New member long time Blue Iris user wants to add a few of the most basic compatible cameras indoor and/or outdoor cams safe from hack

[jefb]

Hi, great forum and so much information. I get how most folks want high quality cams/images/audio/etc. whereas I would prefer a few new inexpensive cams that I could ensure were accessed locally by me alone. Clearly this is beyond just setting a solid password. The Alexa and Google enabled phones, and remote server setup are not for me. Beyond staying in my control alone, I just need a reasonable picture, fps, and Blue Iris compatibility. I don't particularly need audio. Basically just wireless window sill cams for inside and/or outside mount near an outlet is fine. I have a few older foscam cams that are broken now and tried a few replacements but they all had proprietary setup and I don't like that "must connect to our server first" approach and sure don't need to provide big tech anymore access to anything. No IOT4ME.

Any direction here or about a particular cam that aligns with the above is appreciated. Perhaps my "worry" about being surveilled while watching what's going on outside my home something I would best approach differently?

Thanks a lot for any help,

 

[wittaj]

Many here will use the Amcrest cams for that purpose. Just make sure you disable P2P and UPnP. Preferably put them on their own wifi so that they do not choke your wifi router for internet as these are notorious for not being able to support many cameras due to their non-stop video, unlike streaming TV that buffers, these cams do not.

https://www.amazon.com/Amcrest-1920TVL-Security-Wireless-IP2M-841B/dp/B0145OQTPG/ref=sr_1_13?crid=N63E6TLHMGZF&keywords=amcrest+ptz&qid=1649530106&sprefix=amcrest+ptz%2Caps%2C239&sr=8-13

https://www.amazon.com/Amcrest-Monitor-Detection-Motion-Tracking-Wireless/dp/B08644FKP1/ref=sr_1_14?crid=N63E6TLHMGZF&keywords=amcrest+ptz&qid=1649530132&sprefix=amcrest+ptz%2Caps%2C239&sr=8-14

 

[jefb]

Thank you. Very helpful info.

Update: I got a 1920, plugged it into the LAN found the IP via the router config page in a different browser window, and logged in using firefox using the stock admin credentials (changed admin pwd), added a user only account, setup Wifi, disabled P2P (Setup>>Network>>TCP/IP>>P2P) and made a few other changes, popped over the BlueIris camera properties/video/configure...tab/button, then used Find/Inspect to configure the camera via the LAN IP, once I matched the ports BI to cam browser session, restarted and viola. Just what I wanted I think.

I ended up with 4 of these and bang for the buck, avoiding garbage spyware, and features these are unparalleled in my experience. Thanks again for the recommendation.

 

[Flintstone61]

if your Wifi router is newer like a "wifi6" Asus, it can handle a couple wifi cams without setting up another router. For shits and giggles I ran the whole Bi PC from wifi Saturday and Saturday nite while a gaming teenager was here. So 9 cam streams were coming over the wifi, and about 4-5 you tubers on phones, and nobody said anything about problems, or loss of performance. So If your not an Internet maniac, and just ahave a few devices on Wifi, a couple cams won't bother it much.

 

[Flintstone61]

But yeah, you can crush your home wifi performance for other things if you get carried away with Cams.

 

[johnfitz]

For shits and giggles I ran the whole Bi PC from wifi Saturday and Saturday nite while a gaming teenager was here.

LOL... did you mess up the game play... if not, next time turn up the bitrates!

 

[Flintstone61]

Her "social gaming" is on an Ipad, probably not an App that needs an RTX 3060 super dooper mega machine.....

 

[johnfitz]

I misunderstood, thought you were messing with the youngsters.

 

[Flintstone61]

just wanted to see what a saturated wifi did to things. i noticed a few frames here and there on the BI machine that ran lines of static momentarily as if it was taxed.....something i dont see over ethernet.

 

[johnfitz]

seems like a good stress test for your system... anyway I had a good laugh even if I misunderstood

 

[jefb]

Just an update on my original post. The forum responses helped a lot and I am grateful. I am now using 3 Amcrest 1920s and an old Foscam 8910 with Blue Iris - Very good operationally and no issue on my WIFI after deploying some of the configuration suggestions above.

I am looking to upgrade my system with an outdoor, auto pan/tilt, solar powered camera or two. I am trying out an Anran s02 I got off Amazon for about $65. I don't think it is ONVIF compatible (waiting to hear back from support to confirm) and it is manual pan/tilt. The Anran works and is fine with CloudEdge, though a funky configuration to me. The range is pretty good and an Android Tablet/phone did the job for me for a solo camera.

I see a few options after searching around but none with remote tilt/pan, Blue Iris compatible and a solar panel option (so I have no electricity where I want to put it). Anyone know of a good camera solution that fits those additional requirements that is in the $100-$200 range?

 

[Flintstone61]

I have seen a review of this Reolink on Youtube,,,,,
Not sure what your needs are.
But does all that stuff your asking about.
Forum might Mute me for a week after I paste this link in....

Argus PT 2K | 4MP Pan Tilt Battery Powered WiFi Camera | Reolink Official

Meet Argus PT 2K, a 100% wire-free pan and tilt security camera with 2K Super HD, person/vehicle detection, and two-way audio. It is powered by rechargeable battery or solar panel and works on 2.4GHz WiFi.

reolink.com

 

[sebastiantombs]

I'm laughing at Reolink

 

[wittaj]

Did @Flintstone61 get hit by a rock at the quarry lol

 

[Flintstone61]

sounds like he's into cheap cameras. I've heard about some. you get what you pay for.

 

[Flintstone61]

If we told him to buy 3 Diehards and a Solar array, and a 49225 PTZ...he mighta balked.

 

[jefb]

Thanks. Unlike the Anran S02 I bought to test, the Argus does have pan/tilt but doesn't work with Blue Iris. After testing the S02 a couple of days, the included solar/battery using CloudEdge (using a "battery management option"), the S02 works surprisingly well. Using a spare Android the S02 is more than good enough to tinker with such use cases, though a bummer not being able to integrate it some way to the rest of my cams without forfeiting my Jackery and 100w panels to make it work.

 

[Flintstone61]

I wonder how much solar energy it would take to use a Ubiquiti nano station on a regular PTZ. and of course how much reserve battery it would need overnight.

 

[sebastiantombs]

Somebody did that for a mailbox camera, rural area and was having mail stolen. IIRC there was ~100AH deep cycle battery to power the camera and Ubiquity Nano. It lasted overnight and for a few days, at least, and I think that was in Nebraska so winter sun can be pretty limited. If I can dig up the thread I'll post a link to it here. There was a large solar panel for it though, 12 volt, 200 watt I think.