Comment by badatnames

Getting this right is hard, speaking as someone who has ARP poisoned an exposed ethernet connected to some cheap switches to monitor cameras in whole buildings before. The problem is the endpoint itself, adding layers on top doesn't solve things. Ideally I'd like a device that could be connected to public wifi and still be robust. For example including padding any data it's transmitting to avoid observable compression side effects being usable as a proxy for motion detection (which is a cool trick you can try even without a working wifi key)

For anyone who wants a setup like this but the nice notifications and quality of life capabilities (recordings, easy remote access for family), and are ok being on Apple infra (end to end encrypted) -

ONVIF camera (or one compatible with Scrypted) Block WAN (ideally, VLAN) on the cheap cameras Home computer to run Scrypted AppleTV (for Apple home bridge)

This is what I moved to after getting away from Ring and it works quite well. Reolink cams, old desktop, and an hour of setup.

I found Thingino to be very buggy and frustrating to use despite using 2 different supported cameras. The stream would constantly drop out, services would sometimes crash and wouldn't get automatically restarted. I tried tweaking all available parameters, resetting, updating but eventually I just gave up (a few months ago).

e.g. https://github.com/themactep/thingino-firmware/issues/640

I bought the cheapest PTZ camera they have listed and, as you say the install was easy. The interface is useful and it does what it says on the tin.

I also use thingino and it was very easy to use. It has wireguard support, but I just set up my firewall so cams are only accessible over tailscale.

Huh, it was working an hour ago. The outdoor 8MP variant was around the 85 euro mark.

Czech for 'page not found'

ESP32 are powerful enough to run realtime image processing?! Wtf.

Would it be so difficult to include a simple plastic case? Having to find/design 3D printed cases adds time to getting these projects set up. I don’t have a 3D printer and have to go to the local maker space to make anything.

I was working with Raspberry Pis, starting with a college honors project, around 2018.

For a while, I thought about building a network of surveillance cameras around the interior of my home. The Raspberry Pi seemed like a tempting platform to hook up a bunch of cameras to it. Sadly, I could not find a backend surveillance app or system that was suitable for running such a network. The best one I found was some kind of modular Linux app that was for-pay, and actually seemed based in Russia or something, and personally I wasn't comfortable about handing over my domestic surveillance needs to Russia!

I also considered exterior sensors, such as a camera, or perhaps a nice little weather station, outside on my balcony, running on the little Raspberry Pi.

Then I recalled two things: I live in the Sonoran Desert, where the desert highs can go up around 115℉, and any plant on my balcony was guaranteed to wither and die, not to mention the blowing dust and thunderstorms we have.

I determined that there was basically no way to house or protect a Raspberry Pi, as well as supply it with connectivity and electric power, and keep it outside on the balcony in conditions where I'd benefit from those active sensors. Sad but true!

I so want these to be a viable solution but man my experience so far is that it can barely be made to work and only in the most favorable environments. Compare that to the blink cameras I used to run outside where it occasionally went below -20F and they still went over a year on a couple batteries.