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CCTV recommendations


Dazz150

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1 hour ago, Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Secretary said:

Clients and others on site look at me like I’m mad when I bang on about using wired not wireless connections. Good to see a consise description of why it’s important!

And foil backed plasterboard, insulation etc, let alone the metal framing used to support it, can be a real signal killer room to room.

Yup. Especially our type of clients ;) 

There's no way this problem is with their gear. Oh no, it has to be "the network". Yes, of course it does...

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  • 4 weeks later...
On 22/02/2019 at 02:42, Jonsey said:

have a look at the ring,  doorbell with video easy to install, comes now with security lighting.and alerts to your phone, can speak to callers while on holiday also. 

I have taken a punt on a cheap Chinese video doorbell like this Not from Amazon but the same unit. I also bought a wireless ding-dong for it and an a.c. power supply to avoid battery charging. So far so good but the same criticism can be levelled at this as Ring gets stick for and that is poor wifi range. It has to be really close to you router to work reliably. I have failed to pair it with a powerline extender so I have ordered a non-powerline type that 'looks' like the router to the bell but is merely mimicking it - boosting the wifi signal as it were. We shall see...

It's a lot cheaper than Ring and I don't see any disadvantages vis-a-vis shortcomings or features thus far. More to follow.

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I have three TP-Link powerline adapters already and I have not been able to get the doorbell to recognise one when I tried to pair it. As the range booster is cheap and also mimics the router settings I thought I'd give that a try. If necessary I can relocate the router to just within range of the doorbell but it is not very convenient. I suspect that the very same issue would arise with the Ring devices judging from the users' reviews. I shall wobble towards a solution... :filfan:

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Why would the doorbell need to recognise a wired adapter? I'm confused...

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It's an adapter that sends data through the mains from a transmitting unit that is ethernet connected to my router. A number of remote receivers plugged into local sockets then either connect via ethernet cable to a smart TV for example, or send a local wifi signal to nearby devices. Each device has to be paired to the relevant powerline receiver and that pairing is what has proved difficult. The camera was difficult to pair with the router's wifi and practically impossible to pair with the remote adapter. I gave up until another time. The doorbell has to be within a very short distance of a wifi source when there's a brick wall in the way - especially if the brick is wet. Therefore it is necessary to provide a very local wifi source either by locating the wifi router as close to the doorbell as possible, or by use of some form of repeater. Sorry if I'm teaching you to suck eggs, but I think you have a professional knowledge of the terminology and I do not. 'Homeplug' is probably synonymous with powerline adapter.

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I get all that. I thought you were trying a wired homeplug not a wireless one...

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Ah, I see. It did seem odd that 'one skilled in the art' to paraphrase the patent people, should ask such a question! :cool:

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I have started a return request for the Chinese unbranded video smart doorbell because although it seemed to work at first (as long as it was very close to the router), it now has become stuck in a reset mode. It has a voice message which advises that it's in reset mode and nothing I do will get it out of it - not battery removal nor extended reset button pressing. I have followed the Chinglish manual carefully and it is definitely not well. I have bought special batteries for it and a WiFi booster so if they want to send me a functioning unit I'm happy but money back would give me the chance to try another unbranded Chinese type. Glutton for punishment I am!

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If you have the time to spend then fair enough. I look at time spent changing things as cost. Depending on how cost is measured determines if the installation is good value. I know you know this but I wanted to drop a sanity check in here :oops:

Wouldn't it be quicker/cheaper/more efficient to spend a little more for the unit and get one that works more reliably more of the time?

Given that you have CCTV do you need a video doorbell? Why not go for an audio only version, if such a thing exists. Getting video off the stream might make it more reliable if the device is distant from the wifi. 

 

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1 hour ago, Blatman said:

If you have the time to spend then fair enough. I look at time spent changing things as cost. Depending on how cost is measured determines if the installation is good value. I know you know this but I wanted to drop a sanity check in here :oops:

Wouldn't it be quicker/cheaper/more efficient to spend a little more for the unit and get one that works more reliably more of the time?

Given that you have CCTV do you need a video doorbell? Why not go for an audio only version, if such a thing exists. Getting video off the stream might make it more reliable if the device is distant from the wifi. 

 

Funnily enough I touted an idea around friends in the security industry in about twenty odd years ago. That was a door entry intercom with a SIM card which called the householder's mobile when the doorbell rang so that the called party could appear to be at home when the caller arrived. Nobody was interested so I did no more. Some years earlier I had conceived of a simple way to maintain a two-second gap on a motorway that did not involve chanting "one thousand and one, one thousand and two" to guide the driver into how long 2s was. Knowing that the idea was very simple and easily copied I wrote a patent application myself (years of experiencing the arcane language of patent lawyers helped) and paid the £100 to file it. A provisional patent gives a year's cover before publication and examination which is where the costs start. A couple of prototypes later and I went around the aftermarket industry carrying my samples and a secrecy agreement. I visited Paddy Hopkirk in his delightful farmhouse only a half a mile away by crow across the valley from my house at that time. He was very interested but had no electronics manufacturing facility so couldn't realistically take it on. Several other companies showed varying interest including a well known after market company in Leeds who spent along time in discussion with me (under the secrecy agreement) and I went away after being told they would discuss it at board level and get back to me. Months went by and nothing. Then an identical product then appeared as a mail order item through an intermediary working from a house in Finchley! It was advertised and featured in a local paper in Littlehampton of all places. I traced it back to Leeds but it died a death and my priority time ran out so I again did no more. I am terminally cynical about being an amateur inventor and I have no idea whether an IP voice intercom exists or not. I do enjoy gadgets though, and a cheap Chinese video doorbell satisfies - for a while!

Do I need a video doorbell? No more than I need a Westfield! :oops:

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Quote

Finchley... My home town! Do you still know the address? I might know who it was...

For clients we use 2N intercoms. They're fantastic but they are premium products along the lines of BPT. Our standard offering is the 2N IP Solo. There's a 3g/4g version as well, and a cloud based subscription service that does the obvious for 2 euros per month per mobile device. With this being a premium product the reliability is superb and there is no wifi option, so make of that what you will...

We pull CAT5/CAT6 and power them with PoE 'cos it's just easier but there are power supplies available too. They do a "2-wire conversion" which allows the IP intercoms to be installed on old analogue lines can even be powered down the 2 wire system. It's good gear... 2N are not well known but they were recently bought by Canon so they've got backing. Check their durability videos on YouTube. The vehicle they use to drive over them is... interesting...

 

 

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Blimey that's an old WW2 German half track isn't it! :d

Thanks for the link Old Bean, I'll have a look. My gadget addiction tends to be attenuated by expense, and complexity though. I get bored if it's too trying!
Finchley is stretching it a bit - it was Finchley Road down towards Swiss Cottage. No idea now of the actual address though.

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Finchley Road... been down there a few thousand times...

The other thing about 2N being a premium product. It's a doddle to set up and support is outstanding both from the UK suppliers and from 2N themselves. Like I say though, they ain't cheap...

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...and run the gauntlet of the Swiss Cottage mad-house circus too. One of those places where to have been a member of the Army Motorcycle Display Team might have helped a driver to mesh with the traffic trying to get from the lane you want to be in, into the lane you're stuck in! :durr:

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