We Bought Over $30,000 Worth of Surveillance Cameras

[@TheHookUp]

Hey Tom, just FYI, those Amcrest cameras are made by Dahua and are also banned under the NDAA and will be prevented from FCC certification under the SEA if those laws hold up. If you want NDAA compliant Chinese cameras the big players are Reolink and Uniview. Raysharp is also a big Chinese OEM that is resold by a bunch of different brands in the US like Swann and GW Security. The NDAA compliance of Raysharp is questionable because they tend to use HiSilicon chips made by Huawei, which also causes them to be NDAA non-compliant.

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

When we need NDAA compliant we use Axis or other much more expensive brands. We don't do as many of those jobs.

[@JRo250]

Make them "compliant" by blocking their Internet access in your router. There's no need for a local camera node to connect to the Internet, the control software/NVR does that. This implies, of course, that these cameras can't be used directly with cloud services which is a sensible thing to do regardless.

[@TheHookUp]

@@JRo250 Blocking internet access to IP cameras is always best practice. However, doing so does not make them compliant, lots more bureaucracy, politics, and red tape involved in that.

[@JRo250]

@@TheHookUp Correct. That's why I enclosed it in quotes. If you already have the device, blocking at the router will keep you safe. I wouldn't buy anything in the banned list. Privacy is one concern but the list is also trying to address their rampant stealing of intellectual property.

[@schylerjones5722]

We’re an Axis & ExacqVision shop ourselves for on-prem and Eagle Eye for cloud-based. I really wanted to like Amcrest for their high ratings, breadth of models, and cheap price, but the lack of NDDA compliance is a show-stopper. Not all of our jobs require it, but a lot do, and we can’t be mixing and matching the systems we support.

[@JeffGeerling]

I just inherited four Hikvision cameras, they seem to work great and I'll just run 'em into the ground for now. I also have some 4K ANNKE cams, and they seem to have great quality, but only at 4K. 1080p is a severe crop and they also don't do H.264 at all, so compatibility is a little bit of a pain.

[@Mark_M]

@JeffGeerling, Most of Annke's IP cameras are Hikvison OEM. IPVM has some lists of OEMs by Hikvison and Dahua (two biggest brands). IPcamtalk forum also has plenty of information on them.

[@TheHookUp]

@@Mark_M To my knowledge Annke is 100% Hikvision OEM. I've used dozens of different models of Annke cameras and they are all Hikvision OEM.

[@Mark_M]

@@TheHookUp I say 'mostly' as I never know if there 'might be' a few models that weren't Hikvison OEM. Anything happens in China... Turns out Reolink is either made by another manufacturer or OEM's to other brands. I've come across Uniden cameras that are the same as Reolink models (Uniden has OEM'd Hik/Dahua too over the years).

[@TheHookUp]

@@Mark_M I'd be very interested to know which Uniden model you tested. From what I know Reolink does not OEM for anyone else and produces their own chips in house (which is why there are often compatibility issues with Dahua/Hik NVRs). Edit: Just looked on the Uniden website, those are DEFINITELY Reolink cameras... Interesting...

[@Mark_M]

@@TheHookUp I see your edit - Let me know if you buy them! I want to know if a network scan says they're Reolink or something else.

[@alexb5275]

I’m in the IP video business and have got to say, if you’re not going to go cheap (HikVision, Dahua, Lorex etc) it’s best to go big. Axis makes an amazing camera that last a lifetime, considering the cost, they better. Outstanding warranty and LTS firmware support are one of the many reasons why I see so many installed in higher end systems.

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

Axis does make a good camera, just much more expensive.

[@pcleats]

@@LAWRENCESYSTEMS , I will agree Axis is more expensive, but you get what you pay for. I have installed 1182 Axis cameras so far. I have some that have been running for more than 10 years now. Of the 1182 a total of 6 have failed all are 4 PTZ's and 2 fixed all but one were replaced under warranty. Axis is continuously updating the firmware of the cameras. Additionally Axis make a wide range of other products. Axis is supported by every major VMS manufacture as well. I have done multiple home installs as well and only recommend these cameras.

[@Netz0]

Unless you are installing them in a government facility or big industry, I suspect most are not willing to pay the Axis price. Amazingly, for that price, they don't even come with all the features of more budget cameras like HikVision or Dahua (or any other OEM branded since all cameras are one of those brands in the end). I agree with Lawrence, from testing several brands, I also conclude Amcrest is one of the best budget options, they are Dahua branded cameras but with US quality testing, and they come with all the features you want, like Onvif. Ubiquiti is out of the question if you ask me for that simple reason, they are not Onvif compliant, which means you cannot integrate them with other software or recording systems. Example BlueIris. If you do have the budget Axis is probably one of the few not Chinese made option, which is precisely why they are popular at airports and military/government facilities. I think one of the best professional but still affordable options is Amcrest+BlueIRIS+TrueNAS. Extremely customizable and you can integrate it with things like HomeAssistant and everything else you can imagine. Ubiquiti started fantastic with their switches some years back (open source software) but their camera/phone lines and everything else they seem to produce now is just vendor lock in. If I wanted that route, I would just stick to Cisco.

[@nilpo]

@@pcleats I'm certainly not arguing that Axis isn't a far superior product, but I've never seen a Hikvision failure on a camera that was installed correctly. I'm sure they happen, but I've never seen it. I have seen DOA devices though and I've seen cameras in new packaging that were clearly returns (they hadn't even been factory reset).

