Newb wifi camera question

[FlintMich]

I bought some cheap Larkkey wifi cameras on Amazon and for the most part, they work great. I use them to monitor the property and the driveway, as well as the baby's room and whatever else needs monitored. So far, I've never needed to access them while away from the property. My problem is that they are using far too much of my cable provider bandwidth.

Is there a way to limit these cameras to my LAN? A friend suggested an Intranet but I'm not nearly as network savvy as I used to be. Most of what I knew has been forgotten or is now outdated and obsolete. If it's doable, I can learn and/or relearn whatever I'll need to know. The dream would be to be able to monitor all the cameras at once and (in a perfect world - lol) maybe be able to toggle through the cameras in a bigger window. Hey, if you're gonna dream - dream big! Haha! I'm sure that part is probably just a matter of software.

So yeah - is there a way to use these cameras on my local network without them using all of my allotted cable bandwidth - even if it sacrifices the ability to access the cameras from somewhere other than home?

Thank you in advance to any and all who take the time to comment or offer advice or other information.
TJ

 

[looney2ns]

I bought some cheap Larkkey wifi cameras on Amazon and for the most part, they work great. I use them to monitor the property and the driveway, as well as the baby's room and whatever else needs monitored. So far, I've never needed to access them while away from the property. My problem is that they are using far too much of my cable provider bandwidth.

Is there a way to limit these cameras to my LAN? A friend suggested an Intranet but I'm not nearly as network savvy as I used to be. Most of what I knew has been forgotten or is now outdated and obsolete. If it's doable, I can learn and/or relearn whatever I'll need to know. The dream would be to be able to monitor all the cameras at once and (in a perfect world - lol) maybe be able to toggle through the cameras in a bigger window. Hey, if you're gonna dream - dream big! Haha! I'm sure that part is probably just a matter of software.

So yeah - is there a way to use these cameras on my local network without them using all of my allotted cable bandwidth - even if it sacrifices the ability to access the cameras from somewhere other than home?

Thank you in advance to any and all who take the time to comment or offer advice or other information.
TJ

Nope, doesn't appear so. They depend on the "cloud" for all their operation, so your stuck, unless you return them and purchase some real cameras. Very poor choice in cams.
Please study this on a real computer. Cliff Notes
If you want reliable, avoid Wifi Cams, Cloud dependant, Reolink, Arlo, Nest, Ring etc.
I also suggest that you don't do camera research on Ebay or Amazon. LOTS of fake reviews on Amazon.

 

[TonyR]

+1^^.

Welcome to IPCT, @FlintMich !
An easy way to know if the cams are cloud-dependant is if it tells you to scan a QR code with your smartphone (uses p2p) and/or has you enable p2p on your home's router.

 

[FlintMich]

Thanks for the input and the link. I'll look into that.
It wasn't actually a choice based on research. A 3-pack was gifted to me after I saw a friends camera setup on their phone. He showed me how he was able to monitor his property from anywhere and, having never seen such a thing, I was blown away. A week later, they showed up in the mail and I set them up. Afterwards, I bought a 4th camera. As I said, for what they are, they work great. The audio is nearly useless but the image quality is incredible. And since there is no monthly fee, I was really impressed. But then when I saw how much bandwidth they were using, the novelty wore off quickly. Especially since I will seldom, if ever, even need to monitor anything while I'm away from home.

I was just hoping that someone would have figured out a way to create an intranet or some other way to keep everything on a private network without using the cloud. I'm still confident that it could be done. The internet is just a network after all - isn't it? But it would take someone much smarter than I to figure it out. Just saying.

So with that said, now that I'm completely stoked about having a camera setup, I'll take your advice and look into the information you offered (thank you again by the way) and try to educate myself on what will work best for me. I think my biggest reason for wanting those cameras to work is because they were so cheap for having such a great image quality. Cameras can get very expensive very quickly. And my pension check doesn't go as far as it used to - haha.

But again, thank you for taking the time to give your input and for offering the link to more info. I appreciate it.

Be well.
TJ

 

[SouthernYankee]

My standard welcome to the forum message.

Please read the cliff notes and other items in the wiki. The wiki is in the blue bar at the top of the page.

Read How to Secure Your Network (Don't Get Hacked!) | IP Cam Talk in the wiki also.

Quick start
1) Use Dahua starlight cameras or Hikvision darkfighter cameras or ICPT Night eye cameras (https://store.ipcamtalk.com/) if you need good low light cameras.
2) use a VPN to access home network (openVPN)
3) Do not use wifi cameras.
4) Do not use cloud storage
5) Do Not use uPNP, P2P, QR, do not open ports,
6) More megapixel is not necessarily better.
7) Avoid chinese hacked cameras (most ebay, amazon, aliexpress cameras(not all, but most))
8) Do not use reolink, ring, nest cameras (they are junk)
9) If possible use a turret camera , bullet collect spiders, dome collect dirt and reflect light (IR)
10) Use only solid copper, AWG 23 or 24 ethernet wire. , no CCA (Copper Clad Aluminum)
11) use a test mount to verify the camera mount location. My test rig: rev.2
12) (Looney2ns)If you want to be able to ID faces, don't mount cams higher than 8ft. You want to know who did it, not just what happened.
13) Use a router that has openVPN built in (Most ASUS, Some NetGear....)

Cameras to look at
IPC-HDW2231R-ZS
IPC-HDW5231-ZE
IPC-HFW4239T-ASE
IPC-T5442TM-AS
IPCT-HDW5431RE-I
DS-2CD2325FWD-I


Read,study,plan before spending money ..... plan plan plan
Test do not guess

 

[FlintMich]

+1^^.

Welcome to IPCT, @FlintMich !
An easy way to know if the cams are cloud-dependant is if it tells you to scan a QR code with your smartphone (uses p2p) and/or has you enable p2p on your home's router.

Thanks for the welcome.
Yes, these cameras do use the QR code.
Thanks for your comment. I appreciate your time.

Be well.
TJ

 

[SouthernYankee]

security... security....security

What you are doing is leaving the front door open , but locking all the windows. Please read up in the network security and the IP cameras.

Note it is a no brainier the block / lock any wifi network. Security and wifi are mutually exclusive. All my cameras are hardwired and are completely blocked from the internet.