How do i choose the correct Security Cameras for monitoring my home? Do i go for Wireless or Wired security cameras?

Question

A lot of people would raise an eyebrow when they hear that i am interested in installing a security camera system for monitoring my house, because people think that it is generally safe to live in Canada and that the crime rate is really low in Canada. However, that was in the past of how life used to be quite safe for most people in most provinces in Canada. Nowadays, things are different and no where is safe for anyone in Canada. If you don't believe me, all you need to do is just pull up a newspaper and the headlines 90% of the time will talk about shooting, robbery, rape, killing, stealing, assault and all sort of bad things happening in our society. Sadly, the government is quite powerless to stop these crimes and bad things from happening on a daily basis. I would be happy if the media has something nice to report, something that is positive or at least teaches something good to people, in stead of focusing on news that creates negative effect on people's mind.

These are the main reasons why i started to think about installing security cameras system in my home. I read on some news where some trespassers would wander into people's property and attempt to check if anyone is home, when they find no one at home, they either break into the house or at the least steal any mail packages they find on the front porch. The thieves would ring the bell and pretend to be a salesman or ask for directions and if there is no response fro quite sometime, then they would know that nobody is home.

I had a relative whose house was targeted by some lone thief. He rang the bell and after hearing no response, he tried breaking in. Luckily, my relative shouted out loud to him and warned him that she would call the police if he comes in further into the house. The thief ran away as fast as he could when he heard the loud voice coming from inside the house.

I am looking for Security Cameras system which has good features and most importantly will last longer and be able to endure the Canadian extremely cold weather. Some of the security cameras just aren't made for the cold winter here in Canada.

Answer 1

When it comes to choosing the right security cameras, you can either choose wired or wireless security cameras. The wired security cameras system offers a better clearer images and videos recording, while the wireless security cameras are not as clear in recorded images or videos.

For the wired security cameras, it involves a lot of wiring from the cameras itself to the main NVR recording system where the hard disk is stored. So if you have 8 wired security cameras, you will have to wire 8 cameras to the main NVR hub system which contains the hard disk to store the recorded images. Sometimes, there are places which is very hard to pull wires across and u might have to drill holes at places making the overall appearance of the place ugly. U will also be able to see wires running across from your ceiling all the way from the cameras to the main NVR recording system.

As for the wireless security cameras system, it is not actually fully wireless. Rather it should be called semi-wireless security camera system. The reason why i say this is that you still need to plug the cameras to a power outlet source using the provided AC adapter, although you won't need to plug in wires from the cameras to the main NVR recording system for recording the stored videos. At least, you won't have to run the ugly looking wires across your ceiling or doors from the Cameras to the main NVR recording system. Be reminded that this wireless security cameras has some shortcomings too such as the quality of the recorded videos is not as clear as the wired security camera system. But they are good enough to see the faces in the recorded videos. I highly recommend buying the wireless security cameras because of the fact that you will have to run less wires around. You only have to run wires from the cameras to the power outlet sources.

Some of the features that you should be looking for in wireless security cameras are as follows:

1. You need 1080p full HD picture quality camera system which will record high quality videos and sounds. Choosing a camera system which record sounds is just as important because you might need to record sound as well in your videos.

2. The cameras must have built-in infrared night vision ability to at least see 65 feet in total darkness.

3. Your security camera should have build-in PIR sensor and motion sensor detection feature which will detect actual person coming into the field of view of the camera. This will reduce the number of false alarm since the camera will detect the presence of human body temperature.

4. Security cameras should be able to withstand water, dust and the extreme of temperatures. When it is extremely cold or extremely hot, the cameras should perform just as good as in normal room temperature. Rain, snow or water should not be able to enter the casing of the security cameras.

5. The security camera system should have auto pair and true plug and play feature. This means that if your camera system supports 8 cameras but you only bought 4 pcs for now but later on, you decide that you want to add 4 more cameras. Then you can simply plug and play add the cameras without any difficulty.

6. The security camera system must have at least 1 TB of hard disk space to record your videos and store them locally rather than through the cloud system. This is because it is easier to access your local hard drive compared to access your recorded videos through cloud storage. Cloud storage can be quite expensive as well.

7. You should be able to access and watch your cameras through your phone apps in Android or IOS system and also through your TV. This allows you to watch your camera even when you are away from home. You simply need to have a phone data connection and using your phone app, you can monitor your security camera from anywhere in the world.

The addition feature where you can setup email alerts or app alerts to notify you of motion detected in the field of view of the cameras anytime, is not necessary at all in my opinion. Why i say that is because i ended up getting more than 50 emails in one day because for each motion detected in the videos, you get one email. I suggest turning this feature on only for indoor places where you know there will be very less activity expected. Never turn on this email alert feature for camera facing your front driveway because then you will get hundreds of email each day and you will spend your time trying to delete all those emails alert from your mailbox.

Answer 2

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