ZoneMinder as a could DVR for remote standalone IP cameras

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ice.man
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Sep 22, 2019 9:24 am

ZoneMinder as a could DVR for remote standalone IP cameras

Post by ice.man »

Here is what I need
I 'm gonna buy an IP camera with wifi and cloud uploading features (Yi camera) connected to a LTE-wifi router in my holiday house (where I have no computers)
can I setup a Zoneminder server (VM or docker on my esx server) to remotely save the motion triggered videos/images from the remote camera,
Instead of buying a cloud service from YI ?
the IPcamera would work in push mode as far as the LTE router gets a dynamic IP, I still have to check whether it's public or private (depends on the mobile provider I guess)
does any cheap ip camera support this? (Maybe they just work with the manufecture's own cloud system
I'm investigating both wifi and ethernet camera.
Ethernet cameras would be better so I can replace the wifi router with an 4G ethernet router and have no wifi visible (most IP devices have a not reliable support of wifi hidden networks)
.
I'm open to suggestions
I'm willing to invest no more than 200$ on extra hardware (actually I just have the 4G-wifi router for the holiday appartment)
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snake
Posts: 337
Joined: Sat May 21, 2016 2:20 am

Re: ZoneMinder as a could DVR for remote standalone IP cameras

Post by snake »

Basically, what you want is a 4G connected IP camera, with a remote ZM server somewhere recording that camera, right?

It's possible. You either open the camera up to the WAN, or setup an RPI with a VPN alongside the camera. But this will be expensive, as cell bandwidth isn't usually cheap.

I wouldn't recommend opening the camera up to the WAN, for security reasons. I am not aware of cameras that offer support for VPNs, but you might be able to flash custom firmware on some (though it's not really practical).
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snake
Posts: 337
Joined: Sat May 21, 2016 2:20 am

Re: ZoneMinder as a could DVR for remote standalone IP cameras

Post by snake »

I built a 4G connected ZM server here.

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=28775

I don't pull from the server, I only record locally, (with external remote access through openvpn) but it looks like you need about 40GB of data a month with this setup, for modest viewing.

So what you are saying is possible, but 4G is not free. If you can setup on wifi, you will save money, and then your original idea is viable.
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