Input Requested: Router for Surveillance

[Sky]

Greetings everyone!

I have a question I hope you can help me with. I haven't bought a new router since my ASUS 87's in 2015 so I'm more than a little rusty, ok — rusted over. I need to install some cameras to watch the outside of a small building in a shopping center so if the building gets hit by a vehicle or something, as has happened 3x now over the past 6 years or so, we have some documentary evidence. This is a family thing, so our budget is tight and the cameras are all Wi-Fi (yes, I now that's not the best way to go but it's what budget and location allow). We've pretty much landed on the Wyze Cam v3 cameras (good-enough performance, long lasting, indoor outdoor, cheap to replace, 14-days of video retention).

Right now this is all in the planning stages. The building is in the Phoenix AZ area and we are monitoring the exterior and roof for damage, e.g., delivery truck impacts, hail damaging rooftop mechanicals, etc. The first 10-cameras will all be mounted in shaded and protected locations outdoors. One-to-three more may be mounted indoors in non-conditioned space with good airflow. I believe the building has cable internet currently serving the tenants. I do not know the cable feed location, nor do I have a mounting location for the router selected, nor have we determined the extent of electrical that will need to be done.

My current "next up" is to find and spec a suitable router. The cams work on 2.4 & 5 GHz but I expect they will mostly be 2.4 GHz due to the environment. I may be able to put a few of them on 5GHz if need be. The building is plaster on steel frame with a metal roof and houses two sit-down limited-service casual restaurants with kitchens, A/C, walk-in coolers, etc. It. My current plan is to install 10 cameras to start and perhaps as many as 15 max if we build it out more. The cameras would be the only thing on the network aside from the operating hardware — no onsite storage needed — just power, internet, router, and cameras streaming video over Wi-Fi.

My biggest needs for the router look to be:

1. unattended solid router reliability (the site is a couple of plane flights away, so I can't really do any tinkering that might need in-person fixing);
2. the usual security;
3. an excellent UI; and
4. the ability to host VPN for tunneling in if necessary

I can't really think of anything else. 24/7 monitoring is dirt cheap for these and I don't see a need right now for Gb internet (although bandwidth & throughput needs could change). Unlimited data upload appears necessary on the face. This appears to leave me plenty of budgetary room for the router, including commercial-grade, which could be minimum spec as the router will probably be in unconditioned space so mil-spec could in the mix.

I am chiefly concerned about the router b/c I have no one available (read: cheap or free) nearby to handle the router; the other stuff I think we have covered.

TIA for any help!

Sky

 

[heysoundude]

Ubiquiti has a nice package for your needs -
UDM, AC Lite APs, and their cams...all wired. all that plaster and metal will not do good things for your wifi signal/cam stability
I may have just exceeded your budget though...but If you need/want bulletproof (not literally), this is the way.

 

[OzarkEdge]

Greetings everyone!

I have a question I hope you can help me with. I haven't bought a new router since my ASUS 87's in 2015 so I'm more than a little rusty, ok — rusted over. I need to install some cameras to watch the outside of a small building in a shopping center so if the building gets hit by a vehicle or something, as has happened 3x now over the past 6 years or so, we have some documentary evidence. This is a family thing, so our budget is tight and the cameras are all Wi-Fi (yes, I now that's not the best way to go but it's what budget and location allow). We've pretty much landed on the Wyze Cam v3 cameras (good-enough performance, long lasting, indoor outdoor, cheap to replace, 14-days of video retention).

Right now this is all in the planning stages. The building is in the Phoenix AZ area and we are monitoring the exterior and roof for damage, e.g., delivery truck impacts, hail damaging rooftop mechanicals, etc. The first 10-cameras will all be mounted in shaded and protected locations outdoors. One-to-three more may be mounted indoors in non-conditioned space with good airflow. I believe the building has cable internet currently serving the tenants. I do not know the cable feed location, nor do I have a mounting location for the router selected, nor have we determined the extent of electrical that will need to be done.

