I got started with a Reolink system for under $100. Even works on my Alexa TV. 5MP 410 cam for $42 a Netgear 8 cam POE switch $32 and a 5 pack of CAT5e cables (50 ft each) for 22.00. Recording 24/7. No need for the SD card or NVR. Using Windows 11 and a USB external hard drive I already had on hand (3 TB). It is set to make MP4 video every 30 minutes. I have already added my 2nd camera and plan on 3 more later on. The windows app allows you to view up to 36 cameras at once. I am really happy with it. Thanks for all you great videos, they do help.
Glad to see the timing worked perfectly for you. In my case, whether I'm in the market for something or not, as soon as Rob releases a video, I just hit play instantly. LOL
@@sniperoth haha same here my friend. Rob releases a video. Am I interested in the topic? Sometimes not even remotely. Am I gonna watch the video anyway? ABSOLUTELY!
Finally took your suggestion and started upgrading my whole system to Reolink. Ripped out all the bnc cables and ran all new cat6. Impressive upgrade. Also some of the features have been updated on reolink since you made this video! It's a great system.
I use Reolink for a few locations and the Unifi Protect for a few others. I have also used a Synology NAS and a few other solutions but never Blue IRIS. The reason I feel comfortable with Unifi Protect in certain locations is because when depending on cellular connectivity for most locations, I have found the reliability of the connection to be unparalalled. In a summer house, chalet, or any infrequently visited but essential location, the peace of mind of getting a dependable connection even when the connection is not very dependable and speeds and latency fluctuate massively at times is very important. When setting up a camera system for someone else, knowing that they can consistently connect to their camera and have reasonably smooth viewing at any time of day seems to provide a certain ease of mind and gives a polished feel to the whole experience. I have been shocked at times how a simple reconnect or message of "live viewing failed" on Reolink left a lot of people feeling that the system is unreliable or not secure. This is my main reason and is one that I have found brings a lot of trust in the product by friends/family. TLDR: Unifi Protect when using LTE connectivity especially when viewing on the go on an LTE mobile device.
Happy Unifi Protect user here. I agree that cameras are too expensive and no VPN connectivity is stupid. But I migrated from the Unifi Video system few years back and they kept the compatibility with my G3 cameras, offered a deep discount for the NVR pro when I traded my old Video NVR and the features on Unifi Protect are regularly updated, patched and support is good. Armed with the knowledge you kindly provide I'd probably go a different route today but I don't regret the path I took, few years back Unifi was a mile better than Foscams and other systems.
As someone who is already somewhat in the Ubiquiti ecosystem (access points and switches) I'd love to expand the system to include cameras/NVR... but you're absolutely right - their prices are obscene! If Ubiquiti ended up +$200 over blue iris... fine, that would seem fair. Maybe even +$300.
I haven't found one good reason for the extra expense and then being locked into their ecosystem. My only guess is you spent too much money starting off and can't cut your losses.
Couple of things on Ubiquiti that I wanted to point out. 1. If you setup RTSP streams from the UNVR or UDM you can view them from any software capable of streaming on that protocol (Blue Iris for example), and can be setup on any PC with the specs to run it. The video is streamed from the NVR and not the cameras 2. The newer Unifi platforms unfortunately did remove the functionality, or at least made it very difficult, to setup remote viewing. Again if you download an app capable of viewing video streams then you can view them using either port forwarding or VPN, but that's a bit of a challenging setup if you're not familiar with networking. The older NVR from a few years ago could do all three of the security/privacy connection methods you mentioned.
Updating this comment for item 2. Unifi now has a VPN client that connects back to your Unifi router from your phone it is nearly point and click, and also site to site VPN is very easy if you have two locations.
I think he said in about a week how would do a video but he will soon - the new Deepstack integration in BI is great and once BI fine tunes it - it will be amazing!
I wasted weeks of my life trying to get blue iris to do what I want. Never got smooth playback, clean two way audio, and a doorbell camera to work how I wanted. I figured my time was more valuable and went all in on the UniFi system, got everything setup and working great right away, better than I ever got with blue iris. Their doorbell is great, better than ring since it’s completely local storage no fees and better than all the crappy Hikvision knockoff doorbells that are 70%functional with blue iris.
Thanks for another quality video about a subject I am looking into. I am a knuckle-dragging mechanic and electronics baffle me. I appreciate you dumbing it down enough for me without losing the depth of the material.
Awesome video. I bought the Reolink you tested over 2 years ago and it’s been sitting in a closet while waiting for my remodel to finish. Interestingly I had started looking at network options over the past few days and specifically Unifi Dream Machine. I was beginning to think I made a mistake buying the Reolink. I’ll pull out the Reolink and blow the dust off, I’ve already run lots of ethernet cable. After that maybe I’ll buy a few Access Points and plug them into my Modem/Router while I continue to research a longer term Home Network solution.
Great review! I've had a Reolink non-AI NVR system since I opened a small business in April 2020. I've been happy with the 4 cameras and NVR. I paid like less than $250 on Amazon. I am considering adding a single AI camera to my system and already checked to see which ones are compatible.
When opting for a solution one could consider that security will be effective when it is seamlessly integrated into existing workflows and routines and when the least technically interested person can enjoy the benefits from the solution. It is much like photography - The best photo is the one that gets taken. Thanks for a great assessment!
I would love to see a video of your whole security camera system. I’ve seen the blue iris setup but I would be interested to see camera choice at each spot around your house and why.
Rob, sorry if someone else has already mentioned this, but Blue Iris 5 comes with the DeepStack integration included now - it can even boot DeepStack with Blue Iris. Super simple to get up and running - I only found it in the settings the other day. Also DeepStack is now free with no need to register to get/refresh API keys.
Great comparison video. Although I love my Unifi cameras I can see why most would'nt want to pay the high prices. Not being able to connect through a VPN is brutal and it should be offered
It just seems so wrong to me that the selling point of a UniFi network is granular control of each device in the firewall, but then with UniFi protect there is no information about what ports is using, what it’s listening for, etc. Edit: love your videos btw.
@@TheHookUp I've brought this up with them before but it take Ubiquiti what seems like a long time to make any changes. wow didn't know you watched my videos made my day :) keep up the great content
I'm a Unifi fan boy, although I'm not sure why anymore. I would say the biggest reason is the wife approval factor. She likes being able to open the app and see what is going on. I will watch your updated video about Blue iris, and I may convert. thanks for the content.
Also, that first sentence “I’m a UniFi fan boy, although I’m not sure why anymore” runs deep with me. I really hope they can pull up on the stick before completing their crash landing.
@@TheHookUp So much this! I really wish they'd just open up Unifi Protect to 3rd party cameras. Their cameras/price points just don't make sense currently.
Everyone should watch this video, especially before investing in a security system. The downside is when a person (me) has already invested too much money into a system. 😕
The reason I would choose ubiquity over the other options: I already have a dream machine pro setup and a two terabyte drive. If you don't get the 4K g4 cameras then they are under $200 a piece. I would only need two cameras so for under $400 I could have an NVR. That I think is what's appealing with the unifi protect system.
I hear ya, so you got g4 bullets? Just devil's advocate. For the price of 2 G4 bullets (4mp cameras) and a a 2tb hard drive you could have had the reolink system with 4 4K cameras and a dedicated NVR.
@@TheHookUp I gues the main reason for Ubiquity products (at least it was for me) are not the cameras or NVR itself, but the whole system including Wifi APs, UDM Pro as firewall and Protect as NVR system as well as ease of use. Camera quality for the price might be a bit disappointing since you can get better image quality for less money, but G4 Dome at 179$ works just fine :)
@@Mailm4n That's one thing this video overlooks is the central 'ecosystem' of a Dream Machine Pro or Dream Machine SE (of which I just got the latter). Being able to log in and see your network activity/stats, live cams, recordings, AP, etc. There is added value there for the cost of entry. Like another commenter said about even the least tech savvy household family user (wife, teen daughter) being able to navigate is icing. The new doorbell pro and upcoming smart lock will further add convenience for little cost.
