Have Piper stopped producing the NV/gone bust?

A

Antony D'Emanuele

n3wb
Mar 18, 2018
2
0
I have several Piper NVs and was looking to buy an additional Piper NV. Amazon in the UK do not stock and if you go to the Piper site there is no longer any link to their shop. Look like they have stopped selling? I have emailed them to ask about purchasing a new camera but have not had a reply.

Whilst it had a few issues, I liked the Piper NV as it worked for me, however, I have noticed that there has been no product development for some time and long-term software issues have not been addressed.

I am concerned that the cameras will turn into bricks (as they rely on the Piper servers) if Piper go bust...

Can anyone recommend an alternative product, preferably without a subscription...
 
To be clear, Piper cameras are designed for people who lack the knowledge to set up a proper video surveillance system for themselves. Same as similar brands like Nest, Netgear Arlo, etc. They're better than nothing, but some people here would argue that point.

Most of the recommendations you'll find here are for Hikvision or Dahua cameras which are designed to be used with a local NVR or computer running video management software (such as Blue Iris). There is a much steeper learning curve, but if you are willing to read and learn then you'll be better off for it. Annke I61DR is rebranded Hikvision camera, and is a fantastic value ... at $50 USD ... so be careful with where you buy it from. The only listing I found on amazon.co.uk is £108.37 which is three times what people pay for them in the USA. I'm sure you can find other retailers with a better price, or alternative Dahua/Hikvision cameras. For around that price you can get Dahua starlight cameras (which are very popular on this forum) and they have substantially better night vision.
 
Am using the Piper to monitor an elderly mother with dementia and not a full fledged security system. Something that is convenient and easy to set up like the Piper works for me.
 
I believe Annke has some kind of cloud service for easier remote viewing (but not cloud-based recording as far as I know). The I61DR has wifi too which is uncommon among cameras that are targeted more at professionals. So it should pretty much be a drop-in replacement for a Piper camera if you're okay with a ~75° view angle.

Make sure you turn off UPnP in the router where you'll be installing these cameras. Since these are running Hikvision firmware they are a huge target for hackers and UPnP will expose them just as if you had forwarded a port yourself. Don't forward ports either. If Annke's cloud viewing service doesn't work without UPnP or a forwarded port then you'll need to learn how to set up a VPN server. Either that or lose your cameras one by one to a botnet.
 
Antony D'Emanuele said:
I have several Piper NVs and was looking to buy an additional Piper NV. Amazon in the UK do not stock and if you go to the Piper site there is no longer any link to their shop. Look like they have stopped selling? I have emailed them to ask about purchasing a new camera but have not had a reply.

Whilst it had a few issues, I liked the Piper NV as it worked for me, however, I have noticed that there has been no product development for some time and long-term software issues have not been addressed.

I am concerned that the cameras will turn into bricks (as they rely on the Piper servers) if Piper go bust...

Can anyone recommend an alternative product, preferably without a subscription...
Click to expand...

The company that manufacturers the Piper (iControl) was bought out by Alarm.Com.

I also have the same concerns as you, i.e will it become unusable.
 
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