[@nilpo]

@@Netz0 Let's be clear about the features on Hikvision and Dahua products. They are absolutely not apples to apples with higher end cameras. While they have a large number of features, those features are implemented poorly because they are forced by their pricing to use inferior chips. Hikvision cameras, for example, have terrible nighttime performance. They are slow to adjust to lighting changes and their infrared produces a pixelated image with poor contrast. Good luck identifying facial features even when adjusted correctly. The same is true of their WDR. So while it's true that they offer a wide range of features, they are mediocre at best and really only suitable for use in residential and non-critical applications.

[@dontthroworanges]

I just replaced Hikvision + Amcrest NVR with Ubiquiti as I kept having cameras constantly dropping off. We missed having footage of a critical event and that prompted me to rip and replace. So far the Ubiquiti system has been rock solid.

[@wayneyeo186]

We put in a ubiquiti system in Florida, and one of the cameras is out in the open on a lanai cage. It went through the eye of hurricane Ian for a number of hours, and worked just fine. I am interested in more cameras, and will check out the Amcrest system. Availability of ubiquiti cameras can be troublesome. Thank you for your updates !

[@davidanderson2436]

6 out of 68 - is bad, but for the cost Reolink is tough to beat - i've got many installed and as long as you warterproof everything (especially that reset button) as best as you can, they have worked out very well for my users. I did have a couple break (physically at a knuckle joint) during my last install - and that sucked, but Reolink swapped them out with zero fuss. I do have to say i've had zero issues with my Unifi setups though, at three times the cost of Reolink again - its a tough sell along with the complexity overhead with Unifi. Will have to check out Amcrest - great video thanks for your time.

[@UnknownProductions0]

I have about 8 reolink cameras since 2018 so far with no issues or failures. I know it’s only 8 but I figured it was worth a mention. They are all Poe and I just added their wifi doorbell and have had a wifi camera on a telephone pole at the end of my yard with a solar panel to test. They’ve taken some abuse especially the telephone pole one. Their PTZ cameras are pretty nice too and their person and vehicle detection is decent.

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

Reolink does make some nice Zoom models, that is one of the reasons we picked them first. Good to hear yours are working.

[@skorpion1298]

We have 14 Reolink cameras and the NVR and they do fine for about 2 years now. One cam is mounted openly and gets rained and snowed on but it’s good working :)

[@S2KV]

I also have 8 Reolink cameras since 2016, one did for some reason go offline. I did a reset and it would but go offline again in a week. But one in a little under 7 years is acceptable to me. These are all the 2K 4mp version.

[@rangerrecon]

I purchased an eight camera package of 8mp/4k outdoor cameras w/DVR off of Amazon in 2020. So far, all eight outdoor cameras are still running strong. I was a little apprehensive as the pricing was great (Amazon) and the camera on the rear of the house require are effective three stories up due being mounted on the eaves and having a basement. So far, so good. No issues.

[@BumpNrun69]

I just purchased the 12MP channel system less than a Month ago and it sucks. The quality is barely any better than my Sannce cameras from 6-7 years ago. It looks out of focus, like there's as plastic film on all the lens. Went and checked, nope, not the case. Their remote app is horrendous, keeps refreshing, lags, sometimes gray screen/jittery picture on each camera at times. Packing it up, and sending back. Big question now is, which one next, Amcrest, Annke, etc..? Because I don't want to spend thousands of dollars on just a 4 camera/8 channel system.

[@BlenderRookie]

I have owned 12 Reolink cams since 2018 and I had two that quit working. One died because I broke it(long story). The other one the reset button corroded due to moisture and got stuck in the close position. I physically removed the button and have had no issues since.

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

Good to hear they are working.

[@TheRussellStover]

Hikvision: Can't let a good spy tool break easily.

[@svettnabb]

Funny. But also not really a problem, place them in a subnet that doesn’t have internet access, problem solved

[@Crazy--Clown]

There's also Firmwares that takes them away from china.....

[@svettnabb]

@@Crazy--Clown - Chain of trust. Did you write the custom firmware yourself? Otherwise I would still have them offline from the internet. But sure, I like modding firmware, but wouldn’t give hardware with custom third party firmware to customers.

[@markarca6360]

Dahua: Same here.

[@vasekhorcicka5007]

​@@svettnabb Yes and even when there is no internet access you can still manage them all from SADP software (on premise) and also install updates.

[@ziggo0]

I've installed probably at least 1000 Hikvision cameras - onto networks vlan'd off/specifically for surveillance. I've only had 2 fail. One was due to a lightning strike and the other was due to vandalism. Luna is a brand by SnapAV which I'm 99% sure Hikvision is the OEM for - which I've found are quality (but expensive...) products as well. Amcrest is pretty great too - I find no issues mixing and matching them.

[@Paulctan]

Reolink is 0 for 2 in my installs. Both failed within a year. The 10 other Amcrest cameras, only 1 failed, and that was after 4 years (same as Tom. Moisture got into a dome camera). All other Amcrest have been running for 6+ years.

[@ntldr2005]

I've installed 250 Ubiquiti cameras to date and haven't had a single failure in 4+ years. The UNVR is another story, but I've been able to get an RMA in each case, even after the warranty expired.

[@daltonschrader8328]

I would buy ubiquiti cameras any day of the week if they would just support onvif.

[@ejones6616]

@@daltonschrader8328their proprietary bs is extremely frustrating. Even their Talk application is the same way.

[@BSD2000]

My home security camera system is mixed Dahua, Amcrest and Vikylin (both are made by Dahua) with a Dahua 32 channel NVR. All the cameras are on their own isolated subnet with zero access to the internet. All of the cameras have behaved themselves (and have been extremely reliable), except for an older Dahua IPC-HDBW4431R-AS I had in my garage. It would routinely try to 'call home' to multiple Chinese IP addresses, sometimes flooding my network switch with traffic, so I tossed in the garbage and replaced it with an Amcrest.

