The brand and its product lines
Our old system says Samsung and the new quote says Wisenet. Are Hanwha and Wisenet one and the same?
Yes, they are the same family under different names. The camera business that started at Samsung Techwin was taken over by Hanwha, which completed the deal on June 29, 2015 and renamed it Hanwha Techwin, and on March 1, 2023 it became Hanwha Vision, according to Wikipedia. Wisenet is the brand name on the cameras, recorders and the WAVE software. So an older Samsung-labelled camera in a city building, a Hanwha Techwin recorder and a new Wisenet camera all come from the same lineage. That does not mean old and new equipment will always work together; firmware and recorder compatibility still have to be checked model by model, which we do on the survey.
Which Hanwha series makes sense for a city apartment building: Q, X or P?
It depends on the view, not the building as a whole. Tec-Tel describes the Q Series as Hanwha's lower-cost line, the X Series as the mainstream line and the P Series as the premium line with artificial intelligence on the camera. In most apartment buildings, stairwells, roof doors and rear yards are well served by Q Series cameras, while lobbies, mailrooms and street-facing entrances, where you want a clear face at the door in mixed light, often justify X Series. P Series makes sense where analytics matter, such as a garage entrance or a loading dock that needs reliable person and vehicle detection. Mixing series on one recorder is normal, and the quote lists the series for each position so you can see why.
Federal rules and older equipment
Our lease says equipment must be NDAA compliant. Does a Hanwha system satisfy that clause?
Hanwha is widely treated as compliant, but the clause is what decides. Hanwha Vision is a South Korean manufacturer and is not on the FCC Covered List, per iCtally, and NDAA compliance guides such as Ring and Ping's and Tec-Tel's list Hanwha among compliant brands. Section 889 is about the manufacturer of the equipment, so the cameras alone are not the whole answer: the recorder, the PoE switch and any other networked device in the system are part of it too. Send us the exact wording of the clause. We will specify every device by make and model, keep anything from a Covered List manufacturer out of the system, and give you a written equipment list you can hand to whoever checks compliance.
We still run Hikvision recorders in two buildings. Must they come out now, and can we buy more of the same?
They do not have to come out because of the ban. Iron Gate's guide states that the 2026 import ban does not require removing installed equipment and there is no kill switch, and Blinkless notes the FCC rules do not ban private use. Buying more is the problem: the FCC prohibited continued importation and marketing of previously authorized Hikvision and Dahua equipment in 2026, though our sources disagree on whether that took effect June 26 or July 16, so new supply, replacement parts and support will keep getting harder. For a private building with no contract requirement, the sensible approach is to keep what works, plan a Hanwha replacement, and avoid buying new legacy equipment in the meantime.
Recording software
Does Wisenet WAVE recording come with a monthly or yearly fee?
Not in the way a cloud camera subscription does. Surveillant's Hanwha pricing guide describes WAVE as using a one-time license for each camera, with the Professional tier carrying no annual renewal, and CDW lists the WAVE Professional single-camera license as a separate product. So a building that records on WAVE buys one license per camera when the system is set up and owns it. A Hanwha recorder is the other option and handles licensing differently. Internet service for remote viewing is a separate cost the building already pays. We show the licenses as their own line on the quote, so you can see exactly what you are buying and why.
Wiring in masonry
In a brick or concrete building, should the Hanwha cameras be wired or WiFi?
Wired, wherever the building allows it. ADR Security's NYC guide points out that wireless signal degrades through concrete, steel and distance, and nearly every city building is made of at least one of those. A PoE camera gets its power and its network connection over one Cat5e or Cat6 cable, as Seneca's technical guide explains, so it keeps recording through router changes, does not need a battery swapped, and does not drop off the recorder when a neighbor's network crowds the airwaves. WiFi still has a place, for a single camera where no cable path exists at all, but in a masonry building we treat it as the exception and tell you the trade-off before installing it.
Permits, landmarks and boards
Will the Buildings Department need a filing for our camera job, or for the low-voltage cable?
