I know a few people around here are running Home Assistant and the like. I'm keen to put in a few cameras, preferably not cloud connected but that can connect to Home Assistant. I'm planning on adding object detection via coral.

I'm thinking cameras powered by PoE. Anyone got suggestions for outdoor cameras?

What about a switch that outputs PoE and doesn't cost thousands? Maybe something like this? Though I don't seem to see good bang for buck switches where they are all PoE, they seem to just do half of the ports PoE though 8 PoE ports seems like it would be plenty.

And on another note, any suggestions for a network level VPN client? That is, for connecting the home nenetwork to an external VPN server (one that handles hundreds of Mbps, preferably wireguard). Is something like this appropriate? It's CPU is only 1Ghz so I worry it will be slow.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago (7 children)

I have a Ubiquiti Dream Machine SE, which has POE built in, but your option would be the next simplest option.

All the Ubiquiti gear is very well priced, and dead simple to use, I plan to add some cameras at some point to the system.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago (6 children)

Do you use the Dream Machine as a VPN client? I see mixed information online as to whether you can use it as a client or only as a server. If I could knock off two birds with one stone that would be great.

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

I'll have a look at it tomorrow, I think it does have VPN functionality. I've never really needed it though.

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

From the official page it says it does OpenVPN as a client (as in you can connect to a VPN service to hide your whole network's browsing habits) but WireGuard is only listed as a server (connect to your network from outside your home). But it seems there might have been a software update to some models to support Wireguard as a client.

OpenVPN is apparently much slower than Wireguard and wouldn't get the speed I'm looking for.

What are you using the gateway for currently?

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

At the moment it's just running as a router and PoE switch, with two wireless access points on it. We plan to add cameras, but other expenses have taken priority.

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

When you say router, does it plug into your fiber box completely replacing where an ISP router would sit? I have suspicions our ISP router is shit (more shit than usual) so have been looking to replace that as well.

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

Yes, it's connected directly to the ONT with nothing in between.

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

Nice, if I work out that it supports Wireguard as a VPN then I'll definitely consider one of these! Thanks for the suggestion!

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