Looking for outfoor WiFi IP camera that doesn't phone home to China/random IPs

[train_wreck]

Hello and good day.

I had had pretty good luck with Hikvision wired ethernet cameras. Specifically, I have used Foscam, Trivision, and Pyle cameras that all have hard-coded "P2P" functionality that causes them to make periodic (~30 seconds) connection attempts to random IP addresses on the internet, many of which geolocate to China.

Can anyone recommend an outdoor WiFi camera that does not have this behavior? I am aware that at least with the Foscam camera I used, the "P2P" functionality could not be disabled; even if the box was unchecked, the camera still made random connection attempts. I realize I can block outbound traffic from the camera on my router, but I'm looking for a safe camera I can recommend to realtives/friends who aren't technically savvy enough to do that. I am using the following Hikvision cam now:

http://www.amazon.com/Hikvision-DS-2CD2032F-I-Replace-DS-2CD2032-I-Multi-language/dp/B00YJ2QICO?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage

Would love a WiFi version of that....

 

[klasipca]

Hikvision DS-2CD2432F-IW

 

[nayr]

There is no such thing as a safe camera, or safe device.. you cant trust anything, from anyone.. regardless if someone tells u otherwise

 

[train_wreck]

That's an indoor model. I'm looking for outdoor.....

 

[klasipca]

That's an indoor model. I'm looking for outdoor.....

Not my favorite cam, but it does have wifi... DS-2CD2142FWD-IW

 

[fenderman]

Any camera can be wireless with a ten dollar wifi bridge... Problem is wifi is simply not reliable...run a cable or use power line as a last resort

 

[train_wreck]

There is no such thing as a safe camera, or safe device.. you cant trust anything, from anyone.. regardless if someone tells u otherwise

There may not be a "completely" safe camera in existence, but there are certainly ones that don't make random connection attempts to global IPs. That is what I'm looking for.

I know by doing extended packet captures on my Ubiquiti router that the Hikvision cam I have makes no suspicious requests. If Hikvision has somehow devised a way to make connection attempts through my router that bypass packet capturing, I am deeply impressed

 

[nayr]

there's a million ways to call home, it can hide it as an innocuous looking timesync, dns query, etc.. if it can talk to the internet, it can phone home.. and even if your watching closely they can still sneak right by hidden as traffic you think is normal..

block them outright, assume they are all calling home.. why trust what any of us tell you? there's only one way to be sure.. either this concerns you enough to do something about it.. or not.

nobody here has access to the code, and none of the vendors have allowed anyone to audit there code.. so its presumed hostile.

 

[nayr]

your so concerned about the security of your camera, yet you insist on using WiFi.. did you know that anyone can send your camera a disassociation packet and force it to disconnect from your wifi network? did you know you can sideload apps onto a phone that will just spam these packets out as fast as possible and force every device within range to loose its wifi signal just like a jamming device but it never has to broadcast at high power like a jamming device?

if your so concerned about your cameras calling home, you should be just a little concerned that some kid with a free app on there phone can disconnect your camera remotely, dontcha think?

see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wi-Fi_deauthentication_attack

 

[train_wreck]

Personally, I find the fact that the camera is phoning home is more troubling than someone deauthenticating the camera from WiFi.

Besides, the core problem you are addressing (that someone could knock the camera offline if they had local access to it), is inherent in any camera system; just cut the power cable! (or cut the ethernet/coax, or shoot the lens, or....)

 

[nayr]

well shooting cameras, cutting cables is an active action requires getting close and personal and knowing where the camera is.. If I were the kinda person to go prowling at night, with even a fraction of my knowledge id just leave the app running as I did my business.. and anyone with wifi cameras, well there taken care of automatically without ever doing anything.. completely passive, i dont even have to know about your camera to just magically knock it offline as I come thorugh.

cant rely on the crooks to remain ignorant forever, they use tech.. they can unlock and hotwire cars with lil black boxes they can buy, and skim credit cards off atm machines, why would they not add a camera-nuker to there arsenal.

I agree its very troubling the cameras phone home, but even if I had a camera people told me never phoned home.. the fucker would still be blocked from all internet accesss.. because well it dont need any internet access, what so ever.. so why risk it.

these are locked down little boxes you cant even access running full blown operating systems and you have no idea what software's running on it, they could be mining bitcoin or distributing child porn for all you know.. monitoring traffic is great and all, but just go ahead and block it.

my cameras cant even access my LAN or the internet, they are on there own isolated network and everything is firewalled, even local traffic.. I trust em that much.. all dahua's too.

if this really concerns you there is only 1 solution: external firewalls, blocking everything by default.. changing brands or going with another vendor is not going to fix a damn thing.. the underlying problem remains, you have basically no control over the code that camera executes.

Are you recording externally at all? If you want to be guaranteed that video is recorded and saved.. it has to be wired, wireless cannot guarantee you connectivity, at any level... a microwave oven is going to effectively do the same thing as that deauth app, except it dont have to deauth. .it has 1500w of 2.4Ghz jamming capabilities.. your lil 1/4 watt wifi network dont stand a chance.

but hey what the fuck do I know, this is free advice.. take it or leave it, but its sound.. I assure you.

 

[train_wreck]

jeez, no need to go on the defensive. Your advice is good, it has made me re-consider some implications of going wireless.

sorry i brought it up.

 

[nayr]

my apologies for the apparent hostility, the 3rd time I have to repeat something a different way.. I am usually alot more blunt than the first 2 times.. sometimes thats what it takes to make it click.

 

[JMartin]

Click.

 

[hiky]

 

[eatmorfood]

I cant say 100% whether it phones home or not (dont think it does) but I setup this wireless outdoor cam for a family member maybe a month ago and I've had no issues with it so far.

http://www.amazon.com/Microseven-M7B57-WPS-Weatherproof-Outdoor-IP66-1280x960p/dp/B00M5PBG56/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1461151718&sr=8-2&keywords=microseven

 

[fenderman]

I cant say 100% whether it phones home or not (dont think it does) but I setup this wireless outdoor cam for a family member maybe a month ago and I've had no issues with it so far.

http://www.amazon.com/Microseven-M7B57-WPS-Weatherproof-Outdoor-IP66-1280x960p/dp/B00M5PBG56/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1461151718&sr=8-2&keywords=microseven

that is crazy overpriced for a 1.3mp low end camera.

 

[eatmorfood]

I agree.

 

[alastairstevenson]

Stunning Video Quality, Incredible Field of View with Free Live Streaming

What, even with those claims ....
My last camera with that spec, admittedly quite a while back, cost the equivalent of $30. Delivered.

 

[nayr]

at least you dont have to pay extra for live streaming