Ultimate Network Video Recorder Comparison: Finding the Best NVR

[@UnexpectedMaker]

Mate! The amount of time you invest in these videos collecting data, testing, comparing and then obviously shooting and editing is insane... hat's off to you! This is a wonderful resource of knowledge. I recently bought myself a Unifi DMSE and plan to use Protect just because it's part of it, but as you said, the camera choices are really limited and expensive :(

[@TheHookUp]

Thanks Seon. Doing this full time now, so I generally spend at least 1 40+ hour work week testing, although I usually do longer term testing with 10 hours or so a week spread out over 4 weeks.

[@Bni3i]

@@TheHookUp no shit, you get commission off the stuff you put up. 😂

[@TheHookUp]

@@Bni3i Having a conversation with yourself? I think I'm very clear on that point. No sponsored videos, every product has an affiliate link if you'd like to use it.

[@nizara]

0

[@tacticalg6686]

@@Bni3i Stfu. Clean your moms basement

[@sayubu]

I have watched hundreds of your videos and I typically do not take the time to write any comments; however, you my friend outdid it this, great analysis, great timing (not boring) and incredible verbiage associated with the products. Much appreciated !

[@TheHookUp]

Thanks Fernando!

[@PureMagma]

Thank you for this!!! I have spent so much time trying to choose based on specs... I basically short-circuited my brain to the point I've delayed buying a setup.

[@ibsn87]

HOLY. A view that does the score summary at the start. And allows me to navigate the video from there. This guy is amazing. Thankyou.

[@irgtk]

I have had my Reolink NVR and camera’s for the past year with no issues. I didn’t need the features of Blue Iris. I bought Reolink based on your past reviews, which were spot on. The Reolink NVR looked to be a good deal at the time so that was my pick. Thanks for all the reviews.

[@Rayhustlin247]

Do you also use the reolink app? How is it

[@irgtk]

@@Rayhustlin247 I believe the Reolink NVR only supports their own apps. The mobile app has more functionality than the windows desktop version. The app has the basic functionality for home monitoring, good enough.😁

[@ronniemcguire]

I have the app on iphone and ipad, it works fine and I much prefer it to the desktop client, been using it for 2 years now without problem. I installed my system before finding this video and I agree entirely with author, got a great deal on my 4k system, NVR and 4 dome cameras, now got another 2 running through a network switch as only 1 ethernet cable to location and its impossible to pull in another cable, extra cameras connected seamlessly ……great system and if you need support their operators are very helpful

[@CommonSensePlease-1]

Your network illustration of the different remote methods to access your cameras (P2P, VPN, and Port Forwarding) is terrific. I didn't realize that the P2P server is only used for authentication and not doing any kind of routing. Thanks for the video!

[@johnbecich9540]

The lesson on "security and privacy" @ 11:00 is excellent, and should be viewed by anyone who is interested in remote access! Overall, this is a superb video lesson, from start to finish.

[@gerryf7015]

Incredible and valuable review. Thanks for the enormous effort that went into this video.

[@mpxz999]

Regarding what you said about "Ambiguous hardware requirements" for Frigate... I COULD NOT AGREE MORE. While trying to look up suggested CPUs, CPU comparisons to determine best value, most responses in Frigate discussion areas are "CORAL TPU!" "Have you tried a Coral TPU yet?" "Do you have a moment to hear about our lord and savior, Coral TPU?" Like man, I GET IT! It can use AI to detect objects, and that Coral TPU will make it faster. Understood! Even the official documentation lists hardware + inference speed charts. But is that not only half of what an NVR is expected to do? The other half being to... record/encode clear and usable videos? I suppose Frigate is really more of a neat thing to use on the side, while a real NVR run elsewhere. Anyways I digress. YOU explained the differences between these NVRs very well. Thank you

[@robertcastellow5797]

I have an older Lorex NVR that Lorex has removed access through their app so the only way to view the video is directly through the NVR. Looks like I will be making the Blue Iris my new system. Thanks for all the hard work you put into each video.

[@BrandonTisor]

Another option (albeit more technically advanced) for remote viewing is using something like Nginx Proxy Manager & Cloudflare DNS with something like Authelia or Authentik acting as the access broker. I use this right now to expose UI3 to the Internet and I even have 2 factor authentication enabled.

[@groto27]

I get excited every time you release a video. I can't wait until I finally have a chance to set up a Blue Iris system. Great quality video as usual!

[@DaveRohrbach]

Thank you especially for the security section!! This is so commonly forgotten with these systems and you did an AWESOME job of explaining each method!

[@PALADIN867]

As always an excellent round up, I for one would have enjoyed the 45 minute version! But I would have liked to see NX Witness / DW Spectrum (American rebrand) on this list as a proper competitor to Blue Iris. NX Witness absolutely blows Solutions like Unifi Protect out of the water but isn't nearly as much of a head scratcher as Blue Iris. It also allows several servers to be part of a 'hive' giving fault tolerance among other benefits.

[@judman13]

Whats the pricing on something like that?

[@PALADIN867]

@@judman13 Varies by region, believe DW Spectrum (American distribution) is $128/camera. Here in Australia I'm paying $195/camera. But it's a perpetual license per camera with no recurring fees and includes all the apps etc. If your comparing to something like Unifi Protect, I don't have to use expensive proprietary cameras and NVR's. So the cost of the license is covered by the reduced cost of the cameras, and in my case I run the 'server' nodes in a 2-node hive on a VMware ESXI cluster we have for other production workloads anyway. With only 2 cores and 8gb ram it's handling 16 8MP cameras without issues and I suspect it'll scale far higher being that each server node can support 128 cameras, and you can have upto a 1000 nodes in a hive. In summary, in an 8 camera system NX Witness paired with $200 cameras will cost similar or less to Unifi Protect, and is very simple to setup. Hope that helps!

