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The wiring was done by an agency, about 4 and half years back, I was not aware of the wires that time. Now when I checked, it has 3 thin wires for power supply and one combination wire for video.

Wasn't aware about Balun, just checked on Google. Further help would be appreciated.

Thanks, will check.

My house was burglared on 17Oct night when we were out of station. The thief covered all 6 cctv cameras (out door) with old cloth, enetred through the main door breaking it open, ransacked the whole house. Nothing he could get, no cash,no gold.The only thing he took was the Modem along with the Wifi ,DVR and the Hard Disc (Toshiba). With this the police could not get any evidence. I had Hikvision DVR. I need to replace the whole system now. Only wondering what is the fun in having a cctv system if the DVR itself is taken ? I need help on the following

1. Is it possible to go for a cloud storage for Hikvision ? if yes how ?
2. If NO, anything that I can do for storing the recording or keep the DVR burglar proof ?

If the cable is 3+1 I think it is probably due to aging. Also, as others suggested check for proper connectivity.
Balun - balancer and unbalancer is to filter out any distortion. It's cheap - maybe about 350rs. Depends on where you are located.
Rest is simple diy. Simple build a end to end connector and test out all cameras by disassembling them. Once you have found out the problem, you can change or rework accordingly. Hope this helps.

Is someone here using any of the below Wifi enabled cameras:

1. Mi 360° 1080p Full HD WiFi Smart Security Camera
2. EZVIZ by Hikvision C6N Wireless Full HD 360⁰ View Pan Tilt Indoor Home Camera with Night Vision
3. Tp-Link Smart Cam Pan Tilt Home WiFi Camera
4. realme 360 Deg 1080p Wifi Smart Security Camera

I was thinking of going for the TPlink one (I just assumed that all these Chinese cameras would just be copies of each other) till i realized that it had a 9V 0.6A charger. That is possibly a dealbreaker since I am not really sure where I can get a replacement charger with specs like that. Also, don't generally like a company that hamstrings its consumers.

The others have a micro usb dongle from what I understand but I don't think any of them support Cloud storage. Is this some sort of premium feature or is it like Hyundai restricting rear wash and wipe and adjustable rear headrest to the top end variant?

Is there a camera in the Indian market that meets these criteria:

• Reliable. It's for my parents home and they might not notice that this thing has conked off.
• With NAS storage support. I don't have a NAS now but I am thinking of setting up one in the future. Cloud support (with a reasonable price premium) in the meantime would be good.
• Good Night vision performance.
• Intruder alerts that actually are sent out on time. I saw a lot of complaints that the Mi one was taking hours to send out notifications.
• Footage that can be manually backed up to my mobile without accessing the camera physically(like when I am away from home).

I did see one more from the Hero Group Qubo by Hero Group 1080p Full HD 2MP(made in China though) that seems to provide Cloud storage for Rs. 99/camera. Is this one any good?

Hi Jithin,

I haven't used any of the others, but have been using EZVIZ Wifi IP cameras in my home for the past 3 years. EZVIZ is actually a Hikvision company and they are the best in the CCTV field.

Regarding your queries:
1) The Ezviz cameras use a 5V 1A USB adapter which is supplied and easily replacable.
2) Ezviz has a cloud service subscription (for Motion based recording) and depending on how much storage you need, you can pay accordingly. You also need a fast wifi (at least 40 Mbps) for smooth HD streaming
3) This camera will not support NAS, but you can add EZviz's own Wifi NVR (Later as requred) which can store the feed in an onsite HDD through the same wifi network. All the cameras have a built in Microsd card slot and past feeds based on motion sensing are recorded and typically a 64GB card can give you almost 15 days of recording, depending on frequency of motion detection
4) With the ezviz app, remote access is very easy and you can watch on your mobile. You can also talk two way to your parents through the camera.

5) Ezviz cameras are quite reliable and I have not seen any failures - you just need to make sure that your power is reliable (they need to be on a UPS / Inverter circuit to be continuously on)

6) The streaming server is also dependable and I have hardly seen it go down maybe once in 2 years for a brief period.
The Notification alerts are almost instantaneous, but you need to make sure that the app is running in the background on your phone and has background network access. Most phones tend to cut off background data access and also kill the apps automatically to save battery. If this happens, you dont get the notifications instantly and will receive them only when your phone reconnects background data sync.

7) in the Ezviz camera you can configure motion sensing alerts with your own schedules too (Like for late night ) for added safety. The Night vision is also pretty clear till a distance of 6-8 m

The Version you have identified is a PTZ (pan tilt zoom) model for indoor use. They have 3 versions - Fixed Indoor variants, Fixed Outdoor variants and PTZ indoor variants. You can choose the right one as per your application.
Be sure to also buy a Microsd card - at least 64Gb with it.
Installation is very simple too and takes 5 min.

Thank you sir. You have addressed almost all my doubts on this camera.

