What Advice For DIY End Users Of Dahua Oems?

DIY got you down, U2?

IPVM was geared toward integrator's, not end-users.

IPVM is focused on integrators but there are many end-users, typically larger ones, that are IPVM members. DIY end-users are atypical on IPVM.

Were I a professional of your caliber and longstanding member, I would feel exactly as you do. I did quite a mental battle for a few days arguing with myself, your statement/question, almost verbatim, resounding through my skull many times before finally deciding to post my rant question. Please understand that I know from a professional standpoint (within my own profession, wholly outside of security surveillance installation and management) that no matter how secluded the 'water' is, 'mud' of any sort or amount is still mud in the end and all of you have worked hard and long in your professions and deserve an 'oasis' of the purest venue. As to that, all of you here have my sincere apology for the amatuer distraction, and I sincerely appreciate you bringing this up as it will keep me in check in the future.

My ONLY caveat at avoiding self-reprisal is, as has been alluded to in a few other replies  regarding professional installation, identity theft and what am I even doing here, is threefold: First is that after our first burglary, a long time renter (our home is enormous and we rent rooms out to a select few who undergo extensive background checks), and here comes an embarrassing 'real world' experience, had $36,000.00 U.S. in cash, 'liquid' paper money, an inheritance check from his mother's untimely death he literally cashed, stolen from a 'hidey hole' deep in the closet of the room he rents; the burglar(s) made their way to the middle of the large dwelling and removed, from my mother's unlocked filing cabinet, original and remodeling plans of the property, personal checks and various other personal financial documents that went unnoticed by her, and unreported. The responding officer, ironically the Lieutenant of the department's Burglary Division, was incredibly unhelpful, refusing any investigatory measures as our PD's policy on burglary/larceny/vandalism is that all cases be treated as "cold", even though I placed my call approximately 15-30 minutes after the incident. They don't even 'dust' for prints any more as a policy. It did not matter that the burglar(s) had to know the schedules of my family, my mother, and our two renters at the time down to a "T" as well as that of our surrounding neighbors to be able to shatter a small glass pane close to the door handle lever while standing on our front porch, have prior knowledge regarding the renter's cash stash and where it was hidden and the location of my mother's filing cabinet in a room of the big place completely unconnected to the renter's room and steal documents although unnoticed at the time, gave the thieves (or whomever they sold the info to) more than enough information on how to easily perform repeat thefts, best times to do that and surefire way to steal not just my personal signature, but my social security number and access to my credit card number and mobile device, the number of which was purchased from my carrier by the FCC for pursuit of the criminal(s) and as evidence in their prosecution. Because I was napping that evening in the back connected apartment of the property (remember, old college housing), meaning I was on site when this occurred, the officer actually implicated ME as the most likely suspect in this at the same time he was disclosing our home was one of seven in a five block radius burglarized within a week's time. Two weeks later another large home literally a half-block from ours was burglarized in broad daylight as their neighbor watched the thieves open the home's alley gate access, carefully back a moving truck to the garage and proceed to load all the PC's, electronics, refrigerator and box freezer, stereos, televisions, outdoor pool and barbeque accessories and luggage, filled with the family's entire wardrobes, seal it up and even close the gate when leaving; when the neighbor was interviewed they said that due to the relaxed nature of the crooks and their apparent knowledge of where to go and how to go about it led him to believe these shits were relatives or very close friends, "... lending a hand..."

Anyone with a modicum of intelligence would rightfully be labeling myself, my neighbors, the PD and probably the whole city as a gathering of complete and total idiots. I fully agree. For the three decades plus that I've lived here, knowing all neighbors on a first name basis, comfortably able to leave doors and windows unlocked day or night, everyone willing to look out for 'suspicious' activity and report it, allowed what's referred locally as "The Golden Triangle" that is our neighborhood, to live the Andy Griffith life, which in turn, made us probably the easiest pickins for crime on the entire West Coast of the U.S. That title comes with more than its share of utter embarrassment, dismay and disbelief. It's a tough thing when one's utopia is shattered and laid bare before a snickering world who laughs and shakes its head. Especially when one doesn't simply 'come from' money and has earned every last cent through drudgery and hard work. Death feels more appropriate than living with the hindsight regarding how careless one has become. Being self sufficient, and then becoming a fool created a drive in me to repair the damage. Hiring others to do so, under the circumstances seems even more expensive because it's hard to place a value on trust, both in others to do more than I thought was ever necessary, and in oneself to even make an accurate judgement on the caliber of those being hired to safeguard what I was unable to.

Not simply knowing how to repair that damage created within me a further drive to gain that knowledge. I know of NO college/university, local or otherwise, that offers instruction on home security hardening, surveillance practices. I didn't even know those terms existed then. Learning these skills and implementing them myself with money I'd earned would, in my mind, help repair an ego that had been what might feel like being raped and then publicly ridiculed for being a victim. Who would anyone trust after that, especially, keeping on track of what I actually was a victim of, learning that crimes of the caliber our neighborhood experienced were not often perpetrated by some junkie needing a fix and heisting the first affluent looking place they come across. I learned that at this level, it's far more likely and often that what we, I was dealing with was not just foreknowledge, but an innate knowledge of how to surveil, security practices and spotting weaknesses, how to work 'nice' people for specific pertinent information that would financially benefit those of this ilk (social engineering; basically the premise of how I earned my living and afforded the amenities for my family, making the embarrassment go even deeper than many can imagine) very often perpetrated by individuals in the security industry, retired high level law enforcement, ex-military and those with professional backgrounds in the exploding computer industry; this list includes the professions of every one of my neighbors in that five block radius. That leaves pretty much only oneself as the best person to trust for the job. In learning that the amount of knowledge you honest pros have acquired, as well as what the dishonest ones have and then how to implement the former and combat  the latter showed me I had a mountain of research on my hands. For better or worse, that's lead me on a personally financed journey from absorbing, let alone discerning the 'fruit' from the 'fertilizer', the information available 'out there'. Add to that realizing that having the ability to case homes of this nature on this level meant that it was highly likely the culprits lived close by, maybe even in my home. Even more terrifying, it might be (as has, after five years of investigation on my own has just short of proven, to me any way) a close relative or even worse than that: an immediate family member with an axe to grind. Where would you go for info when you value your time and where you invest your hard earned money? Enter IPVM. There simply is NO other entity in this industry with your level of integrity and knowledge. NONE. And the club you belong to is private, reserved only for those in the know, and at this point, it's too late to change professions, get experience and invest in membership. And so I came to the only place I've found in five years of search queries, having nothing but advertisements and ill advice offered by the different search engines I've employed in that time, where at long last exists the information I seek, from the very folks, the truly honest ones, backed by cumulatively hundreds of years of real world experience, shared in an up front forum. Anyone in my position would be a fool not to engage this community, even with "stupid" (my adjective to describe my presence) questions.

I hope that the above is taken seriously and with some compassion and most of all with as much respect for my challenges as I have for the professionals in this forum. If it weren't for all of you and IPVM, I wouldn't have a thing to learn in the first place, especially and in my case most importantly, that investing in experienced professional installation by reputable pros supplied from reputable manufacturers will always be, in the financial long run, far less expensive than working around my own ego. My sincere thanks and best wishes to you all. Cheers!

What is your NVR model number again?

Like this, I believe, though only 9 cameras.