Security camera setup for beginners?

Questions
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In light of neighbours spotting a stranger with a flashlight looking into my windows in the middle of the night, I’ve unfortunately gained a sudden interest in security cameras. :smiling_face_with_tear:

I’ve tried to read up on the topic of IP / security cameras, but despite the amount of relates threads, I have to admit that I’m a little overwhelmed. By my first impression, there appears to be no easy/”plug-and-play” and privacy friendly solutions on the market - so, I turn to you all for advice.

  • Are there any straightforward camera and monitoring solutions that I’ve missed as of January 2026?
  • If not, what are the most viable alternatives for someone with limited technical skills?

(I’m also very sorry in advance if this should’ve been a reply in one of the related threads rather than a thread of its own!)

My personal use case

I’m unfortunately not very technically skilled, being unfamiliar with everything from self-hosting and home assistant, to NVRs and VLAN. I’ll give Linux a shot in the coming month, but so far, moving to GrapheneOS has been my crowning achievement.

I’m definitely happy to learn (and will have to improve my knowledge of routers regardless), but I think the observation of Flashlight Man is giving me an unhelpful sense of expediency that adds to the sense of overwhelmedness / not knowing where to start. It’s likely simpler than I’m making it out to be.

My ideal wishlist looks quite similar to this reply by @Satoshi in a related thread:

What I’ve looked into so far

It seems to me that the best plug-and-play solution would be Secluso, but as it has yet to release its prototype (and might at that time have a limited capacity), it doesn’t seem perfectly viable for now.

I’ve also seen Ubiquiti mentioned a few times - is their camera + NVR good to go on a guest network and/or fairly plug-and-play while being fairly privacy friendly?

For DIY’ing, I have the sense that one approach could be to:

  • Purchase a compatible camera (ideally with a wired connection rather than wireless)
  • Isolate the camera on a VLAN
  • Access them with an NVR (Shinobi or Frigate, for instance)

Before I journey into a new hobby, however, would this be a recommended approach for a beginner? Or would it make more sense to look into Matter 15 and Home Assistant?

(And do you have any specific resources for said total beginners that might be a good place to start?)

Related threads

These threads have very relevant advice or discussions, but despite looking into them, I found it difficult to apply to myself:

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this - and again, I’m very sorry if this is a poor thread! I know Privacy Guides isn’t a help desk, I’m just feeling a little lost. :confused:

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Best surveillance camera outdoor, Expert Recommendations to choose
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Very sorry to read about this one. Had a good bittersweet laugh reading this one… :sweat_smile:

Also my conclusion unfortunately. :frowning:

I’d say none given some research on HomeAssistant’s forums/reddit on my side. :unamused_face:
You did a big fair share of research yourself from what we can see, hence I do think that you do know the answer or what to pick based on all the gathered resources already. :+1:t2:

Since you don’t have any tech knowledge and this might take a lot of time/money/learning to even begin getting into, it’s probably safer to buy something not too evil and change the firmware into something FOSS down the road once you can.
Meaning that you make a cross on privacy at first, and will add it gradually. :+1:t2:

Matter is not ready yet. But yes, Home Assistant will be your best friend once you start you DIY journey. Same for Docker, Frigate etc. Take it slow at first and consider the budget + urgency that you do currently have.

I’d also check this website for devices that could get their firmware wiped and see if you want to maybe invest into an All-in-One system ready with everything plug and play that could then be upgraded to a DIY approach.

Also, as a quick and dirty (+ cheap) approach, maybe you could buy a few cameras and keep them offline with no Wifi/mobile app but insert an SD card into each of them, then check the footage every morning to see what’s on them.
Realistically the shortest path to get a simple answer as of who is this handsome Flashlight Man without investing enormous resources into it. :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:
It won’t be sending notifications, doing any AI or anything crazy but a simple nanny cam is just perfect for 50% of all the features with a very small entry fee[1].

Given your amount of research + situation, I think that people won’t be too angry. :light_blue_heart:
It’s also understandable that you’re asking for help given what happened to you recently… :melting_face:

  1. because having a GPU + NAS + self-hosted VPN access + proper router config + … + … + … will be A LOT to get through ↩︎

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I don’t think there are any good privacy-respecting solutions given your needs and limitations.

Reolink are generally recommended as the “best” cam in the home assistant community and they have a great integration there. They are a bit pricey though, but should last longer as you become more technical.

