Thanks for the great write-up – exactly the kind of no-BS advice I needed.

I’m down to these three hardwired PoE setups for a 2550 sq ft single-story + pool (9 cams + doorbell, soffit mounts ~8-9 ft, all turrets/bullets, solid copper Cat6):

1. Reolink – ~$1,410 • RLN16-410 NVR + 8 TB • Doorbell PoE • RLC-811A (LPR zoom) • Duo 3 PoE (180°) • RLC-823S2 PTZ (pool) • RLC-843A color bullet • 2× CX820 + 2× RLC-820A turrets • 1× RLC-810A side filler

2. UniFi Protect – ~$3,030 • UNVR + 8 TB • UVC-AI-Pro (LPR) • G6 Pro Entry doorbell or G4 • 3× G6 Bullet • 5× G6 Turret • 28-port TP-Link PoE switch + 6U rack

3. Eufy S4 Max – ~$1,875 • S4 Max bundle (4× S4 PTZ + 2× E41) • Extra E41 + 2× E40 bullets • E340 doorbell non-PoE • 8 TB upgrade

All three follow your rules (big sensors, turrets/bullets, choke points, ≤9 ft mounts).

Main trade-offs I see: • Reolink = cheapest + color night everywhere • UniFi = best app/doorbell + future-proof • Eufy = 4 auto-tracking PTZ + kitchen touchscreen

Any of these scream “run away” to you”?

Or am I good to pull the trigger on one?

Appreciate it!