Camera lifespan & general hardware replacement thoughts -
So Ben is reviewing some footage of issues I am having with my cameras - and I am anxious to hear what they think may be the cause, or what I might need to do to improve things -
BUT - I also realize that these cameras are quite old - maybe even 15 years or more? So while they had been working quite well for an extended period of time, the issues I am having may very well be related to their age. And my wiring, and infrastructure supporting them could also be aging poorly - its all in conduit on the exterior of my warehouse, and my next try may be to put upgraded cable on the interior, and drill out through the concrete walls and into the back of new boxes, run it all into a new POE switch, then into a new M4 mini, and see how all that works out -
Back to the cameras - what are the thoughts on camera age, capabilities, and quality? when is a good time to replace them - wait until dead, or every X ( XX? ) years. And are your thoughts that it makes sense to spend some serious money on brand name units that will hopefully hold up under the exterior issues of weather and vandals, or buy cheaper ones and get a couple extras expecting failure? If it were only 2 or 3, I'd definitely go big, but I will need at least 7, and now that Ben offers a 12 camera license, I may go with 10 - so that could add up pretty quickly!
Appreciate any thoughts on this - especially on what people look for with industrial application units. And does anyone know of a detention quality doorbell camera? Or even just a doorbell?!?
Comments
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I don't have a specific criteria for replacing cameras. I've got 8 right now, some of which are 10 years old, others much newer. Basically, if one of them dies (not a frequent occurrence) I'll replace it with one that has better specs. Slowly moving from 1082 to 4K as I spot a good deal.
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Currently running a 30 camera system. Over the years, very few cameras have outright died, but the general pattern is that every 4 to 5 years, technology has advanced enough to make older cameras seem unacceptable when compared head to head against newer ones. As a result, I find me replacing cameras every 5 or six hears on average to take advantage of massively better dark performance and resolution. The old stuff mostly gets outpaced rather than die of old age. I would estimate only about 10% of my cameras have died over time. The rest have been noticeable upgrades. I would plan for cameras being replaced about every five to six years.
That said, I do keep some of my ancient cameras running to cover lower risk security areas like inside the attic or crawlspace.
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I replace cameras when they fail or when I can source a higher specification one at a good price. For example, over the years I've upgraded 480p to 720 to HD and so on.
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The pace of technological change means that after 5 years or so, the performance difference to modern cameras starts to become stark. Mainly for video quality, but also for other important factors such as low-light performance, power consumption, physical bulkiness etc. Also water/dust ingress can sometimes be an issue over time, gradually worsening video quality.
In terms about how much to spend on a modern camera and which manufacturers to go for, this really depends on your budget and requirements, but there are certainly lots of budget cameras these days that offer very good video quality. The best budget brand in our opinion is Amcrest. If you can spend a bit more, then go for Dahua or Hikvision. Good premium brands are Axis and Vivotek.
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SO to follow up -
Ben has been tremendously helpful solving issues I had with my network, which was identified through the debug file. A few things I learned - with the Verizon 5G home internet, the receiver is all you need. The Verizon router is a pain, and was the source of a number of problems, and following their instructions to put it in IP passthrough mode and adding my own router was even more disastrous. So now, straight from Verizon receiver into Ubiquiti Cloud Gateway Max router and speed is exceptional and so far, extremely reliable.
My very old cameras are still working great - once the various network issues were resolved, they are coming in clear and fast - so while I'm sure the tech is substantially better with new ones, I'm going to save that process until I'm ready to rewire the whole camera network. The Reolink Duo which oversees the back street and parking gate is now working extremely well under wifi, with a small Ubiquiti Ultra AP mounted out within 25 feet of it, and now that I have the Ubiquiti Gateway to control and oversee the various APs. that all works a thousand times better.
One thing I wish I hadn't done was to try and setup a separate subnet for the cameras - I now have 6 on a 192.168.3.x, and the 2 newer ones on 192.168.1.x, along with everything else. Whatever speed or congestion issues I may have worried about don't seem to be valid concerns, and having the cameras on a separate subnet is probably more trouble than it's worth. And now, whatever utility I used to set their IP addresses seems to no longer be available or supported on the new M series and latest OS I'm on - so unless there is some new Mac app ( or simple Windows app ) that would let me modify them, I'm kinda stuck. But, they are working -
I still need a detention grade doorbell/camera ( 2 Ring doorbell cams have been ripped off and destroyed by street people ) and I'm waiting for a M4 mini to come in to upgrade the whole warehouse server / SS experience. If only I could find cameras that had an internal sound generator that would drive away the spiders and their webs - ;-)
THANKS BEN!!
