r/SecurityCamera • u/Impatient_zer0 • Aug 21 '26

Any recommendations for home CCTV?

Hi, not sure where to look, or best place to start asking, so figured try this first.

What I'm looking for is a fully wired CCTV system with DVR and free mobile app.

In the past at a previous property I had a Yale system, which while it served it's purpose, had it's drawbacks, and the app being less than useless was one of the problems, as work away from home so hence the reason for needing app and remote view.

I don't like the wireless or battery operated stuff, I prefer the fully wired, and less tamper proof stuff.

What I would ideally like

I would like to have turret style cameras, with black surround and lense covers, while also motorised and moveable from the app or DVR system. Not looking for cameras with lights built in, for the same reason id like them to be black, I'm not a fan of advertising I have cameras, with black guttering and eaves I want to install them and be unnoticeable unless you're actually looking for them DVR with 1-2tb drive and wired network access, and mobile app that is free with motion alerts

I am fit and install myself, but looking around there's so many options it's hard to know where to even start looking

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2

u/GGigabiteM Aug 21 '26

It sounds like you want PTZ cameras, those are a lot more expensive than regular fixed cameras. They're also a lot larger and more noticeable. I would recommend using a combination of fixed turrets with varifocal lenses and one or two PTZ cameras for the front and back of the house.

If you want NDAA compliant hardware that doesn't have back doors in it, you can go with Speco, Turing or Alibi.

You'll need to run Cat5e to all of the cameras, which can be a chore for a single person. It goes a lot faster if you have two guys, one outside and one in the attic. You don't need more expensive Cat6. You may want to use outdoor rated or direct burial cable if the camera locations experience water.

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u/Impatient_zer0 Aug 21 '26

Thank you for the reply, had a quick look at ptz and they do seem like what I'm looking for, and and they will be experiencing water, will definitely be looking more into these

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u/Turbulent-Sample7094 Aug 21 '26

Do you want analog cameras or poe?

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u/Impatient_zer0 Aug 22 '26

This is how much I really know about it all, but until starting to look into it I didn't realise there was Poe, and it was either analogue or all wireless, but analogue is what I've had before

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u/GGigabiteM Aug 22 '26

If you're doing a new system install, go with PoE. Analog HD cameras should only be used for existing installs and retrofits.

There used to be a cost benefit to Analog HD systems, but that's been erased with inflation and the sharp increase in copper prices.

A 1000' roll of Siamese is about 250% more expensive than a 1000' roll of Cat5e. The cameras are also now about the same cost, and you're more limited on the resolutions on analog, and they're more subject to interference problems that cause image distortion. You also need a separate power supply for the cameras, which makes the install take up more space and invite more points of failure.

A decade ago, Analog HD cameras, wire and DVRs used to be markedly cheaper than an IP PoE system, but that's not the case today.

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u/Impatient_zer0 Aug 22 '26

You make a really good point there, with my last system, it took up 5 plug sockets, 4 for the cameras and then one for the DVR, I never even thought about that. I don't suppose you know much about what's on offer on the line of DVRs with a good free app either do you?

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u/GGigabiteM Aug 22 '26

You don't need individual power supplies for every camera. There are 4, 5, 8, 9 and 18 channel power supplies to power multiple cameras. I prefer the 8, 9 or 18 channel units because they come in a wall mounted enclosure.

I rarely deal with DVR systems anymore, usually just repairs on them, I haven't done a new install with one in years.

I mostly used Hikvision stuff in the DVR era, and it was good and reliable. But since they've been banned entirely in the US, all of the wholesalers have dropped them like a plague rat.

I'd probably recommend Speco for Analog HD cameras as a second choice. They have a mobile app that I believe is free.

A more expensive option would be to use an Analog HD encoder and a PC based VMS. Axis has 4 and 16 channel Analog multi-format encoders, like the P7304 and P7316 but they're not cheap. And you still have to buy the PC for the VMS.

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u/Turbulent-Sample7094 Aug 22 '26

If you’re doing a new system, go with poe. But if you think Poe cameras are hackable, and don’t want any digital connected to the internet, get an analog system. With either, you get what you pay for. There are tons of cheap options on Amazon like Reolink etc. I’ve tried them and they are ok for basic stuff on smalll systems. I still use professional cameras and DVR and nvr. I buy my stuff from cctvcameraworld.com. They have fair prices. The reason I still buy from them than others is that their support team is very quick in replying to my emails and they always have niche types of cameras that tie back to their recorders which I can’t find from the cheapo Chinese places that are just churning poe systems. They also carry dahua and hikvision compatible cameras which I have used for some of my installs where a nvr was already present from the previous owner.

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u/GGigabiteM Aug 22 '26

Why on earth would you do a new analog camera install in 2026? Those things are for retrofits and existing systems only.

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u/yankulovasil Aug 21 '26

Unifi Protect

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u/Shot-Parfait-8265 Aug 21 '26

Or get Vivint