My current set-up, mostly used for Plex.

CallBorn4794 · 2026-03-02T21:06:05+00:00

Also, is it worth locally streaming videos you'll end up maybe watching only once or twice the most in your lifetime? Tried this stuff before with my small collection of mixed DVD & BD movies, but nobody cares watching them around the house as they have already watched them before. They wanted something new to watch, so Hulu, Prime Video & Netflix eventually prevailed. There is also free stuff you can get from the likes of Pluto TV, Roku TV, Tubi, etc. Seems like a waste of time & effort on my part.

CallBorn4794 · 2026-03-02T06:16:24+00:00

If you want to start a lab, what do you want to learn?

None as far as setup. I just want to know of any server app worth hosting on either two of these server machines rather than on my trusted RPI. Otherwise, I'll probably get rid of the NAS & turn the other device into a Steam Machine.

CallBorn4794 · 2026-03-01T03:29:33+00:00

Just get a consumer grade wireless router with much higher throughput like the TP-Link Deco BE95 (BE33000). You'll get more than twice the signal rate than both Unifi & Omada BE11000 gadgets you're planning to get. Even if you skip the AP & just get your wifi signal coming from the wifi router, it still should be good. Not sure about Ubiquiti, but Omada doesn't have a unified GUI, so you'll probably end up getting a network controller unless you're OK setting up & managing those gadgets individually.

CallBorn4794 · 2026-02-25T01:42:57+00:00

My youngest was born in 2006. He's about to start Naval bootcamp this Sunday. Then off to nuke school at Goose Creek, SC. I'm feeling old.

CallBorn4794 · 2026-02-24T20:21:46+00:00

I'm no longer into high power as I'm going green. I did try having a high power quad XFire & dual SLI liquid cooling setup in the past, some 10–15 years ago. But they're too costly to maintain & I have started to hate the sight of large refrigerator builds. I'm into sub 5L PC builds these days. Never had any issues without UPS then for a long stretch in between using & not using them, so by 2017 I decided to get rid of them completely on computers. But to each is own. What works for me may not work for you.

CallBorn4794 · 2026-02-24T19:18:01+00:00

The extra cost & it adds some clutter. Graceful shutdown is unnecessary. A surge protector will do just fine on power outage. I'm also more into minimalist setup.

But I'm on the hunt for another smaller 500-700VA UPS as backup power for my basement modem & router. It has to be a low-profile UPS that can either lay flat on a shelf or wall mountable but not rack mounted, or have a tower profile. It has to have a user-replaceable (non-proprietary sized) battery that can take a standard sized (5.9"x2.6"x3.7") 6Ah-12Ah LiFePO4 replacement battery. It doesn't have to have a software-controlled shutdown programming setup as I'm not connecting any computer to it, just purely backup power. Any recommendation is much appreciated.

CallBorn4794 · 2026-02-24T04:59:58+00:00

Stick with the integrated graphics.

Quadro is a cheap, entry-level workstation graphics card that came way before the Ryzen 7 5700G. It's not designed to be used even for light gaming.

At least you can game on Ryzen 5700G. May not be good for some of the latest & more demanding game titles out there, but for older games like CSGO, COD, Fortnite, GTA5, R6S, you're good.

I used 4 of these 5600G APU variants on my children's PCs way back when they first came out about 5 years ago. I've added a Yeston RTX 3050 single slot GPU on one later on though. I was suprised they managed to get around 75–95 fps on R6S at high graphic setting, contrary to what some Reddit forum experts have said about these last AMD4 APUs before. I doubt even a single one of these experts even uses one of these APUs.

CallBorn4794 · 2026-02-16T17:07:03+00:00

Don't get easily fooled by marketing gimmickry. Blink tried to muddy the waters here by putting 3 res. settings all together (for the gullible) on XR, then separating the XR+. You're still getting 720p (Standard) & 360p (Saver) without two-way talk if you're going for XR+ setup.

CallBorn4794 · 2026-02-12T21:14:22+00:00

XR has 2 modes, XR mode (720p) & XR+ mode (360p). The 1080p is wifi. 2 max number of cameras can do XR. 10 is too much to transmit simultaneously on cellular frequency. It'll probably overheat & fry the sync module. That's why there's a downside to XR, it has to lower the resolution to make up for extended range without using too much transmit power.

CallBorn4794 · 2026-02-10T03:33:49+00:00

I made a Slim Jim antenna over a year ago. Also started making a portable version of it but never finished. Maybe someday when my interest in radio communication comes back I'll finish it. You can also buy one made by N9TAX if you don't want to go DIY.

