Okay, so I finally got around to setting up a proper camera system around the place. The old single camera just wasn’t cutting it anymore, leaving too many blind spots, you know? I wanted to see the front, the back, and the side yard properly.
Figuring Stuff Out
First thing was figuring out what I actually needed. Went down the rabbit hole a bit looking at wireless versus wired. Wireless seemed easy, but I kept reading about connection drops and battery charging. Nah, decided to go wired. More work upfront, sure, but hopefully more reliable. Less hassle down the road, I thought. I figured four cameras should cover the main areas I was worried about.
So, I looked for a kit, something with the cameras and the main recording box, the DVR thingy. Found one that seemed decent enough, didn’t break the bank, had okay reviews. Got the box, four cameras, and a big roll of cable.
Getting Hands Dirty: The Install
Right, the ‘fun’ part. Started with the front porch camera. Had to figure out the best spot for a good view but also where I could actually run the wire without it looking terrible. Ended up deciding to go up into the attic space above the porch and then down. Took some drilling, carefully, didn’t want to mess anything up. Fishing the wire through was a bit fiddly, not gonna lie. Used some cable clips to keep it tidy outside.
Mounted the first camera. Then repeated the process for the backyard camera. That one involved running the cable along the base of the house, under the deck. A bit awkward, crawling around a bit, but got it done. The other two cameras went up covering the sides, similar process, finding paths for the cables, drilling, mounting.
Took the better part of a weekend, really. Lots of up and down ladders, getting covered in dust from the attic.
Hooking It All Up
Once all the cameras were mounted and cables run back to my little office nook, it was time to connect everything. Plugged all the camera cables into the back of the DVR box. Hooked up a small monitor I had spare, plugged in the mouse that came with the kit, and finally, the power cord.
Switched it on. Got the startup screen on the monitor. Phew, something was happening. It ran through some initial setup prompts. Language, time zone, setting a password – the usual stuff. Had to format the hard drive inside the DVR so it could start recording. That was just a button click in the menu.
Getting it online was the next step. Plugged a network cable from the DVR straight into my router. Went into the network settings on the DVR menu. Had to make sure it got an IP address correctly from my network. Took a minute of poking around in the settings, but it connected fine.
Seeing it Work & Fine-tuning
The cool part was seeing all four camera views pop up on the monitor. Success! It felt pretty good seeing all the angles covered.
Then I downloaded the app for my phone. Scanned a QR code thingy on the DVR screen, logged in with the password I set up, and boom – I could see the cameras on my phone. Tested it walking around the house, pretty neat to check things remotely.
Spent a little time tweaking settings. Set up motion detection so it only records when something moves, saves disk space. Adjusted the sensitivity a bit because the trees moving in the wind kept triggering it at first.
Overall, it was a bit of work, especially running the wires neatly. But doing it myself saved some cash, and honestly, it wasn’t overly complicated. Just took some time and patience. Now I’ve got eyes all around the place, feels much better.