I have six Arlo Pro 2's, a video doorbell, and a base station, Most purchased over 4 years ago, back when Arlo's system actually worked reasonably well. But it's gotten so bad it's no longer serving any purpose, and the lack of integration with Hubitat makes it pretty useless. I used to use IFTTT to relay motion alerts to Hubitat, until the monthly charge made it too expensive just for that, so now I use Alexa "Routines" (if {camera motion} then {activate virtual switch}) using virtual combo switch/motion sensors.
But that's laggy (variably laggy) and dependent on the internet. Since the first thing a marginally intelligent burglar would do is disable my internet (along with my power - breaker boxes have to be mounted OUTSIDE in Colorado), that won't work either. With crime getting so much worse here, it's time to dump the garbage and replace it with something that works.
So I have two questions:
Am I on the right track thinking about Blue Iris and IP cameras? I will probably use POE for most of them, but at least a couple might have to be WiFI. Also planning to use fixed-position (not PTZ) cameras since motion sensing is the main purpose.
Alternative suggestions are welcome - I'm hoping this starts a discussion so I can learn from other people's mistakes rather than having to make all of them myself.
I'm in the same situation - I have a dozen Arlos and they work most of the time but they are not reliable and require a lot of fiddling. I'm also using IFTTT for person detection. Many have solar panels and that helps but still... I will be going all-IP in the spring. With 12 cameras (I may reduce the number) and a Victorian home running that much cat5 is expensive, especially since I need someone to do it for me.
Lots of people seem happy with Blue Iris, but they do require a more-or-less dedicated Windows machine. Have you looked at CAMECT? It's an appliance.
There are some technical limitations in terms of total throughput that are a little problematic but it advertises the ability to actually distinguish between UPS, Amazon, and Fedex delivery uniforms, as well as various types of animals. And someone has written community-supported HE drivers for them, so that's a plus.
My whole network is Unifi and I've been super happy with it. I have wondered about their camera system. I was headed down that route but then I read a few reviews though that seemed to indicate there were less expensive options that performed as well or better. Not sure how much intelligence the system has - whether it can detect people or cars or just motion. Another option is to dual stream, one to the CAMECT box at moderate resolution and one to an NVR at high resolution.
I use Blue Iris with Hubitat and have been very happy. It does require a Windows computer to be always on. (you can store the video anywhere you want on your network, ie. NAS, but the software runs on Windows).
Things I like:
Motion Sensing works well, there are some fairly advanced options you can utilize to minimize false events. Easy to bring these motion events into HE.
Straightforward to get the video into a HE dashboard.
Easy to access video feed remotely (on my phone or my work computer), this one does require a working internet.
Some automations I integrate with my Blue Iris cameras:
If the alarm is on, and the camera detects motion. My stereo system loudly plays the sound of an angry dog barking.
Camera Motion results in lights turning on based on camera motion, time of day, and alarm state.
My HE dashboard on the wall, automatically goes to camera view when someone approaches.
Notifications based on camera motion, time of day, and alarm state.
I can do all this without installing any third-party blue iris app, I simply bring the motion into hubitat with a local end-point trigger. If you need more functionality there is a third-party app that can provide more.
My G4 cameras (Doorbell, G4 Pro) detect motion, people, cars...it's pretty good (and the community driver distinguishes).
My G3 cameras only detect motion.
I have my system setup so when the alarm is set, there is motion, and the motion is a person, I turn on the lights AND activate the associated sprinkler zone...BOOM soggy "bad guy".
Yeah I thought about this too. I have a Hydrawise sprinkler controller and there is an integration. With my luck, though, I'd be walking home from the village pub and decide to use the side entrance.
My local water authority does "surprise" checks in the early AM to make sure you are watering on your authorized day (they have left "this is your final warning or you will get a citation" notes on my door before).
The G4 Doorbell and G4 Doorbell Pro also support package detection (and my Hubitat integration supports those via smart detect).
But in my experience, the package detection on the G4 Doorbell is not great. It may be better with the dedicated down-facing camera on the G4 Doorbell Pro.
You can also use free cctv software with home assistant such as frigate which I personally do use with Reolink cameras and you can set up your home assistant as a NVR also. You can also integrate your habitat into home assistant if you are really looking to join everything together.
Frigate also all runs local so no cloud required for your cameras with China snooping
almost every camere i have tested is fidely and needs to reboot periodically.
i put kasa wifi switches or zwave/zigbee switches behind them so i can reboot them remotely
I'm not really interested in Arlo integration at this point. Any integration with their product will be through the cloud, and therefore internet dependent. I like Hubitat - a lot - so I'll happily give up the laggy, drop-out prone, false motion alert generating Arlos and get something that works. If anyone wants the Arlos, they'll be available cheap. They'll be worthless to me.
A managed PoE switch will let you power cycle a specific port... I use Unifi switches and the Unifi console will allow me to power down any PoE port I need, remotely or on prem. I even use PoE splitters to power my various hubs so they can be remotely cycled. Very convenient.
Yeah, but I need two of them, and my budget is about $100, The two 4+1 port unmanaged PoE switches my current plan needs will cost me < $60 total, and I have spare smart plugs. Are there managed PoE switches I've overlooked that are inexpensive?
