Welcome!
Good thing you came here before purchasing!
First off, the ban is only for government agencies and such - it does not impact the homeowner.
This is a good read, and in particular post #52. Basically unless you are a government agency, you can keep buying.
See; Bill Signed: H.R. 3919 | The White House and Text - H.R.3919 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): Secure Equipment Act of 2021 H.R. 3919, the “Secure Equipment Act of 2021,” which requires the Federal Communications Commission to adopt rules clarifying that it will no longer review or approve any...
ipcamtalk.com
We keep our cameras from talking to the internet, so the issue is a moot point. The government fails to realize that and is essentially pushing other companies such as AXIS that have had breaches as well. EVERY manufacturer has been hacked - keep the cameras off the internet!
The 5442s are the workhorse. There is the 4K/X camera that is newer and better, but it cannot see infrared (nor is there a varifocal option yet), so if you do not have enough light around the house, or do not want the white LEDs on, they you want a camera with IR capabilities.
Not all cameras are created equal. You need to decide the distance you want to IDENTIFY and then purchase the correct camera for that distance, which in some cases may be a 2MP. But regardless, do not chase MP, chase sensor size. See this post, along with recommendations based on distance:
At the urging of several folks here, I created a thread to show the importance of focal length and how focal length can be more important than megapixels (MP). I mentioned some of this in the post regarding The Hookup’s latest video demonstrating different cameras, including one sold from a...
ipcamtalk.com
Generally with an NVR, you need to match brand NVR with camera. You may get some flexibility with another camera that is ONVIF compliant, but you will probably lose some functionality.
Keep in mind an NVR is simply a stripped down computer after all... And this would allow you the flexibility to mix camera brands and then be able to get the right camera for the right location.
You don't need to buy components and build one, or buy a new computer either.
When I was looking at replacing an existing NVR, once I realized that not all NVRs are created equal (the bandwidth is can process is a huge limiting factor), and once I priced out a good one, it was cheaper to buy a refurbished computer than an NVR.
Many of us buy refurbished computers that are business class computers that have come off lease. The one I bought I kid you not I could not tell that it was a refurbished unit - not a speck of dust or dents or scratches on it. It appeared to me like everything was replaced and I would assume just the motherboard with the intel processor is what was from the original unit. I went with the lowest end processor on the
WIKI list as it was the cheapest and it runs my system fine. Could probably get going for $200 or so. A real NVR will cost more than that.
A member here a couple months ago found a refurbished 4th generation for less than $150USD that came with Win10 PRO, 16GB RAM, and a 1TB drive. You won't find a capable NVR cheaper than that...
Blue Iris has a demo, so try it out on an existing computer and see if you like it.
There is a big
Blue Iris or NVR debate here LOL. Some people love
Blue Iris and think NVRs are clunky and hard to use and others think
Blue Iris is clunky and hard to use. I have done both and prefer
Blue Iris. As with everything YMMV...
And you can disable Windows updates and set up the computer to automatically restart in a power failure, and then you have a more powerful NVR with a nice mobile viewing interface.
Blue Iris is great and works with probably more camera brands than most VMS programs, but there are brands that don't work well or not at all - Rings, Arlos, Nest, Some Zmodo cams use proprietary systems and cannot be used with
Blue Iris, and for a lot of people Reolink doesn't work well either. But we would recommend staying away from those brands even if you go the NVR route with one of those brands...
Personally I have found the feed from BI to use a lot less "internet" than trying to stream the NVR. YMMV.
But whether you go with an NVR or
Blue Iris, there will be a respective app for you to see your system.
And then you VPN back into your system so that you keep the cameras off the internet. Many routers have OpenVPN built in to them for that reason. This VPN is free. A paid VPN is to hide your IP for porno and illegal streaming.