Hi everyone,
this is my first post on the forum — glad to be here.
About a month ago I had a burglary at home, so I installed an alarm system.
The alarm itself works well, but since I couldn’t run cables, it’s a wireless system. Because of that, the alarm’s motion sensors can’t stay active 24/7.
I made this choice under time pressure: I wanted a solid, well-known brand that could be installed quickly before the Christmas holidays, just to regain some peace of mind while being away.
Now I’d like to add a surveillance camera.
I’m obviously considering cameras from the same brand as my alarm, but I also want to evaluate alternatives that integrate well with Home Assistant, to properly compare pros, cons, and costs.
From what I’ve understood so far:
many cameras support ONVIF and RTSP, so video streaming into Home Assistant is usually possible;
however, many cameras sold on Amazon rely on on-board AI and send motion / human detection notifications only to their proprietary apps;
this usually implies using (and paying for) a cloud service when you’re away from home.
At that point, sticking with the same brand as my alarm would probably make more sense.
My actual question is this:
Do you know any surveillance cameras that integrate well with Home Assistant and that, in addition to video streaming, also expose usable motion / human detection events (e.g. binary sensors) so that notifications and automations can be handled directly in Home Assistant, without relying on the vendor’s cloud?
Thanks in advance to anyone who can share real-world experience or recommendations.
Hi. I use some cheap Tapo C210 cameras that integrates well in HA but uses the vendor cloud. About 40 euro 2 cameras in Amazon Spain.
You can use the detection of the camera and several useful functions.
I have zwave battery motions. They are instant activate and run 24/7. Someone has misled you. This can and should be bettter. I change battery every 1-2yrs depending on if room busy
Amcrest/dahua/reolink
I use Amcrest (I think they are better in low light and have better color balance and contrast)
Dahua is Amcrest just more expensive and small differences
Reolink is works with home assistant device. Many in HA love it. It is goto for doorbell(wired not WiFi). You can get 6camera Reolink bundle with NVR for $700 pre tariff. Have not looked recently .
Unifi is easy but pricey and when I used image was terrible (low light but if well light area they are OK). Biggest issue was price. $100USD Unifi vs $49USD Amcrest that was spec to spec and functionally better. Again, easy but pricey and some lock in.
You didn’t say if you want wired or wireless camera. I think all presuming wireless. Wired is always possible, just time/effort/cash constraint.
Also look at frigate. Basically it is NVR. It great but Intend to Shimadzu from this for my family as it basically requires you manage a server. It’s pretty set and forget it but I feel it needs bi annual check that I cautiously only feel comfortable with for certain people.
Search forum as well
Tons of good threads detailing specific products and issues you may face. This subject has changed very little (read “not at all”) in past 3 years so most product recommendations and problems are still relevant.
Alternatively, and if you are in a pinch, look into Thingino project, which offers replacement firmware with ONVIF/RTSP capability on dozens of relatively cheap cameras. There are motion detections; Thingino can drive pan-tilt if the hardware supports… but no on-board AI detections nor cloud. Thingino is relatively new - likely the only new & alternative recommendations over last 2-3 years.
Still, those cameras are typically not Unifi nor Amcrest nor Reolink level hardware, feature sets and configurability are not at the same caliber, so some might not consider those as “proper” property surveillance solution… but might be good enough for what you are trying to achieve.
And then, if you want AI detection, as mentioned above, you can then tie the cameras to the frigate (project mentioned above) that you own & manage yourselves, and be free from vendor privacy concerns or monthly fees.