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submitted 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) by TrickDacy@lemmy.world to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

Hello, I'm wondering what the consensus is (if there is one) on the best hardware and software (open source very much preferred, runs in Docker is a must) to use for privacy-respecting, self-hosted security cameras. I have always wanted to avoid feeding the surveillance state and have never had a security camera but unfortunately I recently saw evidence of someone trying to break into my home. I searched Lemmy for posts on this topic and only found one from two years ago: https://lemmy.world/post/12726787. I assume things are a bit different now so I'm basically making the same post again as OP. Thanks in advance for any tips anyone may have for me.

PS. My experience level is that I currently run several self-hosted solutions via Docker and have been doing so for a few years. I am not a networking guru but I do understand the basics, and I've setup pihole in the past (but deactivated it due to some false-positive issues). If there's a reason to stand that back up in order to prevent otherwise private cameras from "phoning home", I can do that.

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[-] melfie@lemmy.zip 3 points 2 days ago

I use Reolink cameras and recently got a Reolink NVR. I do block all Reolink devices from the internet in my OpenWRT firewall. I didn’t want to host a NVR on my server that’s already hosting a bunch of other stuff and further increase the blast radius of my server as a single point of failure. Reolink is all proprietary, but at least it’s local and works without internet access.

[-] TrickDacy@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Thank you. What kind of server and storage do you use for the NVR and is it on a vlan or something? I'm trying to wrap my head around how much hardware I'll need to buy. I'm not that great with networking also so I've considered buying a cheap router for the system that isn't connected to the internet, instead of doing the vlan route.

The reolink NVR is probably a Linux based SBC, it's built like an appliance and only runs the reolink software/firmware.

[-] melfie@lemmy.zip 2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

I use a Reolink NVR instead of my own server, along with SD cards in the cameras themselves as a backup. My switch has VLAN capabilities, but I haven’t configured my cameras to use it, mainly because I have Wi-Fi cameras outdoors (2 solar-powered and 1 doorbell camera connected to doorbell power). It’s a proprietary local setup that “just works”. I understand not trusting proprietary and wanting self-hosted open source all the way because I certainly don’t trust them to not collect my data and don’t allow Reolink devices to have internet access.

this post was submitted on 29 Jul 2026
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