Need Advice on Security Camera's

They’re not as comprehensive as dedicated hardware firewalls, and given recent reports, router-based firewalls can be more vulnerable.

My experience with Alfred is that unless you pay for the more advanced features it is not that great for security. Really low resolution and limited storage of videos.

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I believe you are mistaken about how comprehensive a router running linux with iptables is. And I would sooner trust that than any proprietary hardware firewall.

Awaiting the additional suggestions you promised earlier.

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You asked. I answered. You don’t like my answer, do whatever you like.
:sunglasses:

Right, I didn’t like the FREE cloud storage claim. I thought, for how long? I liked the idea of storing the pics on a folder on both phones. Then you can move them to wherever you want, your cloud, a jump drive, or a media card.

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Does Remote Shot have the features you like? And does it take good images? I’m still undecided as to which app.

I got the Samsung phone with the hairline crack. But it’s not the model it was listed as on eBay. Seller is a female, bought a bunch of stuff at an auction, and is unloading stuff on eBay. She assumed the model based on the box it was in, and it’s not Cricket Wireless either. Basically, it was supposed to be a Galaxy S, but it’s an On5 with a locked screen, and it’s a MetroPCS phone. Contacted her, and she didn’t want it back, not worth the postage, she refunded me in full, told me to do what I want with it. I think she knew I’d win a “not as described” eBay claim. This phone had a locked screen, found tons of websites to get it unlocked - for a price. It’s not the FW way to pay when you can get it free. :grinning: Sure enough, I found several techy sites with instructions. One was simple & concise, in less than 5 minutes I unlocked it. Ran into another problem when trying to sign into Google. Apparently when you do a factory reset (which unlocks phone), it turns the phone into a paperweight/brick. :worried: I googled the message I got, and found that to get it working, change the password on your Google acct via a desktop or other device, wait 72 hours, sign in. It should work. If so, this will work as a window cam. Supposedly it’s a security feature added to Android, and the tech savvy folk found a workaround, if you are patient. It connected to WiFi fine, but until I can’t sign in to Google, can’t do anything online.

Just bought the Galaxy S I need for the iClam case. This one has a distorted screen, there’s some blurriness and shadowing, but it’s readable. Seller says it’s a Sprint phone, and he could not guarantee ESN was good (I was able to check that easily online, it’s good), and it comes with no battery, charger, or accessories. I just received the wall charger & 2 batteries I bought. It works just fine, just has a blurry screen. Was surprisingly cheap, listing doesn’t say if it’s locked or unlocked, but that’s not an issue for me. This one has a crack-free screen, seller put temporary battery in to test features (camera, bluetooth, wifi, etc all work), and take pics of the messed up screen. It’s readable, not good at viewing pics or surfing internet, but the blurry text & icons are discernable. It’ll be fine for my use. It’ll be here by Saturday. I have 3 different mounting options for the pole, have to figure out which will get the best pic, and how high up to mount it. I have theft-proof hardware too - locking nuts & round head hex bolts. The case is quite sturdy, and the mounts are strong.

I might download Alfred & play around with it. I can control it using my Virgin Mobile phone, and use the cheap DealExtreme bought Android tablet as the camera. Can always delete it if I don’t like it. Then I’ll try Remote Shot out. The important thing is that I have clear pics of the license plate, and of the car within the two ‘begin’ & ‘end’ reserved handicapped/paratransit signs. That’s what police say they need. I have 3 days to tinker with apps. Security cameras for under $50 FTW! :grin:

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‘Remote Shot’ was just one of the apps I found while searching. I didn’t notice until I went back, but it’s kinda old, from 2012(!). You should check and see if they have a newer version out. If not, try those searches I mentioned and check the storage options for various apps.

Right, the blurry screen will not hinder your intended usage. After everything is setup and tested, turn the brightness all the way down and the display on time down to its shortest setting, which will save battery drain.

