Downloading videos from TP-Link NVR1108H-W Network Video Recorder

[Wrichik Basu]

Hello everyone! I'm back once again after a brief hiatus.

I am trying to set up a CCTV recording system for a person who is not much into technology and doesn't have much knowledge of things like these. Actually, I am a tenant in his paying guest facility. I have already installed one indoor camera for him (inside our PG), where the recordings are saved locally on a micro SD card. He and I can access those via the TP-Link Tapo app. But it allows us to download only portions where motion has been detected or someone has been identified. I cannot download the entire footage of a time span of my choice.

Now, the landlord wants to install another camera outside our door so that he can keep a look on the next door neighbour. He needs a better system, as he would like to keep recordings of at least six months, and wants to be able to download entire footage of specified time intervals if the need arises (as clipped footages are not accepted in any court) over Wi-Fi. Note that our facility has a different Wi-Fi; he lives in the same building, but upstairs, so he is on a different network. Our network's range doesn't go up to his apartment.

One option is to use a software NVR. But he does not have a PC. So buying a full CPU + HDD + monitor + NVR + camera will probably cross his budget.

I was thinking of the following setup:

1. Hardware NVR that supports Wi-Fi, e.g. the NVR1108H-W 8 Wi-Fi Channel Network Video Recorder from TP-Link.
2. A 4 TB HDD for the NVR.
3. The above NVR has a WAN port, as visible in the images on Amazon and this video made by TP-Link Malaysia. So I can probably configure it to make it accessible from the internet via port forwarding in the router.
4. A Wi-Fi camera, like the Tapo C510W. Have to change DNS settings to give it a fixed IP so that the NVR can connect to it.

My questions:

1. Does this setup look good?
2. I want to be able to download chunks of video from the NVR from external networks. The current CCTV that I have installed inside the PG, Tapo C210, only allows me to download those chunks where motion or faces are detected. But that won't work in my case. Will I be able to download longer videos from this NVR? Anyone has any experience with this NVR?

 

[sbrothy]

Hello everyone! I'm back once again after a brief hiatus.

I am trying to set up a CCTV recording system for a person who is not much into technology and doesn't have much knowledge of things like these. Actually, I am a tenant in his paying guest facility. I have already installed one indoor camera for him (inside our PG), where the recordings are saved locally on a micro SD card. He and I can access those via the TP-Link Tapo app. But it allows us to download only portions where motion has been detected or someone has been identified. I cannot download the entire footage of a time span of my choice.
[...]

This sounds like a strange limitation. The name "TP-Link" implies to me a router of a kind. It's almost like the problem is in the setup of the control application for this device. The one you call "Tapo app". Why you'd be limited to only downloading only portions where motion was detected sounds like the camera was only activated during these conditions. When "someone has been identified" sounds weird to me. Is face recognition a part of the package? How does it know who's fit's the criteria for identification?

You should absolutely be able to download everything. I'd check this "Taco app"'s settings...

Just my 2 cents.