My current "next up" is to find and spec a suitable router. The cams work on 2.4 & 5 GHz but I expect they will mostly be 2.4 GHz due to the environment. I may be able to put a few of them on 5GHz if need be. The building is plaster on steel frame with a metal roof and houses two sit-down limited-service casual restaurants with kitchens, A/C, walk-in coolers, etc. It. My current plan is to install 10 cameras to start and perhaps as many as 15 max if we build it out more. The cameras would be the only thing on the network aside from the operating hardware — no onsite storage needed — just power, internet, router, and cameras streaming video over Wi-Fi.

My biggest needs for the router look to be:

1. unattended solid router reliability (the site is a couple of plane flights away, so I can't really do any tinkering that might need in-person fixing);
2. the usual security;
3. an excellent UI; and
4. the ability to host VPN for tunneling in if necessary

I can't really think of anything else. 24/7 monitoring is dirt cheap for these and I don't see a need right now for Gb internet (although bandwidth & throughput needs could change). Unlimited data upload appears necessary on the face. This appears to leave me plenty of budgetary room for the router, including commercial-grade, which could be minimum spec as the router will probably be in unconditioned space so mil-spec could in the mix.

I am chiefly concerned about the router b/c I have no one available (read: cheap or free) nearby to handle the router; the other stuff I think we have covered.

TIA for any help!

Sky

Wyze Cam v3 are 2.4 GHz only. Their app is nagware, imo, and full of stuff you won't use. And plan on re-plugging them when they stop responding. A homeowner can put up with them, but you may not want to. Any decent WiFi will work, but it's still WiFi and not Ethernet. I would deploy a small trial first and scale it up later, if you decide to proceed.

OE

 

[Sky]

I may have just exceeded your budget though...but If you need/want bulletproof (not literally), this is the way.

That's an understatement

 

[Sky]

Wyze Cam v3 are 2.4 GHz only. Their app is nagware, imo, and full of stuff you won't use. And plan on re-plugging them when they stop responding. A homeowner can put up with them, but you may not want to. Any decent WiFi will work, but it's still WiFi and not Ethernet. I would deploy a small trial first and scale it up later, if you decide to proceed.

OE

Oh my! I can't believe I missed that! 2.4GHz only… obviously some of my straw has fallen out!

Ubiquiti has a nice package for your needs -
UDM, AC Lite APs, and their cams...all wired. all that plaster and metal will not do good things for your wifi signal/cam stability
I may have just exceeded your budget though...but If you need/want bulletproof (not literally), this is the way.

OzarkEdge and heysounddude thank you both! You are absolutely right, wired CCTV is the best way to go, but budget vetoed it. Thankfully the needs are pretty simple: (1) watch exterior sides of building; (2) central station 24/7 monitoring; (3) incident notification; (4) decent recorded video downloadable for two weeks; (5) leased equipment including installation & maintenance; and (6) ongoing costs of ≤ $200/mo including internet with budget having absolute veto.

Not happening. There is no way I can meet those requirements with a commercial setup, the budget's too tight. So this was DOA until a recent incident dusted it off for another look.

The Wyze Cam v3's check all but box #5. They are: (1) indoor/outdoor; (2) have central station monitoring; (3) notifications; (4) 1080p color video with 14-day rolling cloud storage; and (6) well within-budget [monitoring $5/cam/mo + 14-d downloadable storage free + ISP, net $100/mo].

So to meet budget the family just had to agree to intermittently poor service, ownership of the equipment, and having the onsite guy do any unplugging, re-plugging, and replacing bad cameras as-needed. And they did. Everybody knows it's a less-than-ideal compromise. They know the issues and they're OK with cameras fritzing — even frequently — but it meets budget and has a chance of success, slim though it may be. I run 10 of these cameras on one place, so I know it can work to their satisfaction, but those are all mounted indoors.

I suspect the real issue, as heysounddude said, is going to be all that metal (framing) and plaster (drywall). So yeah, OzarkEdge, your advice to do a small trial first makes perfect sense, and "Any decent WiFi will work…" is a great guide.

