Hi everyone,
Our community has seven road entrances (“gates”) where we’d like to monitor vehicles coming and going. There’s no wired networking available between them (they’re spread over ~5 miles), but each location has power.
I've been tasked by the association with figuring out how we can have cameras and LPR at each gate. I'm only somewhat familiar with the technology involved, despite being very well versed in software development and computer hardware. I’m exploring a design where each gate is a self-contained LPR node, and I’d love feedback from folks here who understand the hardware and software better than I do.
I thought I'd put something together that's a self-contained unit with a Raspberry Pi, Cameras (1 or more), and a Cellular modem. My thinking is that the Pi can run the software to capture the images and send them to a central server. The Pi could also act as a data store that we could remote into if we need more information about a certain event.. for example, we could store 15 seconds of video around each plate capture and then only pull it from the Pi if we're investigating something instead of sending all of that data over the cellular connection.
But.. after reading a bunch of the posts in this forum, I've realized I'm not entirely clear on how much software already runs on the cameras themselves and whether this whole concept makes sense. I'd love input from the community. Here's an outline of what I'm thinking:
Hardware Concept per Gate
Our community has seven road entrances (“gates”) where we’d like to monitor vehicles coming and going. There’s no wired networking available between them (they’re spread over ~5 miles), but each location has power.
I've been tasked by the association with figuring out how we can have cameras and LPR at each gate. I'm only somewhat familiar with the technology involved, despite being very well versed in software development and computer hardware. I’m exploring a design where each gate is a self-contained LPR node, and I’d love feedback from folks here who understand the hardware and software better than I do.
I thought I'd put something together that's a self-contained unit with a Raspberry Pi, Cameras (1 or more), and a Cellular modem. My thinking is that the Pi can run the software to capture the images and send them to a central server. The Pi could also act as a data store that we could remote into if we need more information about a certain event.. for example, we could store 15 seconds of video around each plate capture and then only pull it from the Pi if we're investigating something instead of sending all of that data over the cellular connection.
But.. after reading a bunch of the posts in this forum, I've realized I'm not entirely clear on how much software already runs on the cameras themselves and whether this whole concept makes sense. I'd love input from the community. Here's an outline of what I'm thinking:
Hardware Concept per Gate
- Camera: A camera like the IPC-B52IR-Z12E from EmpireTech
- Raspberry Pi: handles local logging, pushes events out, and provides a bit of “glue logic” between the camera and the network.
- Cellular modem: USB stick (Quectel EC25, Netgear LM1200, or Teltonika) with a data SIM. No fiber or point-to-point links between gates, so each node just uploads its own data.
- Enclosure & power: PoE injector + weatherproof box.
Data Flow
- Camera captures an event and sends the photo with any related data to the Pi.
- Raspberry Pi receives the event (via API or FTP/HTTP push).
- Pi uploads JSON + JPEG snapshot over LTE to a central server (cloud or on-prem).
- Central server stores everything in a database/dashboard for the association.
Why This Setup?
- Scalable: each gate is independent; one going down doesn’t affect the others.
- Easier to manage: central server only aggregates data.
- No trenching or mesh radios: LTE per gate is simple, even if it adds ~$10–15/mo in data/SIM costs.
Questions for the Community
- Does the software setup make sense? I've seen comments about Blue Iris and other options but I'm not clear on how they all work together for something like this.
- What happens if I have multiple cameras on a single node? I presume they can all be run by a single Raspberry Pi.
- Anyone used the IPC-B52IR-Z12E this kind of setup? Can the Pi run software to support the camera and do LPR on it, or should I use an actual LPR camera and just send events?
- Any “gotchas” I should consider with multiple nodes all doing LTE uploads (bandwidth spikes, stability, etc.)?
As an Amazon Associate IPCamTalk earns from qualifying purchases.