My New Home Security & Surveillance
Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2018 1:25 pm
I am offering my experience so hopefully someone else on the fence or someone that hadn't considered this can get some ideas.
So a few weeks ago I purchased my first house. After renting and living with roommates for the past decade, it was time to make a big boy purchase.
One of the things I'm working on now is setting up proper home security to keep tabs on the place when I am away and extra sets of eyes and ears when I am home.
Security System
I had received a few deals in the mail and email after all of the companies caught wind of my home purchase. In my research, the Frontpoint security system seemed to be the best bang for the buck with the features I wanted. I got the "Ultimate" kit for $200 shipped from Angie's List, however it is a $45/mo 3-year contract for monitoring and remote management (phone app, web site control, etc.). It does not have cameras in this package, nor did I want them to "see within."
The Frontpoint system comes with easy-to-understand, interactive instructions on your mobile device so you can test each device as you install it. If you did it wrong, it won't let you continue until it's right. With 10 door/window sensors, 2 motion detectors, and a smoke/fire alarm, it took about one hour to install everything. Every device has pre-applied double-sided tape for quick and easy installation. The batteries supposedly last 3-5 years.
I was very unsure about home security system offerings since the last time I've dealt with them it was my parents' ADT hard-wired system which had all sorts of problems. I'm happy with my decision. Although, I believe we all understand here that a security system will not make everything "safe," it will help help inform and aid us in the detection of intruders giving us extra time to react.
Another feature I really like is setting up multiple codes for different people. This way I know who had deactivated the system as I have a girlfriend and other friends that help around here when I am not around. Each code can have a name tied to it in the online web application and it will show as "Joe Smith deactivated the system at XX:XX" online and the mobile app.
Surveillance
In addition to monitoring for unauthorized entry, I wanted to watch and record certain spots around the house/yard/garage.
After much research and comparison, I opted to go with Reolink IP cameras. They seem to be the best cameras around their price point.
Here's a list of the cameras:
4x Reolink RLC-410
1x Reolink RLC-422
1x Reolink CL1 Pro
All of the cameras except the CL1 Pro use Power-over-Ethernet so a single wire from a PoE capable network switch powers them. The C1-Pro uses wireless to transmit the camera feed and a single USB cable (like a smart phone) for power. All of these cameras are 4 or 5 Megapixels (better than 1080p!) and have LED infrared lights for impressive night vision. All management of the cameras is done on your computer. Each camera will have it's own IP address where you can login, change settings, and watch the live-stream. These cameras also offer the ability to email you, upload to a server, or record internally when motion is detected.
For what it's worth, the default settings do cause motion blur in night mode (black & white). After some tweaking of the settings, I got sharp, clear motion night video. Daytime (color) video is unaffected by this problem.
Recording
Since I wanted 24/7 recording of multiple streams I opted to use software called Shinobi CCTV. Shinobi is free for non-commercial use and the code is open-source. I have already been in contact with the developer to help get a few things fixed and streamlined with this software since I am planning on using it for a lengthy duration.
To record the six high-def video streams, I bought a large-capacity hard drive for use with 24/7 video recording, a Seagate SkyHawk 8TB. This will have to be installed in a computer that is on 24/7 with some Network Video Recorder (NVR) software, such as Shinobi running. You can also use a Network Attached Storage (NAS) device that offers NVR applications on their operating system. I opted to install the harddrive in one of my rack-mounted enterprise servers and am running Shinobi in a Linux virtual machine. All of the cameras and the Linux virtual machine are on their own "virtual" network (VLAN) so there is a 0% chance of anyone other than myself gaining access to the cameras. Additionally, the camera VLAN has no internet access, in or out. I believe this is a very important step that many people overlook. Prevent your cameras from being accessed AND accessing the internet!
Conclusion
Overall, I'm very happy I took the time and money to invest in these two systems to aid in home security. The neighborhood isn't the best and I now feel much safer coming home knowing that no doors or windows and no motion captured before walking in the door since my departure. I also am happy to have days worth of video readily accessible in case I had to identify a vehicle or person that may have caused damage, tried to gain entry, or stole property.