I personally bought a eufy starter pack for around $300 which comes with 3 wifi cameras and a NVR-type “base” server. They’re cheap and also integrate with HA although not super well as you’d need a custom integrations. Eufy is a slightly sketchy Chinese company that has had some security incidents in the past, but I don’t care as I strictly point my cameras at publicly accessible/visible areas and never indoors. It’s definitely a compromise, but they have motion detection that works at night and could alarm you directly if they spot something when in “alarm” mode.

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Reolink might be the least evil yes, but definitely not a snowflake-white perfect company without shady practices either.
There is none currently on the market anyway…quite sad huh.

But it is part of the certified works with HA products and can work with Frigate yes. :+1:t2:

Very sketchy yes, not sure I’ll pull the trigger on such company especially if you need to allow access to some ports, or run some proprietary software. :sweat_smile:
It’s pragmatic and get’s the job done at least.

I’d honestly maybe also consider buying/setting up a PoE-only solution, hence not sure if there are cameras that could work with just HA + wire from camera to the router. Might be messy, but I’d chose that over wireless + installing any kind of apps (even if they point outdoors).

My personal condition

something as sensitive as a camera should not be wireless[1] nor use a proprietary mobile app/server base.

  1. if it was me, I’d also add extra complexity by forbidding myself to buy from a company with a shady firmware unless I’m 200% sure that wiping the firmware is safe enough, hardcore mode to then build it from scratch but that is again, only a challenge that I want to have for myself :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes: ↩︎

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First of all, thank you so much for not just taking the time to reply thoroughly, but to do it so kindly as well. I really, truly appreciate it!

Haha, I’m glad I can at least provide a bit of amusement. :ghost: “This handsome Flashlight Man” had me laughing back.

I feared as much, and I think this might be my way to go. Thank you for reminding me that it can be incremental - and that starting with something ‘upgradeable’ could pay off down the line. Your quick’n’dirty(‘n’cheap) suggestion is an excellent idea, too!

Thanks for pointing out Reolink, too! On the scale of ‘least shady/invasive available’, are they and Ubiquiti comparable?

(Just for my understanding if you don’t mind elaborating, what does PoE refer to?)

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PoE means power over ethernet (basically using the internet cable to power the camera), which allows you to have only one cable. Most hardware doesn’t support PoE, so you’ll have to invest in a specialized switch (costs a few euros more than a “standard” switch in my experience).

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I’d suggest using generic RTSP PoE IP cameras to avoid vendor lock-in. These work with all NVR and media players. As a first step, you can connect them to a PoE switch, then to your router, and view the video stream from your LAN using VLC. Remotely accessing your LAN is something you need to figure out separately. The second step is to add an NVR, Frigate is what is normally used in the Home Assistant community because it is FOSS.

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9

This is the ideal setup.

However, it’s expensive and requires advanced technical skills + research to set up. OP started that he’s a beginner who just installed GOS and wants to learn Linux next. Asking him to start self hosting HA + Frigate, buy the right cameras + NVR + AI accelerator + PoE, run the cables + install stuff, figure out networking (honestly just use cloudflared), fine tune Frigate models, etc… is a BIG ask.

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10

Sorry to hear about your incident.

I’m one of the Secluso project cofounders. You are correct that our plug-and-play camera is not ready yet. But please join the wailing list as we are hoping to have some updates in a couple weeks. (https://secluso.com)

Also, note that Secluso is a great candidate for a DIY setup as well. We have detailed instructions on our github repo (https://github.com/secluso/secluso) on how you can use it with a Raspberry Pi or an IP camera. And we have some work in progress that will make it super easy to get Secluso up and running including its server and Raspberry Pi camera. Please join our newsletter as we will try to send an update on that in a couple of weeks as well. (https://secluso.com)

And, we (the project co-founders) are always happy to help you and others if you run into any issues configuring Secluso. Feel free to email us directly at secluso@proton.me.

And I have a request for you and the broader privacy community. If you need a privacy-preserving security camera, please consider giving our solution a try. We’ve built Secluso precisely for the criteria mentioned in this post: end-to-end encryption, access via home network and via the Internet, completely open source and verifiable, motion alerts, and self-hostable. We’re hoping to build a community around this solution. The more users join our community, the better we can improve Secluso and build a solution that can hopefully serve many privacy-conscious users in the future.

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11

I think his recommendation is quite chill actually because it is very incremental and doesn’t need to be fully on or off kind of situation, there is an entire range in between.