Usually not, but the scope decides. Lock and Tech notes that permits are usually not required for low-voltage work in existing settings, while commercial work involving structural penetrations, new conduit runs or significant cabling may need DOB permits. Our low-voltage page explains that under the 2025 Electrical Code and Administrative Code §28-105.4.7, an electrical permit is not required for low-voltage work under 50 volts done by a qualified person, and Vertex adds that touching fire-rated doors, means of egress or a fire alarm system needs filing. A typical Hanwha system with surface or riser cabling falls on the no-permit side. If yours does not, we tell you before work begins.
Our brownstone sits in a historic district. Will LPC let us put Hanwha cameras on the front?
Possibly, but the front is the hardest place to get approved. LPC's 2018 rules treat security cameras as objects commonly used for security, and the proposed rules would prohibit many such objects on a primary facade unless there is no feasible alternative. Seneca notes that visible exterior mounts and conduit on a brownstone may need a Certificate of No Effect or a Permit to Alter. We plan positions off the primary facade first, under the stoop, in the areaway, inside the vestibule or on the rear wall, using small finish-matched cameras. If a front position is truly needed, the owner applies to LPC before we mount it, and we supply the camera details for the application.
Our co-op board has to approve the camera replacement. What do they usually want to see from the installer?
Most boards want the same handful of things. Vertex notes that for co-op boards, condo associations and commercial spaces, the installer should submit a formal scope of work with a compliant certificate of insurance, and Seneca notes that building-wide camera replacements may require board approval and building-specific standards. We provide a written scope listing each camera position and what it covers, the equipment by make and model, the cable paths and any penetrations, the working hours we need, and the certificate of insurance with the names the managing agent asks for. Boards also tend to ask who will hold the passwords and footage, so we put that on the scope as well.
Picture quality and cost
How much resolution does an apartment building lobby camera really need?
Enough to identify a face at the door, which depends on the distance and the lens more than the headline megapixel figure. A camera with a high resolution and a wide lens can still record faces too small to recognise at the far end of a long lobby, while a well-placed camera with a narrower field of view gets a clear face at the entry. We size each position by measuring the distance from the camera to the spot that matters, usually the inner door or the mailboxes, and choosing a Hanwha model and lens for that distance and that light. Stairwells and yards, where you want to see what happened rather than read a face, can use simpler cameras.
What drives the installed price of a Hanwha camera system in New York?
The building, more than the camera. Third-party guides give broad per-camera ranges, and our own prices are listed on the Hanwha price page for each borough. What moves a city quote is the cable path: reusing cable that tests clean in a riser costs far less than new runs up a five-story stairwell or through concrete. Series choice, WAVE licenses, the recorder, mount types, conduit, fire-stopping, after-hours work, freight elevator windows and parking in Manhattan all add or subtract. We price each line separately after the survey, and the quote shows each one so you can see where the money goes.
Analytics and privacy
If we switch on the AI features in a Hanwha P Series camera, do we need signs at the door?
It depends on which features, and whether you are a covered business. The city's biometric identifier rule, in effect since July 9, 2021, requires covered commercial establishments that collect biometric identifiers to post a notice at every customer entrance, at least 8.5 by 11 inches. Carlton Fields' analysis says the signage rule generally does not apply to identifiers collected through ordinary photographs or video, such as security cameras. Person and vehicle detection is not face matching. Turning on anything that recognises or matches faces is where the obligation begins. We set analytics only to what you ask for, and we recommend talking to your lawyer before enabling any face-related feature in a store or restaurant.
Mixed-use buildings
One Hanwha system for the store downstairs and the apartments above: can the cable cross between them?
It can, if every crossing is fire-stopped and the owner agrees. Seneca's mixed-use guidance is that cable crossing fire-rated assemblies or floor separations between commercial and residential occupancies requires proper fire-stopping. We route the run through the fewest possible penetrations, seal each one with a listed product, and label it. We also suggest separating viewing rights on the recorder or WAVE server, so the store owner sees the store cameras and the building's managing agent sees the residential ones, even though they share one system. That keeps tenants' halls out of the store's phone app.
