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garybdavis

Milestone may not be for me... (upgrade $$)

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I'm beginning to think Milestone is not for me. I've been running a Dell T20 based server system with 12 Hikvision cameras and Milestone XProtect Essential 2014. Lately, I'm having some issues that seem to be Windows compatibility based. Maybe if I left my Windows system alone and not updated it, things would be stuck in time and still stable. But, I need to update Milestone or get something else.

 

Milestone is offering a special (50% discount) to go to XProtect Express. That's valid until the end of 2016. Since my upgrade expired 9/2016, the special deal will cost me $504 for a 12 camera system. That gets me a 3 year upgrade plan. I already have $600 into Milestone software and I've been running for just over a year.

 

https://www.milestonesys.com/newsletters/reseller_/emea/2016/October/Upgrade-XProtect-Essential-Customers-to-XProtect-Express-for-free/

 

This is just a home security system but I don't want to have to pay fees every year to keep my system running. Anyone else want to whine about paying annual fees with me?

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I'm beginning to think Milestone is not for me. I've been running a Dell T20 based server system with 12 Hikvision cameras and Milestone XProtect Essential 2014. Lately, I'm having some issues that seem to be Windows compatibility based. Maybe if I left my Windows system alone and not updated it, things would be stuck in time and still stable. But, I need to update Milestone or get something else.

 

Milestone is offering a special (50% discount) to go to XProtect Express. That's valid until the end of 2016. Since my upgrade expired 9/2016, the special deal will cost me $504 for a 12 camera system. That gets me a 3 year upgrade plan. I already have $600 into Milestone software and I've been running for just over a year.

 

https://www.milestonesys.com/newsletters/reseller_/emea/2016/October/Upgrade-XProtect-Essential-Customers-to-XProtect-Express-for-free/

 

This is just a home security system but I don't want to have to pay fees every year to keep my system running. Anyone else want to whine about paying annual fees with me?

Check Avigilon

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So which Avigilon version would you recommend? I just want the basics for a 12 camera system: camera activated motion recording for 15 days, app for iPhone and Android, run on a T20 Xeon at ~25% CPU, no annual fees, Hikvision camera drivers, motion based recording search capability and Windows based software that is supported for more than a year or two.

 

And where do I buy Avigilon?

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So which Avigilon version would you recommend? I just want the basics for a 12 camera system: camera activated motion recording for 15 days, app for iPhone and Android, run on a T20 Xeon at ~25% CPU, no annual fees, Hikvision camera drivers, motion based recording search capability and Windows based software that is supported for more than a year or two.

 

And where do I buy Avigilon?

Have a look at pic and decide

Where are you located?

186427675_ACCselectionMatrix.thumb.jpg.3801b6d8f19ad14076d2a698b9bf1240.jpg

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Not to cloud your options but I chose the path I did based on the lack of annual costs. I use Bluecherry for my system. When you buy a license with Bluecherry, that license is good for that major version. Example, they're on version 2 right now, and will be for some time yet. Upon the release of version 3, you can upgrade from 2 to 3 for 50% of the cost (according to their docs). The alternative is to just stay on version 2 for life. There's no force-upgrade-march involved.

 

The software is very much a server+client relationship. Server is Linux based, with most of their focus on Ubuntu. The client is a separate component which interfaces with the server, allowing you to use an actual interface instead of having to VNC/RDP/whatever to the server/NVR itself to view feeds and whatnot. While the server is focused on Ubuntu, their client is cross platform - Windows, Mac, Linux.

 

I run continual recording on mine with six 3 MP cameras. Current server load is 0.00, so basically, next to nothing. Not bad for a low wattage i3 processor. Motion of course would spike it up a bit, but overall the software is pretty light.

 

Unfortunately, no mobile app yet, though it's not difficult to get the live feeds interfacing with something like TinyCam, which is primary what I use for remote view. If playing back previous feeds via smartphone is a necessity then this may be a bust, though between my upload speed at home and bandwidth capabilities out and about, even remote view is a blessing.

 

Not sure how this aligns with your needs, but if nothing else, just an idea.

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Avigilon doesn't do service agreements so you don't need to worry about an annual fee. I believe their strategy is to get you to pay for a major release (i.e. ACC 5 to 6).

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I'm perfectly happy to pay for each major release. I just want them to continue to support it for a decent length of time (like several years). Mainly issuing updates to keep up with the Microsoft Windows updates. I haven't seen any Avigilon pricing but will get with ak357 to find out how much $$.

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