[@ILruffian]

Absolutely outrageous in the US if you want their AI features. To get that, you need to buy DW's Blackjack hardware. Starts at nearly $7K, and I think that's with two 18GB drives. If you open the unit to insert another drive, you void the warranty. I do this stuff commercially. We recently did a webinar with DW, as I was interested in offering the product. But the pricing is just over the top. Even big enterprise level clients are going to balk at that pricing. @@judman13

[@TheBlackIceTea]

Once again a really great video! Straight to the point with all the information needed and especially the clear explanation of the different ways to connect to your NVR. Keep up the incredible work!

[@SmartAndTidy]

For security, I use ZeroTier. It is totally reliable, easy to set up and free. You basically select which devices, located anywhere, to incorporate into a secure network. It just works. And it solves the problem of CG-NAT if you're using a mobile ISP.

[@TheHookUp]

I may do a video in the near future with Tailscale and ZeroTier discussing the pros/cons and when to use them.

[@null7581]

I think you should post the second version of this with all the "boring" info. There's a lot of TS steps that people run over because the FAQ's/Documentation is garbage. Might not be a FUN video but people will watch it-- and be very glad you posted it.

[@TheHookUp]

The script for it is posted on my website, link in the description.

[@Techonsapevole]

I love you, impressive comparison. Frigate is an impressive software to be open source

[@TheHookUp]

This will definitely not be the last time Frigate will be on my channel, it's really cool and I have some ideas to use it for advanced automation stuff, I just don't think it's a good option for 100% of your surveillance needs.

[@jd415]

Amazing video as always, I cant imagine how many hours you spent making this. Thank you so much!

[@eitelify]

Thank you SO much. I commented a couple of months ago on a video of yours asking for a video like this to help make an informed decision and you delivered! Really appreciate the effort and knowledge from your videos, keep it coming! :)

[@caleblong2658]

Just trying to wrap my head around how long it would have taken to gather all of this information and present it the way you did in this video is unimaginable! Great review! This will definitely help me in choosing what system will work best in my setup!

[@Cronson82]

One huge benefit of the Ubiquiti setup is that the Dream Machine Pro does much more than just surveillance. With it, you have a gateway/firewall with lots of features, a router for hardwire ethernet runs, and the ability to add their access points for Wifi (or any of their other products). I own a Ubiquiti Dream Machine Pro because I actually just wanted really good Wifi throughout my 2500 sq ft home, and wanted some hard wired drops too (home theater with gaming systems and streaming boxes, a gaming PC in another room). So I dropped the $500 to $600 for the DMP, a PoE switch, and 2 APs (plus some ethernet cables) and got near perfect wifi across my house and well into the yard. Later I started looking at Ubiquiti's other products and found their cameras. I have 5 of their cameras now (2 G4 domes, 1 G3 Flex, and 2 G3 Instants) and am installing two of their motion detecting flood lights today. Don't get me wrong, they are expensive, but I really like that their ecosystem offers more than just surveillance.

[@TheHookUp]

I agree with your general idea, but there are two issues: 1) Like the UDM Synology NAS also has a ton of other benefits, and so does having an always on server like the machine used for Blue Iris. You can run TrueNAS, Plex, Home Assistant, etc. 2) A UDM Pro is actually not that great at running UniFi protect. It only has a single hard drive with no option for redundancy and it supports a maximum of 7 4K (8mp) cameras, and that's assuming you are not running any other services on the UDM (so no unifi network controller, no access, etc). Realistically a UDM Pro shouldn't have more than 3x 8mp cameras and 5x 4mp cameras if it is also being used as a router/network controller. For that reason UniFi protect is best for a "casual" and non critical surveillance system if running on a UDM or CKG2+, but if you're looking for a true surveillance system it's well worth it to get a UNVR.

[@bits2646]

For the blue iris I'd recommend HPE microserver with xeon D1518 and ecc memory, you can get them really cheap, they're small and reliable and even overkill for that task, you can even virtualize firewall or sth else in conjunction with Win (best to use Server) or even expand and don't need a additional switch, about $250 - $400 for top config. Great video, very informative and deep dive into whole systems, great !!

[@fabioteixeiBR]

I know I'm kinda late for the party in the case of this video but about the options for securing your setup you can as well go the Reverse Proxy/ API gateway route using things like Traefik, Kong or even Cloud Flare tunnels. You can use that to expose services to internet in secure fashion with SSL encryption, IP whitelisting and authentication (token, oauth and SSO)

[@Fryn_Hayn]

Which one of those methods would you use for just a basic home surveillance setup?

[@jeremybridges8756]

Also interested in the answer to this question

[@scrollorseek]

Thank you for this video. You’re going to great lengths for this review, highly appreciated. Question on the LOREX, is there a specific reason you’re using LOREX cloud app in the video instead of the lore home app? I’ve been using the lore home app for a while now and the performance is same as any general app on iOS.

[@bigj-yn3tf]

That's where apples and apples need to be compared. You are right. I just installed lorex from costco and its smooth as butter with the right recommended app by manufacturer.

[@judman13]

This is a really great overview of the market options that are out there and I appriciate the work that went into it. Two minor critiques. 1. The storage space per option isn't mentioned. The Blueiris system, the storage isn't mentioned. The Unifi system has 8 tb redundent storage. The Reolink has 3 tb. The Ankee, storage isnt mentioned either. Synology has 8 or 12 tb of storage depending on redundency. It isnt a big deal, but can sway the costs a fair bit between systems. It also influces expandability. 2. I do not think synology is a great value at all for just a camera system. The camera license system is horrible and crazy expensive. But to ignore the NAS functions of the unit and only talk about VMS is an oversight to me. Again thanks for the review!

