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    Home security: Best home defense

    November 25, 2020

    Home security: Best home defense

    Best home defense

    Posted: 25 Nov 2020 11:26 AM PST

    The ultimate home video surveillance config on the cheap.

    Posted: 24 Nov 2020 09:06 PM PST

    I built a CCTV network that is comprised of 15 4k cameras, all recording 24x7. Over 20,000 still images per day are analyzed for humans or vehicles via artificial intelligence. When detected, I get a push notification with a snapshot of the object of interest and the camera starts recording at full-resolution for a while. If you're on my property, you're now being recorded by between two and five cameras at a time. All in, this project cost me about $2,600 with no monthly fees.

    I've spent the past month putting this system together. I want to document it somewhere and /r/homedefense seems like a good fit.

    Background

    I live in a semi-rural area on about three acres of land surrounded by woods. My house is fairly large, plus I have an outbuilding that functions as my home office and workshop. Being so isolated and unable to keep an eye on the entire property, I've longed been concerned about being a target.

    Last year we got symmetrical gigabit fiber to the home in my area. In preparation for it, I built out a robust home network. I have a 48-port PoE Ubiquiti switch in a full rack in my basement. In my outbuilding, I also have a 16-port PoE Ubiquiti switch in a small wall rack. They're interconnected via two runs of direct-burial, multimode fiber I buried 4' deep in 3/4" PVC conduit. Between the house and outbuilding, I have eight Unfi wifi access points installed. In my main rack I also have a Synology NAS, Intel NUC that's a Docker host, and a Ubiquiti Security Gateway Pro.

    On my Intel NUC, I run about a dozen Docker containers. Most notably is: Home Assistant, Mosquito MQTT broker, Grafana, InfluxDB, and Plex.

    The Config

    Firstly, /u/DarkBunnySC has an excellent video that was my jumping off point. I recommend that you watch his video first before reading the rest of this post, since it will help with context.

    Cameras

    I am using fifteen of these Annke 4k turrent IP cameras. The top-rated review is super helpful. These are rebranded Hikvision DS-2CD2383G0-I cameras for half the cost. The initial config is a bit tedious though:

    1. Connect my notebook to my security camera VLAN.
    2. Plug the camera into the switch and it powers on via PoE.
    3. "Activate" the camera with SADPTool.exe (a Annke tool that uses some sort of layer-3 protocol to discover the camera and set it's initial password, which is why my PC and the camera has to be on same layer-2 network (VLAN) for the initial setup.).
    4. Note the IP address listed in SADPTool and login with "admin" and the password via the web interface.
    5. Upload the new Hikvision firmware
    6. When it reboots, the camera has a static IP of 192.168.1.64. So I have to manually set my PC to 192.168.1.63 (or whatever) and log back in to the camera and change it to DHCP. It reboots again.
    7. Tweak the video feed settings.

    The picture quality is absolutely amazing. They'll push 4k video at 15 fps on the main stream. Excellent resolution and (more importantly) dynamic range. The night-vision IR emitter is also really good.

    Using the full resolution, quality and framerate on the main stream and similar settings on the 640x480 substream, results in a sustained rate of about 19 mb/s. This is why wired cameras are way better than wi-fi based ones. I mean, the camera needs a wire for power anyway, right? Why not just use one wire for both data and power?

    Misc tips:

    • The drill template is helpful but don't peel off the adhesive backing, just hold it up to the wall.
    • DO NOT USE A CORDLESS SCREW GUN (DRILL). The screws are both cheaply made and go in slightly askew into the camera base. You will strip the heads super fast. I had to use left-handed drill bits to extract broken screws more than once before I stopped trying. Make sure you drill an appropriately-sized pilot hole first and then use a plain 'ole screwdriver.
    • Loosen the tiny set screw a bit on the turret to make it a lot easier to rotate into the correct position.
    • Read the directions on how to assemble the waterproof cable sleeve. I also wrapped each connector with self-adhesive silicone tape for extra protection.
    • I used UV-resistant Cat6 on runs where the cable would be exposed outdoors and standard Cat6 when I was mounting the camera directly over the hole in the exterior wall.
    • I have quite a bit of experience doing low-voltage cabling, but if you've never fished cable, watch some YouTube videos on how to do it. 80% of it is having the right tools. Fiberglass poles (Wire Noodler) are a god send.
    • Crimp an RJ45 connector on the camera end and punch down the other end into a patch panel. Use pass-through RJ45 connectors and crimp tool--they're about 100x easier to use than traditional plugs. And use a real punchdown tool/cutter on the patch panel. Again, YouTube is a great place to get some basics down.
    • When putting cable through an exterior wall, make sure you use drip loops on the outside and service loops on the inside.
    • If you have to fish cable through walls, also pull a length of pull line through the path. Leave the pull line in the wall so you don't have to refish the path in the future if you want to run another cable. You'll thank your past self. Next time you pull a cable, you just tie the cable + a new pull line and pull them both through the pathway with the old pull line. You then leave the new pull line in the wall again. There's probably a Youtube video out there if I succeeded in confusing my description.
    • A trick that I haven't seen elsewhere: I use 3M packing tape to attach cables to pull lines, fish tapes, and fish poles. It's strong, slippery, thin, and cheap.

    Positioning:

    • Cameras should be installed between 8' and 10' off the ground in most cases to better capture faces. Most of mine are 9'-ish, mainly dictated by where I needed the cable to enter the building (into the attic most of the time).

    • Exceptions: My front door camera is located about a foot above the doorbell and I have another camera pointed at that door camera (180 degrees from the other direction) that is about 14' high in my porch gable.

    • Some of my cameras are intentionally very conspicuous (like the front door) as a deterrent. I often overlap coverage with another camera that is more hidden in case someone tampers with the visible camera. This is especially true for cameras covering exterior entrances and first floor windows. This double coverage also allows me to capture faces both coming and going.

    • I have a couple of standalone IR emitters that are equipped with a photocell to automatically turn on in low light. They're $15-30 on Amazon and work really well for extending the camera ranges at night.

    Software

    NVR (BlueIris)

    I really wanted to stick with open source software on this project. Not because of cost but because of flexibility. I tried both Shinobi and ZoneMinder and, unfortunately, neither of them hold a candle to BlueIris. BlueIris just works and works well.

    Another issue: I couldn't easily containerize BlueIris and run it under Docker on my Intel NUC. So I ended up buying another NUC (#NUC8v7PNK) with the fastest processor I could find. I then put 32 GB of RAM in it and Windows Server 2019 on a 1TB SSD and installed BlueIris. With 15 cameras and direct-to-disk recording, my CPU utilization is typically 20-30%. Not bad considering it's constantly downloading 260 mb/s worth of video feeds.

    /u/DarkBunnySC goes into a lot of detail on how to configure Blue Iris in the above-mentioned video so I won't be redundant. I'm using the same config: record all substreams 24x7 and have them trigger motion alerts, record full-resolution video on manual triggers from the artificial intelligence application.

    Artificial Intelligence (AI) Object Classification

    The problem is that getting notified every time there's movement on a camera would be rage-inducing. So I need a way to filter out leaves blowing, rain, etc. and only alert me when an actual person or vehicle is detected.

    /u/DarkBunnySC got this working using two pieces of software:

    1. DeepStack -- This the system that does the actual analysis of the images. It's completely self-contained (no cloud component), open source, free, and super simple to use. Using a RESTful API, it takes an input of a JPEG and outputs a list of objects it sees in the image. I run this in a Docker container on my original NUC. It takes about 350 ms to analyze a 4k resolution image in "HIGH" mode.

    2. AI bridge -- A tiny Windows-based application that functions as "glue" between BlueIris and DeepStack. BlueIris is configured to create a bunch of still images from video when motion is detected, this application grabs these stills and feeds them into DeepStack, and processes the results. Simple in theory, but was pretty terrible for me.

    Where things start to diverge...

