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    Camera recommendations

    I have been using HomeSeer for years and upgraded my computer and to the HS3 program and HSTOUCH using my pre existing X10 devices primarily for lighting. I am now interested in getting my first camera. I have used many outdated X10 cameras over a decade ago and have scrapped them all. At the time, that's all there was. I am committed to X10 because I have so many wired in wall switches and many modules, so that's why I interface using the X10 plug in. I know nothing about Wi-Fi cameras or how they would work with X10, or would I control them independently through HS3, still using the HSTOUCH app on my smartphone? I have a Verizon FiOS Quantum Gateway Gigabit router with dual 2.4GHz/5GHz capabilities. Any help guiding me on the basics of cameras, which camera to get and how they would interface with HS3 would be humblely appreciated. Thank you.
    Last edited by Ivan8ias; July 29, 2017, 11:08 PM.

    #2
    I would suggest wired POE HD IP cameras over wireless independent from X10. The new cameras are whole little tiny computers with much built in to the OS of the camera. You can PT move the camera from the web interface, zoom an optical lens and a virtual lens.

    I would treat CCTV separately from Homeseer and utilize Homeseer to monitor and watch the CCTV software.

    The Smartphone interfaces now to new cameras are a work of art whether you connect to a DVR (software or firmware) or directly to the cameras.

    Look for a camera that provides the best for your buck. Prices have dropped considerably in the last few years.

    Rich has fixed up HSTouch server for better camera viewing. Here in HSTouch for many years just do quickie still image captures which is close but not true video.

    I am sure folks with chime in with their preferred cameras.

    Here always tinkering and went to using Grandstream camera boards inside of Speco camera cases then purchased first generation of Grandstream cameras. Today the technology is old on these cameras (still have a SIP OS on them to integrate with the Grandstream VOIP phones).
    - Pete

    Auto mator
    Homeseer 3 Pro - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e 64 bit Intel Haswell CPU 16Gb
    Homeseer Zee2 (Lite) - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e - CherryTrail x5-Z8350 BeeLink 4Gb BT3 Pro
    HS4 Lite - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenovo Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram

    HS4 Pro - V4.1.18.1 - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenova Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram
    HSTouch on Intel tabletop tablets (Jogglers) - Asus AIO - Windows 11

    X10, UPB, Zigbee, ZWave and Wifi MQTT automation-Tasmota-Espurna. OmniPro 2, Russound zoned audio, Alexa, Cheaper RFID, W800 and Home Assistant

    Comment


      #3
      Thank you Pete. That gives me a lot to mull over. Since I am a novice, I will have to research the acronyms that you used. I am still in the early stages of buying, hence I want to learn as much as I can. I appreciate your time and effort in explaining things. In my mind, I was wondering about having a camera that I could move from place to place, as needed, and use the Wi-Fi for the video and just be concerned about a convenient power source. Does this sound feasible? I just wanted a camera for the sake of having one, no particular security reasons necessarily. Thanks again.

      Ivan

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        #4
        Yes I used to play with proprietary wireless cameras in the 1990's and moved them around all of the time. Easy to do with the older SD style cameras (640X480 resolution).

        In the 2000's the small low cost cameras started to utilize regular wifi SD then went to HD.

        Today you can purchase a low cost PT HD camera for less than $50. This will allow for tinkering without the spend of a much money.

        Have a look on Ebay.
        - Pete

        Auto mator
        Homeseer 3 Pro - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e 64 bit Intel Haswell CPU 16Gb
        Homeseer Zee2 (Lite) - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e - CherryTrail x5-Z8350 BeeLink 4Gb BT3 Pro
        HS4 Lite - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenovo Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram

        HS4 Pro - V4.1.18.1 - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenova Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram
        HSTouch on Intel tabletop tablets (Jogglers) - Asus AIO - Windows 11

        X10, UPB, Zigbee, ZWave and Wifi MQTT automation-Tasmota-Espurna. OmniPro 2, Russound zoned audio, Alexa, Cheaper RFID, W800 and Home Assistant

        Comment


          #5
          Would I need another plug in for HS3 for the camera, along with my X10 plug in? Using Wi-Fi, I assume that the Wi-Fi camera would have it's own IP and interface through the network to HS3. Is that true? How would it appear in HS3 and would it show up under "Cameras" in HSTouch which is controlling X10 devices? Could I turn it on and off? Also, would it be streaming or quickie still image captures? Could I see the video on any computer? I have 5GHz Wi-Fi, but my older computer running HS3 connects at 100Mbs Ethernet. Will that be enough bandwidth for HD video? I don't need to record the video on a DVR, nor have it trigger anything. I just need it to be portable, using a separate power supply. Now, it's all new to me, so please excuse my ignorance.

          Comment


            #6
            Would I need another plug in for HS3 for the camera, along with my X10 plug in?

            no.

            Using Wi-Fi, I assume that the Wi-Fi camera would have it's own IP and interface through the network to HS3. Is that true?

            Yes.

            You would not utilize Homeseer 3 to manage your camera. You would just use it to view your cameras.

            There is a 3rd party plugin for Blue Iris (which runs in Windows).

            How would it appear in HS3 and would it show up under "Cameras" in HSTouch which is controlling X10 devices?

            Rich wrote a Foscam interface for HSTouch with autodiscover built in to the HSTouch server/client interface and you can send commands out in the HSTouch interface to move the PT Foscam cameras.

            Here the streaming piece overloaded my HSTouch screens so went back to stills captures.

            NOTE: Rich has rewritten and integrated the HSTouch server to the main HS3 program and redone the video streaming pieces. I have not tested this as I just migrated to current version of HS3 beta.

            Could I turn it on and off?

            It was built in the configuration of HSTouch; never noticed an on off switch in my HS screen designs.

            Also, would it be streaming or quickie still image captures?

            Streaming.

            Could I see the video on any computer?

            Only with HSTouch or via a browser interface or via a program like VLC.

            Note that HD bandwidth is higher than old SD bandwidth. There are online calculators for bandwidth and it relates to the pixel size, frames per second of capture, et al.

            Relating to streaming from your home to the internet ...This relates to your up and down bandwidth provided by your ISP. Typically down is the higher bandwidth and up is the lower bandwidth.
            - Pete

            Auto mator
            Homeseer 3 Pro - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e 64 bit Intel Haswell CPU 16Gb
            Homeseer Zee2 (Lite) - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e - CherryTrail x5-Z8350 BeeLink 4Gb BT3 Pro
            HS4 Lite - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenovo Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram

            HS4 Pro - V4.1.18.1 - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenova Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram
            HSTouch on Intel tabletop tablets (Jogglers) - Asus AIO - Windows 11

            X10, UPB, Zigbee, ZWave and Wifi MQTT automation-Tasmota-Espurna. OmniPro 2, Russound zoned audio, Alexa, Cheaper RFID, W800 and Home Assistant

            Comment


              #7
              Pete, thank you so much for your help. My isp is Verizon FiOS Quantum Gateway Gigabit. I get 940Mbs up and down using the ethernet connection and have 5MHz 802.11 ac on the Wi-Fi. The bottleneck is on the computer running HS3, which is 100Mbs. So what would I have to setup on HS3 for it to work with HSTouch?

              Comment


                #8
                If running HS3 on Windows you can test run HSTouch right on the same computer. HSTouch server is built in to HS3.

                100Mpb should do OK for a start.

                With the FIOS Verizon set up a long time ago went to separates not really using the FIOS box for anything but the transport to the internet.

                ( I have a la carted my home network).

                Here for HS3 Pro DIY built two machines using an iSeries Haswell mITX board. It is running Ubuntu 16.04/64 bit and Windows 7 Pro 64 bit (another Homeseer user). The Zee-2 Homeseer OS has been moved to testing on two machines. One is the Pine64 2gb computer Ubuntu 16.04 64 bit and the other is a mini cube computer Xi5a (same memory and OS).

                For the CCTV stuff here went to using Zoneminder a few years back starting with analog then SD IP and HS IP cameras.

                I currently utilize Windows embedded tabletop touch tablets to run HS3.

                You can test run HSTouch on an iOS or Android phone too.

                Best way to check is just trying it and see how it works.
                Last edited by Pete; August 2, 2017, 05:12 AM.
                - Pete

                Auto mator
                Homeseer 3 Pro - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e 64 bit Intel Haswell CPU 16Gb
                Homeseer Zee2 (Lite) - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e - CherryTrail x5-Z8350 BeeLink 4Gb BT3 Pro
                HS4 Lite - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenovo Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram

                HS4 Pro - V4.1.18.1 - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenova Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram
                HSTouch on Intel tabletop tablets (Jogglers) - Asus AIO - Windows 11

                X10, UPB, Zigbee, ZWave and Wifi MQTT automation-Tasmota-Espurna. OmniPro 2, Russound zoned audio, Alexa, Cheaper RFID, W800 and Home Assistant

                Comment


                  #9
                  If you don't absolutely need wifi/portability I'd suggest a power over ethernet (POE) camera. Essentially the power is supplied to the network cable near your router, and then when you plug the other end into the camera the power is already there, so no looking for an outlet.

                  I'm kind of a fan of hardwired cameras, it just removes so many variables and it's fast.

                  I've installed a couple of different HikVision cameras that I really like. I don't do pan/tilt cameras because the cheap ones are just that, cheap. A good wide angle lens more times than not will work better.

                  The ones I installed are similar to these:
                  https://www.amazon.com/Hikvision-DS-.../dp/B00ESK3LKY
                  https://www.amazon.com/Hikvision-DS-...M9G0M25F0YEZWC

                  On the software side, I use BlueIris which is awesome. You can download a demo for free, if you do purchase it, look for coupons online first.

                  I stopped using HSTouch eons ago because the designer user interface is.. not good. I now use ImperiHome which isn't as good, but always works and displays my cameras.

                  The BlueIris android app also gives you the option to see a notification whenever motion is detected (i'm assuming iOS does the same)

                  Hopefully this didn't cause more questions than answers

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by Aaron19953 View Post
                    If you don't absolutely need wifi/portability I'd suggest a power over ethernet (POE) camera. Essentially the power is supplied to the network cable near your router, and then when you plug the other end into the camera the power is already there, so no looking for an outlet.

                    I'm kind of a fan of hardwired cameras, it just removes so many variables and it's fast.

                    I've installed a couple of different HikVision cameras that I really like. I don't do pan/tilt cameras because the cheap ones are just that, cheap. A good wide angle lens more times than not will work better.

                    The ones I installed are similar to these:
                    https://www.amazon.com/Hikvision-DS-.../dp/B00ESK3LKY
                    https://www.amazon.com/Hikvision-DS-...M9G0M25F0YEZWC

                    On the software side, I use BlueIris which is awesome. You can download a demo for free, if you do purchase it, look for coupons online first.

                    I stopped using HSTouch eons ago because the designer user interface is.. not good. I now use ImperiHome which isn't as good, but always works and displays my cameras.

                    The BlueIris android app also gives you the option to see a notification whenever motion is detected (i'm assuming iOS does the same)

                    Hopefully this didn't cause more questions than answers
                    I'm using all the same here also. Hikvision cameras (started using the 4Mp versions now) blueiris and imperihome.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Nest Cameras

                      Can the NEST cameras be made to work with HS3 and therefore with HSTouch?
                      Sorry if this has been addressed, I could not find anything on it.

                      Thanks

                      Ed

                      Comment


                        #12

                        The cameras (for your uses) need not be ultra high-end. You might need to make out a face from 100' or a license plate in the driveway. It doesn't need to look "pretty", as long as things in the focal length of the lens are recorded clearly enough to be discernable.

                        You're better off going with several cameras at a cheaper price than one higher end camera that has blind spots. PoE (Power over Ethernet) makes install easy, and will be easier to secure. You can put them on their own subnet so they can't be accessed by someone wardriving. You would be shocked how many compromised home cameras there are.

                        Virtually every wireless camera out there can be accessed easily by anyone. It's not a flaw with the camera itself (with a few notable exceptions), but with the way most wireless routers (especially those you get from your ISP) are secured. If you use WEP encryption, I can get in with my smartphone in under 12 seconds (that's really the maximum time).

                        WPA takes about 3 minutes on average, WPA2 can be 10 minutes up to a couple of hours, but they are all crackable. The other side of this, it may not be someone hacking your wifi to access your camera, but instead intercepting packets from the camera to crack your wifi, lol. Even if you have really good encryption and a strong key, the cameras become a point of failure. The process or cracking wifi security comes down to intercepting as many packets of data as possible on that network, looking for commonalities in those packets, and using that to reverse engineer the encryption key (this is done through software, so even an idiot can download a wifi cracking app and use it). Wireless cameras kill your network security because they send a constant stream of packets at regular intervals, and the data is fairly uniform. If it's dark, there's no motion and the camera has compressed the image before sending it, it may end up sending the exact same image dozens of times in a row.

                        That means the couple of hours it would normally take is reduced to just a few minutes. This is why PoE cameras for example like Zmodo https://secretstorages.com/best-outd...stem-with-dvr/

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