re: General security camera discussion (was "Unifi Protect security cameras")

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It seems like the Reo Duo PoE has good recommendations

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I looked at that camera, and after doing some more research, I went with their Trackmix PoE. For me, and my specific application, the auto tracking feature for people and vehicles was more useful than a wide field of view. I can pan and track a minimum 180 deg, but it's not a constant field of view like the Duo. That being said, our house sits back about 50' from the cul-de-sac and closer to 75' from the traffic pattern in the street. An ultrawide view camera wasn't the best solution for me. Also, from where my PTZ camera is located, there is only one avenue of "attack". That is, there is only one way to approach my property because of the layout of our street and my neighbors fence. The think to remember here is that while both are 8mp cameras, the Duo's resolution is 4608 X 1728 pixels and the PTZ is 3840 x 2160, so it's not apples to apples.

That being said, before starting down the security camera rabbit hole, you need to ask yourself, "What are your needs/what are you trying to accomplish with the project?" When you get those answers, that should take you to step two: What cameras/systems will help you achieve those goals within your budget? There's a great website that helps you visualize how a particular camera will preform in your application. https://calculator.ipvm.com/ It allows you to input your address and see the field of view for almost every camera on the market today. It used to me much more functional, but they've put a time limit on it so you have to work fast.

If your budget allows, I'd say jump directly to a 16 channel NVR for about $100 more (if we're talking the reolink ecosystem). From what you said, you're already at 7 devices connected to the NVR. But I'm making the recommendation not based on number of connections, but HD storage space. With a 2 TB drive, and 8 5mp camera's I had about 4-5 days worth of events stored on my previous 8 channel NVR. Using 4k (8mp) cameras that storage could drop to just 2-3 days. So the upgrade is worth it for storage reasons alone. Additionally, reolink's 16 channel NVR has a second bay to add an additional HD. Oh, and even if you don't have any intentions on running additional cameras, you can integrate reolink's POE floodlights off the additional unused POE ports on the NVR.

As Korkstand mentioned any POE switch connected to the network can be used to add a camera to the system regardless of it's connected to the NVR or not. In fact, you can add a reolink camera to the system by simply plugging it to any network, no POE switch needed. You just have to supply 12v power with a 5.5 x 2.5mm plug with center positive tip. Those can be had very cheaply via Amazon or other retailers. The only downside of adding cameras directly from the network outside of the NVR, and KS correct me if I'm wrong, is when doing so you'll have to setup security for each individual camera not directly connected to the NVR or leave yourself somewhat venerable to "hackers". It's not a hard process, just an additional step.

Disclosure: I installed a reolink system several years ago and have, generally, been pretty happy with it. I have 15 cameras that watch my home and roughly 1/2 acre property. During the day, I don't think you can beat it for the money. After dark, the performance goes down dramatically. But I knew that going in, and if you decide that reolink is the way you want to proceed, you should know that as well. The interface on their new NVR with person, vehicle and pet detection is VASTLY improved over their last one with just motion detection. Is it perfect, no. But for my needs, it works very well.

Good luck.

Edit: LifeHackster on youtube has lots of camera reviews including the reolink model(s) your looking at.