Hikvision NVR vs Synology NAS with Surveillance Station

[converse]

I'm looking at adding CCTV to our property, probably 3 to 4 cameras, maybe expanding to couple more later. More than likely PoE Hikvision cameras.

I already run a Synology NAS for fileserving and the DSM software is great (although you have to buy additional licences for more than 2 cameras at £50 a shot). I could dedicate a Synology NAS to the CCTV system, or buy a Hikvision NVR like the DS-7608 NI-E2/8P.

What are your experiences, using either set-up? Reliability is key, as is access via mobile devices when out and above. Also bandwidth, I've no idea how the Hikvision NVR deals with this via its ports, the Synology will connect via a PoE switch to the cameras, so the bottleneck it the NAS port.

Thanks all

 

[Iamchamps]

I had an internal cam connected to my old buffalo NAS and had nothing but problems with it. I have the 7608 Hikvision NVR and love it I would not change for a NAS.

 

[secureiam]

the NVR can take the cameras directly and support POE, or taken from your home network and look at the internal ip address, obviously the NVR has to be connected to your network.

The NVR moel you are talking about can have two harddrives and again it depends on how much your recording as to what space you need for x number of days.

as for remote viewing, that's taken from the cameras second stream, which is seriously low output, ie at default a 4MP live stream is 640*360 instead of 2688x 1520 recording stream.

a big difference I am sure you'll agree, but a normal domestic broadband connection wouldn't have the upload capacity to view live stream in the detail that's being recorded.

 

[Iamchamps]

The live stream looks great the actual recordings obviously better. Search YouTube for some videos of what live streams look like etc will show you what to expect

 

[motorbiking]

I have mine on A DS416play and also had no problems with a DS213. the DScam app works fine on a mobile even without Port forwarding set up properly.

You can buy a cheap PoE switch which you’ll find handy anyway.

It’s easy backup your footage as part of a general backup. I’d opt for an old second hand backup synology rather than spend £100 on licenses. plenty about and gives you the option of redundant setup.

 

[converse]

Great info, cheers guys.

I had an internal cam connected to my old buffalo NAS and had nothing but problems with it. I have the 7608 Hikvision NVR and love it I would not change for a NAS.

Good to hear I'm shortlisting the right gear! What's the Hikvision software like, it is easy to config and it is good for movement/trigger alerts - is it reliable along with the hardware? Are you happy with the external access via port forwarding, or have you made it more bombproof with a VPN? What cameras are you running Iamchamps?

the NVR can take the cameras directly and support POE, or taken from your home network and look at the internal ip address, obviously the NVR has to be connected to your network.The NVR moel you are talking about can have two harddrives and again it depends on how much your recording as to what space you need for x number of days. as for remote viewing, that's taken from the cameras second stream, which is seriously low output, ie at default a 4MP live stream is 640*360 instead of 2688x 1520 recording stream. a big difference I am sure you'll agree, but a normal domestic broadband connection wouldn't have the upload capacity to view live stream in the detail that's being recorded.

Totally agree secureiam - I get a reliable 6mpbs here upstream which isn't too bad. I've shortlisted the DS-7608 NI-E2/8P, because it's got 8 PoE ports, so if I want to go for more than 4 cameras at a later stage it's got the capacity, and obviously a bit of room if I need to add a second HDD, rather have room to expand. The switch I have on our home network isn't PoE, so if I go the Synology route, I'll add an 8 port Netgear with PoE. It'll be connected to our home network, might subnet the CCTV stuff off with a separate router at some point in the future, but want to get it up and running first.

I have mine on A DS416play and also had no problems with a DS213. the DScam app works fine on a mobile even without Port forwarding set up properly.
You can buy a cheap PoE switch which you’ll find handy anyway.
It’s easy backup your footage as part of a general backup. I’d opt for an old second hand backup synology rather than spend £100 on licenses. plenty about and gives you the option of redundant setup.

Great to hear, I am veering towards getting a camera and trying out the Synology first - I've got a PoE injector, so it's be a cost effective test, the DSM software is so good for everything else. Do you ever have issues with using your Synology for CCTV motorbiking? How many cameras are you running on your set-up? It's likely I'll have a second Synology somewhere on the network anyway (if our smaller DS212j is up to the CCTV task, I'll run that exclusively for the cameras and nothing else), pulling across a video backup via HyperBackup to a bigger unit.

