Here is more information about the camera: https://www.amazon.com/All-new-Blink-Outdoor-Security-included/dp/B07MMZ2LTB/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=Blink+XT&qid=1558534959&s=gateway&sr=8-3 My camera's batteries lasted for about 8 months only because I have configured all settings on the highest quality, extended video clip, enhanced IR etc., but they promise about 2 years out of 2 AA lithium batteries. I don't have external solar charger or USB charger just yet, that is something I want to obtain soon. The little cam is definitely unobtrusive. Are you going to run Linux or Windows image on a raspberry PI? There is open source surveillance software for windows OS called iSpy, seemed to be somewhat accessible last time I installed it on my PC. https://www.ispyconnect.com/default.aspx Also, I heard Ubiquity video surveillance line of products has some decent priced options, maybe worth checking them out; although, can't vouch for the accessibility of their NVR software. It really depends what you want with your system, many different options are there, budget friendly makeshift system, all-in-one package, and more reliable options, they are of course more costly. The more components to your system, the more babysitting you'd need to do in my opinion. The Asus RT AC88U has 4 detachable antennas. Kind Regards Anatoliy -----Original Message----- From: David Mehler <dave.mehler@gmail.com> Sent: Tuesday, May 21, 2019 12:13 PM To: Blind sysadmins list <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] Re: Mesh Network, Raspberry Pi, IP Camera setup, Night Surveillance, suggestions needed Hello Everyone, Anatoliy thank you for your reply. I was thinking Raspberry Pi boxes because I've got about four of them and I could make three available for this project. I'm not commited to it, but I thought that would ease startup costs? I'm an Android user and so I'd need something with an android accessible app. I'm also not to keen on trusting cloud storage, so I've got some multi-terrabyte USB external drives I can use for video storage, that's why I mentioned that. With regards Amazon's Blink XT camera I hadn't heard of it I will look it up. How long do batteries last? How unobservable is it? I'm wanting something small like a pinpoint camera that's what I envision, so that it is not readily visible. What kind of batteries does it take? Do you have yours set up with either a solar charger or external battery pack? How much did those run you? As I said my router is in the basement, it use to be an Asus RT-N66U before that died and my cable provider gave me one, i'd love to give it back to them. Your RT AC88U is mesh capable but you've not tested it, do you know if it has removable antennas? I've got some 9Dbi long range removable antennas I bought for my 66u and which i'd love to put back in to service. I don't have my house wired up which is a major bummer, so that's why I was proposing mesh. Any other thoughts very helpful. Thanks. Dave. On 5/21/19, Anatoliy Shudrya <anatoliyshudrya@hotmail.com> wrote:

Hello David,

Why raspberry PI? Have you considered Blink XT camera from Amazon? WIFI capable, no NVR/DVR required, almost unlimited cloud storage. It is battery operated and batteries do go down quickly if extended clip size selected but it can be fixed with a solar charger or external USB power supply. It is very easy setup, quite accessible with voice over on IOS. It is dirt cheep on Amazon about $120 and sometimes during sales for $80. HD quality, free cloud storage, accessible on the iPhone, I am happy with the one I have setup for my front door. Mesh routers: I have Asus RT AC88U and it has mesh capabilities, but I never tested it because my house is all wired with CAT6 to each room.

Anatoliy

-----Original Message----- From: David Mehler <dave.mehler@gmail.com> Sent: Tuesday, May 21, 2019 7:44 AM To: blind-sysadmins <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] Mesh Network, Raspberry Pi, IP Camera setup, Night Surveillance, suggestions needed

Hello, If anyone has any suggestions on mesh network products and setup, Raspberry Pi IP camera for surveillance setup, and integration please let me know. I'm needing some advice.

My situation is this, I've got an area of my backyard that is needing to have an IP-based surveillance camera pointed at it to capture videos of any intruders. I've got several Raspberry Pis, and am wanting to use them in a video surveillance setup. My place has the cable modem and a router in the basement, then the main floor, then an upstairs area. I'm already thinking to support this setup of video surveillance I'm going to need to go mesh, put a wireless setup in each room I've got occational drops that I'm going to need to correct and thinking mesh might be the way.

