Looking at eufycam advice?

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mb82

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#318324 6-Jan-2025 21:50

I currently have a Reolink Argus 3 on my garage looking down my drive. Need batterycams as no power in garage.

Motion is caught left to right if somebody walks across drive infront of house about 3 meters away but detection rate is about 10% or less for motion at 10 meters / coming up the drive (towards the camera as this is not what pir is made for). Another issue is storage is only onboard sd meaning camera and footage can be stolen.

Looking at Eufy as I don't want any monthly fees. I intend to use 1 camera or add on motion sensor as a 'trip wire' at the part of the driveway that is further away so it will trigger if somebody walks up the drive. I have read this can be set in 'automation rules' so it will trigger the camera on the garage. I can't just use another reolink argus as the 'trip wire' location will not record usable footage thus it needs to activate the garage camera.

I can get homebase 3 circa $300, 3c camera $270 (cheaper than 2c pro add on for some reason), and motion sensor for $65 = Total $635

or Homebase 2 with 2x 2c pro cameras for total $424

The first option has 4k, expandable storage and human ai detection to avoid triggers by cats etc which I don't care about. Is there any other reasons I should spend the extra $211 on the first setup?

freitasm

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#3328489 6-Jan-2025 22:16

Another option is the new Amazon Blink cameras. I am testing a couple now, will post more later.

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Gordy7

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#3328497 6-Jan-2025 22:49

A recently bought one of these - pretty good solar 2k camera - low price - easy to install:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006470108540.html

I have a bunch of Eufycam S330 - ok for security - although 4k they have heaps of image compression that make viewing fuzzy.

Also have a few Dahua HDW4631C-A - on PoE network - my best ones for continuous monitoring.

Gordy

My first ever AM radio network connection was with a 1MHz AM crystal(OA91) radio receiver.

michaelmurfy

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#3328508 7-Jan-2025 00:29

Gordy7: A recently bought one of these - pretty good solar 2k camera - low price - easy to install

The problem is these are incredibly insecure, have the potential to come with malware (of which you're adding to your network), could be part of a botnet even straight out of the box or exploited down the line or be doing other malicious things. These cameras are not designed with any security in mind and there is no way as a security professional I'll allow them on my network even if it were on my IoT network.

Just be incredibly careful. Ring, Blink, Eufy and the other big name brands do have security teams also working on their products.

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Gordy7

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#3328543 7-Jan-2025 09:58

michaelmurfy:

Gordy7: A recently bought one of these - pretty good solar 2k camera - low price - easy to install

The problem is these are incredibly insecure, have the potential to come with malware (of which you're adding to your network), could be part of a botnet even straight out of the box or exploited down the line or be doing other malicious things. These cameras are not designed with any security in mind and there is no way as a security professional I'll allow them on my network even if it were on my IoT network.

Just be incredibly careful. Ring, Blink, Eufy and the other big name brands do have security teams also working on their products.

Do you have a link to reports of security issues with Anran cameras?

Eufy cameras are not without security vulnerabilities.

https://www.theverge.com/23573362/anker-eufy-security-camera-answers-encryption.

For my own Anran camera security I have used:

Router guest WiFi network (same router but not using LAN Wifi)
A strong guest network password that is different to my LAN password.

I guess the router firewall will help with some protection on the guest network.

Gordy

My first ever AM radio network connection was with a 1MHz AM crystal(OA91) radio receiver.

xpd

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#3328545 7-Jan-2025 10:10

I get the ease of these camera systems, but I refuse to pay a monthly fee for what should be basic features anyway. NVR for me thanks....

XPD / Gavin

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#3328546 7-Jan-2025 10:14

It's less about devices that are found to have vulnerabilities that can be exploited after the fact (which is pretty much every device), and more about deliberate vulnerabilities that are designed into the software from the start.

Buying a device like this from Ali or similar, while possibly fine, does increase the risk of malware by design. That might be ok if you have a network that is configured to minimise traffic phoning home, or 3rd parties coming in remotely, but most consumers don't.

