6 ms·

I have Pi Hole running on my LAN and it's amazing. Also helped me identify that my Amcrest PoE security cameras aggressively phone home, even when no cloud func

by rietta 7y ago

I have Pi Hole running on my LAN and it's amazing. Also helped me identify that my Amcrest PoE security cameras aggressively phone home, even when no cloud functionality is configured on them. All the reason to keep them on their own VLAN and off the Internet.

Mister_Snuggles 7y ago
Separate VLANs is the right answer. Phoning home is not an Amcrest-specific thing, all of my cameras (I have a handful of Amcrest and D-Link cameras, and one Reolink camera) try to do that. I've put them all in a separate VLAN which can't access anything, not even DNS. The NVR software lives on a different VLAN and is able to open connections to the cameras for recording. This setup works perfectly. Most importantly, the cameras all work fine even if they can't phone home.
- lifty 7y ago
  What access point do you use the offers VLAN functionality?
  - geggam 7y ago
    I built my own with OpenBSD to get this and other functionality Not to mention the cool toys you can setup to see what is happening https://undeadly.org/cgi?action=article;sid=20140228093820 https://undeadly.org/cgi?action=article;sid=20140228093820
  - tga 7y ago
    For an actual AP, check out the Unifi AP line. https://www.ui.com/unifi/unifi-ap https://www.ui.com/unifi/unifi-ap For a home wireless router, you can buy a supported device and install OpenWRT. https://openwrt.org/supported_devices https://openwrt.org/supported_devices
  - Mister_Snuggles 7y ago
    The access point I use is a UniFi AP-AC-Pro. You can create multiple wifi networks and map each one to a separate VLAN. I also use UniFi switches and a UniFi Security Gateway, but really any equivalent that supports VLANs will work. I believe I also accomplished the same thing with an Asus router/AP running DD-WRT, but that was a long time ago.
  - rietta 7y ago
    ASUS routers do too if you flash with Merlin https://www.asuswrt-merlin.net/ https://www.asuswrt-merlin.net/
- frgotmylogin 7y ago
  How do you like the D-Links? I've got two plus one of their video recorder appliances, and have found them to be completely reliable but the app is hot garbage. Any tips?
  - Mister_Snuggles 7y ago
    They're OK, but fairly old. I've switched to Amcrest as my go-to brand as I'm having a tough time figuring out if the newer D-Links will work with Blue Iris or if they will only work with D-Link's app/cloud stuff. Some of them are starting to exhibit mechanical failures - I have one pan/tilt model where the connection between the camera and the rest of the unit has broken, and I have another where the mechanical IR filter is starting to stick and sometimes fails to engage or disengage. I think these failures are primarily age-related and I expect that my Amcrest cameras will eventually start to fail in the same way. These days my main considerations are whether the camera can serve up an RTSP stream. I do all of the motion detection/notification/recording/viewing/etc via Blue Iris.

by rietta 7y ago

Mister_Snuggles 7y ago

Separate VLANs is the right answer. Phoning home is not an Amcrest-specific thing, all of my cameras (I have a handful of Amcrest and D-Link cameras, and one Reolink camera) try to do that. I've put them all in a separate VLAN which can't access anything, not even DNS. The NVR software lives on a different VLAN and is able to open connections to the cameras for recording. This setup works perfectly. Most importantly, the cameras all work fine even if they can't phone home.

lifty 7y ago
What access point do you use the offers VLAN functionality?
- geggam 7y ago
  I built my own with OpenBSD to get this and other functionality Not to mention the cool toys you can setup to see what is happening https://undeadly.org/cgi?action=article;sid=20140228093820 https://undeadly.org/cgi?action=article;sid=20140228093820
- tga 7y ago
  For an actual AP, check out the Unifi AP line. https://www.ui.com/unifi/unifi-ap https://www.ui.com/unifi/unifi-ap For a home wireless router, you can buy a supported device and install OpenWRT. https://openwrt.org/supported_devices https://openwrt.org/supported_devices
- Mister_Snuggles 7y ago
  The access point I use is a UniFi AP-AC-Pro. You can create multiple wifi networks and map each one to a separate VLAN. I also use UniFi switches and a UniFi Security Gateway, but really any equivalent that supports VLANs will work. I believe I also accomplished the same thing with an Asus router/AP running DD-WRT, but that was a long time ago.
- rietta 7y ago
  ASUS routers do too if you flash with Merlin https://www.asuswrt-merlin.net/ https://www.asuswrt-merlin.net/
frgotmylogin 7y ago
How do you like the D-Links? I've got two plus one of their video recorder appliances, and have found them to be completely reliable but the app is hot garbage. Any tips?
- Mister_Snuggles 7y ago
  They're OK, but fairly old. I've switched to Amcrest as my go-to brand as I'm having a tough time figuring out if the newer D-Links will work with Blue Iris or if they will only work with D-Link's app/cloud stuff. Some of them are starting to exhibit mechanical failures - I have one pan/tilt model where the connection between the camera and the rest of the unit has broken, and I have another where the mechanical IR filter is starting to stick and sometimes fails to engage or disengage. I think these failures are primarily age-related and I expect that my Amcrest cameras will eventually start to fail in the same way. These days my main considerations are whether the camera can serve up an RTSP stream. I do all of the motion detection/notification/recording/viewing/etc via Blue Iris.