[@johnsmith2247]

Blue Iris is ran on a computer, so you can put whatever size storage drive that computer will accept. If the motherboard allows it, you can put multiple drives in it, unlike an NVR that may be limited to one or two tops (except for some high end commercial units). Most will find Blue Iris to be the most flexible all the way around.

[@troy3456789]

@@johnsmith2247 What am I missing out on? It seems like blue Iris not an NVR device. What are his cameras physically connected to?

[@fretbuzzly]

@@troy3456789 Correct. Blue Iris needs the same network setup (POE switch, etc.) as all the others, the only difference is rather than buy a Synology NAS for Surveillance Station, you have to buy a PC. Thing is, a lot of people running Blue Iris also already have a NAS of some sorts for Blue Iris to record to. So you have to look at the total system setup, and I don't think this video shows that. Definite bias towards Blue Iris. Finally, the Blue iris license isn't perpetual. Assuming you want updates, which I'd recommend given how unstable Blue Iris can be at times, the annual maintenance fee is basically the cost of a Synology camera license. So in a few short years the cost differential becomes negligible. Add in the additional time it will take to constantly manage Blue Iris (based on my experience), and there is no cost difference even from the start. Not saying Blue Iris isn't good for some people, but it's not the end-all-be-all that this channel and various others claim. To each their own.

[@JoshuaJoshua0]

Great vid! FYI Nabu Casa is a great option for HA & Frigate instead of port forwarding. I'm sticking with HA & Frigate because I want to integrate LoRa/Meshtastic/ATAK for off-grid notifications and I doubt anything else would be able to do that.

[@wx3054]

I was wondering about this. I've setup a wyze camera with an rtsp adress, being able to access now remotely through Nabu Casa. So is this then equivalent to the P2P solution?

[@loomsmcgooms824]

God bless you sir. Adding cameras was placed on my honey due list, and your content helped me so much. From knowing nothing, to doing something. Amazing.

[@nunyabusiness2127]

Great information delivered in a quick, succinct manner. Great work!

[@nicholaslacovara2381]

ANOTHER AWESOME VIDEO! The amount of information and time spent creating this video is impressive. On a side note - It appears that REOLINK NVR’s will work with other cameras. From the Reolink support page “After considering compatibility issues, if you still want to use 3rd party cameras with Reolink NVRs, you could choose cameras that support ONVIF and RTSP protocols”. There are videos of people connecting Amcrest cameras to the REOLINK NVR.

[@TheHookUp]

While it's not impossible that a 3rd party camera would work with the Reolink NVR I would consider them edge cases. Most of the cameras I've tried have not worked, or not worked well.

[@greenstaraz]

Using Synology for three years. Very happy & it does all I could want

[@fretbuzzly]

Switching from Blue Iris to Synology was a great decision for me. Blue Iris always had problems. I had to actively manage it. Synology just works. No, it doesn't have all of the bells and whistles and isn't as customizable as Blue Iris, but the time savings not having to manage it is more valuable than anything Blue Iris has to offer.

[@LifeLover2020]

@@fretbuzzly - Still really happy?

[@fretbuzzly]

@@LifeLover2020 Yep. I haven't had to touch it once since my last post. It just works. And it's also very easy for my wife to use on mobile. The mobile app is very good, worlds better than Blue Iris.

I really appreciate the P2P explanation. I've been looking for exactly this style of explainer to send to my less tech savvy friends to explaon how the video ends up on your phone without first being stored on a "chinese server". Much appreciated! And the whole video is great for my confirmation bias for going with BlueIris 😁

[@AnthonyFloresCPA]

Thank you! You bring A LOT of value through your insight, organization, explanation, presentation and recommendation.

[@BolonaJoe]

Every time I watch one of your videos I need to talk myself down from buying something - great job.

[@TheHookUp]

Haha, stay strong!

[@TheHookUp]

or don't...

[@keving8682]

Based on your previous reviews I purchased the Reolink 8 camera system and put it behind a sonicwall to prevent it from calling home but can still access it remotely as you highlight. The best of both worlds in my opinion - very happy to have stumbled onto your channel a year or so ago and with the decision to go Reolink.

[@TheHookUp]

That's a great solution.

[@neelsheth265]

Can you do a tutorial to explain the steps involved? This is exactly how I want to build my setup!

[@pawpaw7646]

Excellent video! Concise, useful information, clear analysis, good summary. This makes me want to research more, as it narrows the search considerably. The animated diagrams describing security/privacy and remote access are outstanding. Even your sponsor message was good - pertinent sponsor, message clearly delineated. Keep up the good work.

[@chrise202]

Big thank you for the review. Highly underrated video content!!

[@D3thM3tal]

I'm a tech guy and work in the security profession and I started with Synology and my NAS. I ran into the camera limit, noticed the camera license cost and bailed for Blue Iris. I've got a ton of Amcrest cameras recording from a standalone PC with GPU asisted AI to the NAS and it's a bit flakey with cameras going offline from time to time and just too much messing around with it in general. I recently stepped up my home network security with a Ubiquiti Dream Machine SE and I'm now heading down the path of that camera system (reluctantly due to cost) as it seems to be the most well thought out, integrated and seucre setup out there. Time will tell-

[@333Mindfulness]

How's it going? Any situation where Synology would be good enough for you to consider again?

[@pilotbum]

This has become my go-to for all things security/surveillance. The only thing I would add to the bit on synology is it’s only worthwhile if you already have a Synology NAS. Their machines and OS just work. Perhaps it is not as feature rich as Blue Iris but I would not depend on anything that needs windows. If Blue Iris made a Linux version I’d be all over it.

[@Darkk6969]

I too wish Blue Iris work in Linux. Ah well. I'm actually running a virtualized version Synology in ProxMox. Works pretty well.

