SpacemanSpiff
Known around here
Mental note to self: start product design on faraday cages for security cameras for blocking new built-in GPS 'phone home' feature
Divulging to much info on here
- Thread starter ludshed
- Start date
CanCuba
Known around here
Many here use Blue Iris. I have a Dahua NVR but will be moving to Blue Iris or Frigate (or another Linux-based VMS) later this year.
It's easy to isolate the cams from the internet and will have the server PC hooked up to the internet by using two network cards. Very inexpensive and easy to set up.
All true, but I would like to be able to watch them from afar. And now risk kicks in.
That is where a VPN comes in versus port forwarding.
Most would said a VPN is the safest alternative next to ZERO access remotely.
looney2ns
IPCT Contributor
Log into the NVR's builtin web page with a browser.
saltwater
Getting comfortable
I've also noticed from time to time when images (usually from a phone) are posted to this site GPS data is present in the metadata. For the threads that I'm interested in, if I've come across this, I've PM'd the poster, just in case he/she not aware. I wouldn't post back to the thread as that potentially makes things worse.
bigredfish
Known around here
I'm sure I'm guilty of that
But when my phone and FB feed me ads about an item my wife and I were just talking about purchasing, having done NO online searching for it nor had we ever discussed it via phone or text, Im pretty sure they know exactly what and when I had breakfast, how my bloodwork is today, and probably what I'm thinking about doing tomorrow .
We're so incredibly fucked when it comes to privacy that anything I can learn here is probably so relatively low tech vs what they are doing today, that I start to wonder if it even matters.
Blue Shoes
^^^^^^
I'll get ads about that
But when my phone and FB feed me ads about an item my wife and I were just talking about purchasing, having done NO online searching for it nor had we ever discussed it via phone or text, Im pretty sure they know exactly what and when I had breakfast, how my bloodwork is today, and probably what I'm thinking about doing tomorrow .
We're so incredibly fucked when it comes to privacy that anything I can learn here is probably so relatively low tech vs what they are doing today, that I start to wonder if it even matters.
Blue Shoes
^^^^^^
I'll get ads about that
CanCuba
Known around here
In that case, let me try this to see what happens:
Eva Vargara nudes
Eva Vargara nudes
CanCuba
Known around here
Cold-Lemonade
Pulling my weight
@antus and @Perimeter -- If you want to connect to your cameras remotely (i.e., when you are away from home using your smart phone or laptop), using a set up like the one @CanCuba describes, then you need to run a VPN server on your home network. This is what @wittaj is recommending.
For example, I run Wireguard server on my router and Wireguard client on my iPhone and laptop. After you configure Wireguard, you can connect your smart phone or laptop to your home network from anywhere as long as those devices are connected to the internet. Once my device appears as if it is on my home network using Wireguard, then I can access my server running Frigate NVR. This is the approach I think @CanCuba is considering. I can access my Frigate NVR through practically any web browser.
I also run Home Assistant with the Frigate add-on. So when Frigate detects a person trespassing on my property, Home Assistant sends me a text message with a photo showing what the camera sees. I've configured it so that the text message gives me options on what audio files to play on my camera's speakers. For example, one audio file plays a siren for two seconds then a voice comes on saying "Warning. This is the security company. You are trespassing. Leave immediately." This scares the sh*t out of the teenagers who like to sit on my front stoop. I haven't had to deal with any trespassers in a while now because the kids in the neighborhood have finally gotten the message to stay off my property.
Another great aspect of Frigate, Wireguard, and Home Assistant is that they are all open source. So you don't need to pay any fees to get them. You just need to buy the hardware and be somewhat technically inclined to configure everything. But there are lots of internet forums where you can get help if you run into difficulty.
For example, I run Wireguard server on my router and Wireguard client on my iPhone and laptop. After you configure Wireguard, you can connect your smart phone or laptop to your home network from anywhere as long as those devices are connected to the internet. Once my device appears as if it is on my home network using Wireguard, then I can access my server running Frigate NVR. This is the approach I think @CanCuba is considering. I can access my Frigate NVR through practically any web browser.
I also run Home Assistant with the Frigate add-on. So when Frigate detects a person trespassing on my property, Home Assistant sends me a text message with a photo showing what the camera sees. I've configured it so that the text message gives me options on what audio files to play on my camera's speakers. For example, one audio file plays a siren for two seconds then a voice comes on saying "Warning. This is the security company. You are trespassing. Leave immediately." This scares the sh*t out of the teenagers who like to sit on my front stoop. I haven't had to deal with any trespassers in a while now because the kids in the neighborhood have finally gotten the message to stay off my property.
