Besides the only 3 Samsung and overpriced Arlo suppprted cameras? Something that seems very popular here and works the best compared to others?
I have 4 of the older Costco Samsung cams, but disappointed they will not work with the “Samsung” SmartThings. So looking at other cam brands other than Samsung just for spite.
I see DH’s for D-links?
Prefer cams that can adjust in all directions and for security and can at leaSt take photo or video upon triggering.
Thanks!
There’s been a lot of hype around the Foscam wireless IP cameras; low cost and supposedly very reliable. BlueIris integration is also pretty popular (BlueIris allows you to use pretty much any IP camera/web cam through their software).
Personally, I’m replacing all my Arlo cameras with Foscams. The cost is MUCH lower and no cloud requirement.
Links to all:
Foscam is getting a lot of heat right now due to vulnerabilities found in their camera software. They claim the vulnerabilities were minor but there is a lot of press about them.
Foscam Security Cameras Full of Security Flaws | Tom's Guide
Thanks for the warning! Almost seems anything from China these days already have these vulnerabilities “built in” as factory standard anyways! : /
Interesting! I had not seen that. Do you know if they actually fixed any of the vulnerabilities in the latest firmware update? I have 4 coming from Amazon on Sunday, so, worse comes to worse, they go on their own segmented VLAN with no internet access (aside from BlueIris maybe).
I think I read that they did patch the vulnerabilities but I haven’t really been following it. I, also am researching the best ST cameras to purchase and decided against Foscam after reading about these issues. But there is always some risk if you’re connecting to the Internet.
What about using and old smart phone as a security camera? If you have the phone, then no need to buy a new camera.
Amcrest is essentially the US-branded Foscam brand. They do not have the firmware issues the Foscam branded cameras have, and have been updating their product line pretty fast. I’d recommend them, and highly recommend using Power over Ethernet (POE) models. I have almost all wireless, and they are nothing but problems unless they are really close. The POE models I have give me uninterrupted 20FPS as their peak resolution.
Regarding security, I highly recommend putting all the cameras, POE or otherwise, on their own secured networks. Then use Blue Iris or other programs to access that network via a VPN or similar secure connection. The goal should always be to isolate the camera’s access to the internet.
I have a couple D-Link DCS-2630L cameras as well. While they are wifi only, the 180 degree FOV is amazing. I highly recommend wide FOV cameras over the pan-tilt style, because you don’t have to set up any scanning profile or set up methods to have the camera pan to the motion area, etc. Just cover the whole area with a wide FOV and you won’t miss anything ever.
There are some programs out there that will work, webcams on computers as well (Blue Iris will work with webcams). I haven’t tried using old smartphones, but remember it’d have to stay active always (and plugged in too), just like other cameras. But there are apps for phones that will stream the video, you can probably get Blue Iris to read the stream from the app.
Have 2 Amcrest and never had any issues. Have 7 Blinks and never had any issues. Also have stand alone 4 ch NVR that records 24/7 and although not integrated into ST, I could easily do so with Blue Iris.
Alfred is one of many apps available that allow you to use an old smartphone as a security camera. It would only need to stay plugged on to charge the battery. If the phone has a good battery, then you could charge it and place the phone in various places around the house on an as needed basis. Try that with a cam.
Just trying to help, looks like you found your solution. I guess I placed too much emphasis on “old” smartphone. How long does your battery last? I would assume no more than a day, most people don’t want that much system maintenance, but if you’re trying to capture specific periods it’d be a nice cheap solution!
I’m not the original poster. I’m just offering suggestions to his question also.
If an old phone has a weak battery & wont stayed charged then leave it plugged in on the shelf. Most wireless cameras (battery powered cameras are the exception) need to be plugged into power also, they are only wireless for the for the data transmission like a plugged in phone would be.
Jmz, nice advice, thank you! Especially the wide angle lens vs ptz options. I have some samsungs with wide angle and work great, but don’t work with SmartThings. Either way I think I’ll take your advice and just get a seperate cam system on Seperate network anyways.
Yeah, no, not interested in using old phones. Those go to the kids. I guess u could mount several flip-phones with 320x240 ultra low rez around the house! Ha!!!
Is Blue Iris the security cam standard? I hear a lot about it. Is it one the more widely supported programs that can be integrated with SmartThings? Is Blue Iris the better primary route, then go from there?
Jeez, just realized you replied to me, sorry! Probably too late, but if not, I can’t say if Blue Iris is the standard or not. I found a good handful of programs that ran on computers and could work with basically any camera. Blue Iris was by far the best value. Some other programs may have better motion sensing or better interfaces or something, but a lot of them are $200 for the first couple cameras and then a charge on top of that per extra camera. Blue Iris is just the one payment, and you can use as many cameras as your computer can handle. Ken’s support is amazing, you get a year of support included (seems like at most a couple day turn around time), and you can pay for it after. I had a couple random questions outside my support window, and he still was very prompt and helpful. You definitely cannot go wrong with Blue Iris.
Hi Everyone. Need advice from all you pros…
I currently have an old Samsung NVR system (SDR-5100, BnC cables - not PoE) with 16 channels. They are not IP based, so can not access them within Smartthings or other open systems. I would like to upgrade and replace these for 4K quality and more features
What’s is your advice for best system (likely PoE?), for 12-16 cameras?
Should I get camera onlys and integrate with Blue Iris, and Smartthings?
Or best to get a NVR and then integrate into Blue Iris and Smartthings?
Your not going to find 4k security cameras. The bandwidth requirements alone would be huge. Storage giant. Multiple HD cameras take a lot of storage and bandwidth. They provide a good upgrade over the older analog cameras.
Btw go with Ethernet (Poe) instead of wifi.
Probably best to have a separate cam system… SmartThings just isn’t cutting it and now they are changing the app which I have had real BAD experience with the Samsung Connect app which may be what the “new” non-classic app is.
Costco? 4K.
They must be new. I run 7 cameras mix of 720 and 1080p fills up the 4 tb hard drive in less then a week. But if you only record motion it would be a lot less. The good think about NVRs is they are highly optimized. If you go with please share your experience/results. I hope the cameras are onvif for better openness compared to many proprietary camera setups.
I’ve seen Foscam and Armcrest brought up multiple times in this thread, but I cannot verify if either of these products works naively with Smartthings either on the Amazon page or on the product page. Does anyone here have these working with Smartthings? I’m looking for a cheap option on door monitoring (from indoors) when a door trigger is activated.
Amcrest does not work natively.