You said that you can't go back an look at the details of the AI detection on Unifi Protect, but the web interface does allow you to "Highlight Smart Detections" when viewing a clip from the Events list (or from the dashboard thumbnails). Doesn't do much to diagnose the misses, but you can still see a box overlaid on the video to show what the positives (and false positives) are. And I'm pretty sold on the Unifi Protect system, but I'm not so blinded by fanboy-ism that I can't acknowledge its many glaring shortcomings. Features come and go with every controller and app update, fixed things break again, some obvious features are just never implemented despite persistent user demand. And I knew that's how it was going to be just coming from Ubiquiti network hardware/software. Still, I decided on Protect to replace my Blue Iris setup when it was time to update my aging cameras. I think the things it does well are done really well (and I always hated the Blue Iris iPhone app). I like that it's integrated with hardware I already ran, so I could stop running the single-purpose PC I had for Blue Iris. Unifi Protect is one of those choices that I know doesn't make a lot of objective sense, but just felt right for me at the time. I don't regret it, either...usually.
Yes the cameras are expensive but if you already have a cloud key Gen2+ or UDM Pro they are sunk cost and the quality of image (incredibly smooth) and the speed and AI accuracy (Protect is identifying things that Blue Iris is missing at least in my environment) and the fact it just works is tough to overcome... fully agree though with the cloud access issue it doesn’t even work across VLANs inside the house! Also, with the latest update I noticed the addition of a subscription menu section... so its possible Ubiquity may be doing a bit of a bait and switch with some of the new features and shift them to subscription model - time will tell.
You have to think of the bigger cost. It is not sunken cost when you can still use it for something else. 400 dollars per camera??? You would easily spend a whole lot more in cameras than just foregoing the unifi protect. I have a udm pro for the networking component. In no world, would i spend 400 bucks on one camera. You are better off investing in other system. Besides adding more functionality to your udm just means less resources for the other component especially when you have ips and ids running.
I use unifi protect just because i was already a UDM-PRO user, and the cameras prices are over top i agree, but it is so easy to setup, doesnt come with a subscription and the APP and WEB UI for me are perfect for my use case
Just the video I was looking point for. A coworker just went all ubiquiti and I was danger close to that option myself. Instead now I'm full speed ahead with blue iris.
Looking forward to the new blue iris video. I've stocked up on some amcrest cameras, repurposed an old PC for video, and purchased a license about 3 weeks ago.
I got that same reolink NVR with those same 4 cameras. For a home made solution. Coming from nothing to this, at that price it's God sent. I saw so much stuff i had no idea was going on near my property. Could be better, yes, but overall can't complain. They also reply support tickets quickly.
16:32 You can also access via a reverse proxy like NGINX, which while does require port forwarding of HTTP and/or HTTPS ports, but will act as a gatekeeper; requiring you to have the correct domain/subdomain to connect to the NVR, which you can do for free with a service like duckdns/noip or by buying a domain as cheap as around £/$10, which any wrong domain will show an error page & is especially useful if you have multiple services that you want to access outside your network but dont want to always conect to a VPN. You can also use a Unifi local account on desktop if you port-forward/use a reverse proxy
Thank you for your time and efforts on this review. It really helped me on my decision. I got the Reolink and I am really pleased with the performance and easy setup.
@@TheHookUp I'm a Protect user though, probably mainly because I just generally like Ubiquiti's hardware. My whole home network is Ubiquiti (Edgerouter, Unifi switches, various Unifi APs, Cloudkey Gen2+ etc.) so I guess I chose Protect just to have a single "eco system" of hardware.
@@haukurorsson833 My home network's also Ubiquiti. Heck, it's also what I rolled out for our company. But being great with networking doesn't automatically make them good at NVR. The P2P-only / no VPN support is just infuriating and essentially means their NVR doesn't wanna play nice with what's already within the same freakin network. So in that regard, it doesn't really matter what 'ecosystem' you have in your network, it still needs to phone outside just to work. You'd imagine that a security-focused tech company whose clientele is mostly IT professionals or enthusiasts would understand the importance of security/privacy/access control, but I guess it got outweighed by their desire to lock people in to their service (by forcing P2P).
@@haukurorsson833 I live and die by Unifi for networking with how well it works but the only reason I would consider Unifi Protect is for the doorbell. Although, at that point it isn't worth it, I may as well keep my camera that looks over the front door & generic doorbell that is DIYed to work with HA and send notifications with video.
I use a mix! I have a blue iris computer running all of my exterior cameras. I already invested in unifi for my home network and was getting a UDM Pro anyway, so I got the G4 doorbell and G3 flex cameras for watching the dogs while Im away. I like the G4 doorbell because none of my delivery people press the doorbell, so the person alerts let me know when someone was there.
My BlueIris alerts me of deliveries to :) My neighbors must think I sit by the door waiting because once they are delivered I grab them. I live on a main road and don't want to loose any more packages.
@@BellaNestCam I haven't tried out the deepstack settings yet, and I'm not likely to switch all my cameras to BI anyway but it would be a nice improvement over the motion alerts.
Blue Iris DOES work with ZeroTier. I've got that setup and it works great! I use it for BI, HA, other web based services I run locally. Oh, and I forgot to mention - it's free for up to 50 nodes.
I have tried many softwares for nvr and so far Frigate NVR with 45/50$ reolink poe cameras works flawless. Notifications are handled through home assistant
Great video as always. I'm a Reolink user. To download a specific video, i like to use directly on the NVR itself to usb or from the mobile app on my phone. I find the PC client app to be slow. However, you don't have to download an hour clip on windows, you could simply use the cut tool with the bracket (mark in & out) to select a specific event to download just like the NVR app.
Great review as always Rob, thanks for this I’ll keep an eye out for the BI review/setup Been wanting to improve my current BI installation especially now with the new version with AI
I have that Reolink on my summer cottage with UPS. Even now and then there are power outages lasting from few seconds to several hours and because Reolink's power consumption is minimal, systems stays alive with cheap small UPS (with added extra battery) without issues. That would not happen with i7-based PC :)
Great video, and honest opinion! 1 thing I was missing in the review is the (mobile) notifications. From my point of view, this would be essential to get instant notification when somebody hanging around my house. I like the VPN solution, but how the notifications can work with it? Do you need your mobile connected to the VPN all the time?
I recently switched from trying to get a good surveillance system running on my Linux server, to a NAS running my apps, and the Reolink for cameras. I haven’t had any misses from my cameras since I tweaked the motion sensitivity and trigger zones and added blocked out areas where I didn’t want the AI to read (it doesn’t use the motion mask to filter AI recognitions for some reason). I am super happy with my set up now. I love tinkering, but I have other projects I am prioritising over these things which I now consider mission critical
This isn't Windows ME anymore. I use a Windows machine for my home automation system (Charmed Quark Controller), and my TV DVR system (SageTV). I run a second machine for my CCTV system (BlueIris). These machines run 24/7/365. I haven't had any of these Windows machines crash on me in years. Seriously, it's probably been a decade since I had one of these Windows machines bluescreen on me.
@@BrianSimmons bluescreening isn't the issue. it's all the forced updates, reboots, and freezes. yes, i've disabled all the updates. the windows solution is still crap.
Another point in favor of Blue Iris would be its ability to connect to an MQTT broker in order to be integrated into a home automation server such as openhab or home assistant and start a series of routines based on their surveys.
And MQTT is just one method of integration with home automation. I use Hubitat and don't even need to use MQTT to change BI profiles, trigger cameras, and have motion events trigger actions in Hubitat.
Just JYI there is an integration in HA for Unifi - a bit tricky to install but then you have all events to triggers your automation, including AI detection
MQTT is quickly becoming my _ONLY_ decision point, and mostly from a "works offline" reasoning. From DIY Raspberry Pi HVAC monitor/controllers to reminders to put the car in the garage to looking for the mail truck at the street mailbox. User-focused companies like Blue Iris and comparison videos like this are helping me stay in control, and within budget.
