Electronics & Appliances Best Posts in Thread: Wireless CCTV System

@PatO there are many different types of wireless IP cameras. Some might work independent of your wifi and others might require it to be within range of it. Most camera systems have a DVR that comes with it and are simply required for the cameras to plug into (and to record the data). I imagine there are some that come with software you could run and record on your computer though. You need to take note that if you want to record with a high level of definition (which you need if you want to identify people and not just fuzzy blobs) you will need significant storage space. If I record at all times on the highest definition with my system I will burn through a 1 terabyte hard drive in less than a week. For most of my cameras I have it set up to only record at specific times and also automatically record for any motion that is detected. Note that some bugs can see infrared light so are attracted to any camera that has IR LEDs (which is what any affordable camera uses). At night it will be almost constant recording because of the insects.

The signal from a wifi camera should not interfere with your router. I would suggest if you have many cameras that you buy a cheap wifi router to run the video traffic through as video uses up tons of data and might not fair well with video feed + internet. If you plan on being able to see these camera feeds from outside your home network you need to realize that it will slow down your internet speed while you are at home (if it is being accessed from outside the home network).

As for getting the wire outside your house: it is unlikely that your roof and the overhang are made out of concrete as well, though it is possible. I ran all my cables up through the attic and then drilled down through the wood where the camera was to be mounted and then used self tapping screws to mount the cameras to the wooden overhang.

I don't know if you have considered how many cameras you will have and what their placement will be but you should be sure that there aren't any blind spots that a person could get behind as anyone with half a brain will look for that area and then cut cables in the blind spot. I also suggest that you have some in the house as well. There are cheap wifi jammers out there than can block wireless cameras too. Wired is a much more secure method for video feeds...or pretty much anything.

 

BTW: I'm assuming that these CDR king cameras are analog and not digital. Digital cameras are measured in megapixels the same as cell phone cameras. (analog is what you are probably looking at when looking at cheap cameras)

Here is a link to explain what you should be looking for.

http://www.security-camera-warehouse.com/knowledge-base/comparing-420-480-600-700-tv-lines-php/

 

Cameras switch to "black and white" automatically when the ambient light drops below a certain thresh hold. I have never had a look at the ones at CDR King. If someone can post the camera specs I can tell you if it's any good. The "TVL" spec is, IMO, one of the most important aspects. I wouldn't use anything less than 700 TVL. You can see below how bad 420 is.....I've seen cameras being sold in the Philippines below that (and for the price of a 700TVL camera).