[@JasonsLabVideos]

I'm a strong beliver & installer of Hikvision! Strong Stable and reliable. ALL my camera systems in stall are closed loop, where the cameras can't reach the internet. Good video Tom !

[@jamieficken2488]

Same here. I've had 15 running since 2017 in Nebraska (-30F to 115F ambient) and the only issue I've had is that one camera lost its IR recently, however, I haven't looked much into the cause yet.

[@JasonsLabVideos]

@@jamieficken2488 I use the Turrets now, 100% stable, no lens blur or Milky night shots. Have a 32x ptz on the top of the house thats 11yars old and still going. One day ill buy the new Tracking PTZ.

[@markarca6360]

Isolated VLANs and/or separate network switch with ACLs that only allow the video stream to pass through.

[@PhillHills]

Same here. Hikvision in closed loop system with no access to internet, separate VLAN and local NTP server behind a half decent firewall work well. That 'list' is just geo-politics at play, nothing a good sys-ops can't figure out to filter/block any 'phone home' features. PS it's pronounced HIKEvision and written with the E missing. I see more of my Ubiquiti kit calling home than any of my Hikvision cameras have ever done. Hikvision also 10% the price of some of the high end brands so if, as and when anything fails easy to right off and replace.

[@JasonsLabVideos]

@@PhillHills I refuse to use anything unifi :)

[@ArmchairGuru]

I have a few Dahua eyeball cams, 2MP Starvis. Turret style but stationary. Had them for about 6 years with zero issues. No idea if they try to phone home to anyone as I have them hardware isolated using 2 NICs and a separate LAN from the main. Solid cams so far

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

You have the right idea, keep them isolated.

[@theblockchainhustle]

Amcrest is basically rebranded Dahua. Which like you mentioned (and I've experienced the same) "hold up well". Thanks for sharing your take. 👏👏

[@MatthewMello]

I love my Dahua cameras.

[@fitlikeaglove7396]

This is correct. Amcrest is a rebranded Dahua. And is actually banned under the NDAA or 'The list' as Tom calls it.

[@theblockchainhustle]

@@fitlikeaglove7396 Yes, they're banned in a sense that they can't be used in U.S. government or military installations. This is due to concerns about potential cybersecurity risks and the potential for surveillance and espionage by the Chinese government.

[@v3c7r0n]

Thanks Tom, interesting perspective. Without going to the high end (ie - Axis) brands, I've found the brand / reliability conversation can boil down to a particular model, at least within my substantially smaller sample size. Something to keep in mind too - Amcrest cameras, as best I can tell, run Dahua firmware (who is also on "the list") because the Dahua firmware work perfectly on an equivalent model Amcrest - it is fully interchangeable, as in logos aside, they look and work identically. On that same front, while troubleshooting a dome camera (IR wasn't consistently turning on at night) - I had one connected to a VLAN where it could get internet access. I found it sending a fair amount of data to Akamai. Normally not a huge concern, Akamai is a huge CDN after all. Amcrest claims it's for NTP synchronization, but this raised two immediate problems in my case: One, the NTP server the camera was set to use during the testing was fully accessible to it, and the time synchronization was working. Two, and the volume of data it was trying to send was more than just NTP synchronization (which again, it should not have been doing).

[@Darkk6969]

Yep. One of the reasons why the cameras are on my VLAN DMZ network and blocked internet access. If it needs NTP I just redirect it to pfsense. There is no real reason for the cameras to ever send data out to the wild unless you want cloud services.

[@benjaminc1816]

My favourite camera brand is Axis, its solid and just works, just a bit expensive!

[@Suicidal122]

Same, this is one of those times where "you pay for what you get" in my opinion. Have 2 with Synology Surveillance Station. Amazing cams.

[@nilpo]

If you can get your hands on it. Axis is very selective who they will sell to.

[@benjaminc1816]

@@Suicidal122 yeah I have one axis camera on my house (one of the big PTZ units) but due to cost, the rest of my cameras are hikvision - and i use synology SS too - great platform

[@benjaminc1816]

@@nilpo I’m in the UK and they’re not too bad to get hold of here

[@magicmanchloe]

I both a dream machine and a synology nas, I would love to see a side by side comparison of unifi protect vs synology surveillance station!

[@maxwellsmart3156]

Wondering if there was any differential in cost per camera. Reolink cameras are usually much less expensive than a Hikvision cameras. When quoting a job it would be a good idea to build in a certain amount a failures in the price.

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

They are all relatively close in prices and we do price for warranty.

[@muddyland6910]

I installed 4 Reolink's outside of my house, still holding strong after nearly 4 years. My parents have them as well, and I installed theirs 6 years ago. But at a scale of 60+ cameras, I can see how a few would fail. I just got lucky. I recently purchased some Amcrest Domes though and they are absolutely fantastic cameras so far.

[@d3wy]

Would love your thoughts on various NVR solutions, I note you touched briefly on Surveillance Station and Ubiquity but both have a huge cost associated. Especially stuff like Blue Iris or anything else a bit "cheaper" for the home user.

[@vipvip-tf9rw]

not really, I bought 16channel hikvision k4 it was 300$, much cheaper than iris, it depends, if cameras are all different brands blue iris better, if one, their nvr is better

[@Darkk6969]

I am currently using Surveillance Station on a VM version of Synology. The Surveillance Station licenses can add up quickly if you have a large deployment. I am just running as a VM to monitor two cameras. I am looking for Linux style NVR solution that just works. I've tried zoneminder and it's too complicated and slow to setup.

[@nilpo]

To be honest, you get what you pay for. The low-cost and free solutions really aren't that great. They're fine if you only need to review footage a few times a year. But if you really need to scrub through video, search events, export video in usable formats, or have an interface that isn't slower on replay than it was in real-time, you really need a decent solution.

