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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: July 3rd, 2023

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  • Are you sure? I currently have an online account (because it was easier to give other people access and I too only have these watching my yard), but I remember when I first set it up in my home I was using a local account created in the DVR’s portal (a Cloudkey Gen 2). The web portal is hosted on the cloudkey, you can access it via any web browser, and the cameras will record to it without an internet connection.

    I could’ve sworn you could host the camera server without a Unifi DVR, but apparently not. The network stuff can be though. I guess that’s important to keep in mind, although I’d be surprised if they removed the ability to use the DVR without an online account.





  • Switch to Unifi. It’s enterprise-grade hardware and high quality software at consumer prices. If you know networking, you can set them up without connecting them to the internet while still being able to access them outside your network. If not, you can just use their free web portal to access your cameras. It’s probably easier than Wyze, and it’s certainly more secure.

    I don’t normally like to shill brands on the internet, but for these people I make an exception.







  • Go with Unifi then. They’re pretty much the only network equipment company with good software. The NVR (the computer that records/stores the camera feeds) can be used with or without internet access. If you know how to setup a VPN, you can connect to it without giving it internet access. If you don’t know/want to do that, you can use their free web portal to access it remotely.

    Cloud key G2 (NVR) is ~$200 and includes a 1tb HDD, G3 Flex cameras are ~$80 each. If you want to save some money, you can skip the cloudkey and install the software on an existing computer on your network.

    All you need for wiring is to pass a single ethernet cable to wherever you want to place the cameras since they use PoE (power over ethernet). You’ll also need a PoE adapter for each camera if you don’t have a router that supports PoE. They also sell really awesome routers and switches with PoE, but if you’re new to PoE be careful and do your research because it can permanently damage incompatible equipment. The older EdgeRouters are an incredible value, but the PoE variants use a non-standard and more dangerous PoE implementation than the newer ones. The EdgeRouter X SFP w/ included power adapter does work fine with G3 Flex cameras though, since that’s exactly the setup I have (I don’t think it’ll work with the Cloudkey G2 tho).

    …also yes, I’m a bit of a fanboy.