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Full open source and private camera monitoring system (lemmy.ml)
submitted 2 months ago by [email protected] to c/selfhosted
49 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

I want to setup a camera monitoring for my house and some rooms. I need to bee able to view the cameras remotely and and also do recording if possible. I could find some camera brands like dahua cams but having briefly tested them they. Seem to rely on acwmtralized cloud and proprietary visualization software.

What are you recommendation? This is not a professional setup I would at max have 3 cameras.

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[–] [email protected] 65 points 2 months ago (10 children)

I've personally been quite pleased with the combination of Frigate and some Amcrest POE cameras. Just make sure the cameras you are getting support RTSP though and you should be able to use them with Frigate.

Also make sure you block the cameras from reaching the public internet using your firewall, and only make them reachable from your Frigate host. Personally I use a VLAN with no internet access and enforce tagging at the switch level (i.e. don't trust the cameras to maintain their own VLAN) settings.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 months ago

This is the way. Frigate just had a major update and the UI is now amazing.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 months ago (1 children)

AmCrest and Frigate together are SO good. Integrating Frigate with Home Assistant was also insanely easy for quick viewing and notifications. That initial Frigate config is a bit of a bear- but once you're past that I cannot speak more highly of it.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Frankly, once you get more than just a few cameras, being able to edit a config file is so much better than having to click through settings for literally hours like with Shinobi or Motioneye.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago

Very true. But brute force checking through tons of different settings for each camera you need to configure is not fun. I couldn't seem to find any kind of "known working configs" database or anything either. Every camera seems to be different in what it expects, outputs, authenticates, etc. Once it's set up, I agree, maintaining the config is easier. Having all your cameras match in model and firmware version probably makes the whole endeavor MUCH easier.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago

I have the exact same setup. It works perfectly and integrates really well into home assistant if that's your thing. Getting a coral TPU also makes object detection really easy even on low power hardware.

[–] NeoNachtwaechter 6 points 2 months ago

enforce tagging at the switch level (i.e. don't trust the cameras to maintain their own VLAN) settings.

Very smart solution!

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 months ago

You took the words right out of my mouth.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago

HomeAssistant + Frigate combo is just plain awesome. You can leverage the automations of HA through Frigate's AI detection, so you get things like notifications.

[–] Dimand 4 points 2 months ago

+1 for frigate. I have some old V2 wyze cameras with openmiko for rtsp functionality.

https://github.com/openmiko/openmiko

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago

I made some reasearch for avalable hardawar near me and found this one Hikvison DS-2CD1053G0-I

I'll keep looking for ones that are more inside friendly.

Many thanks!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago (2 children)

I see several Amcrest options that look like they have integrated AI object detection. Frigate on the other hand says you should get a "Google Coral Accelerator". Do you know if Frigate (or RTSP, I guess) has a way to leverage the built in detection capabilities of a camera (assuming they are built in, and not being offloaded to the cloud)? Or am I better of looking at the "dumb" Amcrest cameras, and just assuming all processing for all cameras will happen on my Frigate hardware?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago

Coral Acceletor is only needed if you run setup that does not have GPU or enough CPU. Spare laptop usually has enough power to handle AI detection, but RasPi doesn't. I run mine in CPU at rack server.

Cameras own detections are limited in my experience, and it is much harder to integrate to anything else, like HomeAssistant for notification & automation

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I know I'm a bit late to the conversation, so I don't know if this is still helpful... But I have a camera with "AI Detection" built into it and it appears to send alerts via its ONVIF connection. I've disabled motion and other detectors on my NVR (AgentNVR) and instead configured it to just wait for an alert from the camera itself to start recording. It's been working quite well.

My initial plan was to use a coral TPU and frigate, but the Coral/Gasket drivers appear to be pretty old and I couldn't get them to work properly, myself.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

Thanks, good to know!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Frigate is absolutely fantastic, especially Frigate+. I use all Reolink and it works great.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 2 months ago (3 children)

I remember ZoneMinder.

A full-featured, open source, state-of-the-art video surveillance software system.

https://zoneminder.com/

Is this still a thing nowadays?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

Zoneminder was cool when it was the only game in town, but didn’t it save “videos” as a folder of JPEGs of frame grabs?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago

It used to, but it's had the option to save an actual video for a long time now.

[–] aodhsishaj 4 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Yes and no. You can capture frames, stream the output to the local OS or export the feed to be embedded in a website if you like. Also you can put it on the backend of another NVR and use it for long term storage, backup, compression and storage for later investigation. All of that allows for using higher resolution cameras and multiple feeds on smaller drives like a two 4TB disk ZFS stripe or something similar. I often reuse consumer desktops for it when price sensitive clients need security cameras, or remote access to a system already in place.

https://zoneminder.readthedocs.io/en/1.32.3/userguide/viewmonitors.html

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago

Their code repository is still active. So worth giving a look.

[–] TCB13 11 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)
  • TPLink Tapo line - I own those, requires internet / cloud access for setup, then can be viewed by any ONVIF capable software, VLC etc. You can cut their internet access and they mostly work, however timestamps and some features may break randomly;
  • Reolink / AMCrest - no internet required, can be setup offline AND have a WebUI that allows full control over all functionality. Check the details of specific models, may vary a bit.

