remote monitoring

xmfan

xmfan

Getting the hang of it
Nov 30, 2017
187
96
Hey folks,
wanted to run something by y'all...

I started my camera installs some months ago but the project halted due to other urgent priorities that derailed me - LOL.

I am now back on the project and starting to plan out the layout and the installation.

I have two dahua starlights (got'em from Andy) so far, been trying to use them at my desk, they are not installed yet. I also have two synology NAS devices.

So, the question really is, what is the best installation that will allow me to see my recorded footage (or live feed) though my iphone when I am not home. Ultimately, I plan to have at least 6 - 8 cameras around my property. The ability to see the recordings (or live footage) around my property (when I am not there) is becoming an important feature.

With a jungle of products with their cloud service out there, its getting more and more confusing what direction to go. Lastly, I don't mind paying a reasonable monthly cloud fee, if that is what I need to do.. but would really prefer to have my installation hosted at home with the ability to view, using my iphone.

Does it make sense to use the synology NAS and their software for camera monitoring ?

Lastly, I've been slowly acquiring ubiquiti networking hardware as well. I have two 8port POEs (for the cameras), and two of their wi-fi access points.

thanks in advance for your feedback and advice.
 
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Doesn't Synology charge you per camera? Blue Iris is such a bargain in comparison.

Blue Iris on a dedicated PC. Asus router to be your home network's router as well as your VPN server.

Then just install the free OpenVPN app on your phone and other mobile devices, and you're good to go.

No "per-camera" fees. No ongoing cloud charges. Great performance, expandability, and support. And compatibility with most cameras.
 
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xmfan said:
So, the question really is, what is the best installation that will allow me to see my recorded footage (or live feed) though my iphone when I am not home.
Click to expand...
I'd be inclined follow this advice.
J Sigmo said:
Blue Iris on a dedicated PC. Asus router to be your home network's router as well as your VPN server.

Then just install the free OpenVPN app on your phone and other mobile devices, and you're good to go.
Click to expand...
+ Use the Blue Iris IOS app for notifications, and remote viewing when your not at home, It works perfectly.
 
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thank you for all your valuable feedback.

I wasn't aware blue iris has an iOS app. Will check into that further.
..ah yes, the 'cliff' notes. I did d/l that and completely forgot about it, will revisit.

I believe synology does charge a license fee to use their camstation, if i am not mistaken, its around $50 per camera. Two licenses come with the NAS, free. I have two NAS so I have four licenses already. I already run both NAS 24/7.

If I go down the BI on a dedicated PC route, I will still route the cam streams to the NAS. With synology, I will have a one time cost of $200 for four additional licenses. Does getting a dedicated PC to run BI still make sense ? Does BI's app offer a lot of features that synology app does not ? I am currently comparing the (BI and Synology iOS apps) but thought to ask in case you guys have already gone down this path. Thanks again for your help and suggestions

edit: ok, did some additional general research...synology maybe weak at handling several cameras. The CPU / RAM might get overloaded. Will continue researching more on this.
 
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Aside from the cost (which I feel is too high) Surveillance station just isn't that great. I have a Synology and toyed with the idea of using it too, but ditched it. Blue Iris runs circled around it, eats its lunch, and f**ks its wife. I got a 6th gen i5 Dell Optiplex for about $300 for Blue Iris. You really want your recorder to be a dedicated device.
 
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@Mr_D thanks for that confirming feedback. I will look to set up a dedicated PC with BI, use the NAS as my stream storage, and get the BI iOS app for monitoring.

cheers !!
=)
 
My wife and I both use the Android Blue Iris app on our phones. I suspect the iOS version is similar. It really works fine.

To use it when we're not at home on our network, we have our router acting as a VPN server, allowing us to securely connect into our network from elsewhere.

And with that set up, you can also simply use Chrome to access Blue Iris via UI3, which comes with Blue Iris. Using both, I'm coming to prefer UI3 over even the BI app. So you will have a lot of possibilities and flexibility if you go with BI.
 
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thanks again for all the great feedback, I feel like I have a good roadmap for my installation. =)
 
@Mr_D and all the experts here..a quick follow up question. The PC/laptop I will be using to run BI, it is required to that it has a 1GB network port ?
I am thinking for re-purposing an older i5 laptop, which *may* have only an 10/100 port.

thanks !
 
I think you will run into more headaches with the laptop processor and storage options before the 10/100 port becomes an issue.
 
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FYI, the "standard" recommendation for BI is a dedicated PC with a Western Digital Purple hard drive for recording. I have a 3 tb drive, think it holds a 3-4 weeks of recordings, but that depends on number of cams and data rates.

The ethernet speed depends on number of cams, and the data rate (basically frame rate x resolution) for each cam.

If you use a NAS, then you need ethernet bandwidth for both incoming and outgoing data.

Randy
 
Don't use a laptop for a production BI machine. They use slower CPUs and don't dissipate heat as well as a desktop. You also want your storage to be local, SATA preferred. Video is far more sensitive to any system lag or glitches than just about any other application.
 
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