CCTV setup what to buy?

roryrocker13

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Sep 27, 2015
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So my parents are looking for CCTV cameras to be setup at their home. Being a techy my first thought is DIY.
However the way the property is the only access point is VIA one pathway down the side of the house. Semi detached house in the UK, you get the idea. One well placed camera would provide view of the only entrance point to the house aswell as the street outside.

This makes me wonder. Is it even worth going DIY for a camera setup. For ease of use for them too, it would be handy if they could get something like a RING and just plug and play it, even if I can set it all up for them. I'm not a pro with CCTV in of itself, so please enlighten me, its roughly £180 for a ring camera and £4 subscription per month after that, what would that set me back typically for just a one camera CCTV setup done without a subsciption, including the hardware to host yourself if requied. They are not interested in having plex, a NAS or other smart home gadgets that I could host off of a server at their home. So I'm finding it hard to justify anything other than a ring or its competitors. Even though my heart says DIY, what do you think we should do?
 
I am very much in favor of such DIY projects. However, unless you are going to be continually available to provide maintenance etc., a plug and play installation is likely to be simpler.

Especially if all components, software, and documentation are from a single manufactuer.

Any mixing and matching is likely to lead to the various manufacturers just pointing fingers at each other.

Go for a simple, one manufacturer product, that you can install and then (based on your configuration) provide your parents with written instructions customized for their needs.

One pitfall is that many such systems (Ring being one of them) often involve/require online access to websites, storage, servers, etc..

We have relatives with a simple one camera, one view screen setup that observes the driveway and more closely just the end of the driveway by a gate and the garage door. Wired system which can be problematic for some users.

No subscription payments or other costs beyond added (minor) costs to the electrical bill.

Similar to (not a recommendation or endorsement for Bunker Hill):

CCTV camera and view screen

Simple. No dependency on network, computers, websites, etc.. And can be turned off when warranted.

And be sure to consider how long the recorded videos may need to be saved for playback, review, evidence.....

Many systems just start over writing some given or configured amount of time. The longer the time, the more storage required.

Just my thoughts on the matter.