State Specific Question About: MASSACHUSETTS (MA)

You can buy a $300 system from Costco that contains several cameras and all that is needed, but limited for future expansion or you can buy high resolution IP cameras and software for your PC and have the flexibility to expand/ upgrade.

Do NOT cheap out and buy crappy $50 Chinese no-name brand cameras. Stay away from Foscam IP cameras. They are cheap in price and cheaper in performance. I am a fan of Hikvision. Although Chinese made, they are very reasonable priced and work EXCELLENT. For basic surveillance they run along side of my 5X more expensive AXIS cameras.

If you want top-notch recording software for your PC that supports hundreds of different cameras, you can download Milestone GO.

John

@John, thank you so much for your advice about cameras. This is an odd question, but if you had to install a burglar alarm system, what brand and model would you choose? I am sorry if I am going off-topic with this. I'm considering installing sercurity cameras for sure and a burglar alarm too.

@John, thank you so much for your advice about cameras. This is an odd question, but if you had to install a burglar alarm system, what brand and model would you choose? I am sorry if I am going off-topic with this. I'm considering installing sercurity cameras for sure and a burglar alarm too.

Salernitana, sorry for the delayed response. As for burglar alarm systems, I have none. I have a double door in the front for which both have locks, the inner door with an electronic lock. These doors lead to a common hallway. My building is a duplex, but actually is configured for 3 families. There seems to be someone home at all times and we all know each other and fully aware of keeping the doors locked to keep out the riff-raff.

My camera system consists of 18 cameras placed around the property (exterior to the house). I have 4 garages on site which I rent out several and have one garage for my hot rod car and thousands $$$$ in tools. Also on site is a small workshop and common parking area which is difficult to see from the house since there is a garage in between.

Some cameras are configured to record on motion while others record continuously. Everything is stored on a video server on my property and I can playback any of the recordings. I have an app loaded on my smartphone that allows me to checkup on the property at anytime from anyplace as long as I have cell phone or Wi-Fi service.

It seems like once every 6 months something happens and if anything goes wrong in my area that involves police, they usually stop by to see what I captured since I have cameras focused on the street outside the front of my property.

Some of the things that happened in the past was an armed robbery at the bank next door to my property. FBI, local and county police were in my room for several hours reviewing recorded footage. The bank's camera recordings were absolutely useless (words from the FBI man). The gas station several hundred feet up the street was robbed twice. Once at closing the attendant was robbed at knife point and the second robbery was a smash and grab in the early hours of the morning. We had the police here looking at footage after shoplifters ran off from the shopping center stores also next to my property. Car accidents, suspicious people, bears and that is only a few things that get recorded.

Bottom line is you WILL be surprised at what you would not have seen if you did not have a good security camera system installed.

John

John[NJ], can you elaborate what's wrong with the cheap Chinese made Foscam vs. your expensive chinese made Hikvision? I happen to have 2 in operation and plan to install couple more.

Granted, I don't store hot rod nor thousands $$$ worth of tools at places that I need camera to watch them.

I store still images(resolution 640 * 480) on a local cheap ftp server with a cheap wifi router. If someone did something illegal, his/her image will be captured.

Like you said, something happens every couple months.. so I am happy with the cost/performance I get.

You asked "John[NJ], can you elaborate what's wrong with the cheap Chinese made Foscam vs. your expensive chinese made Hikvision?"

You basically answered your question. Foscam cameras are cheap Chinese junk - GOOGLE it. Hikvision is by NO means expensive in comparison to more expensive cameras in terms of performance.

You commented "Granted, I don't store hot rod nor thousands $$$ worth of tools at places that I need camera to watch them."

What I have my cameras overseeing is irrelevant. The fact is I have sufficient and reliable coverage.

You stated "I store still images(resolution 640 * 480) on a local cheap ftp server with a cheap wifi router. If someone did something illegal, his/her image will be captured."

What you see in foscam's 640 x 480 image and cameras costing only several dollars more that produce 3 mp (mega pixels) - 4 MP images is not even a close comparision. You will NOT get the fine details in low resolution. It is not even a contest comparing the two.

The purpose of my security camera system is to provide complete coverage with as much detail as possible. 640 x 480 can not do the job sufficiently.

JohnnyC

New Jersey