Probably not. Mine were significantly more than that.
Kind of defeats the purpose of a security camera... were there any that you tested that were stable?
I have never rebooted my UniFi Protect cameras unless the power went out. They're expensive though, and buying into the ecosystem is a commitment. But if you already have a UniFi controller your barrier to entry is lower.
Ah that IS good to know. I had read several reviews of the Unifi cameras that suggested they were overpriced for their performance. But if they are problem-free that's priceless. I have a UDM Pro but I would probably install a dedicated NVR and PoE switch just for the cameras. I'd like to keep the video traffic local to a single switch if possible.
An option that may lower the cost of entry is a combination of Eufy Cameras that support RSTP, a Always on system running Motion/Motioneye, and then the app in hubitat called tinyCam Connector.
The question is how smart do you need this to be. The tinyCam Connector can allow AI detection buy calling different url's based on AI Detection, but base Motion doesn't do that.
The way this works is your eufy cameras talk to Motion over your Local network with RSTP. Then Motion does what blue iris does and records/monitors the video stream. When motion is detected, Motion will hit the URL for tinyCam Connector to tell HE that Motion was detected. You can run motion on something as tiny as a raspberry pi, depending on the type of processing you have it do, it can support many or very few cameras.
All of these componenets are independent of the others so you don't have to use Eufy, but any RSTP or network camera Motion supports.
I do believe there are ways to add AI to Motion, but i am not familiar with that as of now. This is just a way to make entry easier though. Blue Iris is certainly a top notch option.
I would also add I still user Arlo with Smartthings being the cloud aggregator. It seems pretty responsive, but will admit I don't depend on it to much.
That might be true. I'm not an extreme camera enthusiast, and I also don't have the highest end models from them. I'm pretty happy with what I have, though.
FYI, there are WiFi models. The doorbell is only WiFi (and is powered by a normal doorbell transformer, so no need for a PoE or ethernet drop). Some of their "instant" cameras are WiFi and can be powered by PoE injectors. So, if you can actually catch one of the more inexpensive ones in stock, you might give it a try to dip in a toe before you buy a new NVR and all of that to build the whole thing out.
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I'm leaning hard toward PoE cameras with Blue Iris. I have a reasonably good Windows PC that runs 24/7 anyway for other stuff, and my cameras are clustered in front and back, so I could reasonably use one PoE switch in front for 4 cameras, another in back for three more (one wrapped around the side), and then just one (on the opposite side) that would need its own PoE injector. Using two switches keeps the rest of the cables short enough that the effort of pulling them won't exceed the value.
Now the big question is, what cameras? I'll need about 8 of them, ideally with appropriate focal lengths (or zoom lenses?) Any recommendations for camera makes?
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