benefit of these packages from Lorex is they package it all together with an app on your phone, etc with pretty decent cameras since they Dahua anyway with neat features like colour night vision, etc
Sr. Member
Nov 1, 2015
625 posts
309 upvotes
BC
bolmsted wrote: Is this system any good? I was looking at it with the flyers that came out a few weeks ago highlight this. I see that it comes with 2TB hard drive but I don't know how long it would last with 6 cameras connected to it and perhaps would want to upgrade the hard drive but basically throwing away the hard drive in it. I asked Lorex and it doesn't look like this can take a 2nd hard drive like some systems they sell.

When I talked to Lorex, I think they tried to steer me to this system which is a Pro system according to them but it can do 30FPS (not sure if that would be over kill and 15FPS would be good) and up to 16 cameras which is over kill for my home needs and a hefty price with this in USD. This system can do 2 hard drives but I guess 1x8TB drive would be adequate but I don't know how much can fit on one.
https://www.lorextechnology.com/4k-ip-c ... IP164i-1-p


I see a lot of people referring to getting Dahua or Hikvision camera systems but I don't see a lot of references to reliable sources and complete systems. I don't know if I would care about a warranty per se as they are probably going to work properly if they work past the first month. I guess the benefit of these packages from Lorex is they package it all together with an app on your phone, etc with pretty decent cameras since they Dahua anyway with neat features like colour night vision, etc
My friend who is a electrician installed the non POE version of this system at his house and says it was an easy setup and works great. He also does jobs installing Dahua and HikVision. He says Dahua interface can be difficult if you don't know what your doing and will require constant updates to firmware so you need to buy Dahua from a good seller.

Yes, you can change out the HDD on this lorex system. They actually even sell WD Purple drives on their own website up to 6TB. 8TB purple will cost you quite a bit. I saw the 10TB on sale on Amazon for $399.

I tried to calculate the amount of hours a 10TB drive can hold for 4k footage with 6 cameras. It looks like it's around 10 days tops. So if you want have 30 days of storage which is the recommended you would need around 30TB's. My calculation might be way off. Maybe someone else can come up with something more accurate.
Member
May 21, 2002
425 posts
124 upvotes
Lorex 4k set

I picked up this system (about $950 cdn, BF sale) about a year ago now and everything's been working great. I was originally looking for some kind of dahua/hikvision system but laziness prevailed and I thought I'd give this package a try. I could have installed them myself (had a great, logical path for all the wiring) but just ended up paying a local installer $100/camera due to time constraints.

Quality of the physical camera seems excellent as is the video quality. The included cables are junk. Yes the HD is upgradeable and in 4k the 2tb drive holds exactly one week of footage from the four cams.

No complaints here, but I'm not a 'power' user that needs to have absolutely every option customized. I just want reliable video of good quality and this seems to provide exactly that

Edit: my installer was going on about Lorex being junk and I was well aware of this general concensus before I bought this set. After the install and being familiar with this particular equipment, he was actually impressed.
Deal Addict
Nov 14, 2006
3149 posts
1952 upvotes
GTA
wasabi wrote: Lorex 4k set

I picked up this system (about $950 cdn, BF sale) about a year ago now and everything's been working great. I was originally looking for some kind of dahua/hikvision system but laziness prevailed and I thought I'd give this package a try. I could have installed them myself (had a great, logical path for all the wiring) but just ended up paying a local installer $100/camera due to time constraints.

Quality of the physical camera seems excellent as is the video quality. The included cables are junk. Yes the HD is upgradeable and in 4k the 2tb drive holds exactly one week of footage from the four cams.

No complaints here, but I'm not a 'power' user that needs to have absolutely every option customized. I just want reliable video of good quality and this seems to provide exactly that

Edit: my installer was going on about Lorex being junk and I was well aware of this general concensus before I bought this set. After the install and being familiar with this particular equipment, he was actually impressed.

Was checking out your link and whats the main difference in the 2 cameras from the other 2? Just having a mic on them?

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