If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask and I'm sure there's others here with these and other systems to help aid in home security. Remember, the firearm is the last line of defense.
So a few weeks ago I purchased my first house. After renting and living with roommates for the past decade, it was time to make a big boy purchase.
One of the things I'm working on now is setting up proper home security to keep tabs on the place when I am away and extra sets of eyes and ears when I am home.
Security System
I had received a few deals in the mail and email after all of the companies caught wind of my home purchase. In my research, the Frontpoint security system seemed to be the best bang for the buck with the features I wanted. I got the "Ultimate" kit for $200 shipped from Angie's List, however it is a $45/mo 3-year contract for monitoring and remote management (phone app, web site control, etc.). It does not have cameras in this package, nor did I want them to "see within."
The Frontpoint system comes with easy-to-understand, interactive instructions on your mobile device so you can test each device as you install it. If you did it wrong, it won't let you continue until it's right. With 10 door/window sensors, 2 motion detectors, and a smoke/fire alarm, it took about one hour to install everything. Every device has pre-applied double-sided tape for quick and easy installation. The batteries supposedly last 3-5 years.
I was very unsure about home security system offerings since the last time I've dealt with them it was my parents' ADT hard-wired system which had all sorts of problems. I'm happy with my decision. Although, I believe we all understand here that a security system will not make everything "safe," it will help help inform and aid us in the detection of intruders giving us extra time to react.
Another feature I really like is setting up multiple codes for different people. This way I know who had deactivated the system as I have a girlfriend and other friends that help around here when I am not around. Each code can have a name tied to it in the online web application and it will show as "Joe Smith deactivated the system at XX:XX" online and the mobile app.
Surveillance
In addition to monitoring for unauthorized entry, I wanted to watch and record certain spots around the house/yard/garage.
After much research and comparison, I opted to go with Reolink IP cameras. They seem to be the best cameras around their price point.
Here's a list of the cameras:
4x Reolink RLC-410
1x Reolink RLC-422
1x Reolink CL1 Pro
All of the cameras except the CL1 Pro use Power-over-Ethernet so a single wire from a PoE capable network switch powers them. The C1-Pro uses wireless to transmit the camera feed and a single USB cable (like a smart phone) for power. All of these cameras are 4 or 5 Megapixels (better than 1080p!) and have LED infrared lights for impressive night vision. All management of the cameras is done on your computer. Each camera will have it's own IP address where you can login, change settings, and watch the live-stream. These cameras also offer the ability to email you, upload to a server, or record internally when motion is detected.
For what it's worth, the default settings do cause motion blur in night mode (black & white). After some tweaking of the settings, I got sharp, clear motion night video. Daytime (color) video is unaffected by this problem.
Recording
Since I wanted 24/7 recording of multiple streams I opted to use software called Shinobi CCTV. Shinobi is free for non-commercial use and the code is open-source. I have already been in contact with the developer to help get a few things fixed and streamlined with this software since I am planning on using it for a lengthy duration.
To record the six high-def video streams, I bought a large-capacity hard drive for use with 24/7 video recording, a Seagate SkyHawk 8TB. This will have to be installed in a computer that is on 24/7 with some Network Video Recorder (NVR) software, such as Shinobi running. You can also use a Network Attached Storage (NAS) device that offers NVR applications on their operating system. I opted to install the harddrive in one of my rack-mounted enterprise servers and am running Shinobi in a Linux virtual machine. All of the cameras and the Linux virtual machine are on their own "virtual" network (VLAN) so there is a 0% chance of anyone other than myself gaining access to the cameras. Additionally, the camera VLAN has no internet access, in or out. I believe this is a very important step that many people overlook. Prevent your cameras from being accessed AND accessing the internet!
Conclusion
Overall, I'm very happy I took the time and money to invest in these two systems to aid in home security. The neighborhood isn't the best and I now feel much safer coming home knowing that no doors or windows and no motion captured before walking in the door since my departure. I also am happy to have days worth of video readily accessible in case I had to identify a vehicle or person that may have caused damage, tried to gain entry, or stole property.
If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask and I'm sure there's others here with these and other systems to help aid in home security. Remember, the firearm is the last line of defense.