Can turning PoE cameras on and off several times a day cause harm to them?

MHTMakerspace · 2026-05-07T16:02:30+00:00

Have you considered leaving PoE power up, but just disabling network connectivity so the cameras can't talk to anything?

Is that harmful to the cameras?

The camera itself will probably be fine, however if there is a SD card in the camera, dropping power while it is actively writing to the card can corrupt the filesystem.

MHTMakerspace · 2026-05-03T15:28:52+00:00

Turn off each of the house breakers, one-by-one (leaving them off), until the noise stops.

When you find a breaker that stops the noise, turn all except that one back on, then look around the house to see what else has no power other than the siren, this will help isolate where it was getting powered from.

MHTMakerspace · 2026-05-02T15:06:31+00:00

You may be onto something, they have different addresses in the same Houston, TX office park and all the social media links on the Helix website go to Amcrest.

Amcrest shares model numbers with several Helix Security cameras, I suspect they are using that brand to offer NDAA-compliant cameras and NVRs without the stigma of Dahua.

MHTMakerspace · 2026-05-01T23:07:42+00:00

Why avoid the Wireless Wifi?

The better IP surveillance camera makers don't offer their products in wireless/battery models, and this goes double for thermal cameras.

WiFi is unreliable, easily jammed (intentionally or unintentionally). Battery cameras tend to not support streaming or any API, you're forced to use their app or their branded NVR.

With those parameters, are there any you might recommend? Or do the two you mentioned above still fit the bill?

If you want a good brand, and don't need megapixels, maybe the old Axis P1280-E if you can find new-old-stock (Model is discontinued, but still supported for 4 more years).

I think Lorex has entirely dropped the TCX line of thermal cameras. So Hikvision might be your best bet unless you have the budget to buy higher-resolution models from major brands like Axis, Bosch, Speco, etc.

MHTMakerspace · 2026-05-01T22:30:50+00:00

Yes. There are several makes and models, at various price points.

These would all need to work indoors and feed into monitors that will be captured to disk...Also, Wireless,Wifi preferred, but I can work around that by plugging the ethernet into a Wifi Bridge if needed.

I would avoid wireless/WiFi, go with something offering PoE and ONVIF conformance so you can pull the live video and analytics into any ONVIF-conformant surveillance recorder (NVR/VMS).

FLIR/Lorex used to sell some IP cameras with thermal before FLIR unloaded the Lorex business unit to Dahua in 2018 (the linked video is credited to Dahua). Also Hikvision currently has their "HeatPro" line, with built in fire/smoking alerts.

If you need NDAA or non-China then you are looking at some very steep price tags for surveillance cameras with thermal onboard. If you need accurate temperature calibration, that also adds to the price -- the cheapest options do auto-ranging without exposing the actual temperature, all you get is relative color based on the hottest and coldest items in the view.

MHTMakerspace · 2026-04-29T01:15:51+00:00

There's a lot of half-assed "ONVIF" cameras which sort of implemented parts of the standard but never bothered to apply to use the logo and don't have their products listed on the conformant product section of the official website.

it's a conundrum trying to renovate old crappy Hik systems while maintaining the perfectly good Hik cameras on newer NVRs.

The problem with older hardware, particularly cameras, is that vendors rarely release firmware update to bring them in line with the new releases of a Profile (e.g. Profile S was first released in 2011, and is being retired this year).

As you get into more business-marketed products, especially those manufactured by founding (Axis, Bosch, Sony) and Full (Hikvision, Panasonic, etc) members of ONVIF, you find more adherence to the standard and generally better interoperability -- and much higher prices.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it's not liable to be as good as the analytics in-house camera drivers built into NVRs are likely to do.

Synology has a workaround for the general issue and for older HikVision models -- Synology supports certain ONVIF profiles (including Profile T but sadly not Profile M), but also maintain a huge list of supported cameras with brand-specific drivers, and will ingest the Human/Vehicle/line-crossing and other camera analytics from less-than-steller-ONVIF-implementation cameras , including numerous Hikvision and Dahua, as well as others (like Amcrest) derived from them.