[@nilpo]

​@@vipvip-tf9rw I'm not sure why you make that difference. Blue Iris is only as good as the hardware it runs on, which generally isn't propose-built. While I don't care for Hikvision, it has the exact same ONVIF support that Blue Iris does and therefore will work with all of the same cameras.

[@justinkinsey5517]

Great commentary Tom, yes would love to see a side by side video on Ubiquiti and Synology, I am looking to venture away from Lorex and Hikvision on new installs.

[@sp3ktr3]

My company uses primarily axis and advidia cameras these days running on Panasonic’s Video Insight VMS. But it looks like they want to move to Genetec. Any reviews on the Hanwha wisenet cameras? We’re getting about 150+ and they seem cheap.

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

Never used or heard of them.

[@lightingman117]

LTS cameras are my go-to for commercial. I've had zero issues with them over 5+ years. Please do a Unifi vs Synology NVR comparison video! I didn't think about Amcrest for commercial with a synology NVR - great idea! Please do a security video on cameras. I'm curious how secure the LTS/Amcrest platforms are & their cameras. They all come from China... I wish there was an open-source custom firmware (kinda like coreboot for BIOS) that we could flash to cameras and use with Frigate or BlueIris or Synology... I currently recommend: Unifi - Home/Small-Biz LTS - Commercial & Home Amcrest - Home DIY - for those who want it

[@davejoseph5615]

A lot of home systems are built around Hikvision and Dahua Chinese-made cameras, and these are considered quite reliable, however it is always best to connect these systems to an isolated subnet that cannot be reached by a hacker and cannot "phone home."

[@markarca6360]

Examples: Imou is from Dahua and EZViz is from Hikvision.

[@kernelbadness]

I use ubiquiti cams in my house. Would like to see a side by side comparison with synology.

[@samchankm]

Hikvision and Daihua are great Surveillance System. I am using a Hikvision for my home and office with ColorVu cameras which allows full color display and recording in low light and throughout the night. The 5MP cameras are great and sharp.

[@vipvip-tf9rw]

tested on billion chinese😂😂😂😂

[@vipvip-tf9rw]

I have hik and hi watch, great cameras,great nvr, bought one tapo and it's much worse

[@shannon1872]

I would be interested in a Amcrest/Synology vs Ubiquiti video. I used to have a Amcrest setup and their software/firmware was a bit of a pain. I had found your videos a while back and it kind of triggered me to give Upiquiti a go. So far no issues but finding product in stock is a PITA. I would be curios to see if using Amcrest with Synology would take care of the issues I had with the buggy software of the Amcrest NVR. Also does the Synology system require you to use a cloud account and Camera licenses ? That is one thing I like about Upiquiti..once you own it, its yours and it works. As you said, it does not turn into a pumpkin at 12 am when the license expires lol.

[@nick-leffler]

A couple reolink versions did bad for me. My mom has one that's lasted 6 years, then another time that lasted 6 months and the RMA of that version also lasted 6 months.

[@djfriz1]

Amcrest cameras have historically been rebranded Dahua cameras, which are also banned under the NDAA.

[@nilpo]

The weren't before 2016, but you are correct now.

[@brianmiller1077]

I'm an Axis guy at work. Very impressed with the quality

[@dreniarb]

I've been using Hikvision for a long time. Way before they were put on the list. But even then I put them on an isolated VLAN. My NVR is the only thing that talks to the cameras. I try to isolate everything as much as I can. Same goes for printers - no internet access and only the print server can talk to them.

[@nilpo]

It's certainly better than nothing, but a separate VLAN really isn't good enough. They should be on a separate physical subnet as well for a best case scenario. But I am glad to hear you are doing something. I can't remember the last time I took over a system that even had a VLAN.

[@dreniarb]

@@nilpo what do you mean by "physically separated subnet"? Vlans are typically already on separate subnets. At least that's always how I've done them.

[@nilpo]

@@dreniarb It sounds like you may be doing them correctly. I always put security behind a separate router or L3 switch. This way traffic to and from that subnet must be explicitly routed. VLAN tagging and MAC filtering are great additions too. You want to protect your main networks from your security network because cameras (let's call them IOT devices at this point) are obvious attack vectors. But so are the physical attachments. I've seen many locations where a bad actor only needed to pull a camera off the exterior of a building and plug in a laptop to gain access to the entire kingdom.

[@atw9913]

I have bought a bunch of Amcrest Camera's and so far I have had 0 that technically died. I have one that would randomly stop working but a reboot brought it back. I have another one that got moisture inside the case and blurred the camera. The camera did not die. I did pull it down and replaced it with a newer better Amcrest camera. Their Blue Iris software is pretty good as well.

[@pbpunisher99]

That's what I use is Amcrest. I probably have about 500+ of these out in the field. The early ones that I put in 5 years ago have issues with the lenses getting wet inside. But only a few so far.

[@g.florez4326]

I have a ring flood light camera installed at to eve above driveway and 1 in backyard patio. Unhappy they go off line at times. Front cam is blurry when zoom in. So what camera can I get with clear day and night vision at a distance. Clear video is important day n night.

[@torgeirarny6642]

I would love a feature comparison video of these cameras. I'm really struggling to find the right camera for me. Like: i want POE, Motion detection and the ability to store recordings on an SMB/NFS share.. I dont want to be locked into an eco-system or cloud solution.