    The problem with /u/DarkBunnySC's solution in my situation became apparent on very windy days we've had recently. This caused a lot of motion events to occur constantly. This absolutely smoked my BlueIris server because it couldn't keep up with extracting multiple JPEGs per second from 15 4k video feeds.

    So I configured BlueIris to stop creating JPEGs on motion events and set it to publish to a MQTT topic instead. And then I wrote a Python application to listen for MQTT events and grab still images directly from each camera. Problem solved. I've also expanded my Python app to include additional functionality not available in the AI bridge tool:

    1. Save image data offsite in Amazon S3 for archival purposes and/or someone destroys my home gear.

    2. On each motion event grab five still images, a half a second apart, analyze each for a person or vehicle. Send a push notification to my phone (via Pushover) containing the best matching image.

    3. I'm performing the object recognition on the full 4k resolution images, rather than the 640x480 snapshots BlueIris was creating from the low resolution camera substream. I should be able to correctly identify objects much further away from the camera.

    4. Grab events off the MQTT wire and log them in InfluxDB. Use Grafana to browse real-time and historical charts of what objects are detected on what cameras and when, the confidence levels of various detected objects, etc.

    5. I'm beginning to experiment with the facial recognition part of Deep Stack. The goal would be to ignore alerts when recognized faces are found, automatically unlock my smart door locks, etc.

    Samples

    submitted by /u/big_like_a_pickle
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    Attempted break in today, any advice appreciated

    Posted: 25 Nov 2020 03:18 PM PST

    I live in an apartment complex with a shared back patio that is street level. The patio is fenced but could be climbed. The entrance to the apartment from the patio is a sliding door that locks. This morning, my fiancé was alerted when our dog started barking. When the perp realized somebody was home, they fled.

    Her tires were also slashed very recently so we have a suspicion that we are being targeted, and want to prepare in case of another attempted break in.

    Our apartment complex has no cameras and only advised us to buy a rod or dowel to reinforce the sliding door. Is there anything else you guys would recommend? And would you recommend any weapons to have in the home?

    submitted by /u/PipTazoVanc
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    Can i use other camera brands with swann DVR-5580

    Posted: 25 Nov 2020 04:25 PM PST

    Pretty much the title i have a swann DVR-5580 and am curious if I can use other camera brands or am I limited to just swann cameras, also wondering if other brands will be compatible with homesafe view on windows and the swann security app on androids/iphone.

    submitted by /u/Risky548
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    Hi all. So last week a few houses got shot at in a nearby neighborhood. No injuries but the whole incident makes me concerned about my house. Any tips and advice?

    Posted: 25 Nov 2020 10:30 AM PST

    Eufy versus Ring or any other options for elderly couple?

    Posted: 25 Nov 2020 02:02 PM PST

    I'm looking for a home security system for my parents. I was thinking of either Ring or Eufy. I even thought of ADT, but I am not sure if I can afford the monthly fee for them. plus, my parents once had a security system that went crazy after a hurricane, and it drove everyone nuts. I am sure they're better now, but at any rate, I am trying to look for a system for my parents. If I get either Ring or Eufy, I rather not hard wire anything. Maybe four or five cameras max. Things have been getting a bit crazy back at home because of COVID-19.

    The main thing that worries me about Ring is that it connects to your Wifi at home. Eufy has a homebase, which is cool, but I heard there is a delay sometimes between the notifications and when it records. I'm not sure and a bit clueless. I will be willing to download the app to my phone and monitor as necessary from afar. The batteries also an issue with Eufy. Where they live there is plenty of sunlight, so their neighbors have solar panels to their cameras, but I read that with Eufy, it can fry the battery a bit. Not sure.

    I appreciate any advice or any tips if you set up a system for elderly parents.

    thank you.

    submitted by /u/BusinessTruth
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    Mounting Suggestions for outdoor POE Camera in Existing Ethernet Box?