I tried Alred, uhhhh… not too impressed with the image quality. Pretty much what Stubtify experienced. I went to the article link you posted for Remote Shot, went to the link to download it, got a “We’re sorry, the requested URL was not found on this server.” message. So I just searched for it by name. I can only find links for iPhone, not Android. :confused: I guess they no longer support Android.

So still looking. Found DroidCam. What I like about DroidCam, is after you install the app on your Android phones/tablets, there is a link you can go to to download to your Windows (or Linux) desktop. You can view all activity from your Windows PC. It’s a webcam app that can also be used as a security cam. Lots of people complain webcam doesn’t alway work with Skype, it apparently does well for security. This uses a WIFI connection (or USB if using as a webcam).

I had problems trying to install Alfred on the cheap tablet from DealExtreme. It came with a lot of bloatware, and kept trying to install other apps automatically. Looked for instructions on removing the bloatware, did a factory reset. Turned it on and everything was in Chinese! :sob: I couldn’t find the ‘change language’ setting. Thankfully found a Youtube video explaining how to set a Chinese language Android tablet to English. :relieved: Installed Alfred and tested it out.

I’ll keep looking, try out different stuff until I find something I like. Many of these apps have better features with paid use, often a one-time fee, which might be worth doing. They all pretty much use WIFI, not seeing much use of Bluetooth.

Thanks for the tip regarding the brightness & display settings. Anything to increase battery time, so I don’t have to go out too frequently to swap out batteries on the outside phone mounted to the pole. I did get good strong batteries to begin with.

The Galaxy S phone is pretty decent. Screen has sort of a washed out, pastel-like color when images are displayed, with some blurriness towards the top, which is not an issue for my use. Text along the top is a little blurry, but overall quite readable. Wonder what would cause an issue like that? When I connected to WIFI, the OS updated, and there was a firmware update as well. The back has several hairline cracks in the corners. Since the On5 came in a Galaxy S box, with a Cricket Wireless back, I just switched out the backs. The Cricket branded one is in pristine condition. I set it to Airplane Mode so it would stop trying to connect to Sprint.

Am looking at IP Webcam in addition to DroidCam. Like Droid, IP works as a webcam, but can also serve as a wireless security camera. And like Droid, I like that there is a separate program you can download to your Windows PC (doesn’t support Linux). And you don’t have to use cloud storage, you can save what you want on your PC. Send video feed to your cloud, Dropbox, or email. Take snapshots/screenshots as needed, store them in a folder on PC. IP Webcam will work using WIFI without you being online. It will also monitor the battery level. I’m kind’ve leaning towards this.

Thanks to JoeFriday for the idea & tips. Going to go out tomorrow and test out the camera, and decide where to position the iClam on the pole, so I get the image I need. And decide which app to use. I’ll have one Android tablet, (with a 2 mp camera, enough to get pic of offending car in spot) , one Samsung On5 (5 mp, this will guard entrance), and one Samsung Galaxy S (13 mp, for pics of rear of offending vehicle). My Virgin Mobile Android phone and my PC will be the viewers.

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UPDATE:

The dark web now sells a plug-in board, called the CRACKEN, which can crack any password less than 14 characters in mere seconds.

So much for passwords.

Link to description? I couldn’t find anything by googling.

Here’s the non-criminal version:

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That article doesn’t exactly agree with your claim of mere seconds. Also, this assumes that there is zero brute force defense or intrusion detection technology involved.

That said, passwords are indeed a flawed approach to security that should have been eliminated a decade ago.

Ah, that is what I found. Your initial post confused me, since “Cracken” is IBM’s name for this device.

Obviously this only works once the hax0rs have obtained the password hash. And it doesn’t help cracking multiple passwords at once if they’re salted. So really intrusion detection (properly implemented by the service providers we use) is probably the only defense we have left.

Bringing this back on topic, I should probably note that the method I’ve set up to access my security cameras from outside (mentioned here) is not affected by this news, because it uses a very long cryptographic key instead of a password.

I wasn’t referencing that article.

Easily stymied.