ZoneMinder Forums

Hi there,

I'm new to ZoneMinder and doing some research on suitable cameras for my setup. I'd like an indoor camera to start, but everything that I'm finding out there requires me to install a proprietary app on my cellphone in order to do the initial setup. Is there any option that allows me to simply set things up using a browser locally, without requiring an app and/or internet connection?

Thanks in advance!

Loads. Hikvision or the many clones are fine. Lots of other brands you’ll find mentioned on here.

Thanks. Is there any specific term that describes this type of cameras? I tried doing a quick search before but couldn't find a post for this topic.

If I’m unsure I search for brand and RTSP. If you can find the details of an RTSP connection and possibly credentials then it’ll likely work ok.

Right, but having RTSP/RTMP feeds available doesn't necessarily mean that the camera doesn't require an app for the initial setup, right? Maybe I'm wrong here, but it seems to me that a bunch of these cameras will require this initial setup done via a proprietary app before being able to stream RTSP/RTMP.

It's a crapshoot.
Some force using the app, others will let you go to whatever IP it picks up and show a login request. Or show up in onvif scan, or not.

A very few will specifically state they don't require an app, but even that depends on the sellers webpage.

I don’t think it’s that bad. Stick with my initial advice if you are concerned. Plenty of fish in the sea.

This is a good question and also something I am dealing with. I have been reading through this web site forum and always the brand Hikvision is suggested however I have had problems finding a good place to purchase Hikvision that offers the type of camera I am looking for to monitor my rental properties. I do not use mobile devices and have Linux desktop computers which I wish to use to monitor the cameras. All these Chinese camera manufacturers copy each other and produce the same basic thing under a million different names and shapes, and they are all oriented to cell phone or MSIE on Windowz, sadly. It was better 10 years ago before everyone's face was stuck to a cell phone and all you needed was a web browser and IP address to access and program an IP camera.