Trying to Figure all this out

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I'm coming from an older NVR system with a bunch of 2MP 2.8 cameras that ran gDMSS flawlessly. I ordered a few cameras from @EMPIRETECANDY this week and I have my BI computer up and running. I need to optimize and tweak the BI system and use those 4 cameras to determine what I need in various places. I'm budgeting for ~16 cams ultimately. I have Ui3 running well on several TVs around the house with my 2 cams that are connected. So the system is working within my WAN/LAN.
My current setup is the BI PC has a wireless dongle that is my internet access. My onboard ethernet port is plugged into a 16 port POE switch. My PC is on 10.0.4.84 (wifi- dongle) my cams are on 192.168.1.2XX (onboard). my plan is to grab a 2nd NIC and keep them separated as they are. I was hoping that's all I would need, I would download the BI app for my phone and be done.

Then I started reading the quick connect wizard and one of the first things it wants you to do is start opening/forwarding ports. I was really surprised by that. I assume the app isn't running some sort of PTP tunnel or VPN between the apps? So this means I then have to also do a VPN to make this work? I haven't paid the $10 to download the app because I'm not sure that's what I want to do at this point. So I don't know if it will work better than I am anticipating.

Do I need to do a VPN as well to get remote access?
I have a synology RT2600ac that is my main router. they have a package called "synology VPN plus server" that appears to be more of an outbound VPN service but I haven't played with it be sure.

Before I start chasing my tail and going down some rabbit hole, I wanted to see if someone wanted to throw me a lifeline and offer some direction.

Thanks

Shawn
 

wittaj

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You do not need to do the quick connect wizard if you use something like OpenVPN.

Remember you want a free VPN that puts you back on your system, not a paid one that masks your IP.

The wizard is for those looking to forward ports.

Most here find UI3 to be more than adequate. You only need the paid BI app if you want push notifications or have two-way talk cameras.

Most use the Pushover app ($5) to receive push notifications
 
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You do not need to do the quick connect wizard if you use something like OpenVPN.

Remember you want a free VPN that puts you back on your system, not a paid one that masks your IP.

The wizard is for those looking to forward ports.

Most here find UI3 to be more than adequate. You only need the paid BI app if you want push notifications or have two-way talk cameras.

Most use the Pushover app ($5) to receive push notifications
so open vpn app, click connect to vpn, then open web browser click on bookmarked ui3 link?

does ui3 scale well to a phone?
 

wittaj

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That would be correct.

I find UI3 to work well on mobile.

I have both the paid app and UI3 and use UI3 99.9% of the time.

I actually only go into the BI app to reset the alerts in the app so that they aren't so large on the app. It doesn't impact BI on the computer, but can slow the app down.

I have two way talk cameras and used the BI push for awhile but found the Pushover app to be better as the BI app would need either forwarded ports or VPN on while away to get the image with the push. Pushover app sends images regardless of whether connected to VPN or not.
 
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Thanks for the Input. Still playing with the system and I went with zerotier for now. I was playing with it and it seemed easy enough. It worked without much effort on my part. Still have to turn on/off to access outside of my network but seems otherwise OK.

I'll look at the pushover once I learn some more BI
 

looney2ns

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Thanks for the Input. Still playing with the system and I went with zerotier for now. I was playing with it and it seemed easy enough. It worked without much effort on my part. Still have to turn on/off to access outside of my network but seems otherwise OK.

I'll look at the pushover once I learn some more BI
Zerotier is fine.
 
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