Recently, I was tasked with helping my friend Chuck, perhaps the most technologically knowledgeable and simultaneously suspicious person I know, set up a home security system for his new house. After looking at tons of cameras, home backup hubs, and connection types, we ended up with a short list of companies. Of the two, Reolink was the better priced and often better reviewed option. For Amazon's October Prime Day, many of their products are going on sale, so if you're also are looking to build out a security system, I recommend taking advantage of this deal on a set of four POE cameras and a home recording device for continuous, 24/7 recording. Usually this set is $559.99, but it'll be $349.99 (38% off) October 8-9 for Prime Big Deal Days.
I've come to like specific cameras because I want specific features. First on the list, they have to be PTZ (point, tilt, zoom), which gives you an almost infinite 360 degree view of the space you're observing, and you move the camera around with a remote control in the app. If you're concerned about security, you want a PoE camera, which is power over ethernet. This provides a continuous power supply and continuous connection and avoids wifi. These are IP cameras, which means you can really lock down who can get access to the stream or playback. Lastly, they're 4k, which is about as much resolution as any high-end camera is going to offer, and all you should need. Even on zoom, I find 4k does a great job from a hundred feet out.
The 2TB hard drive allows for continuous 24/7 recording. While this is a new trend in home security systems, I've yet to decide if I really need that more than the clips that most cameras currently serve you. However, clips do occasionally miss the action, and having 24/7 coverage means you would always be able to go back and look through for a missed detail. You can also install an external hard drive.
If, in the future, you decide to add more PoE cameras or wifi cameras, you could support up to eight of them in this system.