[@stevepessy]

Thanks for taking the time to do these reviews! I have had Swann, Lorex, Hikvision and Amcrest. All with bnc wiring since it's a older system. Been wanting to upgraded but never decided on which one to get. I think the Reolink is going to be my choice. I will have to rewire the house with cat cable but I looking forward to the higher resolution.

[@TheHookUp]

I can still remember when I switched over from BNC to IP cameras, it was definitely a HOLY $#!T experience.

[@libertarian1637]

The Synology tested is principally is a NAS with camera add on as a plus, with 2 includes licenses. Synology actually makes NVRs which come with 8 licenses included and is much better for running cameras as the processor is targeted for that with no other network tasks being done. I also prefer VPN over port forwarding or Synology connect as it provides much better security. Synology NVRs also provide local HDMI for displaying video directly unlike the Synology NAS which can’t be viewed directly.

[@headhog77]

Thanks!

[@TheHookUp]

Thank you!

[@pbear06]

Great video, thank you. I think I'll go with ubiquity. I like what you say: Unifi is as close as is the Apple experience as you can get with security cameras". And we're a full-Apple-equipped family exactly for this reason: it is maybe more pricey but it just works and eventually spare me a lot of time of t-shot and maintenance.

[@BrandonDoyleMN]

Great video, very indepth while keeping it engaging. I've tested swann, amcrest & reolink and like the quality, value and ease of use of reolink the most. We still use ring for our doorbell and was excited to see reolink is coming out with a video doorbell but disappointed to see it isn't compatible with existing chimes.

[@harrisonashleyfrancis9613]

I'm with you. I have a nest hello doorbell but pre ordered the reolink once I saw it was available hoping it will be a suitable replacement.

[@mpassibarros]

Thank you very much for putting time and effort, you saved me tons of hours of browsing which system to go for!

[@D-Khaz]

Small ask: can you mention what you’re assuming your energy price is when doing the yearly costs in future videos? It will help viewers gauge the ratio to their energy price.

[@TheHookUp]

15 cents per kwh is what I was using for estimations, but I also included the actual wattage in case you want to calculate your costs.

[@PersonXes]

@@TheHookUp 15 cents 🤣 you should see the prices here in Europe thanks to Putin. You can easily multiply by 5 here... But still only a small price to pay compared to our Ukrainian friends. Thanks for indeed including wattage

[@QH96]

@@TheHookUp UK is now at 40 cents per kwh :l

[@matthewharrison3813]

Thanks for including running costs.

[@mice3d]

For synology/ blue iris best solution is to run through tailscale for the vpn, works great.

[@fretbuzzly]

I have PiVPN on multiple Pis for redundancy and it works flawlessly when remote.

[@Bobtb]

I've been using Blue Iris for years now and I don't think I'll ever move away from it. I would have considered the Unifi Protect option, if only those 4G Pro cameras were at least half the price.

[@Artificial.Unintelligence]

Is blue iris a 1 time fee? Any idea if unify is also trying to charge subscription fees?

[@Bobtb]

@@Artificial.Unintelligence Technically it's a one-time fee, but if you want to be able to upgrade to newer versions you'll have to pay annually (but it's not that much, tbh). I don't know about Unifi plans.

[@pbear06]

@@Artificial.Unintelligence unifi cameras and nvr are pricey but no subscription, and you get all the firmware/OS updates.

[@PersonXes]

I was hoping this was your doorbell review video, but this was also great! I fully agree with your assessment of surveillance station, but still think my choice to go that route makes sense: For that price you get an 'OK' surveillance system, but also a great NAS that can do tons of things (manage, version and backup your data, photo management, run Home Assistant, run the Unifi controller software, and endless other features. When it comes to port forwarding etc: I tried to "reduce" the risk by not using quickconnect or any of those default features, nor default ports to make my Synology as 'unrecognisable' as possible in case hacker find a vulnerability affecting Synology. Probably still not safe though.

[@TheHookUp]

You can actually use quickconnect without port forwarding which uses the synology servers as a relay. Doorbell review is basically in the hands of Reolink at this point, they keep delaying the release of their doorbell, but I feel like it would be stupid to put in all the time to do a comprehensive review and not include the Reolink.

[@hobbykip]

I have surveillance station running with the same idea in mind. Total package is pretty okay value for money. I do not like the lack of person/ vehicle detection. VPN options are pretty easy aswell I have the Unifi equipment and it took me 2 hours to get the VPN running (including learning how to do it) on our mobile devices.

[@kwesibansonjnr8535]

that is precisely my reason for using it. Synology Surveillance Station has so much more in addition to surveillance.

[@calsimeth1588]

I really liked the way you edited this video.

[@johnknightiii1351]

Your videos are amazing. I really appreciate the work you put into these making it easier for us to make informed decisions.

[@Parmigiano1]

Synology does not NEED 4 drives. You can add just one if you'd like. Also you should mention that unlike with other NVRs you are getting a full NAS system which is a great value IMO.

[@TheHookUp]

Well, that was reflected in it's reliability score, so it sorta counts. The same could be said about a blue iris machine that can also be used to run home assistant, a plex server, and trueNAS.

[@YKSGuy]

@@TheHookUp As noted in another comment they have two bay Learning NVR units with built in people detection as a hardware feature on the NVR as well. Probably would have been a better comparison.

[@CajunCoding]

@@TheHookUp Or an Unraid system that can run all of the above and a VM hosting ONLY Blue Iris; which is the direction I will likely gravitate since I already have the Unraid server sitting there doing all kinds of awesome things.

[@Parmigiano1]

@@TheHookUp I guess that's fair ... it just seems that the only issue Synology has is the price which was negatively affected by the fact you added 4 drives and that it is not just NVR. Agree that similar applies to Blue Iris.