I think my usage case came down to I already had a UDM Pro, a 2 TB HDD laying around and possibly a little laziness :). I only have a G3 Instant ($30) currently and obviously doesn't do smart detections, but it still gives motion alerts, which is a start. Something to grow from at least. Having said that, one thing missed on the G4 Pro is it does offer a 3x optical zoom, which can be handy if you need focus on something further way from the house. If my UDM Pro didn't have an NVR? I'd consider Blue Iris. I already went down the HA route due to yourself and a few other similar channels showing the benefits. Boy, what a time sink that is! Hah
I wish you made an updated version video including Synology dva3221 nvr and a highend Hikvision/Dahua camera to compare how good their AI has gotten over the years
I would love to see you test the frigate addon for home assistant. It's supposed to be an NVR system tightly integrated with a home assistant with object detection.
I am buying a Google Corral so I can test out frigate. Not sure I like all the YAML stuff without a gui for configuration. I currently run BI in a VM on my Xpenology server, but that is a lot of overhead (Windows). Hopefully, Frigate will give me similar results using less resources.
Maybe next time you can also look at Frigate. I run it as addon to Home Assistant, and while it doesnt have all the bells and whistles of BI, and its still a little rough around the edges, Im slowly fading out Blue Iris in favor of Frigate. You can run it on a Pi (using a Coral accelerator ideally) or anything that runs your HA and its AI is superb. It also ties in to HA much easier and better. Oh and its free. And open source.
I think you have been really harsh on Ubiquiti. I completely agree that their cameras are super over priced. But to be fair, 4K, 2k or even 1080 is not the only measure. Why do you need 4k for a surveillance camera? I chose ubiquiti because: - I was rebuilding my home network and the overall cost with router and access points was cheaper (8 cameras) - Their G3 flex camera is great for the $70 price (1080 with good lens specs that beat other 2k cameras IMO in daylight and night vision) - Data is stored locally without monthly fees - Flexibility: Later I added two of the super cheap wireless G3 instant cameras for kids rooms. Planning to add thr doorbell later - AI is useless IMO. Why is all that hype? Even the best one has false positives. Instead I set zones with different sensitivity and Protect timelapse feature is amazing to detect times of activity quickly - HA can do some AI on top of Protect with some tweaking for any automation purposes I know security was an issue, but with 2FA and no need to establish VPN each time I want to access the cameras is great. It even accesses them locally super fast on the phone when I am at home. I didn’t like BlueIris at all. But thanks for the video. Reolink seems impressive for the price
@@TheHookUp I love it.. I think ur smart to skip it.. I love this roundup, I need to give Reolink a try, what do u thing about it for commercial installs.
Thank you for putting together this unbiased analysis of these camera systems. I'm planning on using the Reolink RLK16-820D8-A (on order after watching your videos) with Blue Iris recording and AI detection. Best of both worlds (1st/2nd place in most categories).
@@TheHookUp I'll see if there is still an issue with low res appearing on BI5 and let you know. Either way, it sounds like BI5 is going to be my best option with AI motion tracking, and if the problem persists with the RTSP stream quality, I might have to utilize the Reolink itself to pull the higher quality video. 👍
@@TheHookUp Just wanted to give you an update: While I can't speak of the 810 cameras, the 820s don't seem to play nicely with BI5. Even with a high-end PC and only running 4 streams, the streams will cut out abruptly or dance around trading places with other streams wildly. Video is also heavily pixelated. Unfortunately, I'll have no choice but to use Reo's app until better integration exists with the superior BI5.
@@Aurleis You need to follow the steps in this video EXACTLY for them to work (yes, you must delete and re-add the camera using ONVIF): th-cam.com/video/cuLpDo-TVK8/w-d-xo.html
@@TheHookUp Thank you. I made the mistake of just checking my firmware status on the Reolink NVR and it said it was up to date (but the version number told a different story). So, when I installed the cameras they auto added and the only main device is the "NVR" with the cameras listed below it. This means that the only way I could force an update to the RLC820A cameras was by downloading the latest firmware (from your Reo-link), and putting it on an NTFS flashed USB-drive. Done. The other two streams presently installed are a single Duo PoE 4mp, but since that was giving me the least of issues, I wasn't worried. After installing the firmware, I moved back to my PC and redid the cameras to be ONVIF protocol and not RTSP. For the Duo PoE, I kept that at h264 (since it's not 4k) and the other two RLC820A the main stream was h265. That took care of the pixelation. The cameras still will go offline and sometimes dance around the stream (albeit far less frequently than before). I did adjust the frame rate of the cameras in BI5 to be slightly than what was set on my NVR, but this didn't seem to make much of a change. It's possible that I may need a dedicated system (specs per an early video... or perhaps this one) running only BI5 and nothing else in the background to remedy this issue completely. I have since set up BI5 on my HA through MQTT and am quite happy with it. Thank you again for your help, it made a substantial difference :)
Security..... Chinese cameras are notorious for "phoning home". And Cameras are also notorious for being hacked. Maybe it is worth mentioning the need for shutting down unsecure protocols at the router? It would be nice to have a description of how to set up a VLAN and manage camera viewing via VPN to a NAS?
I think the "phoning home" stuff is mostly misunderstanding. I've done a fair amount of traffic analysis on NVRs and it's mostly P2P and NTP stuff, nothing malicious. That being said, I block all cameras and NVRs from the internet and only use them with VPN, part 3 of my most recent UniFi series shows vpn setup on unifi: th-cam.com/video/R6ohtF9AXkE/w-d-xo.html
@@TheHookUp The UniFi vpn setup was helpful.... but I find it interesting that you normally mention that you like the Blue-Iris configuration (with a NAS?). That is perhaps the most complex (or should I say: least plug-n-play) configuration..... Hence I think one of your excellent dissertations on internet connectivity security, a comparison of the direct connections to the internet, vice VPN to a secure NAS buried in VLAN for a homeowner would be fascinating.... :-) (Of course I'm a nerd and this stuff appeals). You are doing an outstanding job BTW. Nice videos you produce. I must say that your short message on internet hygiene within this video was really great. I think your warnings are extremely important.... so much so that I'm on pins and needles in anticipation of your next Blue Iris tutorial... :-)....(I need to admit to being way outdated on home security cameras because I bought a couple of Axis cameras over a decade ago and I'm only currently being forced into the new age because one of those cameras just died on me.... I'm kinda interested in the AI technologies you mention, but I'm worried about Blue Iris being able to exploit the person/car recognition possibilities with some of the newer (Reolink? Amcrest?) cameras.... when you do the Blue Iris tutorial next week will you include how to connect to these advanced features? Thanks again.
I'm using a complete Unifi solution currently and have been pretty happy with it until I "upgraded" to the UDM Pro. While I love the idea of the Pro it has been problematic from day one. It is getting better and stable now, but was a long road to get here. I love the Protect and smart detection as well as the ability to use some of the new hardware they have introduced that integrates with Protect. Smart Flood lights, Smart Sensors and the door bell all completely integrated are awesome. My issues with Unifi.... software releases have been less than stable... proprietary hardware... and obviously the Whistleblower: Ubiquiti Breach that even has me concerned that my current investment in Unifi could be in jeopardy if they don't find a way to pull out of this.
Great video with lot of work you put into I believe. Maybe you could consider power consumption next time as well since power prices keep going up. Keep on with the good stuff!
In the upcoming BI setup video, can you maybe go over improving motion detection in BI, specifically with using the low res feed. I find I have to really go out of my way to trigger mine. Meanwhile if I do motion on on the high-res feed it's great.
Great video!! There's just one thing I don't understand about any of these systems: If someone breaks in to my home and steals the NVR (which the probably will as they all look expensive) what am I left with? An automatic email of the event? Can I setup some sort of upload to a cloud service of my choice so that when/if the intruder steals the NVR I still have pictures/video of it?
I'm not sure on if this will be a feature in the future, but for me I plan on using my v2 Wyze cam I already have and putting it in the network closet. That way as least something gets saved and I don't have to worry too much about it missing something due its "cool down" since the spot it'll be in won't have any traffic and the door will be closed. Also, 12 second uploads should be enough...? I guess I'll find out.
