[davismwfl]

My security system is pretty basic but super reliable and isolated/safe overall.

I use BlueIris for the NVR software (it is cheap) and I buy various cheap IP cameras that support OnVIF (almost all try to phone home, some directly to china IPs). But what I do is I put all the cameras on an isolated LAN that does not have access to the internet. My BlueIris server has two NIC's one for the video lan and the other for my data network. BlueIris has a static IP and is locked down as well to what it can access externally.

Two ways you can make BlueIris work outside your home, use a VPN on your mobile device (absolute safest), or use their free DDNS to point to your box. Their system seems fairly decent, and I've done both methods. I also log all the requests on both LANs and check them every so often to see what is happening.

It seriously doesn't cost much to set this up, especially for just a couple of cameras.

[racked]

Care to share the brand/model of those cameras? Thanks!

[davismwfl]

I have two different ones in the system right now (around 14 cameras total). Amcrest and SV3C are the brands and both are available on Amazon pretty cheap. I have a mix of 5MP and 4k cameras where it makes sense for better details etc. I also have a mix of the bullet cameras and the bowl versions.

I am pretty sure the SV3C brand is just a rebranded Dahua or similar, just a little different software.

FWIW: I also never use their mobile app to set them up, I just plug them into the isolated network and use the web interface to configure them.