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

I chose cameras that support onvif and then choose and NVR (such as Synology) that also has onvif support

[@EFazy]

All of my cameras try to speak out to the internet... I applied a dropping firewall rule to them, and if possible, I make the NTP available in the same L2 domain, and since the software also belongs to that L2 domain, so there is no need to give the cams a gateway. ;) (or if the cam supports it, and you have to route your traffic, static routes could work aswell)

[@samson99]

would love a side by side for unifi and synology so i can better differentiate them to clients thanks for all the work in helping the community

[@wrf1657]

Tom how long have you had your outdoor Amcrest cameras installed? Do you have some installed with "Full" exposure like on a light pole? Curious to see if you have some up for multiple years.

[@WereCatf]

0:13 No, the first thing I always think of when thinking about surveillance cameras is....how many vulnerabilities and/or backdoors do they have? What kinds of security and privacy implications would there be? What is the company's track record like? It's actually a little disappointing you didn't mention anything about this even with a single sentence.

[@-szega]

If you give CCTV cameras internet access anything that happens is 100% your fault.

[@wpattison]

Out of two Reolinks, I had one die. Been slowly swapping them out as they go to Ubiquiti cameras. So far so good with those.

[@RuneanV]

how on earth did you arrive at that conclusion, lmao? advertising, i imagine - ubiquiti sucks

[@PrestonMcgill]

My company does Ava, avigilon and verkada… they are all pricy but they all work well and the warranty’s on the hardware are fantastic

[@TheRickJames]

Avigilon is crap

[@elmojito]

Lawrence I just had to replace several of my cameras to improve video quality. Out of 11 cameras, 4 Mobotix (very expensive) and 7 Hickvision only 1 had failed and it was the expensive Mobotix. The Hikvisions have been flawless. The Mobotix were 11 years old while the Hikvisions were 9. I have replaced all Mobotix and 2 of the Hikvisions due to desiring better night performance and went with 5 Hikvision 8MP ColorVU which are just fantastic - nothing that I have seen with IR comes close for my needs. Also sold on Synology Surveillance Station which has been flawless - just upgraded to 9.1.

[@Rybot9000]

We have a bunch of Galaxy Security systems that keep having problems. They have very little support resources and no firmware updates for the unit. Some of the cameras have no reset button soldered and SADP doesn't detect them. Another client has around 100 Hikvision cameras and two NVRs that seem stable but I do prefer the Unifi Security systems we have in place.

[@MicheIIePucca]

I've been using many Hikvision and Dahua for over 15 years with no issues with the exception of one line of outdoor PT cameras that leaked (although I did seal it and its been ok). With regards to its reputation security wise, if Hikvision was ever caught using their cameras for back doors and on a CCP sponsored breach, it would be the be detrimental to their sales for a loong time.

[@pschulte]

Reolink experience: Bought a couple dozen and implemented 3 years ago. All interior cameras have had no issues. The only problems with exterior cameras to this point are directly tied to water ingress resulting from poor implementation by our installer. All others have survived multiple MN winters that far exceeded the min temp rating. I'm replacing one this week, and at 65 US for the 4k cam, I can't complain.

[@LJR_LIMITED]

the software sucks on reolink

[@daadaadeedada883]

Would love a side-by-side Ubiquiti protect vs synology surveillance station comparison

[@thetechq]

Reolink - 1 camera failed on a PTZ scan. Installed about a year. 100% failure rate.

[@davidew98]

I LOVE the UI Doorbell Cam! if you're installing amorist cams what is your goto doorbell cam?

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

I don't have or use a doorbell cam

[@clovisvigneault]

I’m curious about the failure mode of the reolinks, do they just die? Sensor degradation or water damage? Is it mainly outdoor or in hot condition or just at random?

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

Some just quit, some has some moisture.

[@TheRickJames]

The most common failure with reolink is actually the ir filter cutover. Out of over a thousand I've had maybe one that had moisture. Most of the time it's poor installation practice. I've had a few mounts snap due to cast nuckles and I've had a few with a reset issue. Overall the cost and ecosystem has proven more reliable than most of the others tested

[@doords]

anyway to do this with an NVR and just have an online backup server?

[@johnharrison712]

I have never had my ReoLinks Camera fail yet, been going strong for 5years now at this location and my other location 4years.

[@moprophotos]

I only install Reolink. Best over-all value and out of 500 I have installed, I have only had to replace 11.

[@TheRickJames]

Similar experience here.

[@johnschroeder3072]

Have you had a look at what the cameras do, how/where they may try to phone home?

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

I don't give them internet access.

[@_nuspace]

A number of years ago the Reolinks were found to phone home with the default configuration. A firmware update (again years ago) fixed that. I haven't confirmed that. Like Tom said, you really shouldn't give them internet access or frankly access to anything but the NVR on specific ports (if you can). I can't speak for any others b/c I haven't looked into it.

[@johnschroeder3072]

@@_nuspace I quite agree about not letting them out to the internet but unfortunately not everyone has there network set up well enough or can set it up sufficiently for that.

[@Dudleydogg]

the Main Reason I did not go with Synology is NO Human Detection, but you show that option in your video. How does this feature get enabled? I have accusense camera and expected as much. Synology KB does not mention Human Detection so I went with BlueIris, this would be a game changer for me if this feature actually exists. where can I find more info, thanks Found it specific Synology Deep Learning, Interesting.

[@sgtsavage4991]

What are your thoughts on a Synology DS2223J and Amcrest IP8M-2696EW-AI for a rural 10 acre farm ?

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

Synology has a NAS/NVR chooser on their site that has you put in the cameras resolution and retention to find the right NVR.

