We are building a new home and I have decided (pretty much) to go with Hubitat and compatible devices. I want to avoid cloud based solutions, e.g. Nest cameras, and have everything controlled locally. I will also be using Unifi equipment for setting up the inhome network. I was strongly considering their Unifi Protect system, including cameras. That is, until I found out that they do not have a flexible control system. While you can control when they record, e.g. motion, you cannot set other situations where you may not want recording when you are at home during the day. Also, I want to be able to have a "vacation" setting where recording occurs day or night when there is motion detected. Hence, my question: What cameras are easily operated by a HE network? My research to date does not come up with any good options. Thanks in advance for any help or advice.
Not so much of the camera but what NVR or software easily control with HE.
I use Blue Iris to control my 4k cameras. There is no end to what blue Iris could do.
Only downside I could think of is that Blue Iris works only on Windows computer.
Thanks ... I am a "Windows" system so that aspect if fine. I am just trying to simplify to a few vendors/brands. May have to add another for the video but would like to explore further before I jump into Blue Iris, even though they appear to be an alternative worthy of consideration.
I use Blue Iris running on a Windows 7th gen i7 desktop with mostly Dahua Starlight cameras, although I have a few Amcrest, and other brand cameras as well but Dahua Starlight POE cameras are my favorite. When Hubitat switches modes it sends a signal to Blue Iris using BI Control which controls the BI Profile to match the Hubitat Mode so when we're away all of the cameras record 24/7 and alert on motion but when we're home only the outside cameras record 24/7 and only alert on motion for certain cameras and the indoor cameras don't record at all when at home. BI also Hubitat triggers virtual motion sensors when a camera detects motion for TTS messages to let us know someone is walking up the driveway.
I did have a Unifi G3 camera on BI for a while but the IR filter on that camera stuck which I found out is a common problem with Unifi G3s. I do use Unifi switches and APs which are great.
I use Blue Iris as well and also use Dahua Starlight Cameras.
@jldodge710 Understand that Blue Iris is software that runs on a windows machine it is video security/management software and is independent of the cameras you choose. Almost any POE camera can be managed by Blue Iris. Obviously some cameras are higher quality/better than others. The Dahua Cameras mentioned above work extremely well both day and night, but there are literally 100's if not 1000's of other cameras you can choose from. The Blue Iris software runs independent of HE, but the two play very nice together. The Blue Iris software can detect motion in a cameras field of view and can send HE a motion trigger. Also HE can send Blue Iris a command to change its profile.
Blue Iris also has no problem sending video to my android phone, so when my HE app sends me a notification, on my phone, that the doorbell has been rung. I can quickly open up a camera view to see who is at my door.
If you plan on going the local route without using cameras from one of the cloud based companies (amazon, google, etc...), there are a few other options, but I would think the vast majority of users who go this route run Blue Iris.
Just to be clear, HE (nor its network) does not have the capability to operate security cameras that are not cloud based. HE is not security camera software or hardware. If you want to go local you need to decide the security camera software you will run as well as the local storage space you will need to manage the video security. This post and others in this thread have stated that Blue Iris is the software many people use to fill this need.
You don't need to install any custom apps to have basic communication between Blue Iris and Hubitat. But if you want more than basic communication you can install this custom hubitat app:
