I need an indoor use only camera to watch my cat to try to figure out some issues she is having and for other uses in the future.

Here are some requirements that I am trying to meet:
ONVIF compatible is a must
PT (Z would be nice)
IR capable (30ft would be nice)
2-way audio (would be nice but recording is enough)
POW powered
$100ish would be nice
1080P is plenty of resolution for this use

Any help would be great.  All 12 of my other cameras are Hikvision and I like them.

This is the best idea I have found thus far but I have no experience with this brand.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01MRTVRFQ/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1516842899&sr=8-4&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=hikvision+cube&dpPl=1&dpID=41YDrAlAn-L&ref=plSrch

Cheaper on Ali.

Not PTZ, however with 2.8mm it will capture most rooms.

You can zoom in remotely if you want as it’s a high enough res.

Works with your lineup already, if your not using HIK Connect update your firmware on NVR or cameras if they aren’t CH models... it’s way way way bette than EZVIZ.

Reolink c1

That is what I have settled on.

I wish they wouldn't have discontinued the C2 though as that would have been perfect

I got the Reolink and set it up.  Like a moron I didn't notice that it doesn't work with POE but oh well I guess.

Happily there is a POE splitter available that goes from 802.3af to 5V 2.0AMP USB so that will work.

The Reolink is going back since I found out that it "phones home" and there is no way to disable it

Apparently all Reolink cameras are like this so they are crossed off of my list from now on.  I verified that it is the C1 Pro causing this and this was over about 3 1/2 days.



It attempts to connect to AWS IP's at:
52.5.24.217
54.179.151.251
54.72.248.104
54.86.23.37

I am going to get the Annke Cube camera since it is the same camera as the Hikvision but half of the price.  It can even use the Hikvision firmware.

Please explain what this means for people like me not in the know.  I was going to order a few of these exact indoor cameras this weekend but if they are going to cause any type of issue or do something I don't want them to do, I would like to know.

I haven't hooked up anything to see what they are trying to send out but I'm guessing it is just basic information.  I could also be a way for them to connect to a video server so that they cameras can be viewed from outside your home without any networking setup on your part.

Hikvision has the ability to do the latter but you can disable it which I did.

Basically, unless you want to have a NVR or a PC that runs software like Blue Iris running 24/7 on your network that you then access from the outside you don't have much choice besides letting your cameras communicate outside of your home.

I didn't want to do that so I went with the PC option and my cameras can't communicate with the internet at all.

Cat my butt

All cameras phone home, even the hikvisions with the setting turned off.

I dont know about the reolink C1 line, but with the RLC-410/411/420 you can turn off uPNP manually.

Even with that said, your cameras should be on a VLAN which is completely shut off on all protocols to the outside world - and the PC with the viewing software/the NVR should only be accessible by a VPN and no port forwarding.

Yeah I am working on the VLAN setup but the firewall rule that blocks outbound traffic from the cameras only shows traffic from the single Reolink camera.  The other 12 Hikvision cameras don't log any traffic with that setting turned off.

I have a Netgear M4100 switch coming that I plan on trying to get the VLAN working on.  For some reason I can't get the Cisco and the Netgear switches to play well together.

@Mattyvac

I did a little experimenting last night and disabling Platform Access does indeed stop all outgoing internet traffic on Hikvision (and select Annke) cameras.

The top picture is after a router reboot where it has been running for 14hrs and 4min.

The bottom is a picture after enabling Platform Access on a single Hikvision camera and letting it run for about 30 seconds.

The counter hasn't changed since I went back into that same camera and disabled it about 5 minutes ago.

Attached File


The same cannot be said though for the Reolink C1 Pro that I got as there was no way in the interface to stop it from attempting to "phone home" in the half hour or so of looking that I did in the interface and online.  The IPCamTalk forum stated the same thing from what I found as well.

I will stick with Hikvision.

ETA: The SNTP rule at the top is disabled since I realized I could have the cameras use the router as the SNTP server.  It seems to be working well.

ETA 2: I still have issues with VLAN's but will work on it after the Netgear switch shows up this week if I have time.  Trying to get the Cisco and the Netgear switches working together is driving me crazy

Hopefully all switches being Netgear will help.