Should work just as well.  I recommended the one I did because I like to terminate all of my Cat-6 with connectors.  

It's just an easier/quicker connect/disconnect....  and it's a habit.  

They treated me right on my one warranty repair.

So we're changing out one of my dome cameras: an Acti KCM-7111.  It's a 4MP day/night dome camera, slaved to a PIR sensor, and used to cover one side of my home.  The camera works fine, but for some reason, every six months or so, it gets a wild hair, and freezes.  Resetting it fixes the problem (for about six months), but then I have to reset it again.

Have no idea why... and I was tired of dealing with it.  So out it goes.

In with the new.  









What we have here is a Vivotek FE8172V panoramic camera.  It's 5MP, IP-66 (meaning it can be mounted outdoors with impunity), and can be ceiling or wall-mounted.  It's designed to provide a full room view from a single camera, with good resolution.  It also has a significant strength over some of the other panoramic offerings on the market:  it's actual day/night.  That means it has a bonafide IR-cut filter, and is sensitive to IR once it switches to night mode.  

This is very important to me; I use quite a lot of IR around my home.  

Comes with a nice mounting ring and interface cable, as well as a bag of screws, instruction manual (in multiple languages), drilling templates, and a software CD:






Here's the guts, and they're pretty well organized.  The small notch in the top of the black motherboard shield is where you insert a Micro-SD card for local storage (VERY important).  The ethernet port is on the bottom by the cable-entry ports (more later).






The mounting ring is solid metal.  And has a notch pre-cut to feed cables into the mounted camera.  We've drilled a second hole on the opposite side of this ring... the reason why will be obvious in a few minutes:








Here's the bottom of the devices.  You can see it's pretty well sealed, and the white plug in this picture is meant to be removed, and replaced with the grey cable-nipple.  You'll see this in--place later in the slideshow.






There's a handy-dandy interface cable included.  This is the cable that allows the camera to interface with sensors, attach microphones, or trigger other devices.  Note the small slot-head plug to the left of the open hole; that's designed to be removed, and the interface cable screwed into place.  It makes a nice, tight fit.










Outside, we've removed the existing PIR sensor, and will be placing this camera along the same length of conduit.  This will be a wall-mount.






We'll be cutting the conduit, and placing the mounting ring in the center of it (and now you see the reason for the second hole we drilled on the opposite side of the mounting ring)









Here we've cut the conduit with a drywall saw, just below the grey conduit clamp.  The two wires you see are 12VDC to power the PIR, and the ground/NC wires used to send the sensor signal to the camera.







We used the signal wire to pull the ethernet cable down through the conduit from the attic.  The signal wire only has to go a short distance.







Here's the mounting ring in place, screwed into the brick with anchors.  The PIR mounting box has been re-attached, and all that's left to do is hook up the wires:







Here's the camera.  I'll call your attention to the grey cable-nipple that's now occupying the previously-open hole in the base of the camera housing.  This camera should be pretty well water-tight.  







Here is a close-up of the interface cable.  Note it has DI (digital input) and GND ports.  We'll be using those to take input from the Crow PIR sensor mounted just below it.  







And here it is mounted.... looks pretty good, if I say so myself  

Here are some images from last night, so you can appreciate the difference in the Field-of-View.

The Acti has a fixed lens, and covers an 82-degree arc... not quite enough to cover a full room from a corner-mount.

The Vivotek covers a full 180-degree arc, and enables you to cover the entire side of a structure from a single wall-mounted camera... and get day/night performance out of it (forgive the pixelation... there are some surprises behind that gate that I'd rather not show)  










Let's briefly compare this camera to the Mobotix panoramic cameras.  The Mobotix Q24 series is a similar camera, in a similar form-factor.  It offers full-room coverage, is 3MP (in the day version... the night version is only 1.3MP), and includes a built-in microphone and speaker.  It also comes some mounting options that the Vivotek does not.  It can be recessed-mounted in a ceiling, or wall-mounted with a 10-degree-angle mounting box that's made specifically for that camera.  The angled mounting box is a nice option, and I wish the Vivotek had something similar.






The Mobotix cameras also have a steel vandalism cover that can be bolted over the top of the camera, for locations where the camera may be subjected to physical attack.  






Mobotix also offers an ext-IO module, which allows PIR sensing, temperature, sound level sensing, etc.  Mobotix also has VOIP capability (you can add the camera as an extension to a SIP-based PBX, like Asterisk or Freeswitch).  






So where does that leave the Vivotek?





