Out with the year old Q-SEE NVR, in with Windows XP system?

[BrendonTW 0]

Hey folks,

 

Purchased a Q-SEE NVR and 8 cameras a year and a half ago. The quality of the cameras is fine but the NVR sucks horribly. I can't go back in time with half of the cameras and the other half are always glitched on the time stamp. The user interface isn't horrible but it's not great. And the thing either freezes or goes black once a week. Out of the 8 cameras, only two are actually working well on the NVR.

 

I don't know a whole lot about CCTV NVR's and these setups, hence the Q-SEE to begin with. However, I have built a number of computers in the past and know enough about networking to build a basic network and forward some ports. And unless I'm wrong and somehow it's actually the cameras causing the problems, I need to get rid of this thing.

 

I have an older Win XP system that I'm not using. It was built as a server but was never used as such. I can do any upgrades I need to. (If I can still get the hardware)

 

My question is: Can I set up 8 1080 cameras successfully with some nice software and as good of hardware that is available for an older system? What do I need to get to this point? Cameras are there already obviously, do I just need POE, a switch, and some software on the computer? Will it work on an older machine like that? Should I just consider building a whole new machine? I'm not familiar with building an NVR so if you all could just give me a few pointers on components it would be a HUGE help!

[Boogieman 1]

Hey folks,

 

Purchased a Q-SEE NVR and 8 cameras a year and a half ago. The quality of the cameras is fine but the NVR sucks horribly. I can't go back in time with half of the cameras and the other half are always glitched on the time stamp. The user interface isn't horrible but it's not great. And the thing either freezes or goes black once a week. Out of the 8 cameras, only two are actually working well on the NVR.

 

I don't know a whole lot about CCTV NVR's and these setups, hence the Q-SEE to begin with. However, I have built a number of computers in the past and know enough about networking to build a basic network and forward some ports. And unless I'm wrong and somehow it's actually the cameras causing the problems, I need to get rid of this thing.

 

I have an older Win XP system that I'm not using. It was built as a server but was never used as such. I can do any upgrades I need to. (If I can still get the hardware)

 

My question is: Can I set up 8 1080 cameras successfully with some nice software and as good of hardware that is available for an older system? What do I need to get to this point? Cameras are there already obviously, do I just need POE, a switch, and some software on the computer? Will it work on an older machine like that? Should I just consider building a whole new machine? I'm not familiar with building an NVR so if you all could just give me a few pointers on components it would be a HUGE help!

Your old pc will likely not cut it, it depends on the specs and software you use.

If the qsee cams were rebranded dahua you can use dahuas free PSS.

You will need a poe switch...

You can also look at blue iris (cheap but requires a i5 haswell for your load, though at the end of the month, hardware acceleration will be added), only 60 dollars total, no license fee. The pc can be had for 300 (dell outlet, ebay), Dont use xp for anything, particularly a security NVR.

OR use exacq/milestone for 50-150 per license depending on the features you want..they dont need a powerful pc.

If you purchased the qsee at costco, just return it. Replace with a newer better system.

[xgsound 0]

See this thread. Costco satisfaction refund on security cameras might be for a longgg time. viewtopic.php?f=15&t=48026&hilit=costco

 

Jim

[ClayPerisale 0]

I'm with Perisale, Australia, and we're the sole distributor of Q-See products over there. You need to log into each camera and disable it's timestamp, although you COULD do it from the NVR itself. it's far easier to have the NVR pick up the time off the internet, than it is to use the internal clock within each camera as like any electronic device, these will vary. Q-See has a massive support page which answers these questions, and if you are still getting stuck, they have live operators which will assist you. There's also the option of posting for a solution within the support page itself. As for getting high end cameras to work on an XP system, as not getting into the questionable stability of trying to run it 24/7 for weeks on end (good luck with that) I have serious doubts the processor will handle the load. Q-See systems, as does pretty much every other NVR/DVR out there, uses Linux OS as it's stable.