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First of all, apologies if this is the wrong thread. I'm not interested in home security so much as home automation: primarily lighting and HVAC control; A/V is a nice plus. I have a house wired mostly for Crestron. I've fired the people who've been dicking around with it for the better part of a year, and I'm about to get, well, something else in place. I have a lot of Crestron light switches in place, Crestron thermostats, and a Crestron-controlled home theater, it just doesn't really work. I'm primarily concerned about the light switches. Contractors tell me that if I go with a non-Crestron system I'll have to have them all replaced, which sounds silly to me. I'd love to put in a new system that's: 1) Future-proof (expandable, based on open standards instead of proprietary junk) 2) Somewhat DIY-friendly (I'm a lapsed software engineer, I have no interest in building the thing from the ground up but would like to be able to make small changes later) 3) Can work with a range of hardware, especially those silly Crestron switches that would be expensive to replace 4) Can handle lighting, HVAC, maybe AV, and maybe home security 5) Has a good dealer/support network, community-based is OK too I know I'm not going to find all five in one place, but is there something out there that satisfies three of these points?
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Feb 16, 2016 23:06
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| # ¿ Apr 26, 2024 19:05 |
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Thanks! And is Z-Wave what you'd recommend over Control 4 and others if the only factors were DIY, support, and (obviously, even though I left this off the list) product quality?
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Feb 19, 2016 05:37
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I live in a house that has four old-style CCTV security cameras watching the doors, etc. The wires all end up in a rack in the basement. I put a PC there with a GeoVision GV-800B card. It works, but the software for the GeoVision is total crap. (Bad UI, constant 100% CPU, proprietary recording format, etc.) Unfortunately I can't use something like iSpy instead, because the card doesn't expose the camera feeds as DirectShow devices - they''re in Device Manager as some sort of "DVR" objects. So I'm looking for a different capture card that can handle four BNC inputs, and either has good software (haha) or works with iSpy or similar. USB is fine too. Any recommendations? And does anyone want a lightly used GV-800B without the packaging? :p
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May 26, 2016 05:36
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Moey posted:Phone posting, but can't you just get a 4 channel encoder? I suppose that's what I should do, but I'm kind of in the dark in terms of what's good out there. (The 4-port USB capture devices seem to be crap according to their Amazon reviews.) This gadget you linked seems to be pretty cool, but the specs page is a bit overwhelming. If I just wanted it to turn the four composite inputs into four IP cams, would it do that? And then I could run iSpy or Blue Iris on the PC I suppose. EDIT: It seems it doesn't do that. It's more of a complete surveillance station that you can access via a browser, and I'd rather use a computer for recording, storage, remote access, etc. Hi Jinx fucked around with this message at 08:43 on May 26, 2016 |
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May 26, 2016 08:24
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The Gardenator posted:Not sure which software to use, it seems that blue iris is the most popular. Any recommendations on software? BlueIris is fantastic. Well, it's fantastic compared to its competitors, which is not saying much. But after using the abhorrent GeoVision stuff, and having a brief adventure with iSpy, I am super glad I bought BlueIris.
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Jun 12, 2016 19:35
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| # ¿ Apr 26, 2024 19:05 |
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Aside from the mobile apps, BlueIIris also has a built-in webserver that you can use with any browser to look at live feeds or events. I guess the apps use the same web interface for remote viewing - the only concern here is exposing that server to the Internet. I don't know what kind of vulnerabilities might lurk in there. To start with, you log in with a form that's plain HTTP. I had a VPN to my home network in place so I didn't have to expose BlueIris.
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Jun 13, 2016 19:26
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