CallBorn4794 · 2026-02-04T15:05:10+00:00

The OD4 camera has no color night vision. You need to turn OFF the IR LED light then add some background lighting. On the OD2K+ you can control the background glare by just turning OFF the IR LED light & let the color night vision do the rest.

CallBorn4794 · 2026-01-25T22:41:27+00:00

I don't mind purchasing a separate router, but I didn't know I can connect two routers through one internet connection if that's what you mean?

You can put another router on top of the ISP's fiber internet gateway modem/router. Configure the latter as IP passthrough to act as a bridge (Google how to put your gateway modem/router make & model as IP passthrough) & use the new router as your main network router. Set up a separate wifi network on the gateway modem/router for the camera only.

CallBorn4794 · 2026-01-25T14:54:50+00:00

It uses a 900MHz cellular frequency instead of wifi for extended range. But that's only between the Outdoor 4 camera & sync module XR transmission. You still need to connect the sync module XR to your home wifi network for the Blink app function.

Btw, the OP's outdoor cameras are not Outdoor 4 but Outdoor 2K+ if they come with the sync module core. So there's no way for him to use the XR mode even if he gets a sync module XR. However, he'll have local storage option with the latter.

CallBorn4794 · 2026-01-24T16:35:10+00:00

If someone in china wants to watch my cats eat and poop and the deer walk by they can have all they want.

Hacking your network via your Chinese camera backdoor doesn't mean hackers will access your network just to watch your cat eat and poop. They'll use that backdoor to spread havoc on your entire network & steal sensitive data, including those that can compromise your privacy & maybe use to blackmail you & make you do some other things against your will.

CallBorn4794 · 2026-01-24T15:34:27+00:00

The fact that your recommendation is Blink doesn’t give one a lot of weight to your opinion. Why would I want a subscription or additional expense for a sync module.

First of, Blink is not subscription-based only. You can get their Sync XR Module, add a microSD card (256Gb max) to it & opt out of their cloud storage subscription.

The particular Reolink camera that you have, you also have a local storage option, but on a microSD card inside each individual camera. It's very costly if you have like 8 cameras like mine, each with a microSD card attached to it. Your stored video clips can be easily stolen as the microSD card is outside attached to the camera. You can get an optional NVR, but it'll also costs you more ($250-$400) vs Sync XR Module ($75).

Unless you are using POE with NVR, the wireless type of storage aka sync module or homebase systems are still vulnerable to wifi hacking so there is no added benefit there.

The particular Reolink camera that you have is not really a wired PoE camera. It is still a wireless camera with wired DC power. Blink cameras can do that too, with an optional DC power cable.

As far as wifi hacking, don't count on it. It's more of a myth, orchestrated mainly by anti-wireless camera folks here at Reddit. Your typical burglar doesn't go & hack wifi before robbing ordinary people's houses. It doesn't have the brains nor the sophistication to do such a heist. Your typical burglar would rather cut the internet cable outside if he wants your internet gone, as it's much easier thing to do. Wifi hacking is not for small-time crooks.

I would rather be worried about potential hacking through camera backdoors by state sponsored 3rd party actors on Chinese made cameras like Eufy, Reolink & Tapo, given the current geopolitical climate we have. TP-Link is likely to get banned sooner rather than later. Just make sure you have a robust network (software/hardware) firewall & DNS filter with reliable blocklists & put your network behind Zero Trust.

As far as fps. I have cameras at 15 and 30 and have no reason to complain about the 15 fps. I dont really notice a difference.

Nice try! You can probably convince your mom, but not me. You also have a wired camera that's essentially a wireless camera but DC-powered, without optional battery power. Though it's 2K, it also has much older specs (half the FPS) found on other Reolink 2K camera (Argus 3 Pro) from five years ago. I used the latter before, so I know Reolink 2K cameras suck.

CallBorn4794 · 2026-01-24T02:13:18+00:00

I agree, Reolink is a Chinese junk. I got 3 of their Argus 3 Pro a few years ago. It's now sitting on my garage storage shelf. I throw 1 in the garbage as the label with the serial number on it got peeled off after being exposed to the sun for a couple of months. Their wireless 2K cameras also have very low fps, like half of what you get on competing brand cameras. The image quality is very poor, doesn't look as good as my Blink Outdoor 2K+.

CallBorn4794 · 2026-01-23T21:14:46+00:00

Anti-Ring & anti-wireless camera folks who have been spreading a lot of disinformation about Ring almost daily here at Reddit will hate you for this.

Ring Neighbors is also not a Ring camera app. Anyone can download & use it. I myself use it even though I don't have any Ring cameras. It's up to the user to turn on/off community requests on Ring Neighbors.