Wired PoE with no vendor lock-in is at least the way to go if willing to be serious about it yes. :+1:t2:
Steps would be as following:

  • buying some basic PoE switch, no need to be fancy here mostly double-check the wattage + get it wired with a cable, PoE is nothing more than that (and I do not recommend wireless overall)
  • using some basic all-in-one ready to go NVR box that would record everything to some kind of HDD (like Ubiquiti has I think? :thinking:)
  • access it locally with either the software on the NVR or by directly using VLC with the local IP address yes, achievable with a bit of reading/tutorial on YT

Far down the line:

  • consider switching the proprietary NVR to something FOSS, with HomeAssistant + Frigate
  • making a better setup with the networking situation
    • so that you could also have the capability to access it remotely thanks to a self-hosted VPN + VLANs etc etc…
  • add AI to the mix with models to fine-tune etc
  • getting all the cool features like realtime notifications etc
    • most business or non-tech-savvy people just have them recorded locally in their network, which is actually quite safe + private given the very small learning curve
    • accessing it remotely, at all time, with detection, night vision etc etc…is very powerful yes, but adds a LOT of complexity and dangers if done wrong, hence might be overkill for your current needs

I want to focus on something similar this year to what both you and @jkaczman are doing: create a nice and privacy-respectful product to fill this gap in easy + plug&play cameras.
I won’t be doing it in the same approach, but I’ll be following closely to your releases since we’re kinda “competitors” now haha. :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes::sparkling_heart:

I do have a lengthy list of stuff to try for myself already but I think I can append Secluso! :folded_hands:t2:

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The biggest problem with doing it the “proper” way is you lose a ton of functionality until you go all the way and do all the advanced steps too. You’ll also probably spend more time + money just for this initial setup compared to my shitty all-in-one wifi cam setup. You wouldn’t be able to view your feed remotely, automatically toggle between alarm/notifications on/off mode nor get alerts for detected movement. You’ll just have a local stream + recordings that you’ll need to manually view which I’m not sure is very helpful nor practical.

Also why are we recommending VLC use in 2026? mpv is the king of video players imo, especially if you’re on Linux, although it is a bit more advanced.

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I really regret reading the Reolink advice on the internet and have finally replaced almost all my Reolink cameras FWIW, they are just very mediocre cameras.

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If I may ask, I noted that you linked to a set of Ubiquiti solutions in a previous thread. Would that be a better alternative to Reolink, in your mind?

(And are there any comparisons to be made between that and a project like Secluso, as mentioned further up?)

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I haven’t done the research yet. Can you expand on how you came to that conclusion? They do have the absolute top tier HA integration which is super important for me.

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If you have money to burn spare, Axis has some really good cameras and support.
Otherwise, Amcrest and Hikvision are good contenders, B&H is also a solid source to get the latter.

I’ll say this again and again, you shouldn’t be having any direct interactions with cameras to other devices, HA included.
Have that all proxied through your trusted NVR.

Also if anyone needs a POE switch, I still recommend the ICX7250, it can do 48 ports of 15w or 24 ports of 30w, or a mix, and has 8x 10g ports. They’re like $120 on eBay.

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17

For some people, all the advanced features might not be needed. :smiley:
It is always easier, faster and cheaper to give your soul to some random shady company.
Depending on what you film/care about, might be a hard no. I can understand why you might be fine with your current setup.

I agree that VLC is quite lame overall but it is feature rich, easy to install and does the job.
MPV is good for higher bitrate videos but also not really a must for a basic need like OP’s.

Video quality wise or some other aspect?
I guess they are the least bad, rather than the best. :joy:

I guess that depending on what you need, the fastest way to get an actual opinion is to check some specific detailed reviews of the given cameras on YT. :slight_smile:

Secluso is more DIY than the Reolink because you pick your own hardware and install the software on it, hence the quality can vary depending if you buy a RaspberryPi camera module or something more expensive/powerful.

I guess they just wanted to get some visibility from the community and pulled some effort to achieve that label from HA. Doesn’t mean there are an amazing solution in the absolute.
I’ve heard quite some people not enjoying them on HA’s forum.

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VLC

I don’t understand why this is even being mentioned in this thread by anyone.
Checking cameras manually with a viewer is absolutely useless.
You need to be able to at a minimum have motion detection and recording, and preferably have alerts/notifications.

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I’m not super advanced with camera integration stuff. Is the concern that HA can somehow get compromised and then someone can take over your cameras which is game over? Do you have any links detailing such attacks on HA?

I wouldn’t say absolutely useless. I check my cameras sometimes to see what’s going on outside when I’m too lazy to get up. :stuck_out_tongue:

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The HA integration of the cameras themselves is irrelevant, because your cameras should only connect to your NVR (which is what @anon63378639 is saying), and that NVR is what should connect to HA.

So what you should ideally be looking for is NVRs that have top tier HA integration. Unless you’re not recording at all, I suppose.

Both. Quality, value per $, features

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