[@sgtsavage4991]

@@LAWRENCESYSTEMS Thank you for your reply . I have used that and this is one they recommend. More interested in your thoughts on the camera or there is something else you would recommend for rural 24/7 recording. My driveway is about 150-200m with clear line of site of our gateway

[@forgodzsake]

I have a xmarto wifi camera set since 2016. I'm replacing the NVR to a more up to date model so I can add some auto track cameras. Will get one of the xmarto solar cameras to install on a tree. xmarto has nice inexpensive cameras and you can add almost any of their cameras to the nvr. That literally make things much easier because I like the feeling the device is working and recording without me paying atrention at all.

[@lokilegacy]

Thank you for making a video about this, extremely informative. Most channels cannot talk or review cameras based on 50+ installs and over a year of use.

[@realzeti]

About two years ago I went with Ubiquity based on your content. I have eight cameras and UNVR Pro, w/o any issues. However, the image quality is not very good comparing to some of the cameras you have had reviewed. Would I go with UI again, not for the price to image quality ratio, everything else has been absolutely great!

[@james589]

Running two Reolink dome cameras for three years now and I have had zero issues. Also two Amcrest without issue.

[@matthewravo125]

I have 4 hikvision and 4 hanwha cameras on my house using blue iris and a home assistant integration. Over the past few months I've had 3 hikvision cameras randomly change their passwords and they need to be defaulted. Hik tech support says they've never seen this before and they think I'm being hacked, they provide no further support. No issues with hanwha cameras.

[@vipvip-tf9rw]

I have 8 hikvision hiwatch cams, never seen that, try to close cam net, maybe you have been hacked

[@matthewravo125]

@@vipvip-tf9rw I've installed 1000's of hikvision cameras they've always been great and mostly the call backs I've gotten on those systems are to add cameras. I preface the following by saying in no way do I mean to bad mouth them but I feel like tech support should have been able to walk me through some steps to try and figure out what happened. Yea I could have been hacked but they stopped at that. Zero attempt to actually look into the issues any further. As for getting hacked I have active IPS so whoever they were, were very good just to change 3 passwords once in a while, and this issue is on going. I am replacing those 4 hikvision cameras with hanwha on my house because I've lost interest in the product and I've not installed them commercially for some years due to the fact they are banned from government and municipal sites.

[@michaelpoczynek]

Thank you for making this video. It was really well done. Just new to the security camera world and this was very helpful. Have a great day and I look forward to new content.

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

Glad it was helpful!

[@StephenDeTomasi]

I find it interesting that Synology is your go-to NVR platform. Personally I'm not fond of being bound to a particular ecosystem. Have you explored other NVR platforms such as BlueIris, Shinobi CCTV or Milestone X-Protect?

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

Blue Iris and Shinobi are good for home users but I would not use them in a business enviroment, I have not used Milestorn. Synoloyg has simple licencing and is easy to setup, support, and get the right product for the job.

[@daltonschrader8328]

@@LAWRENCESYSTEMSmilestone xprotect is very similar to Synology in licensing. But runs on windows which is something I don't like for vms.

[@ChrisG9978]

I've been pleasantly surprised by a relatively inexpensive Zosi camera system w/NVR that I purchased back in 2018. I have 6 cameras with the system, they've held up to harsh cold, blizzards, storms, high winds, whatever Nature could throw at them in the NE US. Not one of the cameras have failed. I have had to replace power adapters, but they're $8 and still sold on Amazon. The NVR is Linux-based and no longer receives firmware updates, but I haven't had any issues with it. The only downside is that Zosi more or less dropped web GUI support (when Flash died so did Zosi's web browser support). Their Cloud app for mobile devices works fine, and receives regular updates.

[@_nuspace]

I have worked with loads or Reolink cameras over the last 4 years and have had zero go bad (wide temperature range, indoor and out, dry and humid). I think a better comparison would be (if possible) to base your numbers off when the cameras were purchased. Ex. "In 2020 we bought 30 Reolink and 40 Amcrest and of those X number have had issues." Otherwise, your numbers for Amcrest (may idk) be unrealistically padded in the Amcrest favor simply b/c you stopped buying one and continued to buy another. All that said, Reolink's new cameras like the TrackMix seem great on paper but lack basic features like manual zoom... So I am not saying everything they do is great. Just some thoughts.

[@shadow7037932]

He also said the Reolink's died within a year, so that doesn't exactly inspire confidence.

[@_nuspace]

​@@shadow7037932 I know that and my point is still valid. Don't get me wrong. I like Tom and value his opinion. That's why I watch his videos and appreciate the time he puts into them. That said, time based comparisons are the most appropriate in my opinion for this situation. Even if its just over months. Its just simple math, if you stop buying one brand (nothing wrong with that) but continue to buy more of another for years, than any failures in the brand you continue to buy are diluted out and make it seem lopsided. That doesn't even take into account if there was just one model purchased or different ones, were they all purchased from the same vendor at the same time, are the manufacturing dates the same? For all anyone knows it could have been a bad batch. Just like what can happen with SSD, HDD, and NVMe purchases. Though to be fair, Tom is no dummy and probably asked those questions already as part of his decision making process.

[@aaronscalise7682]

been using dahua cameras for well over 10 years and lately amcrest. i've probably installed 500+ dahuas and only had one die. granted, most of them have terrible firmware. Amcrest are worlds better since they have decent firmware. I"ve probably used 100 amcrest camers and have had two die of the same model in the last year. don't remember what the model nubmer is, but its the monster 2MP PTZ. The first died in a week, the replacement died 1 month out of warranty. The little domes are fantastic though.

[@TradieTrev]

Some of the cheap cameras I come across have hard coded passwords in the firmware! Kinda see why it's important to stick them on their own VLAN ;) With the likes of chipset maker HiSilicon I've managed to score their SDK they used to design them so anyone can freely screw with them as desired given access to a local lan!