[@Dakhor]

I would ad a note to using the Synology as a NVR and that is that it can do so much more then the other options if your NVR needs are "limited" or more of a home user. I run my NAS with Plex and a multitude of other services such as home-assistant as a VM, docker containers (unifi controller among others) and the NAS also is the NVR for my 3 cameras that dont record 24/7 but only on smart detection. I also have a second smaller Synology NAS at my summer cabin that acts as the Offsite for backups, camera recordings etc etc and of course its running 2 cameras also. I think a 8 camera setup is kinda overkill for many home users (for instance where I live the law prohibits the cameras to record a public road or a public path - it can only record your property and not even an inch of anything where the public has access too).

[@TheHookUp]

The same concept could be applied to running UniFi protect on a UDM Pro, or running Blue Iris on the same server where you run Home Assistant, Plex, TrueNAS, etc. I currently have a modest 13 cameras installed (sarcasm), and with SS it would cost me $550 just for licenses, which is $150 more than I have sunk into my entire Blue Iris machine including software, and I use that machine for lots of other things.

[@fretbuzzly]

@@TheHookUp ​ I have 10 Synology licenses that cost me a total of $421. 2 came with the NAS, I bought 8 more for $421 ($385 before taxes) on Amazon. So that wipes out most of the $150 more comment. The NAS also does a lot more than your dedicated BI machine at lower electricity usage. So you really can't directly compare as you're trying to do. Also remember Blue Iris costs $29 a year for ongoing maintenance in addition to the initial purchase price. Synology licenses are perpetual and SS has no annual fee, so you get any updates as part of the NAS purchase. So each year of BI updates is almost the cost of a SS camera license. As the years go on BI becomes more and more unattractive from a pure cost perspective.

[@Whistlewind0023]

Nice work Rob!

[@johnwoods5354]

I liked the image quality of the Reolink camera but the activity zones on their nvr never worked. I returned the first set and ordered another Reolink nvr but the activity zone feature just didn't work. Both times I tried to highlight just my driveway and block the traffic from the road but it kept alerting me on all movement in the cameras view even outside the activity zone I set. My friend had the same issue and returned his also. Too bad,I really liked the image quality with their camera. I have Arlo installed but the image quality is bad in low light and the notifications take minutes to alert me and sometimes I don't receive any notification at all so I'm returning that back too. Might try my luck with a Hikvision camera but their nvr is so expensive. Any suggestions for a good camera with great image quality for day and night would be appreciated.

[@jafizzle95]

I struggled and fought my way through the Frigate setup process, but I'm glad that I did. The text based config has a high learning curve, but you get to "declare" exactly what you want your NVR to do. For remote access, my phone automatically connects to my self-hosted Wiregaurd VPN when I'm not on my home WiFi and I can check the cameras through HomeAssistant. I use the Frigate Lovelace card in HA which makes checking recordings and whatnot very easy. For cameras, I have 8 old Wyze Cam v2's flashed with the OpenMiko firmware which removes all cloud features and adds rtsp. It's "alpha" firmware but it works great and doesn't have a bunch of stuff I don't need like dafang hacks and all the other after-market firmwares available for the Wyze cams. Video from the Wyze cams isn't super high quality but it's plenty for what I need. Overall, very happy with this setup.

[@Theferg1]

Great video bro!! As others have said the time, the energy, the thought you put in to these videos is the best!! Because in all reality, you tested them for any and everything that could possibly happen!! I always refer people to your channel when it comes to things that I know you have on your channel you’re the best, bro hands-down I wish you covered a lot of more things!! 💯👍

[@baysidephotography]

Thanks

[@AlexBerg1]

Regarding security section, it would have been nice to know which products use P2P access. Excellent explanation of it! And all the options and their issues!

[@TheHookUp]

I sorta mentioned it. Annke, Reolink, UniFi, and Lorex all have P2P. Synology uses a relay, so not true P2P.

[@RaffBuilding]

@@TheHookUp What protocol does the Blue Iris mobile app use? BTW, another great vid.

[@TheHookUp]

@@RaffBuilding Port forwarding. Blue iris essentially has a DDNS server built into it that (if you turn it on in the settings) continually associates your external IP address with your blue iris product serial number, the app can then look up your home ip address using that serial number, but you won't be able to view it if you haven't set up port forwarding. For me I use VPN access, so I have my local blue iris server address (192.168.86.X) in the app, and then just activate my VPN to use the app.

[@RaffBuilding]

@@TheHookUp Just added to my long home todo list, trying to get Blue Iris working in my unraid docker - hate to have to keep a Win box running but was inspired to try BI long ago by one of your vids.

[@troy3456789]

@@RaffBuilding might.. *might* work in a Linux box running wine or virtual machine. Just another option to try. I am going to attempt it in my Linux mint dual boot machine.

[@smitty9398]

I have been running BI on a standalone machine for a few years now. It interconnects with my Hubitat alarm system. Using the deepstack AI the feeds that route to Hubitat only send notification if a human being is on my property when I am asleep. Setting off lots of lights and noise. Which gives me time to wake up and see what is going on. The system works great. I also have a Ring doorbell that was given to me by my daughter. It is so unreliable that I could replace with the SPST switch that was there before and not really notice much difference. But, I do not want her to think I did not appreciate the gift. I do not recommend using Ring or anything Alexa for home security.

[@Jonathan-ib8gq]

Thank you so much! We just got robbed by a contractor. No way to tell they stole from us without a camera in the bedroom, so now we are installing cameras in the bedrooms, but smart cameras are way too vulnerable. I'm completely new to NVR systems. It'll be a big learning curve for me either way, but looks like it's worth it.

[@Lonewold.]

