I mean, any security camera that does anything with the cloud should never make it onto a recommendation list in the first place.<p>I'm not sure if the product exists, but something that replicates a homemade setup would be amazing.<p>Think of a bundled camera(s) + raspberry pi + 1tb backup drive or whatever that you can only access over your own dedicated personal wireguard vpn (or tailscale, something like that), but sold as a retail bundle.<p>Of course, that would cut out all the SaaS/app data selling aspect so it seems unlikely to happen.
<i>> The fundamental relationship between smart-home companies and their customers is founded on trust.</i><p>Sadly, very few companies are trustworthy.<p>Not all of them are evil; wanting to get into their users' data; many are just cheap and lazy. They don't want to spend money on the types of employees and process that will result in trustworthy kit.<p>It's actually not hard to understand (less easy to forgive). The device market is crazy cutthroat. Margins are razor-thin, support costs can be high, and competition (especially with nation-state-funded competitors) is savage.<p>But I don't know how many times I have had one of my friends proudly whip out their smartphone, showing me live video of their kids playing at home, not realizing that their ultra-secure password <i>("fuckyouhacker")</i> is no impediment to lots of others, getting the same feed.
Anyone have a recommendation for the an affordable security cameras that would works without a cloud? I want to replace a collection of Blink cameras. Looking for doorbell cam, indoor and outdoor. Home Automation integration a plus.
They mention a 2023 report about unintentional access of others' cameras but this dates back to 2019 (I know this since I saved a video about it from an owner who demonstrated it, which is no longer on Youtube afaict). The video showed that while the official app couldn't display the feed if they asked Amazon Alexa to, it would.
I hate Wyze so bad. They sell this really lovely and cheap IP-enabled camera, perfect for figuring out which cat was pissing in the basement. But to activate it requires your phone number, and then they spam you, forever after, with text messages from different numbers advertising their shit. Hate hate hate.
I have a bunch of wyze gear, given the price I never assumed they were meant to replace a security system. What I have been doing with these cheap little cameras is getting me closer to nature.<p>We have a bunch of these outside and we've been watching the cats, possums, raccoons, and even turkeys frolic as they cross through our property. We even set up a little victorian style dog hours with solar panels in the backyard and the wild animals have been using it to rest. We have a ton of video of these little animals just relaxing and stretching out in the dog house too. The family loves it, every morning we get to see what the critters were up to.<p>Before that we were doing hydroponics and we had cameras on the fruits, the instruments for things like ph, ec, and a camera in the reservoir so we could monitor water levels.<p>I don't use them to watch my home, but they have been pretty solid in terms of watching other things that aren't security related or sensitive.
Wyze is honestly great. These cameras are a fraction of the price of everyone else. Their cloud service is a couple dollars a month per camera.<p>I have 2 looking out my windows at the front door and car. I move those to watch the dog when she stays home. I have one over my pool table to record shots. I've used them in the past to watch stray cats outside.<p>I am least happy with their outdoor cam since it doesn't do continuous recording and it requires a separate hub. I recommend the plugged in ones to everyone though.
Even the cameras like REOlink 2e are $75. This seems absurd to me. A wifi camera can't be more than what, $5 of hardware? Who is selling the cheapest, most bare bones, raw, wifi camera? Does it even exist or is every single one packaged with crapware software or sexed up by some company to over $75? Do I order direct from China for these?
For anyone looking to shut these from internet access, install this custom firmware hack and use a local NVR: <a href="https://github.com/gtxaspec/wz_mini_hacks">https://github.com/gtxaspec/wz_mini_hacks</a>
I'd love something like dd-wrt but for these cloud cameras. I have some Arlo cameras that I'd love to re-flash and run without the cloud service.
>>On September 8, 2023, The Verge reported an incident in which some Wyze customers were able to access live video from other users’ cameras through the Wyze web portal.<<<p>an unintentional, adult, video shareing platform, sounds like something a sector of society would consider a feature.