[@Netz0]

Every single camera from almost every brand is Chinese made (Samsung, Bosh, you name it), they are either Dahua or HikVision inside, similar to how almost every monitor/screen is made by Sony or Samsung factories, (yes that includes your iPhone screen), I think they are like 2 brands not Chinese made, one is Axis. This means, regardless of what camera you buy, you should put them into their own isolated VLAN. That also includes most IoT devices, which should not be connected to the internet.

[@ernestoditerribile]

@@Netz0 you forgot MOBOTIX also made in Germany

[@geo8rge]

Is that Blue Iris in the background? If so maybe you could review that?

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

I don't usre or plan to use Blue Iris

[@MOAB-UT]

Which $500ish DVR HDD system can you please recommend? Anyone? If Amcrest- which model please.

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

We recommend the Synology

[@MOAB-UT]

@@LAWRENCESYSTEMS Thanks. Do you have a link by chance or specific model number? to be clear, I need only consumer level- prosumer. The only one on Amazon got 3-10 stars and was 3x the price. Only need 3 cameras- want excellent IQ. Thanks!

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

@@MOAB-UT Synology has an NVR selector but their 2 bay model should be fine www.synology.com/en-us/support/nvr_selector

[@MOAB-UT]

@@LAWRENCESYSTEMS Thanks but it got very poor reviews. Maybe they are wrong- who knows.

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

Those $30,000 worth of cameras are all attached to Synology NVR's of which none have failed.

[@2gnospam]

Have you tried Blue Iris? What are your thoughts.

[@GrandmasCamera]

Any opinon on Advida/Panasonic!/i-Pro cameras?

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

Never used them

[@artstech]

I've been using Amcrest 4K turret cams with Synology SS for 4 years and none of my 8 cams have had any issues. Very good brand. I believe Dahua makes them for Amcrest.

[@nicholaslacovara2381]

Have a lot of Reolink and Amcrest - 35 of each - one Reolink and one Amcrest died. Both were outdoors.

[@pivot3india]

can you do a comparison between Synology and Ubiquiti ?

[@Spirch]

4 hikvision at home, got their own vlan and no access to the internet. no problem whatsoever so far other than I want to upgrade them with better one soon also, can your turn down a little bit the intro / outro music? it's kind of too "loud"

[@jabolko1k]

someone knows why we cant get amcrest in europe?

[@deadlymarsupial1236]

In Australia security licensing is required to give any advice and install any security related products. The quality of support from security providers are generally poor unless customers go to a major security company that charge as a subscription/lease. As a computer tech fully qualified/licensed cabler I went into the security industry working for a few companies and was not impressed enough with them to stay. There is definitely opportunity to do a better job than the security companies do - I.T. service businesses are generally much more professional. It is very important to be able to configure clear boundaries of control over the operational settings so customers cannot sabotage the installation. ubiquiti failed at this some years ago and at the time there was no consolidation of multiple sites with multiple recorders for remote monitoring. haven't touched it since. My first experience with hikvision was interesting - the recorders have inbuilt switch for the cameras however there appears to be embedded routing between those ports and the network port that connects to the tennant's LAN. The subnet for the cameras was the same as the tennant's LAN so the session back to the portal was misdirected by the routing to the embedded switch instead of the LAN, causing it to fail from connecting to the hikvision's portal. I find it interesting you cover the cost of equipment hire like scissor lifts/cherry pickers to change a faulty camera. In Australia that would only be by service contract. Warranties only cover repair/replacement of the camera and not the labor of removal/reinstallation.

[@Cadavissr31]

I have used Amcrest for 3 years and held up well but the my go to has been Lorex. Great camera and great options. Look them up and let me know what you think

[@nilpo]

Amcrest and Lorex are the same thing. Both Dahua products. Amcrest is an OEM and until February Lorex was directly owned by Dahua since they acquired it from FLIR like 5 years ago. They sold off Lorex in February to a company in Taiwan, but as far as I'm aware they still selling a Dahua OEM product.

[@bernardo4876]

As a volunteer I installed 4 Hikvision camera's at a non-profit organisation. Very happy, they still work fine but.... - Did not know that rain would leave stains on the dome, which will reflect IR and render camera's useless at night. Any tips to fix this? ^^ - The Hikvision Connect app apparently is not maintained on Android anymore, you need a separate app store. Also updating the camera's themselves is scary... Thanks for the video! 😁

[@matthewhoenig6587]

Nothing other then cleaning them with a windex and a microfiber cloth.

[@Mark_M]

Rain droplets often leave some residue from atmospheric containments, just wipe it off with a cloth. It happens to every camera. Many other brands have OEM'd off Hikvison, so you could try their apps. There is options in settings to stop the camera/NVR updating automatically.

[@stevem1081]

It won't eliminate it, but if you can put a rain shield over it, it will help. Rain-x also helps, but you have to keep applying it every few months or it will start leaving milky streaks. Windex with ammonia will leave a film, try Windex with vinegar.

[@josejr2195]

A year later and looking at amcrest, still the better choice?

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

My Amcrest cameras are still working well

[@Scat.original]

what synology are you using for your cameras?

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

For my house I used this one kzbin.info/www/bejne/bIrOpYGMpamGf6Msi=c5OEijPtkC411L34

[@noggan]

I bought the Amcrest based on your experience Tom. Video quality is absolutely awesome. But I'm a little disapointed that the Advanced Human / Vehicle sends out false positives a lot when it's sunny. It's a little annoying. Maybe I configured stuff the wrong way, not sure, but wish they didn't do that. Other than that, no issues whatsoever. Want to add that I am still testing them. So it's also very likely I messed something up with the configuration. :)

[@KathouQC]

Well a video for the comparaison Ubiquiti VS Synology will be intressting, I have ubiquiti cam but they are all the time out of stock and I am kind of limited of the choice of the camera thank :)

[@amolm9896]

May be integration between synology and ubiquity will help community a lot ! Thanks always for your videos !

