r/alarmdotcom • u/Ill_Possession_9464 • 5d ago
Can’t decide. Alarm.com vs Reolink
Hello!
I have a rental property and would like to have some cameras.
Here’s my dilemma, I cannot decide whether I want to do alarm.com versus Reolink.
I already have an alarm.com system with surety. I have a 2Gig Edge system.
I understand how Alarm.com integrates with the alarm.
I’m fascinated by the idea of the reolink app on my computer that I can have while I’m working from home.
If I went with the alarm.com, I would not get an SVR off the bat because they are kind of expensive. I would like to be able to view the cameras on the TV so I would need the SVR eventually.
Walk me through this, why did you choose one versus the other? What would you do differently? What should I do? Help?
1
u/Wushufoodz 5d ago
Also with steaming ADC cameras through Apple TV/Fire Stick it's not a continuous 24/7 feed and depending on your network and Alarm.com NOC at the time streaming will time out.
With the ADC-SVR210 you can have continuous recording like realdlc said with HDMI to TV. Also always have SD cards in the cameras regardless and ask for the premium video package that allows you to put SD cards in more than 2 cameras with the pro video w/ analytics package.
4
u/withsurety 5d ago
The TV apps shouldn't time out if set up properly. They can get interrupted by network issues.
1
u/xyzzzzy 5d ago
In my opinion ADC cameras with an SVR are miserable. Either plan on getting that or get a proper 3rd party NVR (Reolink is generally fine)
3
u/withsurety 5d ago
IMO on-board SD cards also work very well. There’s just the issue with the footage being on the camera so less secure than an SVR.
2
u/Beezacleezus 5d ago
Surety, you’ve been great with me.
OP, my set up is exactly this. Reolink for the outside Alarm.com with Surety monitoring on the inside. Very pleased with the set uo
1
u/403Olds 5d ago
What is an SVR?
2
u/realdlc 5d ago
It's a Stream Video Recorder. ADC's answer to a NVR for their cameras. basically a local device with local storage where you can setup your cameras to store their feeds on a 24x7 basis. Also the SVR has an HDMI connection on the back (and a USB connection for a mouse) so you can have local viewing as well.
As an example, in my case I have 12TB of storage in my SVR which gives me about 190 days of video storage for 6 cameras. (I run them all at the highest resolution.)
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u/Ill_Possession_9464 1d ago
Thank you all so much for the advice and wisdom. I have an alarm.com camera arriving tomorrow. I’m grateful that I just chose one. I’m going to upgrade to the next level of my surety monitoring plan.
I’ll play with it for a little bit and then I’ll probably end up deciding to get a reolink.
Anything can be an upgrade over the SimpliSafe cameras, right?
4
u/realdlc 5d ago
FYI - You don't need the SVR to view all your alarm.com cameras on the TV. You can do that with an Apple TV, and the alarm.com app! Also the SVR's aren't that bad if you need one.
I went with ADC cameras for the integration. Everything in the same app, which was our preference. Also alarm/sensor events are coordinated/marked in the video so I can go to an event - like a gate opening - and snap all camera feeds to that exact moment and play from there, etc. (I do have an SVR with 24/7 recording, as well as SDCards in critical cameras as a backup.)
Edit to add: Beyond the Apple TV, the same works with Fire Stick, Fire TV, and some Google and Android TV devices IIRC. Note that on these devices you see 4 cameras at a time and they rotate through. You can select one camera and make it full screen if you want, etc.