Sky

 

[heysoundude]

I'm working on a similar scenario in a Victorian B&B that has met codes, with several layers of drywall on resilient channel between rooms, walls stuffed with Roxul mineral fibre insulation...and thats within several layers (courses?) of brick throughout to hold the 4 storeys and snow-load rated roof up. 14 rooms, a couple of conference areas, surveillance cams on public indoor&outdoor areas including parking and delivery...Oh, and a retrofitted elevator...almost forgot about the shaft. We've put in 22 APs and 17cams and they're all wired - it was the only way. 30000' of Cat6.
Hell, even the storage place I have a unit in is like this. I'm predicting you'll need to adjust budget. It'll have an impact on the facility's insurance, so reach out to their liability folk.

 

[follower]

Greetings everyone!

I have a question I hope you can help me with. I haven't bought a new router since my ASUS 87's in 2015 so I'm more than a little rusty, ok — rusted over. I need to install some cameras to watch the outside of a small building in a shopping center so if the building gets hit by a vehicle or something, as has happened 3x now over the past 6 years or so, we have some documentary evidence. This is a family thing, so our budget is tight and the cameras are all Wi-Fi (yes, I now that's not the best way to go but it's what budget and location allow). We've pretty much landed on the Wyze Cam v3 cameras (good-enough performance, long lasting, indoor outdoor, cheap to replace, 14-days of video retention).

Right now this is all in the planning stages. The building is in the Phoenix AZ area and we are monitoring the exterior and roof for damage, e.g., delivery truck impacts, hail damaging rooftop mechanicals, etc. The first 10-cameras will all be mounted in shaded and protected locations outdoors. One-to-three more may be mounted indoors in non-conditioned space with good airflow. I believe the building has cable internet currently serving the tenants. I do not know the cable feed location, nor do I have a mounting location for the router selected, nor have we determined the extent of electrical that will need to be done.

My current "next up" is to find and spec a suitable router. The cams work on 2.4 & 5 GHz but I expect they will mostly be 2.4 GHz due to the environment. I may be able to put a few of them on 5GHz if need be. The building is plaster on steel frame with a metal roof and houses two sit-down limited-service casual restaurants with kitchens, A/C, walk-in coolers, etc. It. My current plan is to install 10 cameras to start and perhaps as many as 15 max if we build it out more. The cameras would be the only thing on the network aside from the operating hardware — no onsite storage needed — just power, internet, router, and cameras streaming video over Wi-Fi.

My biggest needs for the router look to be:

1. unattended solid router reliability (the site is a couple of plane flights away, so I can't really do any tinkering that might need in-person fixing);
2. the usual security;
3. an excellent UI; and
4. the ability to host VPN for tunneling in if necessary

I can't really think of anything else. 24/7 monitoring is dirt cheap for these and I don't see a need right now for Gb internet (although bandwidth & throughput needs could change). Unlimited data upload appears necessary on the face. This appears to leave me plenty of budgetary room for the router, including commercial-grade, which could be minimum spec as the router will probably be in unconditioned space so mil-spec could in the mix.

I am chiefly concerned about the router b/c I have no one available (read: cheap or free) nearby to handle the router; the other stuff I think we have covered.

TIA for any help!

Sky

Wyze Cam...it can be exploited so easily. You can so easily exploit the backdoor in it.

 

[Sky]

…I'm predicting you'll need to adjust budget. It'll have an impact on the facility's insurance, so reach out to their liability folk.

That's a realistic probability but it's not in the cards right now. The Central Station monitoring alone knocks it out. If I can find a CS that will work directly with us, or a really cheap alarm outfit who won't up-charge the CS fees out of budget, but so far — no joy, not even close. That's a great idea about the insurance.

 

[heysoundude]

That's a realistic probability but it's not in the cards right now. The Central Station monitoring alone knocks it out. If I can find a CS that will work directly with us, or a really cheap alarm outfit who won't up-charge the CS fees out of budget, but so far — no joy, not even close. That's a great idea about the insurance.

get the bean counters fudging around...I hope they're able to surprise you.