Security Camera's For Exterior of Home

[TL911]

Hi Beyonders,

I will keep it short and sweet. So I am building a new house in Calgary, and already have got pre-wiring done for 1CAT5 & 1RG6.

-Need 3 Exterior Camera's
-Must be Dome Camera's
-2 will be placed on the soffit on each side of the front garage. 1 Camera will be placed on the side of the house to monitor side access
-The camera's need to be 500 series or better
-I want to be able to access and view my camera's while away on vacation using a mobile device.
-I need a hand held display screen like one that i sawe at Visions. This would be placed in the master bedroom and used to view all 3 camera's

The usage of this camera is monitor anyone trespassing or intruding on the exterior of the house.

I do have a quote from Visions around the $2500 mark but it does not included the hand held devise that they have mounted and use in their office.

I need imput on making a decision asap. and also am open to recommendations and quotes if someone knows someone that does this type of work. Feedback is highly appreciated.

Thanks,

[KeepItGully]

You should check out memory express. They recently got into this market.

[TL911]

Originally posted by KeepItGully
You should check out memory express. They recently got into this market.

Thanks, I will drop by there at lunch and see what i can i get.

[spike98]

Every couple of months a thread like this pops up and it becomes a decent thread with lots of good information. I'd suggest you search as this topic has been covered in depth.

[frozenrice]

Are you building through a builder? Does your builder have a low voltage contractor? Sometimes those companies have systems and will work with your builder in getting it installed.

[EK69]

Only thing I can add is I noticed u said cat5 cabling
Is it actually cat5? Or cat5e? Or cat6?

http://www.networkcablingdirectory.c...ng-id_1151.htm

[sputnik]

Hopefully you are getting at least CAT5e or CAT6. CAT5 is pretty outdated for a new build.

As for what to get.

If you want HD quality video for an exterior (-40C to +50C) camera you will be looking at about $600-800 per camera. You can get cameras for under $200 however their max resolution will be 640x480.

I would recommend getting something that is powered via PoE and is IP based. This saves you from having to run power or coax for the cameras and you can just run CAT5e/6.

D-Link has a decent camera here.

http://www.dlink.com/ca/en/business-...ra-with-ir-led

Then just connect them to a PoE switch and call it a day.

http://www.dlink.com/ca/en/business-...managed-switch

[Inzane]

I would hope when most people mention Cat5 today they are really referring to 5e.

Can you even still buy Cat'5' today?

When we built our house in 2007 it was prewired with 5e. No home builders or wiring installers now in 2013 should be using Cat'5' at this point.

[TL911]

Spike98 -Thanks man, i will most certainly look up old threads to find more information. This camera stuff is all Greek to me.

KeepItGully - I did drop by Memory express at lunch and they have a wide range of stuff, all pre-order for the good stuff. But the problem is that i don't know how to hook up all of the stuff.

frozenrice- -I did talk to my builder (Excel) and with the illiterate reps they have, they told me that they didn't know and didn't offer any help at all. They told me to go through Vision's.

EK69, Sputnik, and Inzane - Sorry guys i didn't specify. Under the sheet that i signed and paid for it just states "Prewire" "Prewire for 1CAT5 & 1RG6" so I’m not sure if it’s the basic CAT5 or CAT5e? i wish i knew this before, i would have made sure it would be CAT5e.

I’m still shopping around, most guys have quoted around the $1600 mark just for parts. but these are basic camera's that don't pan/tilt/zoom.

I'm willing to pay the price as long as the product and installation is good. But not willing to pay $7000 like one company quoted me.

Vision's is offering a "WIREPATH" system with 3 dome camera's. Has anyone heard of this system? or has input on it?

[EK69]

Again I have no clue abt the camera part lol but u can look at the wires themselves they should say on it what it is. I know no body should be using cat5 anymore but I wouldn't be surprised if a builder is caught snaking cat5 vs the others to save some bucks

Cat6 is really what Should be used
Cat5e will work for gigabit too tho (will work with ur cameras better since u have more bandwidth to work with)

[VWEvo]

Google Front line security here in Calgary. Christian ING is awesome with camera systems that are cost effective. At the very least have him check out your home and give you a fee options. He did somework ffor me and I can definitely vouch for him.

[sputnik]

Originally posted by TL911
EK69, Sputnik, and Inzane - Sorry guys i didn't specify. Under the sheet that i signed and paid for it just states "Prewire" "Prewire for 1CAT5 & 1RG6" so I’m not sure if it’s the basic CAT5 or CAT5e? i wish i knew this before, i would have made sure it would be CAT5e.

I would talk to the builder. Chances are they are using CAT5e.

There is really no price difference for a price of a box of 1000 feet of CAT5e, so they should be able to accommodate you given that you want to do PoE for some of the runs.

[TL911]

Originally posted by EK69
Again I have no clue abt the camera part lol but u can look at the wires themselves they should say on it what it is. I know no body should be using cat5 anymore but I wouldn't be surprised if a builder is caught snaking cat5 vs the others to save some bucks

Cat6 is really what Should be used
Cat5e will work for gigabit too tho (will work with ur cameras better since u have more bandwidth to work with)

Thanks EK69. I will take a drive out this weekend and have a look at the wires. I have request quotes from a lot of companies, so let's see what comes in.

[TL911]

Thanks VWEvo, I will definately get in touch with them and find out what they have to offer as well.

sputnik - Will go to my builder and ask them on Saturday. I'm sure its CAT5e but need to be 100% sure.

Thanks guys!

[eblend]

Originally posted by TL911
Thanks VWEvo, I will definately get in touch with them and find out what they have to offer as well.

sputnik - Will go to my builder and ask them on Saturday. I'm sure its CAT5e but need to be 100% sure.

Thanks guys!

if you have access to the house and they already run some of the wiring, just look at the outer jacket of the wire and it will say Cat5e. I don't think one can buy cat5 anymore, so its most likely cat5e

Most places nowadays also wire telephone plugs using cat5e cabling, so one can convert a telephone plug into an Ethernet plug if wanted.

[TL911]

Originally posted by eblend


if you have access to the house and they already run some of the wiring, just look at the outer jacket of the wire and it will say Cat5e. I don't think one can buy cat5 anymore, so its most likely cat5e

Most places nowadays also wire telephone plugs using cat5e cabling, so one can convert a telephone plug into an Ethernet plug if wanted.

Thanks eblend! i will check it out for sure!

[AndyL]

You can still get CAT5 - at least a few sparkies still use it... I was at a new home build yesterday and decided to check, what they run for me - is still plain CAT5 (but yes, more commonly seeing 6 these days).

[benyl]

Do yourself a favor and drop the RG6 and upgrade all wiring to CAT6a (STP).

[TL911]

benyl- sorry man, it's already been done. Vision's has already run all the wiring for the camera's alomst 2 months ago

[benyl]

That's a shame.

I ran a bunch of RG6 in my house that will never be used. With TELUS optik, everything runs over a Cat6a cable. It was a waste of money in retrospect.