I hope you get to 500k and then a 1000k subscribers soon 🙌🏼

[@sygad1]

Blue Iris + Wireguard on a RasPi, works like a charm

[@David_Palma]

I'm a pro surveillance systems installer and for the past 5 years all we have been installed is ether HIKVISION or ENS NVR/DVR's, (Hybrid, IP or Analog). We consider it the best one because the longevity, quality, compatibility with other cameras and the app just works for every feature with no problem. I'm surprised this is not included on this comparison video. Even the ANNKE that it is a HIKVISION branded doesn't have all the pro features. Any ways, good video! even for me is good to know all those other branded performance and features. Please consider including these other brands in your future videos. Thanks

[@willdogs4286]

He probably didn't include the Hikvision as it is considered "pro" and can only be reliably purchased from an installer (The ones on eBay and Amazon aren't the same). I install and service surveillance systems as well. We work on a lot of different manufacturers but mostly Hik. I agree it is probably the best overall for the reasons you stated.

[@robroberts2064]

And the Hikvision software is poorly designed for most folks. My father struggles with his professionally installed Hikvision sw on his Mac, where as I’m fine with it but I’m a technical product manager for software and hardware. I’m considering buying a Reolink nvr to swap in, and keep his peo Hikvision cameras in place - if only someone could confirm if the Reolink nvr really only works with Reolink cameras.

[@orangetuono38]

Love your channel. Do you take suggestions? Have you thought about doing a pressure washer comparison video? 🙂

[@doug350zTT]

I have Frigate, Synology and UniFi .. Blue Iris was a no go because it has a cost and needs a dedicated windows machine .. for me Frigate has been the most useful .. I’m also running my DS920 with 1 12 TB drive with no issues

[@TheHookUp]

What's the point of having a NAS without redundancy?

[@doug350zTT]

@@TheHookUp I set it up with SHR so that’s the plan in the future to add another

[@SmartAndTidy]

I use Blue Iris on Dell Optiplex machines bought via their refurb business - ie off contract business machines. The micro machines are fantastic, needing only about 15W to do their business. So I get rock solid hardware and software, and low electricity costs. You can't beat it. (Plus with Windows you can run Veeam, a totally reliable freemium backup solution.)

[@MortenEghj]

@@SmartAndTidy Which optiplex are you using ?

[@anonomas7123]

Great round up. I have a small business and need something simple and reliable so I will go Annke. What about adding blue iris for more accurate person detection but still having NVR for back up

[@TheHookUp]

In that case I think Frigate is the answer. If you are adding additional features and are looking to "tinker" frigate is a great choice.

[@yankee-in-london]

Great video as always; always appreciate your insight. One small point about the Synology option ... i think for many the use of surveillance solution starts to become a much better option when a person already has a NAS (aka., sunk cost) and then the product is free for two cameras and additional licenses are quite reasonable. As a home user of SS I only wish there were more videos describing more advanced features (which I still don't understand why they are so rare) as understanding beyond basic setup is rather hard to grasp for non-professionals (or at least for me).

[@yankee-in-london]

One thing I'm now struggling with is figuring out how to integrate Synology or Reolink events into Home Assistant. I know Frigate is better adapted for this so I've considered looking to it too but I'd prefer to find a simpler solution to source events.

[@TheHookUp]

I think the sunk cost argument is a pretty common reason why people settle for surveillance station, however the same concept could be applied to running UniFi protect on a UDM Pro, or running Blue Iris on the same server where you run Home Assistant, Plex, TrueNAS, etc. In which case the cost for licenses seems even more ridiculous. I currently have a modest 13 cameras installed (sarcasm), and with SS it would cost me $550 just for licenses, which is $150 more than I have sunk into my entire Blue Iris machine including software, and I use that machine for lots of other things.

[@TheHookUp]

Also, the Reolink home assistant integration is pretty good and allows you to get person detection events for each camera.

[@marauder2575]

@@TheHookUp I think your point is valid, and ultimately it just depends on the individual user. I have a small NUC running linux for home assistant, plex, etc but I don't think it would be powerful enough for Blue Iris plus I just lack the knowledge to start setting up virtual machines to run Windows for BI. I grabbed a Sinology to backup photos, documents, phones, etc and only plan on having 2-3 cameras so I only need to pay like $80 for one additional camera license. So for me, SS is actually one of the more cost effective solutions instead of a whole separate Reolink NVR or getting another server to run BI. Ultimately I think your video is a good intro to help people jumping in for the first time and wanting to know the differences.

[@d.l.1567]

This is a great video about NVRs and agree with the ranking. But if you wish to use your system for data storage or anything that requires a server, you're really looking at Blue Iris (+ server) vs SSS + Synology NAS. I have a DS1019+ happily running and recording 11 Dahua cameras. But in addition to that I run a boatload of services (including Unifi) on the 1019+ which were fairly easy to set up and maintain + data storage. This all comes in compact package and I can't think of a single time in 3 years that I HAD to reboot it for any reason which would definitely not have been the case with a Windows server. This is why I put up with the average mobile app and average notification system or the fact that I need to connect to the VPN each time I need to see why the cameras are going off when I'm not home. So my point here is that if you want a complete system that goes beyond NVR that's good at everything and great at nothing and doesn't eat up a lot of your time, SSS with the assorted Synology NAS is the way to go. Ten years ago I would have had a server + Blue Iris. But life is no longer offering me sufficient time to mess with a Windows server every other day in addition to 10k other responsibilities.

[@DigitalCircus777]

Thanks and clarified a bunch of information and questions I've been mulling for a while. Blue Iris maybe the best option for me since I'm beginning to step away from Synology and moving towards a Proxmax Server for Storage and Virtualization. Synology for me has become to restrictive and extremely costly for what it doesn't provide (extensive camera support, and alternative software options).

