- Nov 30, 2017
- 10
- 4
Hi!
I've been reading up these forums day and night, catching up on the latest news on what would work best for our 2-storey single family home.
Yesterday, Andy got back to me with inventory and prices, so I thought I'd introduce myself and do a Request For Comment, before I pull the trigger. My name's Ken and I'm located in the East Bay (NorCal). Although I know computers and networking, I'm too clumsy to be handy around the house. Just thinking about how to wire up Cat6a to the outside is giving me a massive headache.
Assumptions/Requirements
I'm assuming that any intruders will be wearing a mask and using fake plates so I'm not too big on the identification part of DORI. For the most part, Detect and Observe will probably be sufficient. What's important to me is, to detect intrusion in progress (alert to mobile). Initially, I prefer to err on the side of many false positives (eg last night there were deer in the front yard) and then tighten down later. So my intention is to use SD cards and record 24/7. Because I have to hire someone to wire (who charges per camera), I'm preferring four better cameras over many more so-so cameras.
Biases/Leaning to NVR
Although I prefer Linux and OSX, I like hands-off appliance boxes even more. Even though I have a old box sitting around that could be dedicated to BlueIris, XProtect, BlueCherry, or ZoneMinder, I'm going to go for the Dahua DHI-NVR5216-16P-4KS2. I hope to configure and fine-tune the NVR once and then hopefully, leave it hands-off. I'm hoping that I can just see what's happening from an iPhone and do any additional tweaking from an OSX client.
Home Layout and Equipment (4 Cameras + NVR)
On the front (camera 1) and alley side of the house (camera 4), the streets are well-lit with city LED lights, so I'm thinking the 4K Starvis IPC-HDW5830RZ (camera 1) and IPC-HFW5830E-Z5 (alley) should do fine - I'll basically trading the superlative IPC-HDW5231R-Z for some more pixels. There are steep slopes on the backside and southside of the house, so if intruders are enthusiastic enough to scale from those approaches, they're free to come inside. I have a Skybell HD at the front door.
Wiring (bane of my existence)
Without knowing anything about a house except that it has an attic, I hear that installers can magically wire from my second floor closet, up to the attic, and down to the outer walls.
But when I take a closer look, the walls for camera 3 and 4 do not go all the way to the attic. So it looks like I need to extend an ethernet outlet from the first floor Great Room to a PoE switch, and then feed these lines outside to cameras 3 and 4. For cameras 1 and 2, I have a couple telephone lines wired up already with Cat6a that I think can be converted into PoE lines that hook up directly to the NVR on the second floor (red dot).
Using existing lines, I am highly tempted to make these extensions myself (I think Camera 1 through the garage is the easiest). But every time I think I can do it, I chicken out after reading horror stories about hitting joists, fire stops, water pipes and electrical lines. In the end, I think I'll have to shell out at least a big to have pros do this. Install's gonna cost almost as much as the equipment. 8^P
Questions/Items I'm still researching and thinking about
1. I'm looking at PFB203W mounts for the turrets. Any mount suggestions for the bullet camera?
2. I read that 8MP cameras will require substreams. What setting for the substream is recommended for an iPhone 6s Plus?
3. I'm thinking about a 5th PTZ camera (SD49225T-HN) for the backyard or the front corner of the house, just as a plaything, honestly, but I keep flip-flopping on this, as it'll cost another $5-600, installed, I think. Any comments from PTZ owners?
Photos below are taken with an iPhone (not the actual camera) to get an approximate image.
I appreciate any comments/practical advice. I hope to come to some kind of decision by the end of the coming week and send Andy an order and a PayPal payment.
Thanks in Advance!
- Ken

I've been reading up these forums day and night, catching up on the latest news on what would work best for our 2-storey single family home.
Yesterday, Andy got back to me with inventory and prices, so I thought I'd introduce myself and do a Request For Comment, before I pull the trigger. My name's Ken and I'm located in the East Bay (NorCal). Although I know computers and networking, I'm too clumsy to be handy around the house. Just thinking about how to wire up Cat6a to the outside is giving me a massive headache.
Assumptions/Requirements
I'm assuming that any intruders will be wearing a mask and using fake plates so I'm not too big on the identification part of DORI. For the most part, Detect and Observe will probably be sufficient. What's important to me is, to detect intrusion in progress (alert to mobile). Initially, I prefer to err on the side of many false positives (eg last night there were deer in the front yard) and then tighten down later. So my intention is to use SD cards and record 24/7. Because I have to hire someone to wire (who charges per camera), I'm preferring four better cameras over many more so-so cameras.
Biases/Leaning to NVR
Although I prefer Linux and OSX, I like hands-off appliance boxes even more. Even though I have a old box sitting around that could be dedicated to BlueIris, XProtect, BlueCherry, or ZoneMinder, I'm going to go for the Dahua DHI-NVR5216-16P-4KS2. I hope to configure and fine-tune the NVR once and then hopefully, leave it hands-off. I'm hoping that I can just see what's happening from an iPhone and do any additional tweaking from an OSX client.
Home Layout and Equipment (4 Cameras + NVR)
On the front (camera 1) and alley side of the house (camera 4), the streets are well-lit with city LED lights, so I'm thinking the 4K Starvis IPC-HDW5830RZ (camera 1) and IPC-HFW5830E-Z5 (alley) should do fine - I'll basically trading the superlative IPC-HDW5231R-Z for some more pixels. There are steep slopes on the backside and southside of the house, so if intruders are enthusiastic enough to scale from those approaches, they're free to come inside. I have a Skybell HD at the front door.
Wiring (bane of my existence)
Without knowing anything about a house except that it has an attic, I hear that installers can magically wire from my second floor closet, up to the attic, and down to the outer walls.
But when I take a closer look, the walls for camera 3 and 4 do not go all the way to the attic. So it looks like I need to extend an ethernet outlet from the first floor Great Room to a PoE switch, and then feed these lines outside to cameras 3 and 4. For cameras 1 and 2, I have a couple telephone lines wired up already with Cat6a that I think can be converted into PoE lines that hook up directly to the NVR on the second floor (red dot).
Using existing lines, I am highly tempted to make these extensions myself (I think Camera 1 through the garage is the easiest). But every time I think I can do it, I chicken out after reading horror stories about hitting joists, fire stops, water pipes and electrical lines. In the end, I think I'll have to shell out at least a big to have pros do this. Install's gonna cost almost as much as the equipment. 8^P
Questions/Items I'm still researching and thinking about
1. I'm looking at PFB203W mounts for the turrets. Any mount suggestions for the bullet camera?
2. I read that 8MP cameras will require substreams. What setting for the substream is recommended for an iPhone 6s Plus?
3. I'm thinking about a 5th PTZ camera (SD49225T-HN) for the backyard or the front corner of the house, just as a plaything, honestly, but I keep flip-flopping on this, as it'll cost another $5-600, installed, I think. Any comments from PTZ owners?
Photos below are taken with an iPhone (not the actual camera) to get an approximate image.
I appreciate any comments/practical advice. I hope to come to some kind of decision by the end of the coming week and send Andy an order and a PayPal payment.
Thanks in Advance!
- Ken







