Hi guys Hik Guru here in todays video I'm going to be giving you some advice
on what to be asking when getting a CCTV quotation. Do not be afraid to ask questions
and ask some more questions after that at the end of the day you're
paying for a service and you want to make sure that everything is done the standard,
there are lots of companies that are not bothered about what you want and will do things however
they like, asking questions is just a great way to determine how competent a company is.
So first off lets ask what type of system is it? We've got standard
analogue otherwise known as HD-TVI systems which is ran over coaxial or shotgun cabling,
we've got Power Over Coax (POC) system, we've got analogue over CAT5E using baluns and finally IP
which uses power over ethernet. You're going to want to ask what cabling is being used,
shotgun coaxial is used for older generation analogue systems although it can still be used for
modern day HD-TVI systems it has 2 cores which are 1 core coaxial for video and the other for your DC
12v power. We've then got single coax which is used for the newly released power over coax POC
systems but can also be used for HD-TVI if you've got a power supply local to the camera. So power
over coax transmits your analogue data signal and power for the camera over the single coaxial core.
I'd say this solution is most beneficial if you want to upgrade an older system but don't
want the hassle of changing all of the cabling. We're then got CAT5E and CAT6 ethernet cabling
which is mostly used for IP based systems although it can still be used for HD-TVI if
you're going to be using baluns on each end, for IP systems it is simply plug and play,
IP cameras use power over ethernet so they take power directly from your POE NVR or POE switch,
if your cabling is going to be ran externally make sure you are using external grade CAT5E or CAT6
normal ethernet is not rated for outdoor use and with weathering will eventually deteriorate and
crack causing a break. If your ethernet is being ran in an area with lots of electrical cabling you
may want to consider using shielded ethernet this has a foil sheath around the cable blocking out
any electrical interference caused by the electric wiring which could distort the signal. Next up
what brand cameras and NVR or DVR do you use? HikVision is the current international market
leader for surveillance solutions and is a brand that we have been using for many many years
and so highly recommend as being the best quality value for money along with best product features.
Other high end brands on the market are Axis another contender. We do not recommend Swann,
Sannce, Yale or other similar brands. These tend to be cheaply made and of poor quality,
despite this you will likely find them in main stream shops such as ScrewFix B&Q and Costco
however don't be fooled they can actually be very highly priced or even on a so called
special deal and you get very poor quality for your money, if you're going to buy a product
yourselves we'd recommend a trade distributor which you can also buy from with a cash account
if you're a non trade although you may not get the maximum trade discount like we do but it will
still be a lot cheaper than most other places. See how much the security company are quoting you for
your products and if you think they are taking the micky we recommend getting a price from ADI Global
Distribution, you can find your nearest branch at the link above, simply give them a call and
ask them for a quote all of the (most common) item product codes will be in the description.
Next up what brand and size hard drive will you fit in my NVR.
Now this all depends on how many weeks of footage you want to record, systems tend to
record 24/7 and you have your motion detection alerts on top of that so you never miss a thing.
Ask the company how many weeks you should get this is dependant on how many cameras you have
on the system along with resolution they are. Most commonly 1 to 2TB hard drives are installed, for
2 camera 4MP systems 1TB will equate to around 3 to 4 weeks worth of footage, for 4 camera systems
around 1 to 2 weeks. Ask to make sure it is a surveillance hard drive that will be fitted,
any other hard drive will fail within months if not weeks as they are not designed for constant
operation like surveillance hard drives are. We recommend Seagate SkyHawk or WD Purple
hard drives, for how to install a hard drive and further information see the video link above. Next
up are the cameras 24/7 colour or black and white at night time? Most cameras use infrared night
vision for night time viewing however we find this to be poor quality black and white images just
don't cut it nowadays, HikVision and other brands have recently released ColourVu technology which
allows you to see in full colour in pitch black environments. You can see the finest of details
including what colour a vehicle is what colour clothing a person is wearing etc etc.
We highly recommend you get a ColourVu based system as opposed to black and white.
The only thing to bear in mind is however if the ambient light level is too low i.e. it
is literally pitch black the ColourVu camera will automatically turn on a small warm white light on
to aid with visibility. Some people will find this annoying as it can be rather bright, if you've
got fairly decent street lighting however the camera will not need any additional lighting and
the light will stay off, you can also alter the brightness of this light on the camera settings so
you can manually override its brightness. To see how to do this click on the link above. However
if you are going to opt for a black and white make sure the night vision range is sufficient
for your requirements for most households 20 to 40 metre night vision is perfectly ok. For commercial
at least 40 to 100 metre but of course this is all dependant on the premises itself and will
be determined on a site survey. Next up do you get accurate motion detection alerts with this system?
Motion detection is one of the main reasons we buy CCTV systems you want to be accurately
notified when somebody is on your property, an awful lot of systems fail to do this and
will trigger at literally everything which basically renders motion detection useless
as you won't bother checking the hundreds of notifications you get as you'll just
disregard them as being a nuisance trigger such as leaves blowing or the neighbours cat.