Another great aspect of Frigate, Wireguard, and Home Assistant is that they are all open source. So you don't need to pay any fees to get them. You just need to buy the hardware and be somewhat technically inclined to configure everything. But there are lots of internet forums where you can get help if you run into difficulty.
Thanks for the hints. I do run openvpn, and use that for remote access. Its a better solution than putting services directly on the internet. I should update to wireguard one day, time permitting.
I have tried blue iris, that was no good. The biggest problem was the CPU consumption, and the resulting power hog that turned my PC in to. If it supported Dahuas API to offload motion detection to the cam since its a low power arm cpu that already implements the detection and provides an API that would be ideal. Then the PC wouldnt need to decompress the streams to implement anything, it could just save the compressed stream, like an NVR. I also was not a fan of the BVR format and the lack of a stand alone tool to convert to MP4 in a lossless way. I found scripts that said they did it with ffmpeg, but it did not work for me. I also found I could set up an auto export but that was a pain and involved re-encoding the streams. Not what I was looking for.
I am aware of frigate, and it looks very nice. The road block, for me, with that was the lack of availability for the coral-ai accelerators. I have since found some, but to be honest I have struggled with getting my head around home assistant also. In the past I have had working in a limited configuration and then break when the app is upgraded. I am aware there are howto videos and the app is always getting more mature but I don't have the time or the will for that. I want something that just works with no or minimal configuration.
I have settled on smartpss, as the only option, but I have installed it in to a VM with nothing else in the VM. Yes someone inside dahua could likely use it as a jump box still but at least when it has admin access to the host, there is nothing else on the host. I already run VMs full time on my workstation, and this one is running ok with only 4G ram so this is ok for me.
I have also recently closely read the dahua license. Has anyone noticed that it says it is governed by the laws of the PRC? Is anyone familiar enough with these laws to know how that opens up the risk or likely hood for backdoors?
I tested patching the resources section of the app exe to allow it to run without admin, but then it won't start up even though it should not need them. It could just be needing that to run the NVR part as a service, but then it should be able to install that service at install time while the installer has admin, and let the client run without it. So poor coding or more nefarious than that? Hard to say.
I have tried blue iris, that was no good. The biggest problem was the CPU consumption, and the resulting power hog that turned my PC in to. If it supported Dahuas API to offload motion detection to the cam since its a low power arm cpu that already implements the detection and provides an API that would be ideal. Then the PC wouldnt need to decompress the streams to implement anything, it could just save the compressed stream, like an NVR. I also was not a fan of the BVR format and the lack of a stand alone tool to convert to MP4 in a lossless way. I found scripts that said they did it with ffmpeg, but it did not work for me. I also found I could set up an auto export but that was a pain and involved re-encoding the streams. Not what I was looking for.
I am aware of frigate, and it looks very nice. The road block, for me, with that was the lack of availability for the coral-ai accelerators. I have since found some, but to be honest I have struggled with getting my head around home assistant also. In the past I have had working in a limited configuration and then break when the app is upgraded. I am aware there are howto videos and the app is always getting more mature but I don't have the time or the will for that. I want something that just works with no or minimal configuration.
I have settled on smartpss, as the only option, but I have installed it in to a VM with nothing else in the VM. Yes someone inside dahua could likely use it as a jump box still but at least when it has admin access to the host, there is nothing else on the host. I already run VMs full time on my workstation, and this one is running ok with only 4G ram so this is ok for me.
I have also recently closely read the dahua license. Has anyone noticed that it says it is governed by the laws of the PRC? Is anyone familiar enough with these laws to know how that opens up the risk or likely hood for backdoors?
I tested patching the resources section of the app exe to allow it to run without admin, but then it won't start up even though it should not need them. It could just be needing that to run the NVR part as a service, but then it should be able to install that service at install time while the installer has admin, and let the client run without it. So poor coding or more nefarious than that? Hard to say.
You can have the camera send the IVS or motion triggers to BI and turn off BI motion detection....
Also make sure you are using substreams.
In BI, there are a few places you need to set this up in BI (assuming you already set up the IVS rules in the camera GUI):
In Camera configure setting check the box "Get ONVIF triggers".
Hit Find/Inspect on the camera setting to pull the coding for the triggers.
Go into Motion Setting and select the "Cameras digital input" box.
On the Alerts tab uncheck the Motions Zones tab (those are alerting you to any BI motion in those areas in Zones A thru H)
On the alerts tab set up how to be notified.