You can use Zerotier but Unifi has it’s own encrypted setup that works great so unlike Blue Iris you shouldn’t need to use any 3rd party services to make Protect accessible remotely.
No, Unifi has its own servers that create the encrypted remote connection for you in Protect. So unlike BI you don’t need port forwarding or any 3rd party services whatsoever to make it work. All you need is an internet connection that’s it.
Interesting. This is sounding more and more appealing.
Yes the UNVR was released in mid 2020 and the UNVR Pro was released in mid 2021. That said they are definitely still well in production and I don’t think there’s any indication they will be phasing them out anytime soon. I have older Edge Switches from Ubiquiti that aren’t even made anymore and they are still making firmware updates for them which is amazing. All their NVRs use Protect and that has also been getting very regular updates so I’d say you are quite safe buying one of these if you were so inclined. There’s also quite a market for used Ubiquiti gear so even if you didn’t want it anymore you could still get most of your money back. If you do pick up a used one then check the box because it will tell you the date that hardware was tested (I’d try to stay within 2024 if possible so you get the latest motherboard revisions). Of course if you find a killer deal on an older used one then a compromise might be worth it.
I haven't been happy with the IR on any of my Empire Tech cameras, except for the ones in rooms in my house and shop. They work great in those scenerios. Outside they look washed out and hard to view. I fixed all that with external IR lighting and turned the onboard camera IR off. I did the same thing with my 4K T cams and their onboard LED's. They were somewhat gimicky so I just installed my own LED soffit lighting in the different areas where I have my 4K T cams.
I have the exact same setup and use external IR illuminators while turning off the onboard camera’s IR. Totally agree it works way better and I find it also cuts down on bugs in front of my cameras on summer nights. I have 10 of those IPC-T54IR-ZE-S3 cams running through Protect and I have no issues capturing good both day and night images.
Ditto for me, the main reason being the center hotspots. We'll see if it's improved in the new PRO cameras.
Maybe turn off recording on my Blue Iris machine and use it only for alerts. Use Protect on the UNVR for everything else.
What kind of alerts do you normally see or need on Blue Iris? Are they usually in the day or at night? Just thinking what might be the best setup for your specific situation. I have a big rural property but really I only need to know when folks come by the doors (guests, packages, workers, etc) so my Reolink app is set to notify me so I know to look if I want. Everyone’s situation is different so it would be helpful to know what you need your system to do and then we should be able to help you achieve that.
Well, a few different things. I mentioned earlier about my three IPC-T54IR-ZE-S3 cams. I have them mounted on the back of my shop which is a busy thoroughfare for night time critters. I will lay in bed reading waiting for the alerts to come in so I can watch the racoons, opposums, skunks (yuck), deer etc. My neighbor shot the local Bobcat that lived on the back of my property, so I can't watch him anymore. Also I like getting alerts when my wife comes home from work so I can meet her at the door. (I'm retired). I also like knowing that I will get alerts from the IPC-T54IR-ZE-S3 cam that I have in my detached shop. Just in case someone decided to enter uninvited. Same goes for the cameras at each entry door of my house. It's just a peace of mind thing.
