Comment by mattferderer | Hacker News Reader

Comment by mattferderer | Hacker News Reader

For simple cameras, I'm a fan of the Hikvision DS-2CD2032-I CCTV POE 3MP Bullet IP HD Security Network Camera, 4mm camera for 1/3 of the price. They've done well in below -20F degree weather.

Also another vote for Blue Iris. It's not the most user friendly software but it's awesome for the price. It can be tricky to get configured just right though...

I would love to hear if anyone has any recommendations for getting Blue Iris to do some of the features of this camera, such as compare face images against a Google Photos API?

I would also be curious to know if the cameras that move & try to auto focus are actually better. That seems like a potential plus but I could see wind blowing trees or a squirrel running causing the camera to focus on the wrong things. Maybe the Nest is smarter & only goes for certain objects that it can recognize... Motion sensor recording is kind of a pain to get right on my Blue Iris. Windy trees & spiders cause me to get a lot more video than necessary.

Just be wary of Amazon vendors. I purchased a camera fulfilled through Amazon and it was a fake. Returning/Exchanging was simple but the difference in the label was clear when viewed side by side.

Not only that, but some companies offer 0 warranty when purchased through Amazon or BH. You have to buy through a distributor who will only warranty it if you have them install it. Like ACTI.

I always hear people recommend Hikvision cameras but then I wonder where they buy them from, because it seems there is a lot of this counterfeiting you mention going on. Hikvision even has a page about it.[1] Makes me wonder how many folks have knockoffs and they're not even aware of it.

I almost bought one from B&H Photo, but even they're not on the authorized partner list.[2]

[1]: http://www.hikvision.com/us/about_10677.html

[2]: http://www.hikvision.com/us/distributionPartner.aspx?stat=1&...

To be clear, Amazon sells a lot of fake cameras labelled as such for like $12. These, some alarm window stickers & a Beware of the Raccoon sign are my main security system.

https://www.amazon.com/Security-Realistic-Surveillance-Busin...

Yeah, I should probably clarify that I mean counterfeit cameras.

They functioned for a day before nearly catching fire.

"Hikvision has a long history of cybersecurity vulnerabilities affecting their products":

https://ipvm.com/reports/hik-backdoor

It's not pretty. You're bordering on negligence using Hikvision, much less recommending them.

Thank you as I was unaware of this. At quick glance of what you shared, it doesn't seem like most users should be effected by this.

I'm assuming the typical setup is putting your cameras on a router & then using software like Blue Iris if you want to allow remote access to the videos. I would hope no one actually allows someone to connect directly to a camera using the camera's software over the internet.

Am I missing some larger vulnerability?

If your approach to network security is "putting your cameras on a router", I don't suppose you'd mind me attaching this little black box to your network?

That requires getting your box connected to my network through a network cable. I'm not saying that what I suggested is flawless security. I'm just asking if it is preventing the attacks in the link you included.

That is the wrong question to ask.

Can't you put those cams on a poe and your sec machine would have two nics, one to the poe, one to your house network? Dont route btwn nics.

I have Hikvision cameras, but they are on their own private lan with no Internet connection. These things phone home by default and disabling that functionality is kind of buried in the web interface.

IoT (and especially IIoT) devices are special beasts that really don't fit well into the existing network security models. For ones that need cloud access, they really shouldn't be accessible from the rest of the network, let alone the internet. They also shouldn't be able to talk to each other. This leads to either ACL hell, or VLAN hell (with a L2 wire type firewall or L3 router/firewall). There are some solutions like ForeScout that will do this for you automagically, and software defined networking also holds promise in making this less nightmare inducing, but for now it is a poorly addressed problem AFAIK.

This isn't news, but the best way to deal with cameras is to isolate them on a VLAN that has no route out. Just connect one NIC of your DVR solution to that VLAN, and broker all access thru the DVR. Only view cameras via the DVR software. You really shouldn't be putting your security footage into the cloud anyway, IMO. It creates too many unneeded dependencies in this age of cheap LAN/CPU/HD space. Replicating that footage into the cloud is defensible, but that should still all be moderated via the DVR solution. A UPS and Cellular internet connection could make cloud options more resilient.

Please correct me if I am unaware of some awesome way of doing this!

Appreciate the recommendations. We considered getting a Nest, but we don't have great internet and therefore can't handle HD streaming up to the cloud 24/7. Until (unless?) the Nest can do bursts based on motion, we'll opt for a camera with SD backup instead.

I have a Netgear Arlo system and it only captures when it detects motion. I'm looking for a continuous camera system that doesn't require cloud service but haven't found anything I like.

I got an Amcrest IP2M-841 (1920TVL). It has wired or wireless network, usb powered, and a local SD card. I'm writing to a Synology, which does not have good software, but works. I'm using it indoors and I'm using the Amcrest app on the phone for live view, which is much better than the Synology app, but not fantastic, either.

I have friends that have an Arlo and like it. I was specifically looking for a continuous camera and didn't want a cloud service.

If I didn't have the Synology I would look into Blue Iris...but I haven't heard great things about any of the software out there.

Sorry for repeating a shameless plug (I posted elsewhere on this thread), but if you're interested in these cameras, but with cloud storage and more reliability, my company uses extremely similar cameras to this (we run our own software on Hikvision cameras, with tons of improvements across the board). We don't really focus on home systems, but at worst we are VERY good at recommending something for it. Our site is www.viaas.com.

I too have a Hikvision camera that I bought on Amazon. I hooked it up to my QNAP NAS box. The camera works great, but the software (Surveillance Station and QVR) is awful.

Have you found decent software? I saw a recommendation for Xeoma and that's next on my list to check out.

My other camera system is a wireless Netgear Arlo setup and the software is comparatively excellent.

I use Blue Iris. It's cheap & handles multiple cameras. It is updated often. The UI/UX is pretty decent. It's popular so any questions you have are probably available online. It works great for my experience level. I would recommend it for people who aren't looking for a very advanced program or a very simple hand holding program.

Thanks for the recommendation. I took a look at it and it looks like it checks most of what I was looking for. It would be nice if it were a application on my NAS box so I don't have to dedicate a Windows machine to be on all the time.

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