Great video (as always) and holy crap...no VPN connection for Unifi Protect? Mind-blowing. They've been getting burned a lot lately, especially with their forced use of cloud-based access. BTW great catch because if I was setting this up I would have never have thought about checking to see if Protect offered VPN support. Crazy!
Just wanted to add to the port forward/P2p/VPN segment that Unifi recently added the ability to view your system as a local connection without having to use their service. I haven't tried a VPN connection as of yet since my setup has to sit behind another router until I move in my new house, but I plan on trying that out to see if it works. Hope that adds some value for someone!
There are two reasons why I use Unifi Protect. My network runs on Unifi, so I already have DMP and POE switch, so all it costs me is a price of a harddrive + cameras. Second reason is Unifi G3 Instant. Right now, G3 Instant is by far the best WiFi camera on the market, miles ahead of anything else available within the price range. All my indoor cameras (all G3 instant) are running on Protect. My 3 outdoor cameras are running on BI, and I have to say, I absolute hate BI's UI. From what I've seen, it's the worst in the the class, and is designed specifically for surveillance offices, i.e. somebody sitting infront of a bunch of monitors and watching them all the time. This does not at all align with my usage patterns, and I had to do a lot of tweaking to get notifications and clips extract and shared through HomeAssistant, just so I would never have to open BI at all.
@@TheHookUp Absolutely. My computer that runs BI is rack mounted in a cabinet, and I rarely use remote desktop. Web interface is better then Windows UI, but it still a UI that was designed in the last century, mostly for watching your cameras in realtime. No easy way to find clips, timeline is terrible, responsive design for mobile is done in a horrible way. No way to enable notifications through web workers... If not for BI's ability to pre-record streams (prepend block of time to triggered event) and easily accessible way of triggering events remotely, I would've switched a long time ago to something else. Unfortunately, majority of other computer based NVR systems are not much better... All it takes is comparing BI's UI to the UI of any of the modern cloud-based cameras (Ring, Wyze, etc.) and you can see that the UI was designed for a completely different purpose.
FWIW, at least these days, you can run Unifi Protect on their CloudKey if you want (essentially just the protect server + HDD). You can also move up to a larger HDD array (e.g. UNVR, 4 disk bays) and etc. That said, it’s still obviously not cheap; just wanted to add that. 😊
Thanks for the video. Could you maybe consider a video on creating your own secure VPN connection to control HA etc? Afaik all of your VPN guides are ubquiti specific? Thanks
thanks for the video .... my choice is blue iris... waiting for your next video ...... In that video please include where to purchase what to purchase (a lot of things are there like [Extended Support and Maintenance , Priority Support and Maintenance, Full Version, LE version] I don't know what is the use of these things, and what is different between them )
In your next video can you please touch on running the CAT cables? Cutting holes in joists and soffits seems like a risk. Is there an easy way to do it? Also, does BlueIris have License Plate Recognition ? I would love this feature, but there are only a few companies that offer it at very high price points.
On the Reolink NVR, can one access each camera via RTSP for use in Home Assistant? Do IP addresses get assigned via your router's DHCP server or does the NVR keep the cameras within a "closed network' with the only IP accessible being the NVR's IP? I recall that you did an in-depth review where the Reolink camera came up tops over the Annke. With that in mind, the Reolink is a very attractive NVR option although the power user in me will side with the Reolink cameras and Blue Iris as the NVR. :) Great video and looking forward to the set up guide for Blue Iris.
Great video... one question... you mentioned opening ports is not a good idea..but doesn't VPN require port 1194 to be forwarded in order for it to work?
Rob, certain equipment by Annke (the brand used in the Blue Iris implantation in this video) is subject to the NDAA “ban.” I could not find that you have previously addressed the implications of NDAA compliance on home users (if any) or potential FCC action to revoke existing approvals. Can the economic risk of potentially-decertified equipment be mitigated by using ONVIF-compliant cameras not tied to a certain NVR? Can the (purported) security risks be mitigated by keeping the cameras on a separate network or VLAN? Any other thoughts on this topic? I am working on a from-scratch residential camera implementation with an emphasis on live view, and I’m glad to have found your channel. After watching a few of your videos, I’m now thinking of implementing Blue Iris on my existing home server. Thanks for the work you’re doing.
The NDAA ban only applies to government agencies. The ban includes Hikvision and Dahua, which are the OEM suppliers for about 80% of other camera brands like Amcrest, Lorex, Annke, and many many more. It has almost no impact on residential installs. No matter which cameras you use, the best practice is to put them on a VLAN and block all outbound traffic from them.
I've gone with Unifi. Spent a lot of time trying to justify the extra expense vs BlueIris/DeepStack or Reolink. For me I already have all the Unifi bits, so it's just much easier to set up. I can plug and play. At the moment, only need one camera, so got a G4 Pro. just don't have time to setup BlueIris, which would probably be my alternative. I look forward to your video on that but just looked too daunting to me (+ I'd need new hardware for it)
Another epic video! Like Christmas every time I get the video notification. Do you plan on doing a video/ giving recommendations on best License Plate Recognition cameras and setup (especially at night W/ headlight glare)? Does Blue iris have license plate recognition?
All the ALPR stuff that I've seen is subscription based, I have a camera set up to view license plates right now, but I haven't actually gone through with setting up ALPR.
@@TheHookUp Great! Would love to know which Cameras you recommend for reading license plates and specific setup settings needed. Thanks for getting back to me Rob!
I got started with a Reolink system for under $100. Even works on my Alexa TV. 5MP 410 cam for $42 a Netgear 8 cam POE switch $32 and a 5 pack of CAT5e cables (50 ft each) for 22.00. Recording 24/7. No need for the SD card or NVR. Using Windows 11 and a USB external hard drive I already had on hand (3 TB). It is set to make MP4 video every 30 minutes. I have already added my 2nd camera and plan on 3 more later on. The windows app allows you to view up to 36 cameras at once. I am really happy with it.
Thanks for all you great videos, they do help.
I really like Blue Iris. We've used it for years. Their support is great. It works well with every camera we've tried.
On the market for POE cameras that can successfully detect person/vehicles and Rob releases this video *hits play instantly
My dad just moved into a new house, sent this to him right away as he was asking me for recommendations. Rob coming in clutch
Right? We are closing on a new house next month and I need to start getting the cameras and stuff ordered.
Glad to see the timing worked perfectly for you. In my case, whether I'm in the market for something or not, as soon as Rob releases a video, I just hit play instantly. LOL
@@sniperoth haha same here my friend. Rob releases a video. Am I interested in the topic? Sometimes not even remotely. Am I gonna watch the video anyway? ABSOLUTELY!
@stevez @victor @pkt @trevor I appreciate you guys.
Finally took your suggestion and started upgrading my whole system to Reolink. Ripped out all the bnc cables and ran all new cat6. Impressive upgrade. Also some of the features have been updated on reolink since you made this video! It's a great system.
I use Reolink for a few locations and the Unifi Protect for a few others. I have also used a Synology NAS and a few other solutions but never Blue IRIS. The reason I feel comfortable with Unifi Protect in certain locations is because when depending on cellular connectivity for most locations, I have found the reliability of the connection to be unparalalled. In a summer house, chalet, or any infrequently visited but essential location, the peace of mind of getting a dependable connection even when the connection is not very dependable and speeds and latency fluctuate massively at times is very important. When setting up a camera system for someone else, knowing that they can consistently connect to their camera and have reasonably smooth viewing at any time of day seems to provide a certain ease of mind and gives a polished feel to the whole experience. I have been shocked at times how a simple reconnect or message of "live viewing failed" on Reolink left a lot of people feeling that the system is unreliable or not secure. This is my main reason and is one that I have found brings a lot of trust in the product by friends/family.
TLDR: Unifi Protect when using LTE connectivity especially when viewing on the go on an LTE mobile device.
Happy Unifi Protect user here. I agree that cameras are too expensive and no VPN connectivity is stupid. But I migrated from the Unifi Video system few years back and they kept the compatibility with my G3 cameras, offered a deep discount for the NVR pro when I traded my old Video NVR and the features on Unifi Protect are regularly updated, patched and support is good. Armed with the knowledge you kindly provide I'd probably go a different route today but I don't regret the path I took, few years back Unifi was a mile better than Foscams and other systems.
As someone who is already somewhat in the Ubiquiti ecosystem (access points and switches) I'd love to expand the system to include cameras/NVR... but you're absolutely right - their prices are obscene! If Ubiquiti ended up +$200 over blue iris... fine, that would seem fair. Maybe even +$300.
I haven't found one good reason for the extra expense and then being locked into their ecosystem. My only guess is you spent too much money starting off and can't cut your losses.
looking forward to view your DeepStack/Blue Iris video. Thanks Rob!
Your scientific approach to the relevant topics you hit on this channel is admirable and appreciated 🙌🏼
Researching home surveillance, again... and again, your videos cannot be beat! Thanks for all the incredibly useful info.
I'm looking forward to the setup video! Thanks for all of the work you do!
Couple of things on Ubiquiti that I wanted to point out.
1. If you setup RTSP streams from the UNVR or UDM you can view them from any software capable of streaming on that protocol (Blue Iris for example), and can be setup on any PC with the specs to run it. The video is streamed from the NVR and not the cameras
2. The newer Unifi platforms unfortunately did remove the functionality, or at least made it very difficult, to setup remote viewing. Again if you download an app capable of viewing video streams then you can view them using either port forwarding or VPN, but that's a bit of a challenging setup if you're not familiar with networking. The older NVR from a few years ago could do all three of the security/privacy connection methods you mentioned.
Updating this comment for item 2.
Unifi now has a VPN client that connects back to your Unifi router from your phone it is nearly point and click, and also site to site VPN is very easy if you have two locations.
I noticed that Blueiris integrated Deepstack and wondered when you'd do a video on that. Now I know!
I think he said in about a week how would do a video but he will soon - the new Deepstack integration in BI is great and once BI fine tunes it - it will be amazing!
th-cam.com/video/nLH9GEcdb9Y/w-d-xo.html
I wasted weeks of my life trying to get blue iris to do what I want. Never got smooth playback, clean two way audio, and a doorbell camera to work how I wanted. I figured my time was more valuable and went all in on the UniFi system, got everything setup and working great right away, better than I ever got with blue iris. Their doorbell is great, better than ring since it’s completely local storage no fees and better than all the crappy Hikvision knockoff doorbells that are 70%functional with blue iris.
Did you have the hardware to support it?
Should have just hired someone who knew what they were doing
Thanks for another quality video about a subject I am looking into. I am a knuckle-dragging mechanic and electronics baffle me. I appreciate you dumbing it down enough for me without losing the depth of the material.
Mechanics are wizards in their own right, glad this helped.
Fantastic content. Perfect timing as well. Setting up a blue iris server this week.
Got the feeling that you were getting bored of walking in front of Cameras in this one Rob, but it's bit more entertaining ;)
Awesome video. I bought the Reolink you tested over 2 years ago and it’s been sitting in a closet while waiting for my remodel to finish. Interestingly I had started looking at network options over the past few days and specifically Unifi Dream Machine. I was beginning to think I made a mistake buying the Reolink. I’ll pull out the Reolink and blow the dust off, I’ve already run lots of ethernet cable. After that maybe I’ll buy a few Access Points and plug them into my Modem/Router while I continue to research a longer term Home Network solution.
Great review! I've had a Reolink non-AI NVR system since I opened a small business in April 2020. I've been happy with the 4 cameras and NVR. I paid like less than $250 on Amazon. I am considering adding a single AI camera to my system and already checked to see which ones are compatible.
When opting for a solution one could consider that security will be effective when it is seamlessly integrated into existing workflows and routines and when the least technically interested person can enjoy the benefits from the solution. It is much like photography - The best photo is the one that gets taken.
Thanks for a great assessment!
"The best photo is the one that gets taken." Excellent point!
Love your videos. NO FILLER.
Less filler, less stuff to edit :)
I would love to see a video of your whole security camera system. I’ve seen the blue iris setup but I would be interested to see camera choice at each spot around your house and why.
Rob, sorry if someone else has already mentioned this, but Blue Iris 5 comes with the DeepStack integration included now - it can even boot DeepStack with Blue Iris. Super simple to get up and running - I only found it in the settings the other day. Also DeepStack is now free with no need to register to get/refresh API keys.
Yeah, that was definitely in the video.
Great comparison video. Although I love my Unifi cameras I can see why most would'nt want to pay the high prices. Not being able to connect through a VPN is brutal and it should be offered
It just seems so wrong to me that the selling point of a UniFi network is granular control of each device in the firewall, but then with UniFi protect there is no information about what ports is using, what it’s listening for, etc.
Edit: love your videos btw.
@@TheHookUp I've brought this up with them before but it take Ubiquiti what seems like a long time to make any changes.
wow didn't know you watched my videos made my day :) keep up the great content
I'm a Unifi fan boy, although I'm not sure why anymore. I would say the biggest reason is the wife approval factor. She likes being able to open the app and see what is going on. I will watch your updated video about Blue iris, and I may convert. thanks for the content.
My wife approves the blue iris app and uses it all the time.
Also, that first sentence “I’m a UniFi fan boy, although I’m not sure why anymore” runs deep with me. I really hope they can pull up on the stick before completing their crash landing.
@@TheHookUp So much this! I really wish they'd just open up Unifi Protect to 3rd party cameras. Their cameras/price points just don't make sense currently.
@@TheOgres3DForge and their availability sucks! hard to beat 2-day prime shipping on Reolink 810a's & 1220a's
@@TheOgres3DForge I’ve been saying this forever, even If they change a license per cam.
Everyone should watch this video, especially before investing in a security system. The downside is when a person (me) has already invested too much money into a system. 😕
The reason I would choose ubiquity over the other options: I already have a dream machine pro setup and a two terabyte drive. If you don't get the 4K g4 cameras then they are under $200 a piece. I would only need two cameras so for under $400 I could have an NVR. That I think is what's appealing with the unifi protect system.
I hear ya, so you got g4 bullets? Just devil's advocate. For the price of 2 G4 bullets (4mp cameras) and a a 2tb hard drive you could have had the reolink system with 4 4K cameras and a dedicated NVR.
@@TheHookUp I gues the main reason for Ubiquity products (at least it was for me) are not the cameras or NVR itself, but the whole system including Wifi APs, UDM Pro as firewall and Protect as NVR system as well as ease of use. Camera quality for the price might be a bit disappointing since you can get better image quality for less money, but G4 Dome at 179$ works just fine :)
@@Mailm4n That's one thing this video overlooks is the central 'ecosystem' of a Dream Machine Pro or Dream Machine SE (of which I just got the latter). Being able to log in and see your network activity/stats, live cams, recordings, AP, etc. There is added value there for the cost of entry. Like another commenter said about even the least tech savvy household family user (wife, teen daughter) being able to navigate is icing. The new doorbell pro and upcoming smart lock will further add convenience for little cost.
Thank you for shining a light on UI Protect's atrocious lack of local access. Not that UI actually will listen, but more noise is better than none.
I think they did listen because they recently add local connections. I haven't been able to test a VPN connection yet but I plan too soon.
@@jacobrohr Thanks for the heads up. I'll have to check as soon as I get home.
You said that you can't go back an look at the details of the AI detection on Unifi Protect, but the web interface does allow you to "Highlight Smart Detections" when viewing a clip from the Events list (or from the dashboard thumbnails). Doesn't do much to diagnose the misses, but you can still see a box overlaid on the video to show what the positives (and false positives) are.
