Ask HN: What's your favorite security cam system?

I've been doing some research on home security camera systems and they are either very expensive and/or have some pretty significant privacy concerns regarding how they transfer/store footage.

That said, has anyone found any solid, fairly privacy-friendly solutions to this?

It seems like all the "convenient" ones require some sort of "cloud" account with fuzzy details on how your info is stored.

I would really prefer something wifi-powered and peer-to-peer if something like that exists so that I don't have to worry about how my footage is being stored.

Probably a pipe dream, but if there was anywhere to check, I figured it would be here.

4 points | by SunshineTheCat 10 hours ago

3 comments

  • remyp 9 hours ago
    I went with Reolink, but not the WiFi ones. The completely offline version has no privacy concerns, no cloud sync, no subscription. It just records to an SD card. They're great!
  • runjake 6 hours ago
    All the options suck or are crazy expensive or both, but I have a mix of Reolink, Annke (Hikvision rebrand), and Eufy RTSP-capable cameras. I have a PC with Blue Iris NVR on it. The cameras have SD cards as backups.

    Nothing goes out to the cloud. The cameras are blocked from the Internet. I have an alert set up and I've never seen the Reolink or Annke units try and reach out.

    If you have a lot of money to blow, buy a complete Ubiquiti setup. It is fairly set and forget. I got burned by Ubiquiti with a previous NVR setup and premature obsoletion so I refuse to use their cameras anymore.

  • RatchetWerks 7 hours ago
    I’ve landed on Ubiquiti NVR systems. I previously used Frigate and VLANd reolinks.

    Having a phone app to instantly view the cameras quickly (late at night) made the difference.

    [-]
    • elevation 16 minutes ago
      I'll second Ubiquiti. I have 15 year old hardware from them that still gets security updates. Pricier than cheap chinese junk, but well architected (on-camera compression and motion analysis.) Their video system is rock solid and nothing goes to the cloud.