Security cameras

[burunduk387]

I have to leave the place where I am currently staying for 2-3 months and I was thinking to get some cameras (2-3, it is a flat). Are there any good solutions in IP cameras/smth else? Generally, I want to be able to see what is happening using an app/web interface and get notifications if there is a movement detected (email/app notification is OK). Also would be great if it can store about 30 seconds if there is a movement on a Google Drive/etc. At the moment I found Tp-Link Tapo C200 but are there any better solutions?

[HawkJ]

Hi, so I have been researching my self for a better IP camera security solution for my home. It all depends on the requirements. So are you looking for just a camera or a few? How many days of storage are you looking for? Indoor or outdoor? 

[burunduk387]

1 hour ago, HawkJ said:

Hi, so I have been researching my self for a better IP camera security solution for my home. It all depends on the requirements. So are you looking for just a camera or a few? How many days of storage are you looking for? Indoor or outdoor? 

I was thinking to get 3 cameras (2 for 2 bedrooms and 1 in front of the entrance door inside). It is a flat, so indoor use only. 24 hours of storage is enough, important is that it should be able to save any movement moment (like a 30-60 sec video) somewhere else (cloud/my NAS) for long term use (so if someone breaks in it saves it for more than 24 hours).

[HawkJ]

54 minutes ago, burunduk387 said:

I was thinking to get 3 cameras (2 for 2 bedrooms and 1 in front of the entrance door inside). It is a flat, so indoor use only. 24 hours of storage is enough, important is that it should be able to save any movement moment (like a 30-60 sec video) somewhere else (cloud/my NAS) for long term use (so if someone breaks in it saves it for more than 24 hours).

Oh okay. So in that case, the best way would be to get a ONVIF compatible camera and setup a recording software like Blue Iris. You can also set the camera to record during motion. Additionally you can also sync those particular videos to cloud like Dropbox or mega(Free 50gb) as the videos are Stored onto your local NAS etc. 
 

I’ve been researching a bunch of reviews and found this company called Reolink makes really good IP cameras that also comes at a good affordable pricing. 
 

Hope that helped. 

[burunduk387]

14 hours ago, HawkJ said:

Oh okay. So in that case, the best way would be to get a ONVIF compatible camera and setup a recording software like Blue Iris. You can also set the camera to record during motion. Additionally you can also sync those particular videos to cloud like Dropbox or mega(Free 50gb) as the videos are Stored onto your local NAS etc. 
 

I’ve been researching a bunch of reviews and found this company called Reolink makes really good IP cameras that also comes at a good affordable pricing. 
 

Hope that helped. 

Yes, it helped, thank you very much!

[HawkJ]

10 hours ago, burunduk387 said:

Yes, it helped, thank you very much!

Your welcome  Let us know what your final setup was. 

[burunduk387]

On 7/6/2020 at 1:09 AM, HawkJ said:

Your welcome  Let us know what your final setup was. 

Finally, I have some time to tell the story. 
Again, thanks a lot for all of your advice.
Since I live in Russia, the easiest way to get a Reolink camera was to order it from Aliexpress, but shipping would take some time (about 2 weeks) and I left on the 10th of July.
So on the 8th of July I went to a local security camera shop and the guy there sold me Imou Ranger 2 (I bought only 2 and thought to order some Reolink later, they are almost half the price). Apparently, Imou is a Dahua sub-company and Dahua cameras are quite popular and good enough. It has ONVIF support, but I was too lazy so I just used their own app (1-month free trial, 2USD/months later).
Here comes the problematic part. As I understood, I will have to get 2 Blue Iris licenses to be able to use remote access. Or I could use TeamViewer, etc. and have email notifications. Something similar is with iSpy/Agent DVR, but there I would have to pay a subscription fee. The problem is (as always) the price. Imou asks 20 USD if I want an annual subscription with 3 days cloud storage and Blue Iris is a bit over 83 USD (because I have to pay 20% taxes). So now I am thinking about what to use because on one hand, I don't trust Chinese servers, but on the other Blue Iris costs more (4 or 8 years (1 or 2 Blue Iris 5) for Imou to become as expensive as Blue Iris) and I would need a PC (currently I have a laptop, which I move back and forth with me) for it. I will dig for more information and write if I find something interesting.

[HawkJ]

3 minutes ago, burunduk387 said:

Finally, I have some time to tell the story. 
Again, thanks a lot for all of your advice.
Since I live in Russia, the easiest way to get a Reolink camera was to order it from Aliexpress, but shipping would take some time (about 2 weeks) and I left on the 10th of July.
So on the 8th of July I went to a local security camera shop and the guy there sold me Imou Ranger 2 (I bought only 2 and thought to order some Reolink later, they are almost half the price). Apparently, Imou is a Dahua sub-company and Dahua cameras are quite popular and good enough. It has ONVIF support, but I was too lazy so I just used their own app (1-month free trial, 2USD/months later).
Here comes the problematic part. As I understood, I will have to get 2 Blue Iris licenses to be able to use remote access. Or I could use TeamViewer, etc. and have email notifications. Something similar is with iSpy/Agent DVR, but there I would have to pay a subscription fee. The problem is (as always) the price. Imou asks 20 USD if I want an annual subscription with 3 days cloud storage and Blue Iris is a bit over 83 USD (because I have to pay 20% taxes). So now I am thinking about what to use because on one hand, I don't trust Chinese servers, but on the other Blue Iris costs more (4 or 8 years (1 or 2 Blue Iris 5) for Imou to become as expensive as Blue Iris) and I would need a PC (currently I have a laptop, which I move back and forth with me) for it. I will dig for more information and write if I find something interesting.