And I'm pretty sold on the Unifi Protect system, but I'm not so blinded by fanboy-ism that I can't acknowledge its many glaring shortcomings. Features come and go with every controller and app update, fixed things break again, some obvious features are just never implemented despite persistent user demand. And I knew that's how it was going to be just coming from Ubiquiti network hardware/software. Still, I decided on Protect to replace my Blue Iris setup when it was time to update my aging cameras. I think the things it does well are done really well (and I always hated the Blue Iris iPhone app). I like that it's integrated with hardware I already ran, so I could stop running the single-purpose PC I had for Blue Iris.
Unifi Protect is one of those choices that I know doesn't make a lot of objective sense, but just felt right for me at the time. I don't regret it, either...usually.
Yes the cameras are expensive but if you already have a cloud key Gen2+ or UDM Pro they are sunk cost and the quality of image (incredibly smooth) and the speed and AI accuracy (Protect is identifying things that Blue Iris is missing at least in my environment) and the fact it just works is tough to overcome... fully agree though with the cloud access issue it doesn’t even work across VLANs inside the house! Also, with the latest update I noticed the addition of a subscription menu section... so its possible Ubiquity may be doing a bit of a bait and switch with some of the new features and shift them to subscription model - time will tell.
You have to think of the bigger cost. It is not sunken cost when you can still use it for something else. 400 dollars per camera??? You would easily spend a whole lot more in cameras than just foregoing the unifi protect. I have a udm pro for the networking component. In no world, would i spend 400 bucks on one camera. You are better off investing in other system. Besides adding more functionality to your udm just means less resources for the other component especially when you have ips and ids running.
7:25 I have the ACTUAL v2.1 NVR Camera System. Zero misses. Couldn't be happier! 😃
I use unifi protect just because i was already a UDM-PRO user, and the cameras prices are over top i agree, but it is so easy to setup, doesnt come with a subscription and the APP and WEB UI for me are perfect for my use case
Just the video I was looking point for. A coworker just went all ubiquiti and I was danger close to that option myself. Instead now I'm full speed ahead with blue iris.
Looking forward to the new blue iris video. I've stocked up on some amcrest cameras, repurposed an old PC for video, and purchased a license about 3 weeks ago.
I really appreciate the justification for why to get a 6th+ gen intel processor.
I got that same reolink NVR with those same 4 cameras. For a home made solution. Coming from nothing to this, at that price it's God sent. I saw so much stuff i had no idea was going on near my property. Could be better, yes, but overall can't complain. They also reply support tickets quickly.
16:32 You can also access via a reverse proxy like NGINX, which while does require port forwarding of HTTP and/or HTTPS ports, but will act as a gatekeeper; requiring you to have the correct domain/subdomain to connect to the NVR, which you can do for free with a service like duckdns/noip or by buying a domain as cheap as around £/$10, which any wrong domain will show an error page & is especially useful if you have multiple services that you want to access outside your network but dont want to always conect to a VPN.
You can also use a Unifi local account on desktop if you port-forward/use a reverse proxy
Your videos are so freaking great, thanks a lot.
Thanks!
Thanks again for the fantastic review and info. Because of you I am very happy with my Blue Iris system. Next up for me ... AI integration.
Thank you for your time and efforts on this review. It really helped me on my decision. I got the Reolink and I am really pleased with the performance and easy setup.
That single dislike must be from Ubiquiti's CEO :)
Haha, I just said the same thing.
@@TheHookUp I'm a Protect user though, probably mainly because I just generally like Ubiquiti's hardware. My whole home network is Ubiquiti (Edgerouter, Unifi switches, various Unifi APs, Cloudkey Gen2+ etc.) so I guess I chose Protect just to have a single "eco system" of hardware.
@@haukurorsson833 My home network's also Ubiquiti. Heck, it's also what I rolled out for our company. But being great with networking doesn't automatically make them good at NVR. The P2P-only / no VPN support is just infuriating and essentially means their NVR doesn't wanna play nice with what's already within the same freakin network. So in that regard, it doesn't really matter what 'ecosystem' you have in your network, it still needs to phone outside just to work. You'd imagine that a security-focused tech company whose clientele is mostly IT professionals or enthusiasts would understand the importance of security/privacy/access control, but I guess it got outweighed by their desire to lock people in to their service (by forcing P2P).
@@haukurorsson833 I live and die by Unifi for networking with how well it works but the only reason I would consider Unifi Protect is for the doorbell. Although, at that point it isn't worth it, I may as well keep my camera that looks over the front door & generic doorbell that is DIYed to work with HA and send notifications with video.
@@SamPhoenix_ Yeah I actually plan on adding the doorbell myself, if it's ever in stock again ....
I use a mix! I have a blue iris computer running all of my exterior cameras. I already invested in unifi for my home network and was getting a UDM Pro anyway, so I got the G4 doorbell and G3 flex cameras for watching the dogs while Im away. I like the G4 doorbell because none of my delivery people press the doorbell, so the person alerts let me know when someone was there.
My BlueIris alerts me of deliveries to :) My neighbors must think I sit by the door waiting because once they are delivered I grab them. I live on a main road and don't want to loose any more packages.
@@BellaNestCam I haven't tried out the deepstack settings yet, and I'm not likely to switch all my cameras to BI anyway but it would be a nice improvement over the motion alerts.
Been happy with BI for many years now. I do use ubiquiti but see no reason to switch with the high price tag.
Blue Iris DOES work with ZeroTier. I've got that setup and it works great! I use it for BI, HA, other web based services I run locally. Oh, and I forgot to mention - it's free for up to 50 nodes.
I have tried many softwares for nvr and so far Frigate NVR with 45/50$ reolink poe cameras works flawless. Notifications are handled through home assistant
On the next episode add the Lorex Fusion system from Costco or from Lorex it self.
Wonder how their AI compares.
Great video as always. I'm a Reolink user. To download a specific video, i like to use directly on the NVR itself to usb or from the mobile app on my phone. I find the PC client app to be slow. However, you don't have to download an hour clip on windows, you could simply use the cut tool with the bracket (mark in & out) to select a specific event to download just like the NVR app.
Great review as always Rob, thanks for this
I’ll keep an eye out for the BI review/setup
Been wanting to improve my current BI installation especially now with the new version with AI
I have that Reolink on my summer cottage with UPS. Even now and then there are power outages lasting from few seconds to several hours and because Reolink's power consumption is minimal, systems stays alive with cheap small UPS (with added extra battery) without issues. That would not happen with i7-based PC :)
Great video, and honest opinion!
1 thing I was missing in the review is the (mobile) notifications. From my point of view, this would be essential to get instant notification when somebody hanging around my house. I like the VPN solution, but how the notifications can work with it? Do you need your mobile connected to the VPN all the time?
Appreciate your effort into making this, cheers!
I recently switched from trying to get a good surveillance system running on my Linux server, to a NAS running my apps, and the Reolink for cameras. I haven’t had any misses from my cameras since I tweaked the motion sensitivity and trigger zones and added blocked out areas where I didn’t want the AI to read (it doesn’t use the motion mask to filter AI recognitions for some reason). I am super happy with my set up now. I love tinkering, but I have other projects I am prioritising over these things which I now consider mission critical
I love my Blue Iris system, and am not tempted to go to a Reolink NVR, but I agree that it is the right choice for the vast majority of people.
I love Frigate NVR software for camera AI
There's nothing I want to integrate my surveillance system into more than the instability and overhead of Windows.
The lack of Linux support is unfortunate
This isn't Windows ME anymore. I use a Windows machine for my home automation system (Charmed Quark Controller), and my TV DVR system (SageTV). I run a second machine for my CCTV system (BlueIris). These machines run 24/7/365. I haven't had any of these Windows machines crash on me in years. Seriously, it's probably been a decade since I had one of these Windows machines bluescreen on me.
@@BrianSimmons bluescreening isn't the issue. it's all the forced updates, reboots, and freezes. yes, i've disabled all the updates. the windows solution is still crap.
Another point in favor of Blue Iris would be its ability to connect to an MQTT broker in order to be integrated into a home automation server such as openhab or home assistant and start a series of routines based on their surveys.
And MQTT is just one method of integration with home automation. I use Hubitat and don't even need to use MQTT to change BI profiles, trigger cameras, and have motion events trigger actions in Hubitat.
