Multi site setup help needed

[Jakesty]

Hello, new to BI, and working on a solution. I'll give you the back ground and my hopes of setting this up.

I have rental properties at 2 sites. Each site has 3 buildings. Both sites have 2 buildings besides themselves, the third building is ~100' away. My plan is to get internet to site (A) of possibly 9 4k cameras. Connect them via wireless and wired to a local computer at this site (A).
Then using a bridge, connect to the other site (B) which also has a local computer recording approximately 9 4k cameras as well.

The bridge is supposed to work up to 3.0 miles, I'm running 0.4 miles and there are trees and possibly a several houses in between. My sites are 4 unit apartments so I can mast the bridge a bit higher to get better performance.
I plan to use my phone, and connect to both sites, my concern in Site (B). This bridge is also supposed to handle 1.0mb throughput, I'm sure it won't achieve that level of performance (But maybe 500mb?). No other data will travel through the bridge except when I'm viewing video from site (B).

1. What performance is needed to view over an iPhone for example? Will this configuration reasonably work?

2. Are wireless cameras a reliable option? What distance can I likely achieve (remember I might be going 100')? Are boosters helpful? If wireless is pushing the envelope, would 1080p make it work better? Do wireless cameras need to be power cycled often?

3. When looking at both computer systems, are all cameras available on my phone or do I have to logon/switch to the other system to manage it?

4. When managing my 2 sites, can I install a client version of BI at the office to view/manage the two sites? And would that require a 3rd license?

Just a side note: if I can get this to work, very possibly I would extend the network to reach another 4+ sites which are even farther away with other bridges capable of 8.0 miles (these may very well be wild claims, but I'm hoping to interconnect all these sites, have one interface and limit my costs).

Currently testing with BI in VM on a server class system, with just 1 Reolink 4k wireless camera with 4x optical zoom.

Can you answer any questions I have or give me advice on what you used whether it was Bridges, Camera manufacturers, Camera quality (1k, 4k), wireless performance vs wired, or anything else i should be concerned about. This project is going to be going forward in 2020 in some capacity, possibly in stages as we make progress. Sorry for the lengthy writeup, but I'm excited to give this a try. Being an IT guy now moving into property management I should be able to understand a lot of the techy things needed to get this working.

Regards, Jake

[MikeBwca]

...

[HeneryH]

FYI - separate the network requirements needed to
A) capture desired quality video recordings from
B) network requirements to stream clips to iPhone.

Best practices I think are to record at the highest resolution possible. Record at perhaps 10 or 15 frames per second which is almost indistinguishable from full 30fps.

Then stream to viewing stations (ie web or iPhone users) at a lesser quality. Full quality exports are always available if needed.

[Jakesty]

That's quite the setup. I would recommend getting the Priority support. BI will be able to help you set this up. They will even login to help configure. I would suggest making a specific ID for BI support to log into. That way, you can enable/disable the login ID without effecting your other logins.

BI support would not be able to do the physical installations.

There is a lot of good information/experience/suggestions here. Since you are running a large commercial business with multiple site/buildings, why not have this installed & maintained professionally?
Most insurance companies give a discount when properties have a security system installed.

I might consider priority support, it just depends if this is even possible. I'm sure I can cover the buildings that are besides themselves it's the one that is 100' away that I question if I can.
In one of the buildings I'm actually thinking of relocating the storage locker stuff in the basement and upgrading the locker into a mini computer room. I'm an IT guy and like the idea of connecting everything. I'm looking at wall mount rack, Possibly NAS device, UPS, server, etc

BTW, I looked into 2 professional installations. I'm not sure of the specs any longer, but the cost was ~4500 per building. That's for a DVR unit and a few cameras. That's just insane. So me spending a few thousand on a mini computer room seems to make sense, especially if I can control it all from one location and it can easily grow with my needs. My fall back solution would be to have 2 connections to the internet, just don't want to have the built in cost of monthly internet for 2 sites. I don't expect to be on this thing daily, or even weekly, but when I need it I will want it on my phone asap. Cloud solutions are limiting or expensive, a local 10TB system should do the job for 9 cameras per site. I'd like to store 30 or 60 days of data. Motion sensing only.

[Jakesty]

FYI - separate the network requirements needed to
A) capture desired quality video recordings from
B) network requirements to stream clips to iPhone.

Best practices I think are to record at the highest resolution possible. Record at perhaps 10 or 15 frames per second which is almost indistinguishable from full 30fps.

Then stream to viewing stations (ie web or iPhone users) at a lesser quality. Full quality exports are always available if needed.

I think you're right about 15fpm, I might try higher in select positions, storage is not a problem, just performance I suppose. Using Reolink software the performance is good for the one test camera I have. wireless, 5mp, 30fpm. The interface is clunky, so I'm hoping BI has a better iPhone app, especially since they charge $10 for it.

[duonga10]

Hello, new to BI, and working on a solution. I'll give you the back ground and my hopes of setting this up.

I have rental properties at 2 sites. Each site has 3 buildings. Both sites have 2 buildings besides themselves, the third building is ~100' away. My plan is to get internet to site (A) of possibly 9 4k cameras. Connect them via wireless and wired to a local computer at this site (A).
Then using a bridge, connect to the other site (B) which also has a local computer recording approximately 9 4k cameras as well.

The bridge is supposed to work up to 3.0 miles, I'm running 0.4 miles and there are trees and possibly a several houses in between. My sites are 4 unit apartments so I can mast the bridge a bit higher to get better performance.
I plan to use my phone, and connect to both sites, my concern in Site (B). This bridge is also supposed to handle 1.0mb throughput, I'm sure it won't achieve that level of performance (But maybe 500mb?). No other data will travel through the bridge except when I'm viewing video from site (B).

1. What performance is needed to view over an iPhone for example? Will this configuration reasonably work?

2. Are wireless cameras a reliable option? What distance can I likely achieve (remember I might be going 100')? Are boosters helpful? If wireless is pushing the envelope, would 1080p make it work better? Do wireless cameras need to be power cycled often?

3. When looking at both computer systems, are all cameras available on my phone or do I have to logon/switch to the other system to manage it?

4. When managing my 2 sites, can I install a client version of BI at the office to view/manage the two sites? And would that require a 3rd license?

Just a side note: if I can get this to work, very possibly I would extend the network to reach another 4+ sites which are even farther away with other bridges capable of 8.0 miles (these may very well be wild claims, but I'm hoping to interconnect all these sites, have one interface and limit my costs).

Currently testing with BI in VM on a server class system, with just 1 Reolink 4k wireless camera with 4x optical zoom.

Can you answer any questions I have or give me advice on what you used whether it was Bridges, Camera manufacturers, Camera quality (1k, 4k), wireless performance vs wired, or anything else i should be concerned about. This project is going to be going forward in 2020 in some capacity, possibly in stages as we make progress. Sorry for the lengthy writeup, but I'm excited to give this a try. Being an IT guy now moving into property management I should be able to understand a lot of the techy things needed to get this working.

Regards, Jake

Hello Mr.Jake,
I have same question about management 5 site, how can i monitor camera in 5 site when i sit in control center site? And if i have more 64 camera i need to one more server to connect camera, right?
Thank's

[TimG]

I have same question about management 5 site, how can i monitor camera in 5 site when i sit in control center site? And if i have more 64 camera i need to one more server to connect camera, right?

Blue Iris (Licensed) can connect remotely to other licensed Blue Iris installations. There is a limit of 64 cameras per server.