| Keith C. Perry via plug on 21 Aug 2022 11:28:59 -0700 |
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| Re: [PLUG] DIY home surveillance |
I've been using Akuvox doorphones for security deployments that need a two-way audio intercom and camera. The video feed can also be displayed on my OpenHAB screen which is nice since I have entry controls there. I am using their R20A at home. Its only 720p and the night vision can't see very far but it gets the job done. https://www.akuvox.com/ProductsList.aspx?cid=3 The thing to remember is that these are VoIP devices you would need your own SIP server (e.g. asterisk). While that is not something that requires a lot of resources (you could run one on an ARM SBC powered by PoE if you wanted) that is not something everyone wants to do. All my other cameras are 4k color night vision units from LTS (see https://www.ltsecurityinc.com/color-247.html). My units are older and do not have mics so I only get audio from the doorphone. I use Zoneminder for the NVR but you can usually use any NVR hardware or software you want. I've done some things to mirror the data elsewhere but that was a choice and not needed for operation. Everything is private and my data is actually my data. I'm very much into security tech personally and professionally so I also took the plunge to do something the way I wanted it done. Most of these devices are made in China and skew towards how they do things in that market. One of the major problems I have in that regard is that too many things are proprietary app / cloud based. In my experience these apps range from being unreliable to not working at all. Support can be difficult since all resellers are reaching out to the same people. I mean that in a literal sense- a lot of products are OEM from the same manufacturers. For example, Hikvision (which is controlled by the Chinese government) is the largest supplier of surveillance cameras in the world. Chances are if you have an issue with a surveillance camera that hasn't been seen by your reseller before, its going to flow towards Hikvision. That's a lot of incoming for them and it is possible to have questions go unaddressed for weeks and all you'll be told is "they're not responding". I've had situations like that happen across multiple companies and resellers. You have to keep in mind that while there may seem to be a lot of brands out there in this space there really are only a handful of companies making hardware in the space. Another thing to keep in mind is the phrase "caveat emptor". That is nothing new to the FOSS world but in this case we're dealing with hardware and software. It is getting better and the vendors that do implement standards do a pretty good job. Akuvox for instance... horrible solution if you do things with their app. However, when treated as just a SIP intercom with a video feed, integrated to the products I want, the unit is fine. Firmware releases have tended to fix issues and add features without breaking core functionality. For basic camera / audio feeds, RTSP is well implemented generally. Tweaking the video parameters is where you can go down the rabbit hole- especially with 4k. If you ever played with transcoding to h.264 or h.265 files you might need to put that hat back on. Defaults are usually fine. To sum in up... 1) you can do your own security system but you really are building out your own system... caveat emptor 2) avoid using mobile apps that need cloud access even if their cloud can talk to your infrastructure... 100% local comm or hard pass 3) choose vendors that stick to implementing standard protocols you can access directly on their devices 4) check forums and other sources to see how well "support" is done ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Keith C. Perry, MS E.E. Managing Member, DAO Technologies LLC (O) +1.215.525.4165 x2033 (M) +1.215.432.5167 [ http://www.daotechnologies.com/ | www.daotechnologies.com ] ----- Original Message ----- From: "Philadelphia Linux User's Group Discussion List" <plug@lists.phillylinux.org> To: "Philadelphia Linux User's Group Discussion List" <plug@lists.phillylinux.org> Sent: Sunday, August 21, 2022 8:59:47 AM Subject: [PLUG] DIY home surveillance Hello everyone! I am looking to install a surveillance camera system with two-way audio that I can access via smartphone. Is anyone aware of a set up that does not give companies access to my data? Thank you in advance! Mera ___________________________________________________________________________ Philadelphia Linux Users Group -- http://www.phillylinux.org Announcements - http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce General Discussion -- http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug ___________________________________________________________________________ Philadelphia Linux Users Group -- http://www.phillylinux.org Announcements - http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce General Discussion -- http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug