Good Afternoon All,
I am relatively new to the ST world and was looking for some advice. I am putting in some smart home and security equipment at our house. So far my equipment list is: ST ADT panel and the switches/motion sensors to go with the monitoring, ring doorbell pro, nest thermostat 3rd gen, and the kwikset smartcode 910. If there is anything I should think about adding or taking away from that list I am open for suggestions.
I would also like some suggestions/info on picking out security cameras. I am thinking about trying to set up an 8CH NVR system with cameras. I would prefer it include a HDD and 8 cameras. I have never done anything with a camera system before so I dont really know what equipment in that realm would best fulfill our needs. Ive done a ton of research but its nice hearing from someones personal experience. I would like to spend under $600 if I can.
Should I do dome cameras outside or bullets? resolution recommendations? camera company/model suggestions? I would like for the inside camera(s) to maybe have a mic/speaker so that we can talk through it. What brands have you used that worked well? Ill be using Newegg to purchase all of this, not sure if that helps with any of this or not. Thanks in advance!
Also, I will probably be using both ST and ActionTiles loaded onto our iPhones and on a couple Amazon fire tablets or something similar. Mounted to the wall but still moveable. If any of you have any pro tips on something I should consider changing or adding or just really anything with this process I would appreciate the help!
It really comes down to things you find that you really want.
Personally i like Arlo Cameras. I have 2 Arlo Q cameras and 2 Arlo Pro 2 cameras. I use ADT Tools and Arlo pilot to manage the camera states with the alarm system. The Arlo Pilot smartapp i use is a fork of the relased one that has a small update to support the ST ADT panel. You can get it where you also downlnoad ADT Tools.
The Arlos all support 2 way audio, Night Vision, and they do cloud storage for up to 7 days free. The arlo pro 2 cameras also come with a siren so that can be used for some stuff though not directly tied to alerts to ADT.
If you want Local storage i have heard allot of people bring up Blue IRIS with IP cameras. The IP cameras will have a little bit more useability with Action Tiles.
I hope that gave you some ideas
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Those arlo cameras are just so expensive though. And are you ever concerned about relying on the motion sensors activating for it to start recording? Or internet connectivity issues? I know that they can back up to a flash drive on the base system, I guess I just get a little nervous thinking about having to rely on a piece of tech to perform as it’s supposed to (sensing appropriate motion). Maybe that isn’t something I should really be worried about though? I’m just thinking out loud here. I would think that a 24/7 recording might be more beneficial if you’re worried about people and schenanigans around your area. Honestly I was thinking about a couple arlo pros 2 for the inside and then some sort of NVR for outside. I don’t like the idea of relying on one system so having two different ones l, might be overkill, but at least you have that redundancy in case of a failure or something. Thoughts?
Well like I said Arlo isn’t for everyone. I have had pretty good success with them though. I have had 2 alro q’s for over a year and they have worked well. Motion detection has been very reliable. I just got the arlo pro 2’s and the base station, but haven’t had time to really push them through the tests. Both can do cvr which is continuous recording for a fee per camera if you wanted that. With the pro 2 internet problems shouldn’t be a concern since it can record locally.
You can get the arlo q’s on sale for around 145 on Amazon frequently. Not cheap but remember you get 7 days of free cloud storage. If you go over 5 cameras you will need to upgrade to a paid plan to use up to 10 cameras. But you also get 30 days storage.
I am currently waiting for the panel to be delivered and the rest of the components. I am still trying to figure out a camera set up. I have decided on doing a dedicated 8ch or 16 ch NVR setup that I would like to work with ST or AT. Im just having a hard time figuring out what works with it or what doesnt. I dont really want to use BI right now