The Vivotek is significantly cheaper.  It can be found online for $600-650....  while the Mobotix camera starts at $800, and rapidly increases from there (adding a mounting box, and an Ext-IO unit adds another $300 to the price tag).  Both offer on-board storage.  The Vivotek is 5MP compared to the Mobotix's 3MP, and the Vivotek is also day/night.  That's a HUGE advantage, since the Mobotix comes in either a day-only version (color), or a night-only version (B&W), but not both.  The Vivotek lacks some of the specialty mounting and lens options that Mobotix offers, but for a flat wall-mount, or ceiling surface-mount, it should serve just as well.  The Vivotek also allows sensor-interface from the camera itself, while the Mobotix Q24 requires an Ext-IO module to get the same capability.  

So far, I'm pretty satisfied.  I'm still wresting with some of the configuration options, but I'll post more on that once I have it figured out.

I'm wondering if I can cut/re-purpose a 6" PVC pipe cap into an angled mount for that camera...

Oh, the mischief I could get into...

I'm honestly not a fan of the one-size-fits-all or system-in-a-box deals.  I don't think they give you enough flexibility, and very frequently the cameras are the cheapest thing you can possibly get.  Some of them also include proprietary connectors/cabling (though that shouldn't be an issue with PoE cameras that actually follow the 802.3af standard) that make changing cameras quite difficult, and require you to cut/strip/crimp new connectors.  

PoE cameras tend to be higher-end (as reflected by the price), and if you're paying that kind of green, you want something that's going to be good... and work well.  I've yet to encounter a single manufacturer who has such a superior and comprehensive product line that you don't need to look anywhere else... and the likelihood of getting that in an all-in-one box deal are slim.  

Even Mobotix, who I consider one of the best camera manufacturers in the market, doesn't have the be-all-end-all for every residential application.  A good example is that panoramic camera I just installed.  I actually have two Mobotix panoramic cameras (one color, one B&W) sitting in a cabinet in my garage... and that's probably where they'll stay until I find another use for them... because the Vivotek I just installed is a better camera for the specific spot where I placed it.  

Can you give me a link to the Samsung deal you were checking out?  Also, if you could provide a few pictures (by PM, please... and you can edit them for opsec if you like) of the areas you're hoping to cover, I may be able to offer some guidance.

Well hello there.  

There's no reason to go with ADT, Brinks, or other big-name, cheesy-TV-commercial company.  You can probably find a local company that can install whatever you like... which is what I did.  I went with Honeywell hardware, specified the main alarm brain/panel (using a large commercial panel), and the features I wanted it to have (keyfobs, cell backup, internet access, and so forth).  It wasn't cheap, but now I've got a local company I can call whenever there's a problem... which fortunately has been very seldom.  

It's analogous to buying a system-in-a-box CCTV setup.  The ADT system-in-a-box might work OK... but you can get far better if you have an idea of what you want, and are willing to pay for it.

Yes...  some cameras allow you to disable the IR leds in the camera's software...  check the online manual for any planned camera purchase BEFORE you buy, just to make sure that feature is included.

In fact, I highly recommend external illuminators.  They come in a vast array of different types, ranges, beam-spreads, and so forth... and every camera view is going to be a little different.  The standard "spotlight" throw of camera-integrated LEDs is not the best fit for every application.

Sorry I didn't get back to you earlier.  Been pulling cable for a wifi installation all day today.  

Just got the AP associated to the controller...  now to figure out how I'm going to route the public AP.

That is very reasonable for a megapixel system.  Even if it sucks, you're not out that much, and can probably resell it for most or all of your money.  

Can you give me some additional photos (front and rear)?  You can PM them to me if you want, and edit them for whatever level of OPSEC you desire.  

How high are the eaves/soffits on that garage?

Do you have enough know-how to set up a wireless bridge from the garage to the house?  (I can help you there).  

Do you have wifi or a network setup in the house?  

ETA:  what's your distance from the detached garage to the end of the driveway?

In regards to the prior poster's point about getting a PTP wireless connection: if it's available, SERIOUSLY consider doing this.  Verizon is OK, but the internet access is basically one-way: you CANNOT connect back to a verizon air-card or USB modem-based network remotely.  You can get outgoing internet access through it, but you cannot connect back to your internal network from the internet.   There is no IP address where you could forward ports, and access your cameras from another location.    I've personally used Verizon for a remote camera setup, and it will email images to me, but there is no way for me to connect back to the camera itself.  That's a major limitation of Verizon cellular-based internet, and that limitation is NOT well publicized... so buyer beware.