 

[motorbiking]

I have no problems it all works very well - I have an internal dome cam 2.8mm 4mp and an external bullet 4mm 4mp - . The night vision on the mini bullet could be better but it is one of the cheaper hikvision cams. I user the hyper backup to backup my 4 bay, which is RAID 1+0 (standard config) to my 2 bay which is JBOD, but I have my camera directories real time synchronised. The reason being, is that if some scroat is breaking in, they'll find my 4 bay fairly easily, but my 2 bay is hidden. cctv isn't fool proof, I had some cycles nicked in the summer and my footage wasn't deemed good enough for the CPS to prosecute. I've since added some flood lighting.

I'm thinking of running another external cam off of my 2 bay. With a 4 cam setup you probably wouldn't need to real time the directories, if you had 2 cams going to each NAS.

The internal cam is a great baby sitter too, as my kids, while old enough to be left alone in school holidays, know that if they have people around, its on cctv.

 

[converse]

I have no problems it all works very well - I have an internal dome cam 2.8mm 4mp and an external bullet 4mm 4mp - . The night vision on the mini bullet could be better but it is one of the cheaper hikvision cams. I user the hyper backup to backup my 4 bay, which is RAID 1+0 (standard config) to my 2 bay which is JBOD, but I have my camera directories real time synchronised. The reason being, is that if some scroat is breaking in, they'll find my 4 bay fairly easily, but my 2 bay is hidden. cctv isn't fool proof, I had some cycles nicked in the summer and my footage wasn't deemed good enough for the CPS to prosecute. I've since added some flood lighting.
I'm thinking of running another external cam off of my 2 bay. With a 4 cam setup you probably wouldn't need to real time the directories, if you had 2 cams going to each NAS.
The internal cam is a great baby sitter too, as my kids, while old enough to be left alone in school holidays, know that if they have people around, its on cctv.

Just the exactly of thing I'm thinking of! Thought I'd put a smaller backup hidden somewhere secure, and do real time backup for that very reason - little scroats are everywhere, deterrent is the key!

Do you use the DSCam app to view a low res stream when away from home? (One of the things I like most about Synology is the remote access). The reviews on the Google Play store are poor for the current version, I'm unaware if you can use a third party app though. I guess I need to get a single camera, and run a test on my 2-bay first.

 

[motorbiking]

Yes I use DSCam, via quickconnect, live viewing isn't great over 4g, but its ok to review the recordings. Its not recommended to do it like this as its slow. Port forwarding is faster as its not routed via the synology service. I'm in the process of switching broadband, so I'll set it up properly once I've done that.

 

[Nintendofan]

I'm a Synology Nas user, I have 2 PoE Hikvision covering the garden, I only record movement and use 'Cloudsync' to upload all the footage to a 1TB remote server (Office365 Sub). I also have the system email me a picture when movement is detected. This does result in lots of false emails, rain, cloud cover etc. but its good to view the emails whilst at work to know there's no one prowling round the house.

 

[converse]

Thanks Paul, do you just just trigger recording when movement is detected rather than constant low frame rate recording? Is the sync constant to the cloud? Are you pleased with it and would you recommend?

 

[Nintendofan]

Thanks Paul, do you just just trigger recording when movement is detected rather than constant low frame rate recording? Is the sync constant to the cloud? Are you pleased with it and would you recommend?

The recording is triggered by movement yes and is not constant recording. You can either use the camera to detect the movement or Surveillance Station can do the detecting (more resources are used on the Synology) even better you can use a separate PIR to detect the movement.

All the footage captured is uploaded to my Office365 account but as this consists of only movement then this is acceptable bandwidth wise, I've never have a problem with Virgin Media on a 70mb package (6mb upload I think). Some days if its cloudy and dry I'll only get movements when cats or birds move maybe only a few a day but on sunny days with scattered moving clouds and rainy days I'll get movement every 5 minutes. I get a push email message with a screen capture every time and I'll sit at work and check my phone, it gives piece of mind. I've never had to use the footage and never really look through footage but when I have Surveillance Station can be a bit clunky.

If you already run a Synology (like I did) then it costs nothing to try it with a camera and make up your own mind if its going to work the way you need it to.

 

[chalkywhite]

Hello all, is one camera feed to Synology surveillance app free of charge please? It's not clear from the documentation.
I currently have a Floureon 4 cam setup, which is seeing cameras drop off through moisture ingress.
Want to try adding dome cams that are compatible with my existing synology NAS.
Cheers,

 

[motorbiking]

2 licenses are include. So two free cameras.

 

[Sally2000]

I've set up three Hikvision NVRs, and also have a couple of cameras running on my Synology NAS. On balance I prefer the NVRs as I find the Synology is rather slow when searching through recorded events. Nothing against the Synology otherwise.