Ubiquiti home security project log

[Azimuth]

See, with the traditional NVR's one has to choose very carefully up front. As in channels. Choose only a 4 channel and you want to upgrade to more cameras...stonewalled. So you buy an 8 channel but then you want 10 cameras. Same problem.

With the Ubiquiti NVR, you can add 30 cameras if you want, or more. Huge scalability at *disruptive pricing* (heh, love it).

I personally cannot attest to the quality but a 1MP cam should be pretty good. It's understandable that low light performance won't be good due to lack of IR but guys almost always just implement good flood lighting.

 

[tprinsloo]

Vivotek and the associated NVR are made for Saudis. Here in ZAR we need Ubiquiti. I love the term "disruptive pricing".

I am also a fan of "disruptive pricing!"

 

[Azimuth]

While waiting for UniFi Video to arrive, here's a sneak peak of what is going to be covered by my video surveillance:

Like I said, my LED lighting is very bright so airCams would be sufficient...I'll still go for the newer UniFi Video though.

 

[Freshy-ZN]

Get your driveway resurfaced first man

 

[Azimuth]

Sigh, the one thing I was hoping no-one would comment on. The joys of owning a house...the work never ends. See the drainage before the garages? That chowed up all the money for the driveway and cost a fortune. Garages kept flooding so had to make it a priority.

 

[Freshy-ZN]

I feel your pain. I have a 70 year old 500sqm farmhouse.......

 

[RVZ]

You can buy from http://www.s4s.co.za/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=S4SCC4191. Good entry level hikvision.Orginally when I looked at cameras the aircams kept upcoming up as the best value for money.If I knew about the hiks back then I would never have gone with the aircams.Kinda wasted my money on those things.The hiks are very popular with cctv installers and are more targeted at the industry while the aircams seem more focused on the private users.

Thanks for the link, great specs for that price.

Also wasted my money on aircam, not impressed at all with their quality.

 

[Azimuth]

Can you guys who have airCams publish some of your footage please?

 

[Azimuth]

http://youtu.be/aZ5XERuvr6o

Holy guacamole, the Pro camera is humungous!! Pricing on the new range will be interesting, I do hope Ubiquiti don't forget their business model.

 

[brianj74]

I am looking into cameras for our street and was wondering if this setup could work...
A base station in the middle with internet connection and 2 cameras. 200m up the hill and 400m down the hill a camera each connected via a wireless link. Trenching not ideal. Any suggestions for hardware?

 

[Azimuth]

You've posted in a Ubiquiti themed thread. It seems like you want to consider all options and not just Ubiquiti?

I'm not sure I follow your planned infrastructure. What do you mean by base station? Also, are the cameras going to be in peoples' yards or actually on the curb? If on the curb, remember there is new legislation requiring you to register your camera feeds with the town council.

If you're willing to post photos, I think it would aid the discussion greatly.

 

[brianj74]

Excuse my ignorance. The base station would be where the external connection would be.
Something like 3 of these where the central one is wired with 2 other poles connected wirelessly

 

[Azimuth]

Can you post pics of *your* street in both directions? You're welcome to blur out anything that might breach your privacy.

 

[Azimuth]

UniFi Video Pro is around R6,300. (Edit: RRP will be more)
UniFi Video Dome is around R1,800. (Edit: RRP will be more)

No pricing on the UniFi Video non-Pro.

The Pro price is very disappointing, it's simply unaffordable. On the other hand, this is intended for a new market segment and I suppose you're getting what you pay for.

I'm hoping the UniFi Video non-Pro also comes in at R1,800, or less. (Edit: RRP will be more)

Edit: Price estimate is R2100 (Edit: RRP will be more). Colour me disappointed. This is vastly more expensive than the original airCam.

 

[Azimuth]

I am looking into cameras for our street and was wondering if this setup could work...
A base station in the middle with internet connection and 2 cameras. 200m up the hill and 400m down the hill a camera each connected via a wireless link. Trenching not ideal. Any suggestions for hardware?

I'm also going to do a new project like yours so will post updates as I go along.

My own topology will be something like:

- My house provides the internet gateway ("the middle")
- 20m hop between the house and the gate serviced by Ubiquiti NanoStation Locos
- At the gate there'll be a weatherproof box housing a Ubiquiti ToughSwitch 5-port PoE
- At the gate there will be two cameras, one pointing down the street and another up the street
- 151m hop between my gate at the last house on the street (cul-de-sac), serviced by another Ubnt NanoStation Loco
- There will be another weatherproof box housing a Ubiquiti ToughSwitch 5-port PoE
- There will be another two cameras, one pointing into the bush (cul-de-sac not yet closed off) and the other pointing back down the street
- Project estimated to cost R14,500
- Expandable to as many cameras as we want
- Street cameras will be publicly (limited to our immediate community) available

The camera views won't be as nice but it's still good for planning purposes.

With such a modest link distance, any low power radio will do. Hence why I'm only going to use Ubnt Loco Nanos (11dBi, rated for 5km links). I'll naturally tune the power output to the lowest amount needed for the link (good practice!).

With previous links I used 5GHz antennas but nowadays I'm using 2.4GHz. We don't have a lot of WiFi activity in the area. However, I will post an AirView spectrum analysis for confirmation.

Edit: my bad, my current antennas are 5GHz.

 

[tprinsloo]

Azimuth,

With the disappointing pricing of the Unfi Video are you looking at alternative equipment or will you just go for the non pro stuff?
I have been running Unfi Video for the past couple of months with my Gen1 Aircams and the software is still a big buggy.

My biggest issues are:
1 - Timed motion record does not always kick in. I then have to restart the cameras to get it working.
2- Mobile website is a bit buggy and live view / playback is a big pain. Hopefully the promised iPhone app will fix this.

Other than that the software is very stable.

Your thoughts?

 

[Azimuth]

How the heck did you obtain UVC before release?

I'm definitely sticking with Ubnt, I'm a convert! I'll go for the 720p UVC's.

Just how good is the iR and audio?

 

[tprinsloo]

I don't have the UVC's (yet) I am still using the 1st generation aircams.

The audio on the aircam dome is pretty decent and I would expect the same from the new UVC's.

I guess I will also go the 720p UVC but having a pro unit or two could be put to good use.

 

[Azimuth]

Great news folks, the UVC 720p is in stock at the usual places and the price is cheaper than forecast - around R2,363.79 including VAT.

Edit: I adjusted the price because of RRP. Sorry guys.

 

[Azimuth]

I completed my project a while ago so this is a final post to provide closure to the thread.