What type of installation when mixing wifi-router and HA functionality?

Installation
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About my project: My goal is to install some WiFi-cameras in a house which the owner can access through the HA-App using my mobile when they’re not home (i.e. through public internet).

The existing infrastructure is an ISP-provided WiFi-Router. Iirc wifi/guest isolation is in place so that WiFi devices cannot see each other. I’m not sure whether these restrictions exist when using a wired network.

The central component shall be a Raspberry Pi 4 connected to the ISPs router via ethernet cable. It shall have the following roles:

  • provide an access point + DHCP to the wifi cameras so that I’m not dependent on the ISPs goodwill and have an easier time debugging connection issues.
  • router (ip-forwarding) for all connected cameras give them internet access (updates, time server, etc.)
  • Home Assistant to manage the cameras and provide external access from the HA-App through port-forwarding in the ISP-router
  • Maybe host some dyndns-client if the ISP-Router is too dumb to do it on its own

I’m new to Home Assistant and I’m not sure what type of installation will fit my needs. My problem is the dual-role of router-like and automation-like services.

My first naïve ideas was to just install a Raspberry Pi OS, set up the usual router/infra stuff and install HomeAssistant as a service/container. Browsing through the installation methods this would be Home Assistant Container. The I noticed this setup was rated as “expert level” and wouldn’t allow me to use AddOns. At my current level of HA experience I have no idea how much of a blocker the lack of AddOns might become eventually (will my camera require an AddOn?)

As a second idea I thought about installing the Home Assistant Operating System on the Pi (which I’m testing rn). Iiuc I’m now dependent on AddOns to provide the router-like services. I’m having a hard time finding those and understanding whether those are doing what I want. Whenever I search for “access point” and “router” I end up with instructions on how to integrate existing devices with Home Assistant. Also, going down this route, I wondered what I am supposed to do when I’m facing my first problem, that cannot be solved by an AddOn (maybe low level hardware access? GPIO?)? Do I then have to re-install everything and find a replacement for every AddOn in use?

Another option would be to add another device to perform the router-aspect, but I feel that would be overkill for such a small setup - and I don’t think my setup is too uncommon.

I’m basically seeking for an advice from more experienced HA-users what method will less likely be a dead end:

  • installing Home Assistant OS and depend on the AddOns (which?) to add the router/AP functionality
  • installing a Debian-based router/AP and add Home Assistant Container and other services that are usually covered by AddOns

related: How am I supposed to search for AddOns? I found Topics tagged hassio-repository and I looked up “access point” but nothing looks relevant to me.

So far I found this AddOn, but it look like it is supposed to isolate the wifi devices, which isn’t my goal.

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A Pi is not the right solution for CCTV setup due to computational deficit. My understanding is your budget is low and therefore best option is an NVR plus cameras buying them as a package. Reolink has good value packages, but others do as well, with all shortcomings this entails.

If your budget is higher you could consider a virtualised solution with a hypervisor and HAOS.

For non sophisticated requirements NVR + cameras is always a more cost effective option, in the short and especially long term.

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Why do you think a computational deficit might become a problem? I would think that HA just forwards the video stream from a camera to my phone. Or is there more going on?

NVR + cameras is always a more cost effective option

Had to look up NVR and I think that’s not the solution I need. Some require a paid account, rely on a closed source app, I have no idea whether they support the permission model I need, I don’t need the recording function and my spare RasPi 4 is still cheaper than any new device :wink:

For now, I’d like to focus on my primary question on how to combine both aspects (HA and router) in a single device unless of course I overlooked something essential which renders my idea infeasible.

4

Well, every NVR is compute bound. If things like frame rate, resolution, responsiveness, recording are not important then the RPi will suffice.
Check around the web to see what I am referring to. The RPi does not have the computational power to be an effective NVR solution. You can use it for messing around and learning, but not as a reliable, dependable NVR solution.

5

One of the many comments from people who have tried RPi.

“The RPi will only be able to handle a couple of cameras if they use the H264 codec. H265 will cause significant slowdowns as there is no hardware acceleration for that codec on the RPi.”

This above was for RPi4. Try it and let us know of your experience.

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One way they can be combined into a single device is to use a VM platform (like Proxmox) where Home Assistant is installed on a VM and the “router” (pfSense, OpenSense, etc). is installed on another VM (not something to do on a RPi4)

Home Assistant is not designed to be a network router and I would not try to have it be one using Addons or Integrations.

I would (and do) keep these functions (Home Automation & Routing / Firewall) on separate devices - much easier to manage (for me). And my NVR is on a separate device too.

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