In regards to your particular setup, you have enough land that you can push out your detection perimeter, and I would highly recommend doing exactly that.  I'd get a Dakota Alert driveway alarm, and TWO receiving consoles.  Put one console in the house, and one in the garage (they'll both alarm in response to the same sensor signal).  You'll get audio alerts whether you're in the garage, or in the house... but I'd do something additional for the one in the garage.




I'd mount a zoom camera on the front corner of that building (it will be easier to mount there than on the house, and easier to install), and point it down the driveway.  




Something like this one (from Acti) would do nicely... and it allows alarm inputs:




It's weatherproof, day/night, has 22x optical zoom, and should be able to read a license plate at 150-200 feet (at full zoom).  I'd power that camera with a PoE switch in the garage, and connect that switch to a wifi bridge mounted on the garage (connecting back to the network in the house).  That way, you could access and control the camera (and its zoom function) remotely.  The I/O connector on the back of that camera would connect (via two wires) to the C-channel relay connectors on the back of the Dakota Alert console.  Set up the camera to email you whenever the driveway sensor is triggered, and you get a picture sent to your smart phone whenever somebody pulls into your driveway.  

If your internet sucks badly, another option would be to put a network storage device like this one in your heavy gun safe in the main house (run ethernet cable and power through the hole in the back...  same hole people use to hook up a goldenrod).  Enable the FTP server on that little NAS drive, set up a network share, and set the camera to send images to that FTP server whenever the driveway sensor is tripped.  That way, even if they get away, you've got a nice series of megapixel images of their truck (hopefully including the plate number) safely stored in your gun safe, which hopefully was too heavy and bothersome for them to crack open.

I'd also consider putting a megapixel dome camera on the back corner of that garage, and use it to cover not only the side garage door, but the back of your house (looking at the overhead view, an 80-90-degree lens should easily cover both, though the images of the house will be too far away to resolve a face very well.  It will, however, give you area coverage.  That camera can take PoE from the same switch that powers the zoom camera on the front corner of the garage... and connect back via the same wifi bridge.

And honestly, your garage may be the higher-risk spot for where you live.  Every rural farmhouse has weapons... but a garage isn't typically a living area, and guys will sometimes break into a detached garage in preference to a main house, to steal 4-wheelers, farm equipment, tools, etc.  

As for the house itself, you might consider covering that back basement door with a camera mounted under that deck.  A nice, sheltered spot like that is prime territory for a break in.  As for the front, I'd put a camera to the left of that door, shooting down the porch toward the steps.  That not only shows you who is at the door, but gives you an excellent chance of getting a face shot as they ascend the stairs and walk toward your front door.  

That camera also faces north, meaning the southern sun will be illuminating whoever is walking toward it.  




You're probably looking at four cameras, plus the Dakota Alert setup, plus the PoE switch and wireless bridges (you could get two ubiquiti bridges for $150 total)....  maybe $2500 bucks (actually, less... if you use budget-range cameras in certain spots... the one by your front door could be a bargain bullet like Acti's E31).  The zoom cam will be the most expensive... but if you left off the camera under the back deck (they have to walk past two other cameras to get around the back of the house), you could probably get it done for <$2k... and have a system that would actually give you accurate alerts, and good pictures.  


ETA:  here's the overhead view... clear as mud?

I'd start with that, and at least a camera on the garage to watch the driveway.  Tie the driveway alarm and the camera together like I showed you.  That way you get a heads-up when you're home, and a heads-up when you're away.  The ones on the house can come later.

Set up the network infrastructure as well... that will make it a trivial exercise to add additional cameras.

PM me.

1.  I have a nine-channel system running on an old Athlon 64x2 dual-core AMD system...  works just fine at 40% load or so.  My home system runs an intel Quad-core, and with 16 channels (multi-megapixel streams), motion-detection, runs about 60% on all four cores.... but that's with re-encoding and serving those streams to remote clients.  A quad-Xeon should shoulder any home system with zero problem.  

2.  Big video cards are unnecessary.  I use MB-integrated video cards, and they are more than adequate.  It's all 2D, and doesn't require anything exotic.  

3.  You can use whatever RAID arrays you like...  I actually don't use RAID.  If a drive fails, I just get another one.  It's a rare enough occurrence that I've never lost video of an incident because of it.  Of course, I also have emailed video, and internally-stored video to fall back on... so as always, redundancy is your friend.

Luxriot.  

I found Zoneminder was too buggy, and fairly difficult to set up (and I know my way around a Linux box).