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#3328547 7-Jan-2025 10:23

We have a bunch of Wyze cams. Works well enough.

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#3328609 7-Jan-2025 11:46

xpd:
I get the ease of these camera systems, but I refuse to pay a monthly fee for what should be basic features anyway. NVR for me thanks....

I thought Eufy had no monthly fee?

freitasm

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#3328611 7-Jan-2025 11:51

Using no-brand or cheap cameras is all fun until your connection is used as part of a botnet.

It's not as much about access to your network as it is being an agent to others.

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#3328613 7-Jan-2025 11:57

xpd:

I get the ease of these camera systems, but I refuse to pay a monthly fee for what should be basic features anyway. NVR for me thanks....

No monthly fee with the Anran camera unless you subscribe to cloud storage.

Eufy cameras store images to the Home Base. No fee.

For my Dahua cameras I upload motion snapshots to Onedrive. I do use Microsoft 365 personal that provides the cloud storage.

Gordy

My first ever AM radio network connection was with a 1MHz AM crystal(OA91) radio receiver.

Gordy7

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#3328614 7-Jan-2025 12:01

freitasm: Using no-brand or cheap cameras is all fun until your connection is used as part of a botnet.

It's not as much about access to your network as it is being an agent to others.

What is a good way to detect botnet use?

Gordy

My first ever AM radio network connection was with a 1MHz AM crystal(OA91) radio receiver.

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freitasm

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#3328616 7-Jan-2025 12:04

Keep an eye on excess usage. Or run an IDS on your network.

That's why non-tech users wouldn't even notice and why these cameras are a risk.

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eonsim

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#3328619 7-Jan-2025 12:17

mb82:

I currently have a Reolink Argus 3 on my garage looking down my drive. Need batterycams as no power in garage.

Motion is caught left to right if somebody walks across drive infront of house about 3 meters away but detection rate is about 10% or less for motion at 10 meters / coming up the drive (towards the camera as this is not what pir is made for). Another issue is storage is only onboard sd meaning camera and footage can be stolen.

Looking at Eufy as I don't want any monthly fees. I intend to use 1 camera or add on motion sensor as a 'trip wire' at the part of the driveway that is further away so it will trigger if somebody walks up the drive. I have read this can be set in 'automation rules' so it will trigger the camera on the garage. I can't just use another reolink argus as the 'trip wire' location will not record usable footage thus it needs to activate the garage camera.

I can get homebase 3 circa $300, 3c camera $270 (cheaper than 2c pro add on for some reason), and motion sensor for $65 = Total $635

or Homebase 2 with 2x 2c pro cameras for total $424

The first option has 4k, expandable storage and human ai detection to avoid triggers by cats etc which I don't care about. Is there any other reasons I should spend the extra $211 on the first setup?

The major advantage for homebase 3 is the ability to add extra storage to it, should you want to store 10 years worth of video. If you don't need to store a dozen cams and multiple months/years of video then v2 is fine. The homebase 2 does a pretty decent job of detecting and identifying humans if that's all you want.

Two other comments, in my experience the realistic homebase 2 wireless range is around 20-30m (if the homebase is inside up high), also if you are planning to use Home assistant to link to the reolink cam, it's not the simplist setup to get eufycams into homeassistant.

That being said we have 4 of there cameras with Homebase 2 and they work fine.

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#3328624 7-Jan-2025 12:24

I have a Homebase 3 which I brought separately, I wanted the latest version for a longer compatibility with the newer cameras. I think there may have been a couple of features, but can’t remember what.

I then got the doorbell (E340) which I found easy to charge, the battery lasts a while and connects to the Homebase by wifi. I think the range is about 10m for day detection, but for a doorbell that is fine.

i’ve been looking at getting a couple of the Eufy cameras that have the solar panels on them. Either with a built in solar panel or with the stand-a-lone panel. I don’t want a permanent fixture and wifi means data will at least go to the homebase.

I have the doorbell connected to my Amazon echo show.

I don’t use Eufy cloud storage, so don’t have any subscription fees.

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