Having been through setting up 8 cameras across two of our houses I thought I'd share my thoughts for the benefit of others:

1) DO NOT open any Hikvision camera to the WWW (port forward/uPNP) without checking this release and ensuring your fw is updated accordingly Security Notification: Privilege-Escalating Vulnerability in Certain Hikvision IP Cameras

2) Even if your fw is up to date I would strongly suggest using a VPN server for remote access (many NAS's or routers provide VPN servers for remote access). Given the lackadaisical approach to support (as mentioned by others regarding the gmail issue) and general "bugginess" of their software I have little faith there aren't other vulnerabilities in their software.

3) I'm running openvpn on my NAS. One further advantage of going this route is you can also use the VPN when on un-secure networks (public wifi) or for localisation shifting (using BBC iPlayer when abroad etc).

4) DO NOT buy a grey market Hikvision product. When I got my first Hikvision cameras they weren't readily available in the UK, as such I ordered from abroad. At the time I had no idea Hikvision would start a vendetta against its customers who bought from abroad, rather then address the issues with its supply chain. Fortunately those early cameras are R0 build so I can update the fw relatively "easily". But later customers have had real issues. And there are no exceptions for security fixes as mentioned in (1)

5) Many other options are now available. When I first opted for Hikvision, on a £ for £ basis no one came close. The gap between the competition has closed significantly since. Consider Dahua etc. If Hikvision still makes sense, do some research to ensure there aren't any show stopping issues for your requirements. As you can't be sure they will be fixed before they choose to drop support.

6) I see little reason to get a NVR, unless you have a large number of cameras. The cameras have decent onboard motion based events, can push to an SMB share, push alerts to mobile and email alerts/snapshots. Unless there is a compelling reason to buy an NVR I would suggest POE switch + NAS is a better route.

7) I have set my cameras up with 3 detection zones.

Line crossing detection sends push notifications to my mobile via IVMS4500. The lines are drawn in from my boundary to minimise false triggers, although I still get some from shadows/light changing/car lights on my drive/animals. Line triggering tends to give far less false positives. You can switch notifications on and off from the App. So I just have it on when i'm out.

Intrusion detection is set without push notifications to cover secondary areas (rest of my drive/etc). This ensures events are still captured, but means I don't get notifications for every little thing. So if someone strays on my property, breaks something, etc it will be recorded. But I won't be bombarded with alerts.

Finally I use the standard motion detection for tertiary areas. Again this is without notifications, so events will still be recorded should I discover an issue and need to go back to look at recordings retrospectively.

With this setup a 3TB serving 4 cameras (3 & 4MP @ 20fps) gives 30+ days worth of recordings.

8 ) If I was starting from scratch I'd get cameras with external alarm triggering inputs. I could then add PIR's to trigger recordings and use push notifications to mobile for those. Thus eliminating most of the false triggers (other then stray animals). I could also setup floodlights to trigger on those same PIR's to improve night recording performance and as a deterrent. This is the only reason I may consider an NVR in the future, so I can cheaply add external PIR based triggers for recording and notifications.

9) If you go the NAS route, unless you only have one camera and the NAS is dedicated to it alone, ensure it has the ability to set "user quotas". When using a network share the Hikvision cameras format it and expect to have the whole capacity to themselves. Therefore if anything else writes to the NAS reducing the capacity (including another camera), the Hikvision camera will dismount the storage and stop recording. You then have to reformat it manually. A NAS with user quotas overcomes this issue.

If anyones interested, my setup is HP Microserver running as a NAS and openvpn server. With the cameras powered by a POE switch. No ports forwarded and uPNP off at the router and cameras.

Hope that helps.

waiting on a deal on a 4k setup myself

Thanks for posting, but I need an NVR that does H.265, to work with the cheap Chinese Hikvisions I bought off Aliexpress :laughing:

Thanks for posting, but I need an NVR that does H.265, to work with the ones I liberated from the big posh house down the road two nights ago

What does this give you over say a synology station with surveillance app??? Don't really get it why someone would buy this over a Qnap or Synology station.

Would this go well with the Hikvision DS-2CD2342WD-I 4 mm Fixed Lens IR EXIR Turret CCTV Network Cameras?

Is the above camera suitable for use on a 1930s terraced house or would 6mm ones be more suitable? Approx 100ft garden. Unsure if one camera at the front of the property and one at the rear would provide good enough coverage or whether 2 each side (one high and one lower down) would be better.

There is the 8 channel NVR for ~ £170

Assuming it is best to get WD purple drives for use with the NVR?

Thanks.

Those are the cameras I have in my wish list, only the 4mm version.

I went on youtube to see the differences in 2/4/6mm to decide whats best for me.

I'm getting a purple, https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00IMPO5MO/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_S_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=KLCVDB7D7SK2&coliid=I2ZJ8N1KQ030IX&psc=1

Also currently a good price.

I prefer the 16, 1 because its cheaper and 2 because I'd like to think its build with a bit more overhead than the 8 port model.

My advice is make sure the seller is an authorised reseller and gives a full 3yr warranty

Hdd wise wd purple or seagate skyhawks are recommended