Recently, I saw a posting about Wyzecam’s wireless security camera going on sale for $25. I also saw a worrying post about how Wyze stores customer video in AWS in the US, but all data is collected first from a 3rd party provider known as ThroughTek that stores and forwards some data to Chinese datacenters.
Luckily, I found that someone had found a way to run custom software on the camera, and so I put forth the $25 to run an experiment! The device itself is actually pretty robust. It has an internal SD card that it uses to store video in case it loses an internet connection. It also boasts an array of IR LEDs and an IR shutter, meaning that it provides passible night vision (though you have to use the interface to turn it on and off, or write a script to do it).
I went through the steps on the site and found that the process was very simple (put files on SD card, put SD card in camera, hold reset button). This turns the camera into one that streams RTSP (a streaming video format). There are several free and open video security system applications that are able to connect to these streams. Even Apple HomeKit allows monitoring based on things like movement. I chose ZoneMinder originally for recording, but eventually moved to Live555’s OpenRTSP because ZoneMinder started using too much CPU on my server to process for one camera, and I care more about recording over real time monitoring.
With the tech work out of the way, I mounted the camera under the archway to my living room with some duct tape, aimed it at the front door, and added a USB battery pack. I plan to get a proper mount and a long enough cable to reach an outlet in the future, but I judge the experiment as a success!