Just JYI there is an integration in HA for Unifi - a bit tricky to install but then you have all events to triggers your automation, including AI detection
MQTT is quickly becoming my _ONLY_ decision point, and mostly from a "works offline" reasoning. From DIY Raspberry Pi HVAC monitor/controllers to reminders to put the car in the garage to looking for the mail truck at the street mailbox. User-focused companies like Blue Iris and comparison videos like this are helping me stay in control, and within budget.
As Great as always from this Guy. Thanks
I think my usage case came down to I already had a UDM Pro, a 2 TB HDD laying around and possibly a little laziness :). I only have a G3 Instant ($30) currently and obviously doesn't do smart detections, but it still gives motion alerts, which is a start. Something to grow from at least.
Having said that, one thing missed on the G4 Pro is it does offer a 3x optical zoom, which can be handy if you need focus on something further way from the house.
If my UDM Pro didn't have an NVR? I'd consider Blue Iris. I already went down the HA route due to yourself and a few other similar channels showing the benefits. Boy, what a time sink that is! Hah
I think deploying a few g3 instant is actually the best use case for UniFi protect.
I wish you made an updated version video including Synology dva3221 nvr and a highend Hikvision/Dahua camera to compare how good their AI has gotten over the years
I would love to see you test the frigate addon for home assistant. It's supposed to be an NVR system tightly integrated with a home assistant with object detection.
Digiblur made a video on that, I won't be touching it until it's a bit more mainstream friendly (offers playback and has a UI).
I am buying a Google Corral so I can test out frigate. Not sure I like all the YAML stuff without a gui for configuration. I currently run BI in a VM on my Xpenology server, but that is a lot of overhead (Windows). Hopefully, Frigate will give me similar results using less resources.
Maybe next time you can also look at Frigate. I run it as addon to Home Assistant, and while it doesnt have all the bells and whistles of BI, and its still a little rough around the edges, Im slowly fading out Blue Iris in favor of Frigate. You can run it on a Pi (using a Coral accelerator ideally) or anything that runs your HA and its AI is superb. It also ties in to HA much easier and better. Oh and its free. And open source.
I think you have been really harsh on Ubiquiti. I completely agree that their cameras are super over priced. But to be fair, 4K, 2k or even 1080 is not the only measure. Why do you need 4k for a surveillance camera?
I chose ubiquiti because:
- I was rebuilding my home network and the overall cost with router and access points was cheaper (8 cameras)
- Their G3 flex camera is great for the $70 price (1080 with good lens specs that beat other 2k cameras IMO in daylight and night vision)
- Data is stored locally without monthly fees
- Flexibility: Later I added two of the super cheap wireless G3 instant cameras for kids rooms. Planning to add thr doorbell later
- AI is useless IMO. Why is all that hype? Even the best one has false positives. Instead I set zones with different sensitivity and Protect timelapse feature is amazing to detect times of activity quickly
- HA can do some AI on top of Protect with some tweaking for any automation purposes
I know security was an issue, but with 2FA and no need to establish VPN each time I want to access the cameras is great. It even accesses them locally super fast on the phone when I am at home.
I didn’t like BlueIris at all. But thanks for the video. Reolink seems impressive for the price
Can you do an update of the software of these systems? is the Blue Iris still much better than the ubiquiti?
Great video. I won't say no to have a yearly video on this, even if they're on the same camera models :D especially with software improving with time.
Another great review man!
Hey! I just watched your hikvision vs protect comparison last night!
@@TheHookUp I love it.. I think ur smart to skip it.. I love this roundup, I need to give Reolink a try, what do u thing about it for commercial installs.
I don't do commercial installs, but my best friend does. Anything under 16 cameras gets reolink, anything above that gets synology.
@@TheHookUp Awesome, thanks for the feedback!
Thank you for putting together this unbiased analysis of these camera systems. I'm planning on using the Reolink RLK16-820D8-A (on order after watching your videos) with Blue Iris recording and AI detection. Best of both worlds (1st/2nd place in most categories).
You might run into an issue where the RLK16 only outputs low resolution RTSP streams for each camera, I'm not sure if that has been changed/fixed.
@@TheHookUp I'll see if there is still an issue with low res appearing on BI5 and let you know. Either way, it sounds like BI5 is going to be my best option with AI motion tracking, and if the problem persists with the RTSP stream quality, I might have to utilize the Reolink itself to pull the higher quality video. 👍
@@TheHookUp Just wanted to give you an update: While I can't speak of the 810 cameras, the 820s don't seem to play nicely with BI5. Even with a high-end PC and only running 4 streams, the streams will cut out abruptly or dance around trading places with other streams wildly. Video is also heavily pixelated. Unfortunately, I'll have no choice but to use Reo's app until better integration exists with the superior BI5.
@@Aurleis You need to follow the steps in this video EXACTLY for them to work (yes, you must delete and re-add the camera using ONVIF): th-cam.com/video/cuLpDo-TVK8/w-d-xo.html
@@TheHookUp Thank you. I made the mistake of just checking my firmware status on the Reolink NVR and it said it was up to date (but the version number told a different story).
So, when I installed the cameras they auto added and the only main device is the "NVR" with the cameras listed below it. This means that the only way I could force an update to the RLC820A cameras was by downloading the latest firmware (from your Reo-link), and putting it on an NTFS flashed USB-drive. Done. The other two streams presently installed are a single Duo PoE 4mp, but since that was giving me the least of issues, I wasn't worried.
After installing the firmware, I moved back to my PC and redid the cameras to be ONVIF protocol and not RTSP. For the Duo PoE, I kept that at h264 (since it's not 4k) and the other two RLC820A the main stream was h265.
That took care of the pixelation. The cameras still will go offline and sometimes dance around the stream (albeit far less frequently than before). I did adjust the frame rate of the cameras in BI5 to be slightly than what was set on my NVR, but this didn't seem to make much of a change. It's possible that I may need a dedicated system (specs per an early video... or perhaps this one) running only BI5 and nothing else in the background to remedy this issue completely.
I have since set up BI5 on my HA through MQTT and am quite happy with it. Thank you again for your help, it made a substantial difference :)
Security..... Chinese cameras are notorious for "phoning home". And Cameras are also notorious for being hacked. Maybe it is worth mentioning the need for shutting down unsecure protocols at the router? It would be nice to have a description of how to set up a VLAN and manage camera viewing via VPN to a NAS?
I think the "phoning home" stuff is mostly misunderstanding. I've done a fair amount of traffic analysis on NVRs and it's mostly P2P and NTP stuff, nothing malicious.
That being said, I block all cameras and NVRs from the internet and only use them with VPN, part 3 of my most recent UniFi series shows vpn setup on unifi: th-cam.com/video/R6ohtF9AXkE/w-d-xo.html
@@TheHookUp The UniFi vpn setup was helpful.... but I find it interesting that you normally mention that you like the Blue-Iris configuration (with a NAS?). That is perhaps the most complex (or should I say: least plug-n-play) configuration..... Hence I think one of your excellent dissertations on internet connectivity security, a comparison of the direct connections to the internet, vice VPN to a secure NAS buried in VLAN for a homeowner would be fascinating.... :-) (Of course I'm a nerd and this stuff appeals). You are doing an outstanding job BTW. Nice videos you produce. I must say that your short message on internet hygiene within this video was really great. I think your warnings are extremely important.... so much so that I'm on pins and needles in anticipation of your next Blue Iris tutorial... :-)....(I need to admit to being way outdated on home security cameras because I bought a couple of Axis cameras over a decade ago and I'm only currently being forced into the new age because one of those cameras just died on me.... I'm kinda interested in the AI technologies you mention, but I'm worried about Blue Iris being able to exploit the person/car recognition possibilities with some of the newer (Reolink? Amcrest?) cameras.... when you do the Blue Iris tutorial next week will you include how to connect to these advanced features? Thanks again.
Do you plan on doing the best battery powered cameras for 2021? Love your videos!!