Once I get the mesh then going to get a Raspberry Pi camera and hook that to a pi then to an external drive for file storage. I'm thinking a 3 to 5 day rotation time, is this feasible?

I'm also going to need a way to examine the files see if there's something other than blankness in them.

Lastly, and this is a big one, i'd prefer not to break the bank on this.

If anyone has any suggestions please let me know.

Thanks. Dave. _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list -- blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org To unsubscribe send an email to blind-sysadmins-leave@lists.hodgsonfamily.org _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list -- blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org To unsubscribe send an email to blind-sysadmins-leave@lists.hodgsonfamily.org

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list -- blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org To unsubscribe send an email to blind-sysadmins-leave@lists.hodgsonfamily.org

Hi, I think you should treat these as separate projects. Do you know you have wireless issues at your current location? I used a mesh network in my rented property (Netgear Orbi) but it was quite expensive. Depending on what you are experiencing at the current location means you may need to spend less but also some systems have specific features or lack of features so may steer you in a direction. My research was done in 2017 and at that time I was looking at 3 systems, the Google Wifi, the Amplifi system from Ubiquity and the Netgear Orbi. I went with the Orbi for the following reasons: - Multiple ethernet ports on back of each sattelite; - Configuration via browser and not iPhone app (amazingly a lot of these only have app support which is weird); - Multiple different units for different situations (like wallplug units and larger units depending on area required); - Better wireless support (the Google Wifi came out bottom in this for me). - Ability to run Orbi in access point only mode. In the end I went with the main Orbi unit (RBR50) and 2 RBS50 sattelites. That was not enough to cover one dead spot, so I got an RBW30 wallplug to act as an extender in this area which boosted reception in a long hallway, which then allowed the sattelite in the far bedroom to pick up a good signal. I did try to do without the RBW30 a couple of times but each time it really struggled to get signal across to the one sattelite in the far bedroom. I am going to sell this lot at some point now because in my new flat a single ISP provided router covers everything for me. I may switch that out at some point but that is for another day and it will be for a different type of router. Andrew. ________________________________________ From: David Mehler [dave.mehler@gmail.com] Sent: 22 May 2019 18:23 To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] Re: Mesh Network, Raspberry Pi, IP Camera setup, Night Surveillance, suggestions needed Hello, Thanks. I was going to run Linux on the Raspberry Pi. I'll check out the camera. Thanks. Dave. On 5/22/19, Anatoliy Shudrya <anatoliyshudrya@hotmail.com> wrote:

Here is more information about the camera:

https://www.amazon.com/All-new-Blink-Outdoor-Security-included/dp/B07MMZ2LTB/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=Blink+XT&qid=1558534959&s=gateway&sr=8-3

My camera's batteries lasted for about 8 months only because I have configured all settings on the highest quality, extended video clip, enhanced IR etc., but they promise about 2 years out of 2 AA lithium batteries. I don't have external solar charger or USB charger just yet, that is something I want to obtain soon. The little cam is definitely unobtrusive.

Are you going to run Linux or Windows image on a raspberry PI? There is open source surveillance software for windows OS called iSpy, seemed to be somewhat accessible last time I installed it on my PC. https://www.ispyconnect.com/default.aspx Also, I heard Ubiquity video surveillance line of products has some decent priced options, maybe worth checking them out; although, can't vouch for the accessibility of their NVR software.

It really depends what you want with your system, many different options are there, budget friendly makeshift system, all-in-one package, and more reliable options, they are of course more costly. The more components to your system, the more babysitting you'd need to do in my opinion.

The Asus RT AC88U has 4 detachable antennas.