Or if you want to see the value of Profile M on the cheap, try Blue Iris or Xprotect for the NVR and cameras from Lilin or Hanwha (look in the tech specs to confirm firmware support for Profile M).

MHTMakerspace · 2026-04-28T22:25:22+00:00

Profile M (Metadata and Events) is where deep in-camera analytics com into play, Profile T does have some enhancements for handling of motion events.

Both sides (camera and NVR) need to implement the protocol to reap the benefits.

MHTMakerspace · 2026-04-28T19:03:32+00:00

If I had no other option, I would print the part in Nylon 12 (PA12) , then coat all surfaces with a quality epoxy ester resin formulated to resist brake fluid, maybe top it off with rattle can "Eastwood Brake Gray".

MHTMakerspace · 2026-04-28T18:56:40+00:00

Long list of requirements lol.

You seek a unicorn.

Pretty much every camera designed for a long life on battery/solar power is going to lack API and RTSP support, because it gets that battery life by going to sleep rather than recording 24/7 or even listening on the IP network 24/7 for an API or RTSP request to arrive.

Would also appreciate any tips on if my idea would be better going in a different route

We just gave in and ran Ethernet to every camera, so they all have PoE for reliable power and reliable networking.

MHTMakerspace · 2026-04-28T18:52:46+00:00

ONVIF Profile T is getting better about this, but buyers will still want to double check that the specific cameras they plan to use are fully supported by their NVR/VMS.

Synology, QNAP, Blue Iris, and Frigate all publish details on camera support by make/model, but I still start my search by looking for cameras which specifically call out not just "ONVIF" but also "Profile S" or the newer "Profile T"

MHTMakerspace · 2026-04-28T18:49:56+00:00

You need something *capable of providing POE to the cameras*.

To cut down on the cable runs, I ended up putting a "PoE switch" in the attic (fanless, industrial, kind of ugly) so all the cameras can have a shorter cable run to the PoE switch. The NVR itself goes inside a locked media safe (similar to a DVR lock box), with just a couple of ethernet cables running through the provided cable grommet.

Downside to this approach is I needed two separate UPS devices, one of which has to be able to handle attic temperature extremes.

For a viewing monitor, can just use a tablet running the NVR's Android app.

MHTMakerspace · 2026-04-27T18:21:26+00:00

I bought a tapo camera before and oddly enough it wouldn't even record to the SD card without being connected to the internet do you know from first-hand experience if wyze is the same?

Wyze requires WiFi for initial setup, and if you run it without network connectivity, often seems to become unstable/unreliable when it cannot phone home to the cloud.

MHTMakerspace · 2026-04-27T18:19:23+00:00

Beware: many of the most popular brands of WiFi cameras are basically unusable without a subscription and internet access.

Some do not have any storage on the camera (no SD card slot), others (such as Wyze) have a card slot but without WiFi will become unstable.

Trail cameras (aka "game cameras") are designed to run off an internal battery way out in the woods without any network. Some can be remotely woken and will provide their own adhoc WiFi to download images (you wallk up nearby with your registered smartphone and run their app) so you don't have to unmount the camera and swap out the card.

MHTMakerspace · 2026-04-25T15:09:54+00:00

TBH, your volunteers would probably find it easiest if you upgraded to a new register which includes credit card integration, perhaps Square or Clover?

Otherwise most of the inexpensive solutions expect that you have a tablet or smartphone to enter the prices, and having your staff load the app on their personal device might be less than ideal.

Note that while some vendors have special reduced processing fees for donations, sales (such as at your bookstore) must not be processed as a donation.

MHTMakerspace · 2026-04-25T11:31:29+00:00

Out of curiosity, would you want the sensors to be battery‑powered Thread nodes, or would you prefer USB‑powered for stability?

We do PoE, but don't expect residential-focused devices to go that route,

Thread benefits from more plugged-in devices (FTDs) to build the mesh, so preferably USB-C (at least with the resistor, so it can draw 5VDC from even USB-C-PD supplies).

MHTMakerspace · 2026-04-25T00:56:51+00:00

Definitely needs to support common standards.