Hey, that is awesome. Glad it all went well. I see. True. So here is the thing. Renting from imou wouldn’t be a problem but as you said, your video is sent to their server and we don’t know what they do with that data. It’s like someone creepy is watching you all the time. Lol. Sorry. 
But on the other hand, blue iris is located locally in your computer, so it is not intercepted by anyone.
 

By the way I am a bit confused about some of the things you mentioned. You said you need to two blue iris license for remote support? You can just get the blue iris full license and it supports 64 cameras and it’s a one time payment. You keep the license forever. 
 

And I think you are talking about priority with Remote Desktop support in the next point. Those plans basic, extended and priority are support plans where a blue iris company employee will help you with setup or issues. I don’t think you need that. You eitherways get the basic support plan for one year. And what they mean by Remote Desktop support is that they will Remote Desktop into your computer to help you. 
 

To view the content on blue iris remotely, I would say, there are a few options

 

1. Team viewer

2. Port forward the blue iris web port

3. Run a VPN Server at home and port forward the VPN port. Then you can connect to your home VPN from anywhere and access the data. 
 

Hope this helps. 

[burunduk387]

6 minutes ago, HawkJ said:

Hey, that is awesome. Glad it all went well. I see. True. So here is the thing. Renting from imou wouldn’t be a problem but as you said, your video is sent to their server and we don’t know what they do with that data. It’s like someone creepy is watching you all the time. Lol. Sorry. 
But on the other hand, blue iris is located locally in your computer, so it is not intercepted by anyone.
 

By the way I am a bit confused about some of the things you mentioned. You said you need to two blue iris license for remote support? You can just get the blue iris full license and it supports 64 cameras and it’s a one time payment. You keep the license forever. 
 

And I think you are talking about priority with Remote Desktop support in the next point. Those plans basic, extended and priority are support plans where a blue iris company employee will help you with setup or issues. I don’t think you need that. You eitherways get the basic support plan for one year. And what they mean by Remote Desktop support is that they will Remote Desktop into your computer to help you. 
 

To view the content on blue iris remotely, I would say, there are a few options

 

1. Team viewer

2. Port forward the blue iris web port

3. Run a VPN Server at home and port forward the VPN port. Then you can connect to your home VPN from anywhere and access the data. 
 

Hope this helps. 

That is what I found on their version 5 overview. I can get 2 Blue Iris and use their own Remote Management and watch cameras, but I think that Team Viewer will be as good if not better.

[HawkJ]

4 minutes ago, burunduk387 said:

That is what I found on their version 5 overview. I can get 2 Blue Iris and use their own Remote Management and watch cameras, but I think that Team Viewer will be as good if not better.

Oh okay, from what I see, its like teamviewer. I would say, you could just get a full blue iris license and install team viewer. Team viewer will most probably work better. If you would like to setup a VPN server, i can help you with that as well. 

[burunduk387]

4 minutes ago, HawkJ said:

Oh okay, from what I see, its like teamviewer. I would say, you could just get a full blue iris license and install team viewer. Team viewer will most probably work better. If you would like to setup a VPN server, i can help you with that as well. 

Yes, the more I think of the Chinese Big Brother watching me, the more I think to use Blue Iris. 

Could you please recommend a CPU for the Blue Iris? On their website they have a min. of Pentium and recommended of an i7, but nothing specific. Would an i3 6th-7th gen be okay for 3 cameras or I should get something more powerful?

[HawkJ]

52 minutes ago, burunduk387 said:

Yes, the more I think of the Chinese Big Brother watching me, the more I think to use Blue Iris. 

Could you please recommend a CPU for the Blue Iris? On their website they have a min. of Pentium and recommended of an i7, but nothing specific. Would an i3 6th-7th gen be okay for 3 cameras or I should get something more powerful?

Haha. True. Are you looking to run a dedicated machine for it? What are you looking for in terms of budget? 
 

By the way a 6th gen i7 is actually an overkill. You could probably run a lot more for that cpu  If you are looking to buy something new, I could recommend something else instead. 

[Salacious B Crum]

If all you want to do is view your cameras from outside you home use the Blue Iris app I can remotely see my cameras with only 1 license unless I'm missing something here

[burunduk387]

2 hours ago, HawkJ said:

Haha. True. Are you looking to run a dedicated machine for it? What are you looking for in terms of budget? 
 

By the way a 6th gen i7 is actually an overkill. You could probably run a lot more for that cpu  If you are looking to buy something new, I could recommend something else instead. 

Yes, I am  looking to run it on a dedicated machine. I was thinking to get something used, may be some kind of Dell/Acer/Lenovo office PC. I would say my budget is about 300-350 USD. The less it will cost, the better. 

[burunduk387]

41 minutes ago, mrbilky said:

If all you want to do is view your cameras from outside you home use the Blue Iris app I can remotely see my cameras with only 1 license unless I'm missing something here

Yes, that is exactly what I want. Thank you!