Kind Regards

Anatoliy

-----Original Message----- From: David Mehler <dave.mehler@gmail.com> Sent: Tuesday, May 21, 2019 12:13 PM To: Blind sysadmins list <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] Re: Mesh Network, Raspberry Pi, IP Camera setup, Night Surveillance, suggestions needed

Hello Everyone, Anatoliy thank you for your reply.

I was thinking Raspberry Pi boxes because I've got about four of them and I could make three available for this project. I'm not commited to it, but I thought that would ease startup costs?

I'm an Android user and so I'd need something with an android accessible app. I'm also not to keen on trusting cloud storage, so I've got some multi-terrabyte USB external drives I can use for video storage, that's why I mentioned that.

With regards Amazon's Blink XT camera I hadn't heard of it I will look it up. How long do batteries last? How unobservable is it? I'm wanting something small like a pinpoint camera that's what I envision, so that it is not readily visible. What kind of batteries does it take?

Do you have yours set up with either a solar charger or external battery pack? How much did those run you?

As I said my router is in the basement, it use to be an Asus RT-N66U before that died and my cable provider gave me one, i'd love to give it back to them. Your RT AC88U is mesh capable but you've not tested it, do you know if it has removable antennas? I've got some 9Dbi long range removable antennas I bought for my 66u and which i'd love to put back in to service. I don't have my house wired up which is a major bummer, so that's why I was proposing mesh.

Any other thoughts very helpful.

Thanks. Dave.

On 5/21/19, Anatoliy Shudrya <anatoliyshudrya@hotmail.com> wrote:

...

Hello David,

Why raspberry PI? Have you considered Blink XT camera from Amazon? WIFI capable, no NVR/DVR required, almost unlimited cloud storage. It is battery operated and batteries do go down quickly if extended clip size selected but it can be fixed with a solar charger or external USB power supply. It is very easy setup, quite accessible with voice over on IOS. It is dirt cheep on Amazon about $120 and sometimes during sales for $80. HD quality, free cloud storage, accessible on the iPhone, I am happy with the one I have setup for my front door. Mesh routers: I have Asus RT AC88U and it has mesh capabilities, but I never tested it because my house is all wired with CAT6 to each room.

Anatoliy

-----Original Message----- From: David Mehler <dave.mehler@gmail.com> Sent: Tuesday, May 21, 2019 7:44 AM To: blind-sysadmins <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] Mesh Network, Raspberry Pi, IP Camera setup, Night Surveillance, suggestions needed

Hello, If anyone has any suggestions on mesh network products and setup, Raspberry Pi IP camera for surveillance setup, and integration please let me know. I'm needing some advice.

My situation is this, I've got an area of my backyard that is needing to have an IP-based surveillance camera pointed at it to capture videos of any intruders. I've got several Raspberry Pis, and am wanting to use them in a video surveillance setup. My place has the cable modem and a router in the basement, then the main floor, then an upstairs area. I'm already thinking to support this setup of video surveillance I'm going to need to go mesh, put a wireless setup in each room I've got occational drops that I'm going to need to correct and thinking mesh might be the way.

Once I get the mesh then going to get a Raspberry Pi camera and hook that to a pi then to an external drive for file storage. I'm thinking a 3 to 5 day rotation time, is this feasible?

I'm also going to need a way to examine the files see if there's something other than blankness in them.

Lastly, and this is a big one, i'd prefer not to break the bank on this.

If anyone has any suggestions please let me know.

Thanks. Dave. _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list -- blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org To unsubscribe send an email to blind-sysadmins-leave@lists.hodgsonfamily.org _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list -- blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org To unsubscribe send an email to blind-sysadmins-leave@lists.hodgsonfamily.org

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list -- blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org To unsubscribe send an email to blind-sysadmins-leave@lists.hodgsonfamily.org _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list -- blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org To unsubscribe send an email to blind-sysadmins-leave@lists.hodgsonfamily.org

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list -- blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org To unsubscribe send an email to blind-sysadmins-leave@lists.hodgsonfamily.org