[@Darkk6969]

I'm actually running a virtualized version Synology in ProxMox. Works pretty well.

[@aliciawang-u2g]

Nice video with lot of useful info!! I'm going to install a security camera system in my house. Still considering to buy PoE ones with a compatible NVR. This video help me a lot. Gracias!!

[@VonSpud]

Very professional review breakdown. I was considering a Lorex NVR...not now.

[@mattrogers6565]

Hi Rob, another good video. One thing I wanted to say, if you don't already know, Synology has launched a dedicated DVR instead of people having to use one of their NAS boxes. I have the DVA1622 connected to a pair of NC800 cameras. Originally I used a Synology NAS and their Surveillance Station software and agree like you that it worked, but the overheads were a lot and it wasn't that fast or reliable. Now with the DVR it still runs a version of their Surveillance Station, however it's much a faster and now includes AI functionality such as Deep Video Analytics, Face recognition and Licence plate recognition, people and vehicle recognition. Whether its a good alternative against some of these dedicated systems I'm not sure, but my experience of this is good and its easier to add cameras on due to its included 8 licences for cameras.

[@Darkk6969]

So basically they took a standard NAS unit and removed the extra features leaving only the DVR function behind with 8 camera license already included? Brilliant!

[@StrawberryKitten]

11:49 In addition to a VPN I recommend port knocking and limiting access to only certain IP-ranges.

[@EsotericArctos]

I watched this one again now at the end of 2024 and Ubiquiti have really coem a long way. Dream Machine Pro Max, with 2 HDD bays, three different UNVR's and a bunch of more economical cameras. On top of that Unifi Protect has really improved with the feature set. It's really made Protect even better now. I have moved from Blue Iris (after moving from Synology to BI) to Protect, but I was not using a lot of the advanced features of Blue Iris so it was pretty easy to move. I do block alll my cameras from the Internet (using a different camera VLAN), but I leave the Protect NVR available for remote access, and I feel this is secure enough using the Ubiquiti remote access system.

[@TheHookUp]

Every Ubiquiti UniFi Camera + ONVIF Support in Protect 5.0! kzbin.info/www/bejne/momydZKchJV-irM

[@mannas46]

thanks for another great video! a video idea - back up options for your NVR footage and what you think is best!

[@RobinDamronII]

Thank you for this video, I’m currently using Ring cams and I have been researching a replacement. Regarding Air Gapping: I already access Home Assistant remotely; so would it be possible, if I blocked the Reolink NVRs IP address from the internet using my router, to still access the NVR remotely through Home Assistant? I would like to still be able to get to the NVR remotely but not directly expose it to the internet.

[@YKSGuy]

Synology Surveillance Station: - Doesn't require 4 drives you could do one or two etc. Very flexible - If you want people detection build in to the NVR you get the Deep Learning NVR series which even has a 2 drive enclosure. Then the cameras do not need to support it. - Biggest CON to Surveillance station to me was the camera licences. Frigate: - Still beta 100% agree on stability so far and camera compatibility - If you install the Beta 11, Beta integration and Beta custom:frigate-card you get timeline, multicamera view and remote access native to Home Assistant. - I am guessing it was tested without a corel device because you can run it on a PI or NUC for lower power use. Edit: Ultimately they still kind of ended up where I would have expected them in the list rankings.

[@TheHookUp]

Tested with coral on recommended hardware (Intel Celeron J4125 MiniPC) from the Frigate docs.

[@memilanuk]

The Synology dedicated NVR units also come with 8 camera licenses by default.

[@guidoabarcia1926]

Why not test the Synology NVR, not comparing apples to apples

[@johnjeremih]

I was thinking of buying lorex for a church specially to record license plates. What cameras would you recommend for commercial buildings?

[@miscemail2901]

With regard to Blue Iris and Windows Reliability... cameras should be on their own physical network without Internet Access connected to a secondary LAN Adapter Interface. The Private LAN Interface for the Blue Iris PC should also be behind a firewall and if the PC's only function is for DVR use, just disable the Windows Updates. They aren't necc for a PC with no active users and can be occasionally installed manually after a full backup.

[@perjernstrom5178]

Great video! It would be interesting with a "behind the scenes" longer edit with the boring stuff also. But most interesting would be the mentioned combo of a robust NVR, like Annke, with Frigate or similar analysis attached on top. I'm such a case, I'm wondering if there are some benefits of the NVR as a uniform interface vs Frigate interfacing each camera separately. I have different brands of cameras and some "hub" feels like a good idea. Also, the numbers of streaming clients are limited accessing the camera directly, so that would also be out interest to know if the same is true for the NVRs. And can theNVR send all streams from all cameras, or just the main stream?

[@TheHookUp]

Usually an NVR will have RTSP feeds for each camera, so you could feed those into Frigate.

[@jeffersonspringfield1785]

@@TheHookUp Any idea if the Annke NVR can be triggered externally by Frigate? I'm most frustrated with the playback of video so I'd want Frigate to mark the important stuff and use the NVR for playback.

[@TheHookUp]

I’d say that is unlikely

[@jeffersonspringfield1785]

@@TheHookUp Thanks, you're probably right. As a result, I spent a not insignificant amount of time connecting my Frigate instance to my formerly unused Synology NAS so that I can use the Surveillance Station app for viewing clips. Though I love Frigate for detection, not having a dedicated mobile app and easy way to scrub a timeline from mobile has been a tough pill to swallow. TLDR; of the setup: 1.) Frigate detects a valid event Home Assistant triggers a webhook on Surveillance Station, 2) Surveillance Station fires a motion event, 3) DS Cam app has all motion events suppressed (reason being, there’s no way to tune which ones to see, it’s either alert on every motion event or none). 4) Home Assistant triggers a mobile notification based on my presence status and camera preferences. 5) Notification URL is synocam:// so that it opens up the DS Cam app where I can view the latest event and scrub the timeline.

