I had one of these "no-brand" cameras that had an integrated MicroSD card, which would make you think that it'd work just fine even without the internet.

We had no power in Austin for several days, but I kept my camera on a portable battery, because, why not?

After the power and the internet were restored and I checked the app, turns out, nothing was recorded! Even though it was online the whole time.

Such a major disappointment.

I created a new subnet and an associated WiFi SSID for it, connected the Tapo cameras, and set them up to act as RTSP cams. I then firewalled the subnet off from anything other than my Frigate NVR server and gateway. They still work fine, they are streaming video to Frigate without complaint. Maybe because they have DNS from my gateway still? (I should probably block that off, it's a common data exfil vector).

Very annoying that internet connectivity is required for initial setup, I'll agree there. They could have just had a bare bones web interface.

Edit: But they have a list of product names, where they support installation of Thingino: https://github.com/themactep/thingino-firmware/blob/master/d...

I love how the front page doesn't scream SOCs/SOMs to you and is just straight up here's the compatible cameras with pictures (with some SOM info below).

> https://github.com/themactep/thingino-firmware

Nice, it actually supports several popular Amazon US "no-name" brands, including Imou and Wansview! (Plus, several mainstream Eufy, TP-Link and Wyze cameras are supported by thingino as well.) Seems to be more user-friendly than OpenIPC, too.

[1] - https://github.com/wltechblog/thingino-installers/tree/main/...

update seems like it's software for a camera module. Now I have to figure how to match that with cameras or how to connect it to my raspberry pi

I'm going to look at all the links in the comments in this post to see if I can find things which are: better documented, more affordable, and easier to integrate.

Don't consider at all: All non-OEM Chinese stuff (1 trillion brands, way too many to list, including the usual consumer garbage that you might find in a store like Reolink etc.)

Consider if cost turns out to be a factor: The two major Chinese OEMs, Hikvision and Dahua.

Note: All Chinese OEMs are obviously implicated in the Chinese surveillance state. Obviously. A lot of "major" brands are OEMed by these two, even ones you might not expect. For example, much of Panasonic stuff is rebadged Dahua. Basically 90% of any CCTV camera Made in China comes from either Dahua or Hik, the lesser brands just mostly get (or rather, choose) the bargain-bin hardware with monkey-model firmware and of course no FW updates ever.

If cost really isn't a factor: Bosch, Axis, Dallmeier, Mobotix

Note: Most of these you cannot buy directly, and the vendor won't talk to you.

> What’s the best, in terms of open source support and reliability?

These are found at completely opposite ends of the spectrum. All good CCTVs cameras use signed and more-or-less well encrypted firmware, even cross-flashing isn't much of a thing.

We're also focused mostly on the less expensive models, because they're obviously within reach for a lot more folks but also they're almost always subsidized by the expectation that a discounted purchase price is made up for by the vendor's cloud subscription. You can get a LOT of great camera models for a low price.

I will say that there is a story about Hikvision that would likely steer most folks away from their brand.. it's bad enough that Google won't index it... With that said, I don't believe anyone should be trusting any third party with their video data in the first place...