AMCrest is most likely be most offline friendly brand. Here's a testimonial from another user:

I've been using Amcrest and foscam IP cameras at my home for the past several years. I have then connected to a no internet VLAN with an NVR. The models I've been using have an ethernet port and wifi. Setup was connecting to the ethernet port and then accessing the web ui in a browser to configure settings (most importantly turning on RTSP or ONVIF feeds)

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

It would be best if I don't have to create an account or install a proprietary app to perform the initial setup.

I still haven't found any AMCrest camera being sold near me. I found some Hikvison.

[–] TCB13 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Reolink / AMCrest - no internet required, can be setup offline AND have a WebUI that allows full control over all functionality. Check the details of specific models, may vary a bit.

... NO internet required, no apps, nothing. Just a WebUI on a browser.

[–] aodhsishaj 10 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Wifi cams can be jammed. Lorex wired cameras and zoneminder with a tailscale VPN setup.

https://www.lorex.com/products/1080p-8-channel-1tb-wired-dvr-system-1?variant=42389948792982

https://wiki.zoneminder.com/Dummies_Guide

https://tailscale.com/kb/1348/guides

If you don't trust tailscale you'll have to get some sort of ddns for wireguard and punch through your router

https://www.noip.com/free

https://www.wireguard.com/install/

Let me know if you want further context.

[–] 314xel 8 points 2 months ago

I second the idea of a VPN instead of directly exposing devices or software to the internet. Requires more work and learning but it's more secure. I would argue that well-known VPNs are more scrutinized and pentested than any camera software ever.

[–] databender 4 points 2 months ago

I second Zoneminder, used it at a job way back in the day and it was solid.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

You need IP cameras and then you need a NVR server for recording, detection, and display. There are some good open source NVR programs out there with docker support. I've been wanting to try Viseron. There's also ZoneMinder and Shinobi that seem to be good.

Unfortunately most consumer cameras are cloud only. This seems to be a list of cameras you can look into: https://wiki.zoneminder.com/Hardware_Compatibility_List

Your best bet is probably a chinese brand for cameras. Dahlua seems popular. There are also a bunch of PoE cameras on Aliexpress for $15-25, but I can't attest to if they're any good. Hikvision cameras seem to have been popular too, but they have been recently sanctioned by EU/US for human rights violations.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 months ago

The cheapest way I found was getting some TP-Link Tapo cameras that have RTSP and Onvif, and run them under frigate.

Set them up in the app, cloud and all, then add them to your frigate, now block internet for them.

Those cameras are anywhere from 25 to around 50 dollars each. Best bang for the buck I could find.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 months ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I've seen in this thread:

Fewer Letters More Letters
HA Home Assistant automation software
~ High Availability
IP Internet Protocol
NVR Network Video Recorder (generally for CCTV)
PoE Power over Ethernet
VPN Virtual Private Network
ZFS Solaris/Linux filesystem focusing on data integrity

[Thread #932 for this sub, first seen 22nd Aug 2024, 11:55] [FAQ] [Full list] [Contact] [Source code]

[–] aodhsishaj 2 points 2 months ago

Good bot

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago

Frigate is pretty nice. If you need a simpler setup, go with Rpisurv, it's made for a Raspberry Pi, and very easy to setup and use.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago (3 children)

If you have a few old Android smartphones lying around, check Haven

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago

Good way to reduce ewaste.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago

That works until the battery puffs up and cracks the screen. Phones don't last long when plugged in 24/7. Also keep in mind that WiFi cameras can easily be jammed.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

I tried this in the past and it does not seem a good option. Letting a smartphone record 24/7 would make it melt maybe.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Frigate has been great, I've run it for years now.

Using OpenVINO on my Intel iGPU for hardware accelerated object detection and encode/decode.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Can u use home assistant?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

Yes I may, I don't have it setup now, but I do have an ultra PC that might run it.

[–] hperrin 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I’m working on one called Soteria. It’s still early in development, but I’m focusing on both privacy and cloud availability.

It uses any WebDAV store to upload footage, but it’s designed to work best with my own WebDAV server Nephele. This lets it upload footage to any S3 compatible blob storage, end to end encrypted.

That way if your cameras go offline, you can watch the last footage they were able to upload.

Like I said, it’s in early development, so it’s not yet ready to use, but I’m going to be putting more work into it soon and try to get it to a place where you can use it.

It works with any V4L2 compatible camera, so laptops, webcams, and Raspberry Pi cameras should all work.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

What camera hardware is compatible with Soteria?

[–] hperrin 4 points 2 months ago

Any camera that uses the V4L2 system on Linux. So, mostly webcams.

One important note is that IP cams are not supported yet, but I’d like to add support for them.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

MotionEye used to be the go-to solution.

I am not sure about the current state of the project (the python 2/3 transition took a long while, there are only pre-releases using a modern python version).

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

What hardware is it compatible with?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

It supports any ONVIF compatible IP camera as well as USB cameras and the raspberry pi camera module

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago

Thanks. this opens up more devices to choose from. So products like hikvison are a candidate for me now.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago (1 children)

https://demo.scrypted.app/ is the new kid on the block. Intuitive interface, easy to configure, not free, great system.

[–] aodhsishaj 6 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

I don't see any source code at their docs. Can you point me to them?

Nevermind I found it

https://github.com/koush/scrypted