This is where modern technology comes into play, HikVision have released what's
called AcuSense technology which is only available on IP cameras unless you have an
AcuSense DVR or NVR. What AcuSense does is it differentiates between different target types
so you can select what you want to trigger you can choose between humans and vehicles or both. This
will filter out next to all of the false positive alerts that would normally trigger your detection,
without AcuSense you would find leaves wind branches cats squirrels birds
to name a few would trigger. When setup correctly you should get no false positive alerts, if you
want to see how to setup motion detection properly on HikVision systems click the link above. Next up
where would you mount the camera? Cameras can be mounted anywhere you like
lots of companies will throw the cameras wherever is easiest for them
without taking into consideration your specific requirements.
If you want a general overview of your property but aren't too fussed about detail such as faces
then mounting the camera to a soffit is the best place for a more birds eye view overlooking the
entire area. However at this height you are going to struggle to see peoples faces especially at
night time when visibility is poor and someone has got their hood up. The benefit of going on the
soffit is the neatness of the install the cabling can go directly into the soffit into the loft.
If you prefer more details we recommend you put your camera at around 4 metres high from
the ground so a) it can't be tampered with and its looking directly at peoples faces.
When mounting to the brick there has to be room for the cables connection
in some cases you can hide this inside the camera sometimes you'll need to use a junction box next
to the camera although this looks messy the better option is to use an integrated back
box for the camera so the camera sits on the box itself and the connection is housed correctly.
You can also have the cables hidden in the wall cavity and fed directly into the loft this way.
Now moving onto how will the cables be disguised? If you're cameras are mounted to your soffits the
cabling can go directly into your loft at some point you may need to bring all of the cables
down the external wall of the property always make sure to use 20mm black or white PVC conduit
this creates a much neater more durable finish and is a lot safer than just pinning a cable
to the wall which can easily be snipped let alone looking incredibly messy. What you'll also find is
cable clips will likely fall out over time all the cable might just sag creating an unsightly look.
Now an important one to ask, how will the system connect to the internet? Depending on your chosen
NVR location, this could be anywhere it could be next to your router for easy internet access
or it could be put up into the loft, wherever it is you need to consider internet access. A hard
wired cable from your router to your NVR or DVR is always the best solution for a solid connection,
however in some cases not everyone is able to run a cable or would prefer not to have a cable
as it would be unsightly. In this case you can use what's called a internet powerline adapter,
we use TP-Link adapters the link to these will be in the description.
You get 2 adapters, 1 of them plugs into your wall socket next to your router from that adapter
you'll then plug an ethernet cable that goes to your router. Your other adapter will plug into a
wall socket next to your DVR or NVR and again from that an ethernet cable to your NVR. The
powerlines will then transmit the internet data over your 240V electrical wiring in your property
not wirelessly, these are a great solution and work flawlessly 95% of the time but you must
ensure the adapter is plugged directly into a wall socket not into an extension lead or multiplug as
these cause electrical noise interference which can massively affect the performance.
These can also be used on outbuildings for example if your house has got a separate garage simply
plug one of these into your router one into the garage and this will give you a wired connection
however every install where possible do run a hard wired cable. So,
what system is best for me? It all boils down to budget and if you've got any existing cabling
insitu and what quality system you are after. If you're on a tighter budget we recommend going
with a HD-TVI analogue system but using a CAT5E or CAT6 cabling as opposed to Coaxial cabling.
The only reason for this is you are future proofing your system, if in the future you
wanted to take the leap to an IP based system you can simply reuse your CAT5E or 6 cable whereas if
you put old coaxial cabling in you would then have to change all of the cable all over again.
Companies should not be charging you any extra between coax and CAT5 there may be a charge for
shielded and armoured cabling. We always recommend the ColourVu cameras, do not settle for normal
black and white cameras. The HikVision analogue ColourVu cameras come in 2MP and 5MP resolution,
try and opt for the 5MP option they provide you with a much more crisp image also ask for a 2.8mm
lense on the camera this is the widest angle camera so you get a nice wide viewing angle.
If you want slightly more accurate motion detection ask for a AcuSense based DVR or go
to the dearer IP system. If you want to splash out a bit more which we would recommend doing
as you can't put a price on security go for an IP based system, again HikVision ColourVu,
in IP they come in 4MP and 8MP, 4MP is the most common and is perfectly clear; don't be put off
by the fact that the analogue ColourVu comes in a 5MP as they are literally no different at all.
Overall the IP camera is the better camera, the IP ColourVu's also come with a built
in microphone so you can hear everything that people are saying also make sure that
it is the AcuSense variant so that you get the accurate motion intrusion detection,
not all IP cameras come with AcuSense so just make sure that yours does. IP cameras are not
only the future proofed solution but will also last a lot longer as they are more well built
they have a weather proof connection whereas analogue systems may experience on screen
interference as connectors tend to rust and fail with time. All of the system product codes will
be in the description below I'll be listing the analogue and IP ColourVu codes the DVRs
the NVRs if you want any further advice just drop me a comment down below and I'll happily help
remember to like share and subscribe and stay tuned for more videos, take care guys bye bye.