Remote viewing - general guidance

[Jono83]

My use case plans for a lot of remote viewing on my android device. Basically live camera viewing and alert notifications when away from my home network.

Of course many variables but It seems like there are a lot of problems (poor response times, sometimes access available, sometimes not, etc.) with android apps reported. Seems equal number problems regardless (BI app, camera vendors apps, etc.).

So question(s):
1) is remote web access on droid device more reliable than droid security apps (BI, camera vendor, etc.) on the droid device?
2) Are all the poor reviews on the droid apps (BI, camera vendor, etc.) simply user errors in configurations of hardware & software and network connections?

Thx for guidance and yes I am studying all the great tips / documents on this site

 

[sebastiantombs]

Look in the WiKi, in the blue bar at the top of the page. Lots of really good information in there. Read it on a real computer, not a phone or tablet.

Start here -

How to Secure Your Network (Don't Get Hacked!)

Many camera networks are unsecure, even those installed by professionals. This guide gives basic instruction in how to secure a camera network from the most common types of attacks. Perhaps the most important rule of securing a computer network is to not forward ports to unsecure services...

ipcamtalk.com

Then this one -

VPN Primer for Noobs

The internet is a force of nature; no video surveillance system made was designed to be exposed to those forces.. NEVER FORWARD PORTS to your NVR or Cameras, doing such things not only exposes you to severe security problems, but everyone else on the internet too.. Hackers dont want your video...

ipcamtalk.com

I use an Android phone, Galaxy S7, and UI3, the web server built into BI, all over the place, and have no big lags or hiccups.

 

[SouthernYankee]

I use a VPN to my home network. I use the BI Android app on my pixel XL. I use UI3 on my chromebook. After some initial problems with the configuration, i have no problems viewing my BI system. I do not use alerts to my phone, find them to be a pain in the ass, I am not interested in the lawn guy mowing the yard, or the dogs taking a crap, or a golfer looking for his ball, or Amazon tossing a package over the fence.

Cameras are for after the fact. They are not for real time security. A house break-in last about 3 minutes or less, what are you going to do in those three minutes from your phone

 

[spile]

I access my cameras/NAS via a VPN server (Wireguard) running on a Raspberry Pi

GitHub - pivpn/pivpn: The Simplest VPN installer, designed for Raspberry Pi

The Simplest VPN installer, designed for Raspberry Pi - pivpn/pivpn

github.com

 

[Jono83]

Thx guys, this kind of sounds like what I expected. However when I look at all the reviews on the Google Play web site for Blue Iris android app, it's hard to dismiss the BI app problems identified as simply incorrect configs, incorrect VPN connections basically user error. Also lots of ipcamtalk forum questions have common theme.

So I am still trying to get my head around what should I expect.

1. Study the guides/tutorials here on ipcamtalk, great info and this is info that needs to be studied understood and its not just a quick read. Great resources, thx!
2. BI seems to have the most coverage and support here, but there are certainly issues/problems identified on the ipcamtalk forums (same for the BI android app)

My newbie conclusion is:

• about 80% of BI problems (primarily remote access) are due to challenges in understanding configurations and VPNs. So this is solvable.
• about 20% of BI problems (primarily remote access) are vendor issues. So you'll likely need to find work arounds and should expect additional digging research (again my focus on "problems" is remote live viewing on cams)

Note I don't think this is a BI issue, just simply a current state of the industry. All the software solutions in this space seem to have a similar profile of challenges.
Am I off base in this "general" observation?

 

[sebastiantombs]

I don't use the BI app, just UI3 through an Android with a browser and a VPN to access my LAN. It is extremely stable and responsive. Granted, it does not have the system control of BI that the app does, but I'm not all that inclined to make system changes remotely through a phone in the first place.

 

[Jono83]

Thx Sebastian, great advice! It does sound like remote access via android browser & VPN (i.e. UI3) is the more stable approach vs. an android app.

Again I am sure there are some out there who have good success with an android app but that might be a little thin ice for the average user

 

[biggen]

I also don't use the BI App. I just use Wireguard on a VM inside my network and use either UI3 on my phone or I use the IP Cam Viewer app from the Google App store and connect directly to the cameras in question.

I do sometimes use alerting at night in that I'll have BI send me a text message if it detects movement in my driveway. Then I can hope onto the camera and see what is going on. However, I stopped using it because cats, armadillos, etc.. were setting it off.

 

[sebastiantombs]

Mycameras are isolated on a totally, physically, separate LAN so there's no way to access them from outside and they have no internet access at all.

 

[looney2ns]

I've used the BI app for about 3yrs now. I've had no problems with it, that weren't of my own making. IE my fault.
BI, it's app, and UI3 blow most anything else out of the water.
Look at all the complaints here about NVR apps on phones.
I use push notifications to BI app as my doorbell, on a kindle fire and my android phone.
Using a 5442 Dahua cam with AI in it, and a tripwire set to see humans only, I don't get ANY false alerts from it.

 

[Jono83]

Thx Looney......great signature comment!