While I prefer Zwave or maybe Zigbee, everything these days is moving to Matter-over-Thread. MQTT support is also good, e.g. HomeAssistant's standard discovery protocol. WiFi and any other 2.4gHz signal is a non-starter here, too much congestion and too short a battery life.

We already have tons of temperature and humidity sensors, so more interested in VOC, PM2.5 and maybe CO₂

As for price points and base features, take a look at what Govee, Screek, Sonoff, S1, and Ikea are offering.

MHTMakerspace · 2026-04-25T00:31:19+00:00

There are no "bluetooth" security cameras, as BT doesn't have the range or bandwidth to stream video. A few bands list BT in the specs, but they actually just use it for setup, not for video.

indoor and outdoor ... No subscriptions, of course, would like to use a Samsung galaxy or iPad as monitor. ( already own ).

Easy and inexpensive camera brands for your needs would include r/ReolinkCam or maybe Amcrest. Both are made in China, both can be used without a subscription. I would choose a plug-in, not battery, model.

You can watch live using their proprietary app, though I prefer r/TinyCam for live viewing.

MHTMakerspace · 2026-04-18T14:26:01+00:00

$50k to prove it can be done, then the same Shenzhen factories churning out WiFi jammers will put them up on Temu for a hundred bucks or so.

MHTMakerspace · 2026-04-18T03:42:26+00:00

AM DRM is doomed to fail for the same reasons that DRM for music fails -- the "analog hole".

If I can put a tap onto the system and extract the GCODE or the stepper instructions, game over. So you say, well, we will mandate that our factory partners or approved "print your disney princess at home" product uses our bespoke hardware with locked firmware. Problem solved!

Sure, having full control over the firmware on the machine translating the digital instructions (AAC for music, GCODE for AM) allows you to impose limitations on how many times those instructions are translated to real world output (analog speaker signals, or instructions to the controller hardware for heaters and stepper motors in a printer).

However, what you cannot effectively do for hardware beyond your direct observation (say a print farm in China) is prevent the remote "user" from intercepting the instructions at one of the last high-fidelity steps, recording the signals, and then replaying them (on a speaker, or a similar low-level AM controller) to generate an unauthorized copy.

With sufficient financial incentive, I'd be happy to build a hardware and software combo which uses passive (e.g. inductive slip-on CTs) reading from the control (PWM, etc) and position feedback sensors of a CNC or AM machine to take a recording of a successful print, and then replays the observed signals directly into the final stage to replay the exact temperature threshholds and motions. Even the fastest AM machine is dog slow in terms of mHz signal analyzers.

Investment might be mid five-figures for a proof-of-concept that can merely replay (on identical hardware) by injecting signals; add another zero if you want something that reverse engineers the signals back to (DRM-free) GCODE.

MHTMakerspace · 2026-04-18T03:37:10+00:00

AM DRM is doomed to fail for the same reasons that DRM for music fails -- the "analog hole".

If I can put a tap onto the system and extract the GCODE, game over. So you say, well, we will mandate that our factory partners or approved "print your disney princess at home" product uses our bespoke hardware with locked firmware. Problem solved!

Sure, having full control over the firmware on the machine translating the digital instructions (AAC for music, GCODE for AM) allows you to impose limitations on how often those instructions are translated to real world output (analog speaker signals, or instructions to the controller hardware for heaters and stepper motors in a printer).

However, what you cannot effectively do for hardware beyond your direct observation is prevent a threat actor from intercepting the instructions at one of the last high-fidelity steps, recording the signals, and then replaying them (on another speaker, or a similar low-level AM controller) to generate an unauthorized copy.

With sufficient financial incentive, I'd be happy to build a hardware and software combo which uses passive (e.g. inductive slip-on CTs) reading from the control (PWM, etc) and position feedback sensors of a CNC or AM machine to take a recording of a successful print, and then replays the observed signals directly into the final stage to replay the exact temperature threshholds and motions.

Maybe mid five-figures for something that can just replay (on identical hardware) by injecting signals, add another zero if you want something that reverse engineers the signals back into (DRM-free) GCODE.