I'm using a complete Unifi solution currently and have been pretty happy with it until I "upgraded" to the UDM Pro. While I love the idea of the Pro it has been problematic from day one. It is getting better and stable now, but was a long road to get here. I love the Protect and smart detection as well as the ability to use some of the new hardware they have introduced that integrates with Protect. Smart Flood lights, Smart Sensors and the door bell all completely integrated are awesome. My issues with Unifi.... software releases have been less than stable... proprietary hardware... and obviously the Whistleblower: Ubiquiti Breach that even has me concerned that my current investment in Unifi could be in jeopardy if they don't find a way to pull out of this.
Learned so much here.
Thank you mate!
Thank you very much for this, very helpful as always.
Looking forward to the BlueIris setup video!
Great video with lot of work you put into I believe. Maybe you could consider power consumption next time as well since power prices keep going up. Keep on with the good stuff!
In the upcoming BI setup video, can you maybe go over improving motion detection in BI, specifically with using the low res feed. I find I have to really go out of my way to trigger mine. Meanwhile if I do motion on on the high-res feed it's great.
Great video!! There's just one thing I don't understand about any of these systems: If someone breaks in to my home and steals the NVR (which the probably will as they all look expensive) what am I left with? An automatic email of the event? Can I setup some sort of upload to a cloud service of my choice so that when/if the intruder steals the NVR I still have pictures/video of it?
I'm not sure on if this will be a feature in the future, but for me I plan on using my v2 Wyze cam I already have and putting it in the network closet. That way as least something gets saved and I don't have to worry too much about it missing something due its "cool down" since the spot it'll be in won't have any traffic and the door will be closed. Also, 12 second uploads should be enough...? I guess I'll find out.
Great video (as always) and holy crap...no VPN connection for Unifi Protect? Mind-blowing. They've been getting burned a lot lately, especially with their forced use of cloud-based access. BTW great catch because if I was setting this up I would have never have thought about checking to see if Protect offered VPN support. Crazy!
ordered with your link, thank you!
Thanks Rob. Really good and useful review 👌🏻
Just wanted to add to the port forward/P2p/VPN segment that Unifi recently added the ability to view your system as a local connection without having to use their service. I haven't tried a VPN connection as of yet since my setup has to sit behind another router until I move in my new house, but I plan on trying that out to see if it works. Hope that adds some value for someone!
Cool, I'll check it out today.
Great video, great summary.
There are two reasons why I use Unifi Protect. My network runs on Unifi, so I already have DMP and POE switch, so all it costs me is a price of a harddrive + cameras. Second reason is Unifi G3 Instant. Right now, G3 Instant is by far the best WiFi camera on the market, miles ahead of anything else available within the price range. All my indoor cameras (all G3 instant) are running on Protect. My 3 outdoor cameras are running on BI, and I have to say, I absolute hate BI's UI. From what I've seen, it's the worst in the the class, and is designed specifically for surveillance offices, i.e. somebody sitting infront of a bunch of monitors and watching them all the time. This does not at all align with my usage patterns, and I had to do a lot of tweaking to get notifications and clips extract and shared through HomeAssistant, just so I would never have to open BI at all.
Have you ever used the UI3 web interface for blue iris?
@@TheHookUp Absolutely. My computer that runs BI is rack mounted in a cabinet, and I rarely use remote desktop. Web interface is better then Windows UI, but it still a UI that was designed in the last century, mostly for watching your cameras in realtime. No easy way to find clips, timeline is terrible, responsive design for mobile is done in a horrible way. No way to enable notifications through web workers... If not for BI's ability to pre-record streams (prepend block of time to triggered event) and easily accessible way of triggering events remotely, I would've switched a long time ago to something else. Unfortunately, majority of other computer based NVR systems are not much better... All it takes is comparing BI's UI to the UI of any of the modern cloud-based cameras (Ring, Wyze, etc.) and you can see that the UI was designed for a completely different purpose.
FWIW, at least these days, you can run Unifi Protect on their CloudKey if you want (essentially just the protect server + HDD). You can also move up to a larger HDD array (e.g. UNVR, 4 disk bays) and etc. That said, it’s still obviously not cheap; just wanted to add that. 😊
Great work on all your videos. I was wondering if you have any recommendation for a Blue Iris alternative that can be run on a Linux system?
Frigate
What is the Power usage of each System? This effects the operating costs.
Hello,
Have you ever gotten a chance to look at Lorex's person and vehicle detection cameras?
Super helpful thanks 🙏🏼
Thanks for the video. Could you maybe consider a video on creating your own secure VPN connection to control HA etc? Afaik all of your VPN guides are ubquiti specific? Thanks
I understand will be dependent on your router etc, but you could recommend a router to purchase also?
thanks for the video .... my choice is blue iris... waiting for your next video ...... In that video please include where to purchase what to purchase (a lot of things are there like [Extended Support and Maintenance
, Priority Support and Maintenance, Full Version, LE version] I don't know what is the use of these things, and what is different between them )
Yep, I’ll cover all that stuff
Great vid Rob
Would love to see a Blue Iris vs Camect AI detection capabilities video
If I remember correctly camect only supports 24 megapixels total of cameras, so it would only support 3 4K cameras, or 4 5mp cameras.
In your next video can you please touch on running the CAT cables? Cutting holes in joists and soffits seems like a risk. Is there an easy way to do it?
Also, does BlueIris have License Plate Recognition ? I would love this feature, but there are only a few companies that offer it at very high price points.
On the Reolink NVR, can one access each camera via RTSP for use in Home Assistant? Do IP addresses get assigned via your router's DHCP server or does the NVR keep the cameras within a "closed network' with the only IP accessible being the NVR's IP?
I recall that you did an in-depth review where the Reolink camera came up tops over the Annke. With that in mind, the Reolink is a very attractive NVR option although the power user in me will side with the Reolink cameras and Blue Iris as the NVR. :) Great video and looking forward to the set up guide for Blue Iris.
Great comparison. Keep it up
Great video... one question... you mentioned opening ports is not a good idea..but doesn't VPN require port 1194 to be forwarded in order for it to work?
Rob, certain equipment by Annke (the brand used in the Blue Iris implantation in this video) is subject to the NDAA “ban.” I could not find that you have previously addressed the implications of NDAA compliance on home users (if any) or potential FCC action to revoke existing approvals. Can the economic risk of potentially-decertified equipment be mitigated by using ONVIF-compliant cameras not tied to a certain NVR? Can the (purported) security risks be mitigated by keeping the cameras on a separate network or VLAN? Any other thoughts on this topic?
I am working on a from-scratch residential camera implementation with an emphasis on live view, and I’m glad to have found your channel. After watching a few of your videos, I’m now thinking of implementing Blue Iris on my existing home server. Thanks for the work you’re doing.
The NDAA ban only applies to government agencies. The ban includes Hikvision and Dahua, which are the OEM suppliers for about 80% of other camera brands like Amcrest, Lorex, Annke, and many many more.
It has almost no impact on residential installs. No matter which cameras you use, the best practice is to put them on a VLAN and block all outbound traffic from them.
love this video. great job.
YAS i was hoping for this
Great video, now I need to buy a new PC for my Blue Iris :)
0:03 - You've got my Thumbs Up
I've gone with Unifi. Spent a lot of time trying to justify the extra expense vs BlueIris/DeepStack or Reolink. For me I already have all the Unifi bits, so it's just much easier to set up. I can plug and play. At the moment, only need one camera, so got a G4 Pro. just don't have time to setup BlueIris, which would probably be my alternative. I look forward to your video on that but just looked too daunting to me (+ I'd need new hardware for it)
Another epic video! Like Christmas every time I get the video notification. Do you plan on doing a video/ giving recommendations on best License Plate Recognition cameras and setup (especially at night W/ headlight glare)? Does Blue iris have license plate recognition?
All the ALPR stuff that I've seen is subscription based, I have a camera set up to view license plates right now, but I haven't actually gone through with setting up ALPR.
@@TheHookUp Great! Would love to know which Cameras you recommend for reading license plates and specific setup settings needed. Thanks for getting back to me Rob!