[@DB-fv4yn]

Understand the review of the Synology NVR/NAS BUT the one thing that is important to note, is that while the other compared products are single use NVR, the Synology NAS as a ton of other important network features like RAID Network Attached Storage for all your files, pictures, videos, etc.., SMB commercial grade backup and restore including bare-metal, multi-cloud sync/backup, runs docker containers, along with a host of other applications ... so depending on the use case... Surveillance Station is thrown in, and includes 3 licenses. (not really an Apples to Apples comparison)

[@TheHookUp]

The same concept could be applied to running UniFi protect on a UDM Pro (which is a router, switch and network controller), or running Blue Iris on the same server where you run Home Assistant, Plex, TrueNAS, etc. I currently have a modest 13 cameras installed (sarcasm), and with SS it would cost me $550 just for licenses, which is $150 more than I have sunk into my entire Blue Iris machine including software, and I use that machine for lots of other things.

[@aaronlangeland]

Wish I would have had this review about 15 months ago 🤷‍♂. Live and learn.

[@hunterhogan455]

When it comes to residential or small businesses I think this is a good review.

[@silverbackag9790]

I like the way you did the sponsored part. A brief mention at the start and the rest of it later. Hate when the sponsored part is right after a 30 second intro while recognizing the need for them.

[@James-pt1fp]

Really good video, loved the content. You are one of the most solid tech reviewers on here. Btw - says “port forTwarding” on the remote acces overview page 11:10

[@TheHookUp]

Doh!

[@egarrisonwte]

Nice video. As someone with 3 Blue Iris, I agree. I was formerly a Unifi fan, but when they came out with Protect, I went to Blue Iris. I do really love the camera flexibility of BI. I do struggle a little with Notifications in BI.

[@runuphill]

What issues does UniFi Protect have, in your opinion?

[@Story_Teller_Everyone]

Protect is awesome, I do wish it was deployable on your own hardware though

[@davidpatterson3348]

Great info. Have you tested/reviewed ZoneMinder? I run Macs and Linux boxes, not Windows.

[@freak3dot]

Would love to hear your thoughts on Agent DVR (Newer iSpy).

[@MyBlocksStrongestMan]

New subscriber finding incredible value in your channel!

[@TheHookUp]

Thanks! Glad to have you.

[@aaron57422]

Excellent video! I keep flip flopping between Unifi and Synology (since I already have a NAS), but leaning more toward Unifi. I inherited a Ring doorbell when I bought my current house and ya haven't been impressed. I was curious if you had any thoughts on Google's camera ecosystem? I have some family friends that have been thinking about a camera system that are definitely not on the tech-savvy list, and my own experience with Ring doesn't make me want to recommend it, but maybe Google?

[@davidzee3755]

Would love to see Axis, Avigilon or DW Spectrum as options

[@atomicsmith]

Incredible video. Clear and concise. Thanks!

[@nxb902]

Love your comparisons. You mentioned that you have yet to see a Reolink camera with good night vision performance with moving subjects 6:02 Would you consider looking at their CX410? It has a 1.0 aperture lens.

[@TheHookUp]

Yeah, that review will be in mid-december.

[@scottparcel1221]

Thanks for the great NVR comparison. Do I give up anything if I use a Annke NVR with Reolink cameras (for cost) versus a 100% Reolink system? I link the idea or more camera flexibility while still getting lower power usage than BlueIris. Would person detection or Reolink camera features work as well with the Annke NVR? Will a 180 degree camera like the Reolink Duo 2 work well with the Annke?

[@TheHookUp]

Definitely try to match NVR and cameras if you can. ONVIF profiles only provide so much functionality. So for something like a doorbell you wouldn't be able to receive doorbell presses or do 2 way talk if you used a 3rd party NVR.

[@scottparcel1221]

@@TheHookUp Ok, thanks. Are there features of the Reolink 810a, 811a, Duo, or Duo 2 that you feel would suffer from use with an Annke NVR versus the Reolink NVR?

[@FreedomToRoam86]

The one thing I think should have been added to the Sinology bit, is that IF you already have it, and IF you have a POE switch already, AND plenty of empty storage, then all of that cost goes out of the equation. But ir would still be slow to access on line.

[@AceBoy2099]

With the reolink do you have to connect direct to their appliance, or can you connect them to a "standard poe switch" and just point to the appliance/cameras? Is that 80.00 for Blue Iris a reoccuring thing, or is it a "buy once, cry once" thing? How well do the ipcams handle vlans? I couldnt get a couple reolink cams to connect to my udm-pro, not sure if its because the udm is on a "default" vlan and the cams are on a camera one, or if it's something else. Id like to figure that out before by amazon return window expires....

[@kristfur]

Have you ever done any testing on how many simultaneous viewers a camera will support? Is that a thing that manufactures discuss in their documentation? I ask because I'm in an office that needs someone watching the lobby on the camera all the time. We have more than 5 people that use an android tablet for viewing. Our Wyze cam has a limit of 5 simultaneous viewers at 360p. We tried an Eufy cam, and that wouldn't go past 4 simultaneous viewers (Eufy's support team claimed it should go to 5, but it didn't). We actually need a more than 5 people watching at all times. We are moving offices soon, trying figure out what camera to buy for our lobby. The camera's we've been using have been wifi, but at the new office we can do wired-POE which should help a lot.

[@davidalexander3066]

I just moved into a house that has poe cameras everywhere, I had no idea how to get them connected and working till I watched your video, thanks..

[@palladini9718]

I bought my Lorex 4K 4 Camera and a NVR with a 2 TB Hard Drive for 248 USD on a Black Friday 3 years ago