Can you please answer the following too:

1. Does the camera record without wifi too? My router is connected to a UPS but what if we have a Loss of Signal event. Would the camera record to the SD card and then upload to cloud automatically once connection is restored? My doubt is because one Amazon review mentioned that the camera is incapable of recording in offline mode.
2. What is the format (or is it called codec) for the output video file. Is it a proprietary one that can only be played on the ezviz app?
3. Can I copy the output video files to my mobile local storage?
4. What are the cloud subscription charges? From ezviz website cloudplay for a single camera and 7 day backup comes out to $6/month. This seems a bit steep to me. Or is it the industry standard?
5. Like you mentioned in point 2 is the motion detection recording possible only with a cloud based subscription? This video https://youtu.be/2WM3-mcAI14 at 7:00 specifically calls that out as a gotcha. If the camera is capable of motion triggered recording I am not sure why cloudstorage is a prerequisite. Or is it the AI on the Cloudplay website that triggers the recording?

Sure let me address these queries based on my experience:
1) Yes the camera records on the Onboard MicroSD card even when there is no wifi. But it cannot record to Cloud or an NVR if no wifi is there
2) Regarding uploading to cloud when wifi signal is resumed, I am not sure if it syncs past data (never tried). I also have not taken Cloud subscription for recording . I only use the cloud streaming service, which is free
3) The Files on the Microsd card are in Mp4 format and readable if you put in into your computer and they are not encrypted (at least in the cameras I have, which are two years old now). The Video stream though transmitted over WIfi / Internet is encrypted and can only be seen using the Ezviz app and the encryption key
4) you can browse the history of the recordings even remotely (from the Memory card) even remotely from your phone and there is no charge for this. Also from the playback of the history you can take a Video & snapshot of a part on your phone remotely if required.

5) The subscription charges are typically industry standard and this is the norm, but you may not really need them - first try out the free services and take a call later if you really need them. I personally did not feel the need for cloud based recording and am fine with Microsd card based recording.

Thanks for answering all my queries. I was initially going for the Qubo security camera since it comes with a default cloud plan that has 0.5GB storage and 1 day data retention free. This could be upgraded to 7 days retention and 5GB storage for Rs. 99/month.

However, it seems that Qubo can't actually record footage by default. It relies on motion detection to start recording footage. What saved me from making the wrong choice was a review on Amazon that mentioned a bunch of issues from it's motion detection algorithm to its server availability (Qubo Amazon review). The final nail in the coffin was someone who mentioned that users were being enticed to give positive reviews for free Gold pan (Rs. 99/month) for three months. This kind of shenanigans along with promoting 'Make in India' to take advantage of indian sentiments while the camera itself is manufactured in China made me back off from this option.

Got the Ezviz camera a few days back and it seems to be working fine till now. It will suffice my limited usage till I get a proper home security system in place from hikvision.

We are an apartment complex with 5 elevators of Kone make. We have had a few incidents and considering installing cameras. Wiring for IP cameras can be a nightmare and possibly void Kone warranty as well, which is why we are thinking a standalone with inbuilt storage is ideal. It'll be on loop and we can refer to the recording when required. Installation needs to be neat & would be a bonus if it has inbuilt power backup(not mandatory). DG takes 15 seconds to kick in.

Could not find a suitable one on Amazon. Do share your recommendations.

Issue was the power supply. The voltage output had dropped to around 6V. Changed the power supply and things are better now.

Glad you found out the reason. I hope you are using a good Smps.

I would be interested to know what did you opt for.

Myself, looking for a 2 camera setup to cover the 2 gates and the parking area in front of the compound. We have 3 bar and restaurant's piled on top of each other close by. So would like to have some eyes on the happenings around my home.

So, I have heard about these HD/IP versions of cameras and different cables used by them. I would prefer something which can be hooked into my internet, and which can be monitored via phone, when am away.

What would be the best options for my requirement?
Also, I am located in B'lore South and would appreciate if you could refer any good service providers.

Please advise!

I'll explain the home setup we have :

1. Vivotek 2 MP aluminium bullet camera, vandal proof, IP rated for dust and water resistance, intelligent IR, eye recognition/focus and 1080p recording for front.

2. Dome camera with 180 deg rotation, 2MP 1080p recording, smart IR and 30m brightness for rear, again Vivotek.

3. NVR with 4 TB Western Digital HDD (more reliable than Sandisk).

Costs a small fortune though but has been extremely reliable for over 4 years. Has 6 months recording backup with 1080p. Best setup in my view, roughly came to 70k then, should be more now. Let me know if you're interested in the dealer name, Vivotek is THE surveillance expert worldwide, the undisputed no.1, their cameras are built tough to withstand even hits by vandals.

Hello. Hikvision does good job and you get options to choose between 0.3mp to 8mp cameras. It has been a choice of many industries as well as domestic needs for many years and build quality is reliable too. Can arrange for a tech to help you decide.
Thanks!

I have got 2 cameras and NVR of HikVision installed. I have NOT connected a monitor to this setup and as such access the footage on the mobile app.

Is there a way to access the footage on laptop and also administer the NVR remotely? Please advise!