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Trying to set up CCTV Cameras (discuss.tchncs.de)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Hi there!

I‘m running a somewhat developed home server setup and add more services every month.

But this thing eludes me:

I have 2 IP cameras for my pet room (I have a couple bearded dragons in terrariums).

The cameras are fenton 351.150

I can stream many different formats to home assistant or the browser. I also tried multiple apps like viseron (which is pretty cool) and agentdvr from ispy (which always makes the hair on my neck stand up since it looks like it was cobbled together).

But what doesnt work is controlling the camera, mostly. I believe agentdvr could do that but I‘m really unhappy about that app. Also, it pushes monetization very hard albeit seeming to be open source.

I also found this: https://medevel.com/10-cctv-open-source-solutions/

Does anyone have experience with a non-jank and non-pushy cctv solution that lets me control the cameras instead of just streaming?

Have a good one!

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

Recently I looked at iSpy because I remembered their featureful program (never really used it so this is really just a perception) and since they are pushing AgentDVR a lot, I've looked into it a little. I'm not really sure if AgentDVR is open sorce. I have searched for a link to it's source code and haven't found one, but also AlternativeTo marks it as proprietary. I worry they have started massively misleading users, and that you said that they are heavily pushing monetization does not help.

Maybe you could check the original iSpy if it works the way you want, but I think that is windows only.
But to be honest, iSpy (as the organization/company) is very shady to me. As I have said above, the original iSpy program is open source, but just take a look at their Github repo: it's clean of any releases or tags, so you cannot find the source code for a specific version.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Thank you for responding! That pretty much sums up the reasons I‘m suspicious.

That said, I feel like there is not a whole lot of beginner friendly stuff out there atm. Some are pushing proprietary stuff and most of it is just yourself gathering and learning as you go.

Even on awesome selfhosted, I dont see any security/cctv sections which makes me wonder if we‘re not there yet in terms of self hosted stuff concerning cctv.

Thanks again and feel free to hit me up if you learn anything new.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yes, I'm also at a loss on what to use.
The last thing I had heard of that caught my attention is Frigate, but as I understood it relies too heavily (for me) on AI based features that require special hardware. Haven't been able yet to really look into it.

Maybe a firewalled BlueIris running with Wine is still the way to go.
Or, special hardware with it's original software that is also firewalled off from the internet or any devices at home that shouldn't have access.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Understandable. I have researched a couple hours today and I feel like I‘m onto a winner here.

The problem is that there does not seem to be comprehensive information to absorb in a structured way. So, there is no „you need this to do that and then you do this and get this outcome.“

Looking into it also brought me to appreciate what I already have. Using Home Assistant in ONVIF mode and adding some buttons did the trick at least in terms of controlling the camera. I still need to change zoom and define movement detection.

I think I need to write an article about this. That would probably help a lot of people.

So my current setup is homeassistant + viseron and it works good so far. I wont change since frigate seems to gobble up resources in comparison.

Let me know if you need more info.