[@Crazy--Clown]

Ubiquiti...........Learn to spell

[@john-r-edge]

Can you give more background on why camera types or brands end up on do not install lists? Too easy to hack? Catch on fire? ?

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

We buy ones based on compatibility, some reviews from peers and our own testing, just don't have time to review every brand out there.

[@nick-leffler]

Isn't the AI triggering with Armcrest/Synology just ONVIF?

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

basically yes

[@bryan.anderson]

I have recently switched to mostly Amcrest camera's and have been generally happy. The AI is pretty good, but I've been having issues with it detecting outside of the selected area. I use a Synology NAS with them but feel i was duped by their marketing with the visual station being one of the main reasons i went with a Synology NAS to learn they no longer make it even though it was still all over their website. Otherwise i've been happy with the Synology NAS as an NVR. When we bought a vacation house i went full ubiquity dream machine, switch, wap, and cameras for symplicity. I've been really happy tell recently. the hard drive failed 1 year and 9 months after install. Not notification, no warning. didn't know tell i got a pest control bill and was like, "no i never got notified you where there" to discover the protect app had crashed. Support informed me it was a failed drive. 5 days later I am still trying to get info about the warranty. I would expect a drive failure to send me a push, and would expect the cameras to still be viewable, just not recording. I also would expect the protect app crashing to send me a notification.... but no it didn't. I do have a bosch autodome ptz that I LOVE but i can't stand their support. They are really slow on updates, and their latest firmware requires I use their windows app for certain configs on the camera.

[@LifeLover2020]

If you were to do it all over, what system would you do?

[@bryan.anderson]

​@@LifeLover2020so I'll still stick with amcrest but some changes I'm seeing are concerning me. Removing ir for visible light, I don't want that and the ai dome I recently got of theirs requires Windows to configure the ai. Synology finally released a new display unit vs600d or something like that and I'm loving it. For now staying with them. The unifi I'm still mad about the failed drive but it's a nice all in one system either way.

[@waretechnologies6845]

I've been using Hikvision since 2014, and they have all been good cameras. None have failed yet. That being said, when I install them, I isolate them on a separate network with no Internet access, or access to other components (besides the NVR interface). I usually pair them with a good Synology NVR.

[@jd415]

Dahua makes Amcrest cameras which is also blacklisted like Hikvision. They are both amazing cameras though!

[@dexterjones7935]

Synology's system is pretty good but the app is so slow and unloads the camera feeds so often. How are you dealing with the poor app or is it working well for you?

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

If you have the port forwards setup properly it's fine, if you use their relay it's slow.

[@TheCynysterMind]

I went with a Lorex system and so far after a year it seems good and stable. 8 cameras no fail and still room enough to double the cameras

[@DanielSMatthews]

I'd like as open a system as possible, hardware and software. What are the best FOSS friendly options out there these days?

[@vipvip-tf9rw]

foss is not working for ip cam, because how they work, proprietary is better

[@DanielSMatthews]

@@vipvip-tf9rw Thanks for your false and useless answer. Some of us take security seriously enough to need to be able to audit all of our software and hardware. 😐

[@nilpo]

@@DanielSMatthews I'm sorry you don't like the answer you were given, but it's accurate. There is no FOSS option for security cameras. Unless you feel like getting a bunch of Raspberry Pis with cameras on them, you're really asking for something that isn't available on the market. Even if someone was willing to produce a chip and a board as open hardware, the video codecs and standards such as ONVIF are all closed source or protected.

[@DanielSMatthews]

@@nilpo Yet many of them run some form of Linux. 😏

[@nilpo]

@@DanielSMatthews Of course! Gotta make money off other people's intelligent property. Why invest in R&D to develop something original.... 😂

[@ChipLinck]

I no longer buy ANY Chinese made cameras. So, for the time being, I have been using Synology BC500s at home. I love the AI. It works very well and I have been able to dial it in to eliminate false positives. They just announced several more cameras, but still not PTZ. I plan to test a few Axis cameras as well, but have not gotten to the point where I can yet. They are pricey, but I really like what I see in them.

[@mgjfile]

Any thoughts about Tapo by TPLink?

[@zamstarlord]

Great Video thanks , I have say I don't install alot of CCTV cameras but installed in total so far 30 Reolinks on different sites and have another site for a total of 8 more. I generally recommend Reolink, only issues I have ever had is when water has been sprayed at them water seepage is a bugger with POE, but I spliced the end off with another connector and sure enough they went straight back to work. The other issue is they are a pain to update as reolink firmwares aren't for a particular hardware version. And their PC client is a dog show sometimes works great for weeks and other times it runs a couple days and freaks out and stops recording and crashes. Additionally you cant set the main password for all cameras or make group edits like adding additional users in one go. In my perfect world all my clients would have the bucks for unifi everything! 😂😂😂

[@accesser]

Who make the better door bell style ip camera

[@bmp6361]

Ever used the QNAP 's NVR?

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

I very much avoid QNAP due to their poor security.

[@bmp6361]

@@LAWRENCESYSTEMS Yup, I keep it locked down to just my network. There is only 239 issues on their page :D

[@SpartanBrass]

In the last 3 years we’ve installed over 200 Amcrest cameras and have had zero failures. 400 Unifi cameras and have had 15-20 failures. Mostly the dome

[@marktheturtle_21]

I just bought a synology and a bunch of amcrest cameras for one of my stores. Gonna try them out. It's gonna save us a ton of money if it works out.