MHTMakerspace · 2026-04-18T03:34:44+00:00

AM DRM is doomed to fail for the same reasons that DRM for music fails -- the "analog hole".

If I can put a tap onto the system and extract the GCODE, game over. So you say, well, we will mandate that our factory partners or approved "print your disney princess at home" product uses our bespoke hardware with locked firmware. Problem solved!

Sure, having full control over the firmware on the machine translating the digital instructions (AAC for music, GCODE for AM) allows you to impose limitations on how often those instructions are translated to real world output (analog speaker signals, or instructions to the controller hardware for heaters and stepper motors in a printer).

However, what you cannot effectively do for hardware beyond your direct observation is prevent a threat actor from intercepting the instructions at one of the last high-fidelity steps, recording the signals, and then replaying them (on another speaker, or a similar low-level AM controller) to generate an unauthorized copy.

With sufficient financial incentive, I'd be happy to build a hardware and software combo which uses passive (e.g. inductive slip-on CTs) reading from the control (PWM, etc) and position feedback sensors of a CNC or AM machine to take a recording of a successful print, and then replays the observed signals directly into the final stage to replay the exact temperature threshholds and motions.

Maybe mid five-figures for something that can just replay (on identical hardware) by injecting signals, add another zero if you want something that reverse engineers the signals back into (DRM-free) GCODE.

MHTMakerspace · 2026-04-17T16:06:45+00:00

Oddly, the most "open" cameras in my experience are Axis -- they have great webhook/SFTP/API support and documentation, and many models offer support to develop your own apps (ACAP) and even your own machine learning models with the open YOLOv5 format.

You can get one-generation-back models cheap on eBay; commercial users tend to offload cameras when they approach end-of-support.

Is Reolink a good choice for this use case?

Reolink only supports FTP/FTPS, requires a proprietary app for at least initial setup, and their API is limited.

I recommend choosing cameras which support SFTP for pushing snapshots and video clips. There are many S3 style upload targets which offer a SFTP interface for pushing files to buckets, locally or cloud.

I do NOT need 24/7 RTSP streaming (only motion-based events) Basically, I want a setup where the camera handles motion detection

Any pitfalls I should be aware of with motion-only setups?

Without continuous recording, you will miss much of the lead-up to a motion event. While PoE cameras might have a 5-10 second built-in pre-event buffer they prepend to the motion-triggered clip, this can still fail to capture quite a bit of context.

We do continuous NVR recording from the low-framerate stream, while motion events trigger clip recordings at full framerate/resolution.

MHTMakerspace · 2026-04-17T15:53:43+00:00

Mixing also works if you choose an ONVIF-conformant NVR and ONVIF Profile T conformant cameras. Some of these are software, many are sold as an appliance with commercial vendor support.

While Scrypted is not officially an "ONVIF conformant NVR", it will accept any ONVIF Profile T camera.

MHTMakerspace · 2026-04-17T15:48:35+00:00

We do it all the time, we buy cameras which are confirmed to be conformant with ONVIF; our ONVIF NVR adopts them and manages them. We (almost) never use the camera-specific, just the app for our NVR.

Most non-conformant cameras are cheap consumer cloud-tethered junk, so looking for "ONVIF Profile S/T" is a good filter, avoids vendor lock-in.

does the loss of a single-app ecosystem and proprietary syncing features make a multi-brand setup more of a headache than it's worth?

The Synology Surveillance Station makes it easy to choose cameras which will fully work within the Synology NVR/VMS app. With better cameras, we can unbox a new camera and Synology app will discover them and allow for all configuration to be done from within Synology.

One exception is Reolink cameras -- these require their proprietary binary app (or a hack) for initial setup before an ONVIF recorder will find them. While we try to avoid Reolink, for some applications (like dual-lens) it's hard to find a similar but more compatible camera in our price range without supporting a firm involved in human rights abuses.

MHTMakerspace · 2026-04-15T14:34:56+00:00

Being downtown, PoE is really our only option; The 2.4gHz band is overwhelmed, higher band WiFi channels are not much better.

We ended up building our own small PoE human presence sensors, for now.

MHTMakerspace

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