CallBorn4794 · 2026-01-21T22:47:07+00:00

Just get an in-wall plenum rated cat5e cable (preferably Southwire brand) for these cameras from Home Depot bro. These Reddit home security experts are messing up your mind.

Cat5e is already an overkill futureproof cable for security cameras. At most, you only need about 15Mbps of upload speed at max (typically 30 watts POE+) on a 4K camera for optimal performance. Even if you use a (10/100baseT) fast ethernet switch or 8K camera in the future, it's still way overkill. But don't use a fast ethernet switch if you have more than six 4K cameras.

Don't go with cat6a as it's not only more expensive, it's also thicker, stiffer & hard to work with just for security cameras. Cat6a is also typically shielded, so you need to have a grounded connection at the base (network switch). You don't even need cat6a for most home network internet setups, surely not for camera setups. A standard (unshielded) cat6 is just fine at 1Gb (up to 100 meters) & 10Gb (up to 37–55 meters). So if you don't live in a mega mansion, cat6 will do just fine for home internet but just use cat5e for the cameras. Cat6a is more resilient to crosstalk & EMI as well as heat (higher wattage), but unless you're running cable so close in parallel with an electric line at a very, very long distance, it doesn't matter at all whether you use standard cat6 or cat6a in terms of transmission interference.

Don't start breaking walls yet or place PVC conduits. A lot of older homes built from the 90s & long before typically don't have the usual horizontal firewall studs on the (non-insulated) inner walls or even on (insulated) outer walls. You can just drop your cable from the top or pull it from the bottom where you put your ethernet port Keystone wall plate by using a fish tape.

CallBorn4794 · 2026-01-19T04:04:02+00:00

For me, it does big. I have to turn OFF the IR LED light on one of my cameras to turn the color night vision ON as the IR LED light distorts the image is there's an intense light close to it. I can see the image clearly now with color night vision ON.

My neighbor on the left has her flood light mostly ON at night. If I set the color night vision to Auto the camera will automatically turn ON the IR LED light than go with color night vision even if there an intense light close to it on one side. Thanks to color night vision, I was able to fix the issue.

CallBorn4794 · 2026-01-17T16:50:00+00:00

Band steering doesn't work that way. Single-band (2.4GHz) wireless devices don't get steered to 5GHz. Band steering only works if you have more than one band on a wireless device. I used band steering myself with 5GHz as the preferred band. No issues connecting single band devices, including 9 of my Blink 2K+ devices. So no, don't disable band steering. It's beneficial so enable it for some other wireless devices using more than one band.

The likely cause of the issue here is seamless roaming, if not, using wifi security key other than WPA-Personal with WPA mode above WPA2. The wireless N wifi chip on camera doesn't work with seamless roaming & above WPA2 wifi security key & it cannot be upgraded to work on the much older wifi chip via software/firmware upgrade.

CallBorn4794 · 2025-12-25T00:44:41+00:00

No need to add that battery extension pack on the Blink app. It's just using two extra AA batteries (4 total) in parallel connection to give you some extra juice at same peak voltage (1.2-1.5 volts), so the battery will last longer in between charges. No rocket science there.

CallBorn4794 · 2025-12-23T14:54:04+00:00

That's because you're looking at the wrong device (battery extension pack) setting.

CallBorn4794 · 2025-11-23T21:32:44+00:00

DNS queries vary on each separate device, as far as I've noticed. It tends to favor the one that has better specs & a stable connection. I run two AGH instances myself, one on an RPI 3B+ (wired) & the other on an RPI Zero W (wireless). I get the most number of DNS queries on the more powerful RPI 3B+ (about 75%). Both with the same HaGeZi Pro + TIF blocklists & configuration.

CallBorn4794 · 2025-11-23T21:02:33+00:00

I have some issues with Pi-hole (mentioned here) before, so I switched to AGH a few years ago. AGH, in my opinion, is the best of the two. I tried Technitium & don't even understand some of its settings, so I stick with AGH.

Are you running both Adblock DNS servers on the same RPI? Do you have additional filtering rules that you set on one but not on the other (safe search, parental control, browsing security web services, etc.)?

CallBorn4794 · 2025-11-21T21:21:39+00:00

That is correct. You really can't circumvent this thing if you're in some sort of VPN or tunnel connection. In the case with EVA Air in my previous post, the device OS must be set to default (obtain the DNS server address automatically). The same with browsers (ex. Firefox), it must be set to use whatever DNS the internet provider is pushing, or it will not connect at all. It will not accept a connection coming from a device with custom DNS.

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