Security is something that has become a huge issue in South Africa with our rampant crime. It has become so bad that government decided to rather keep the crime statistics a secret with annual announcements in parliament only. We don’t have running statistics of national crime in this country with most folks having to rely on community crime patrol statistics to get an idea of how their respective suburbs are doing.

Getting eyes on things

By now you have put up the barriers, fences, electric trip wires, and laser beams. The dogs are on patrol and lights have been put up that turn themselves on and off with any movement accompanied by a heat signature. It is urban warfare if you think about it carefully with forts on every street. The problem is keeping an eye out. You could walk around the house whenever the dog barks but that defies the purpose of early alarm. What you need is a view without being physically out there. What you need are cameras looking outside. It is more comfortable anyways than having to run around the house or peeping out of windows.

The price of vision

Good security cameras are costly. You can expect to pay a thousand Rand and up for a half decent camera with most of the cameras offering decent night vision in the order of about R4000 and up. Then you get the remote tilt and zoom cameras that you can actually steer around. You can even add sound recording and reproduction capabilities if you want to scream at the criminals in your yard remotely. Cool feature if you happen to be checking up on the house on holiday at the coast and you happen to see somebody snooping in the yard in Gauteng.

Excluding a computer to keep track and record things you could spend anything between R4000 and R16000 on covering 4 corners of your house depending on what kind of lighting conditions you have around the yard. You can spend even more on cameras that can look around and zoom for instance.
The speed that kills

IP cameras can be network resource hungry, PC resource hungry and they can be especially tough on hard drives that consistently have to write data day in and day out. If you are going to do the self install you need to be aware of these things. Rather get a camera that does its own processing and if need be can record to itself if you don’t have the cash for a decent system to record to. There are cameras that can record motion detected movement onto SD cards that you slot into them. These are also good if you need a camera in a spot where you cannot get a cable or Wi-Fi link just yet.
If the camera can handle SAMBA / Windows networking then you can have it record movement straight to a shared folder on your windows network. This can ease processor time on an older computer. But make sure the camera you choose can do this before you buy. It is recommended in my opinion to buy a camera that can do this even if you intend on using software based monitoring solutions to do the recording and camera switching. You never know when you might need it.
LAN speed is sometimes an issue. The more cameras you hook up the more it can drag the network down, especially with cheap access points. Cameras can become unresponsive in an environment like this and fixed cable connections are always better for an IP camera setup. Wi-Fi can bridge gaps between buildings but try to stick to cable for IP camera rigs as it will save you many headaches. How many Wi-Fi cameras you can pop onto your access point is a matter of trial and error. The bonus however is that most wireless IP cameras can work on fixed cable installations too.

Trigger the alarm

Some cameras have input and output ports to hook up to a security alarm that communicated with your preferred security company. If you for instance have a camera indoors or in a zone where you know it cannot possibly have a false motion detection it can be connected to your alarm and trigger it. You might need to get a technician from your alarm company to approve and connect it but it is an interesting option for important locations like a safe door or home entertainment system.

The software can make it perfect for you

Have a test drive on the software that can access multiple cameras and monitor them. Security camera monitoring software should be pliable and be able to work alone without supervision. Ask for a demo or get one online before buying because some applications really are better than others. You will know if it suits you! Look for camera view rotation or cycling capability, full screen view and remote log in options. You want to be able to log in via your mobile phone. It is okay if the software doesn’t accommodate this, but your cameras themselves should allow logging in via a web interface on multiple devices ranging from computers to mobile phones for remote viewing. Software that can SMS or email you when an event occurs is always a bonus. Again, if the camera can do this on its own, thus the better.

Go 3G

Some cameras can interact with mobile internet options. This is especially cool for keeping an eye on that farm house or holiday home from a distance where you want the device to be accessible and autonomous. There are tons of options out there and no, you do not have to go and pay a monthly subscription fee to some company to have this service. You can install and run it by yourself.

In short, what do you need to look for

Quality optics and night vision where needed

Be willing to pay a little extra for a little bit more than simply an entry level camera
Get a system that works on the software you intend to use. Many companies have decent free monitoring software and others don’t. They are usually brand specific. Luckily the companies with decent software sell decent cameras too.

Keep an eye on the network requirements for multiple cameras. A Gigabit LAN is probably the way to go for safety’s sake.

If you tinker a little, you should be able to keep an eye on your house remotely , get early warning of movement before you enter your house and even keep an eye on your surroundings on any PC in your house without having to set foot outside. It is amazing how relaxing it can be to be able to just look at a screen to see everything is okay around the house.