home security alarm
Any smart security system worth its salt offers components
that work together in a seamless environment and can be manipulated using customized rules. For example, you can create rules to have the lights turn on when motion is detected, have your doors unlock when a smoke alarm goes off, and have a camera begin recording when a sensor is triggered. Some systems store recorded video locally on an SD card or a solid state drive, while others offer cloud storage. Locally stored video is a good choice for do it yourselfers on a budget, but you have to be careful not to overwrite video you may need later. Cloud storage makes it easy to store and access recorded video, but it can cost hundreds of dollars per year depending on your subscription. Some systems offer both cloud storage and local storage, and some provide a dedicated storage drive that gives you DVR capabilities with time lapse recording, which makes it easy to
find a video event that took place at a specific point in time. All of the systems we've tested feature an app that lets you use your smartphone as your command center to arm and disarm the system, create rules, add and delete components, and receive push notifications when alarms are triggered. Most apps also allow you to do things like view live and recorded video, lock and unlock doors, change thermostat settings, and silence alarms. Some apps will even use your phone's location services to automatically arm and disarm the system according to your physical location. The more expensive systems usually come with a wall mounted panel that acts as a communications hub, with a touch screen display that allows you to do everything the app does. The display lets you communicate with a professional monitoring service when an alarm is triggered and view video from any of the installed security cameras.
The hard drive that will store the recorded video and images – read my detailed guide to selecting the right hard drive. The Ethernet cables needed to connect the cameras to the NVRThe power adaptors for the cameras read on to see how you can avoid theseNow there are two ways of choosing the different parts above for your dream DIY home security camera kit – what I call going Pro DIY or Easy DIY. Pro DIY – A fully custom solution where you pick NVR and cameras separatelyThis is what I have done – I built my DIY NAS based NVR system, the benefits being maximum flexibility, power and economy. The downside is having to read up on the essentials and ensuring compatibility between all the different bits but that’s why I am writing this blog: to help you make sense of it all. A huge advantage of going Pro DIY is that you can also set up a home automation system that can talk to your CCTV setup!Easy DIY – An All in one pre packaged solution where cameras are bundled with the NVR systemYou leave the tough work of building the kit to somebody else but you pay for the benefit. This is recommended for novices or even experts if you don’t have the time or inclination to do the research. Just pick a brand you are comfortable with, look for the options you want and push the button. Any NVR kit from a decent manufacturer will use the Power over Ethernet standard. If you are looking for the best PoE security camera system, all the kits I recommend below are PoE enabled. I wouldn’t have it any other way. How to choose your Easy DIY home security camera systemSo you have chosen to go the Easy DIY Home CCTV route.