    Posted: 25 Nov 2020 11:33 AM PST

    Getting around to mounting some standard Reolink POE cameras in our two year old new build. When we had it built, we had an ethernet drop put in the front and back porches.

    You can see what they look like here - https://imgur.com/a/aqY0Kon

    The ethernet jack is punched down in a keystone jack behind the plate, and the coax can be popped out and hidden in the wall if needed.

    Do you think I should just drill into the Dri-Box and mount the camera to it? Remove the DriBox, replace the plate with one the camera's ethernet can go behind? Just run an ethernet cable out of the box and mount the camera on the siding or white post?

    Not super concerned with someone cutting the cable/stealing the camera as much as I am properly keeping it safe from getting wet. Any advice? Appreciate it!

    submitted by /u/DaltonCooler
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    SECURITY CAMERAS RATED on the things that matter to you. Use my project as a starting point to find the best option for you.

    Posted: 25 Nov 2020 11:03 AM PST

    can someone explain how door alarms that dont use a reed switch function

    Posted: 25 Nov 2020 10:43 AM PST

    my door doesnt have a reed switch, and there are no visible alarms attatched to/around it besides a motion sensor, so why does my alarm get triggered when i open the door?

    submitted by /u/No_Biscotti5397
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    Need Help Identifying Security Camera

    Posted: 25 Nov 2020 06:28 AM PST

    Hey there!

    Just purchased a home and they have these cameras installed in several places. I believe they're POE because they only have a cat5 cable running to them.

    Snapped a couple pics when we toured it - I'm 1500 miles away now, so the only information I have is contained in the pictures here: https://imgur.com/a/qgwdHdH

    Anyone know what brand/model this is? Thanks in advance!

    submitted by /u/Shahkahkahn
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    Security analysis of smart doorbells

    Posted: 25 Nov 2020 02:55 AM PST

    Best Wi-fi camera system with on site/local storage option that can be powered locally as well?

    Posted: 25 Nov 2020 08:06 AM PST

    Looking for an outdoor wireless camera that can be plugged in to power to avoid battery replacement (power has already been installed at the camera locations). Battery backup within the camera would be a plus if there are outages locally.

    Looking for a user friendly platform (this is for a friends older parents) that has the option for cloud and local storage. Storage on an SD card is fine, but will consider a local drive, NAS or External Drive option. I'll probably be doing the set up and maintenance, so it can be complex, but ease of use day to day is paramount.

    They will also not be at the property that they are installing at very often, so a friendly app and web based client would be needed.

    submitted by /u/UpstateSontaran
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    Am I being overly impressed by these aluminium plantation shutters? I figure that these would be a great way to (tastefully) secure windows and large french doors. Looking to /r/homedefense to point out any serious flaws with a system like this - Thanks!

    Posted: 25 Nov 2020 04:45 AM PST

    What signal do silent alarms use?

    Posted: 25 Nov 2020 12:15 AM PST

    Looking at silent alarm options for my small business and a question crossed my mind. Couldnt someone just use a signal jammer to disable the alarm? I'm not really concerned about that scenario because signal jammers are quite expensive and my business is set up in a place where any would be robbers probably dont have a lot of money. It just made me curious which signal they used since I seen signal jammer that could jam up to 5g.

    submitted by /u/nustcuris
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    Looking for a cellular based home alarm system, with no monitoring fees.

    Posted: 24 Nov 2020 05:37 PM PST

    I looked in the WIKI, and the only recommendation was an eight year old post, there has to be some better options by now.

    What I need. This will be installed in rental properties while they are vacant, to make sure someone doesn't break in and steal my tools, or strip out the copper from the house. There will NOT be internet, so it needs to be a system that just uses a cellphone SIM card to contact me. I do not want to pay some company $15-30 a month for monitoring fees, I already have to do that at four retail stores I own. Plus a contact doesn't make sense, they only need the alarms for a few months.

    Needs 3-4 door switches, 2-3 motion detectors, and maybe two glass break detectors, and the cellular connection to send me alarm notifications.

    Any recommendations?

    submitted by /u/c0brachicken
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