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

I've been out of the office a lot this week and I have all my platforms set to auto update on the Beta channel. I'll have to sit down next week when I have a minute and see what's changed.
I'm still livid that I can't use my doorbell feature on the access yet.

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Right, I see no value in that Reolink nighttime footage.

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Having the reolink cameras, I would say that the nighttime image presented above isn't really representative of the typical footage I see from my cams. From my experience, I'd say the weak link for those cameras isn't the sensor itself, it's the IR illuminators. (I was a advanced hobbiest photographer for a long time so I know a great deal about a sensor performance in low light conditions). Adding an extra IR illuminator to the area GREATLY improves their night time capability. In fact, thinking about this further, I'd say Rob's test is flawed because all of the camera in the test can use each others IR LEDs to light up the scene and it's not truly representative of what each individual can do. with their own illumination source.

Here are couple of night time video from my system. Notice how up close, within range of the camera's IR Leds, the image is pretty clear (obviously it's been compressed from web upload.) At the far end of the frame where the IR doesn't reach not so much. Also notice the difference when the motion sensing spot lights come on...

These are from the 5MP camera.

LINK

LINK

Edit: Watching Rob's video again, I think that there is something funky going on with his camera setting for the Reolink. What he never mentions in the video is that you can change the camera settings in the Reolink software (and I'm sure the others as well) To my eyes, it's like the brightness is turned up WAY too high on the Reolink. This could be achieved by the camera/software in 3 ways.

1). Aperture
2). Shutter Speed
3). Iso

My best guess here is it's some combination of shutter speed and ISO. This would explain both the ghosting and the image blowing out when the parking lights flash on his vehicle. As I said, it's just a guess and take it all with a grain of salt.

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Was that the raccoon that came back and the dog chased it?

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Yeah. We have a couple of plum trees in the front yard and it would come by almost every night for a snack. One the dog ran it off, it never came back. lol. The two videos were about a week apart.

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And I have to ask because it basically disappears once it's close enough to possibly identify. The Reolinks produce a clear enough night image when there is no motion, but they do it by slowing the shutter speed. This lets in more light per frame, but the result is motion blur "ghosting". The sensor and other hardware just doesn't seem capable of doing any better. Yes, flooding with IR does help, but it does the same for other cameras too.

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I would agree completely about the shutter speed. My best guess is it's in the range of 1/10-1/15 of a second. Also with this discussion, opening up the aperture on any camera decreases the depth of field. This basically means the focus for that camera isn't as sharp. On the flip side, small sensors increase the depth of field so it's a bit of a wash.

Remember, there is no such thing as a free lunch.

So for a 3 camera outdoor setup with local storage, you recommend Unifi Protect with G4 bullet cameras?

Hey Kork, what are your thoughts? I done with my current wifi and about to buy a DMPro. I really dont want to waste money on a Wifi6Lite and want to wait for the wifi6 LR(Pro) that is has been OOS forever. I do have an old Long Range AP i bought years ago i have never installed. So could i install that up in the rafters in my attic to get more dispersal? They should be ok in the temp, I do have twirly birds on my attic.

I do not have any wifi6 devices at the moment but i will have some when the new pixel is released.

thoughts?

It will probably survive the heat and humidity in the attic (spec is up to 140 and 95% I think), but for longevity obviously air conditioned is preferred. But given that it's an older model and you hopefully won't need it very long anyway, it'll probably be ok.

But I would only put it up there if you don't want to put a hole in the ceiling just yet, as it probably will make the signal strength worse. Whatever you might gain in greater dispersal due to height, you will lose from added obstructions. Straight down won't be too bad since it's just going through the ceiling, but the further out you go the more joists it has to pass through on that long angle. You might not get 5ghz anywhere. Also hvac ductwork plays hell with wifi.

I have 2 AP's, and I had them sitting in the attic just on top of the insulation for a couple weeks as I was adjusting placement for coverage. Once I was satisfied, I mounted them inside on the ceiling and signal strength was much better everywhere.

Nope, no word on anything, ever, until it happens. That's how they roll, especially with chip shortages as they've been.

I'm still running AP Pro's everywhere. We just installed the Nano's at the church and they are great as well.


I finally got an invite to the Alpha program. I am still setting everything up (I had to rebuild my office network from scratch) but its nice.
I can use the doorbell feature, look at the Reader Pro's camera and unlock the door from the app or my Talk Touch phones (once they whitelist the devices). They are doing a really good job on the new app of integrating everything. Hope they keep it up, I'm a happy customer/installer again.

DMP is in stock at UI, and so is the g4 Pro. Why go with other resellers? they are not any cheaper.

The only place I've found so far that has any significant discount under retail is streakwave, but to take advantage of it you need to make big orders otherwise the shipping eats you up.