Using Ethernet and/or Wireless video cameras

I noticed that the AXIS P1224-E has an Ethernet based camera. I've never seen that before, only USB based. Anyone know of such a camera that could connect to an openwrt router then view the video using what ever port/service it's running on?

There are also a ton of wireless cameras on the market. How could one be used with openwrt? I could use the WiFi radio to connect to the camera but would need to find a way to output the camera video. Most of those little cameras use apps which would not work.

If the openwrt device is just a transport, I cannot see why not.....

A camera like that would usually have its own interface, you can see the live feed directly in your browser.

If you want to watch the feed from outside your own network, you'll probably need additional software, like zoneminder.

If we're talking about the wireless cameras, most come with apps. I'd like to find some that don't require apps, where it could be viewed through openwrt using a browser as you said.

What do you mean by through openwrt,
in this case it'd be a transport.

Axis doesn't do devices for home usage, so they're probably not big within the app space.

Not even Wyze require an app for viewing, if you set it up the right way.

The ones sold as a complete solution to general home consumers are basically IOTs, they upload to the manufacturer's server. These are usually wireless to simplify installation, they can connect to any home wifi network that has access to the Internet.

Professional models don't require apps. It is possible to simply connect to the camera with a web browser on the same LAN and watch live. However you usually want an on-site or off-site video server to record video.

Either type since they are IP based will directly integrate into an IP network, that is an important point to not have separate wiring etc for cameras.

I mentioned the Axis only in terms of the Ethernet based cable the camera is connected to. I've never seen that unless it's just an IP camera.

In terms of wireless, I mean all those low cost wifi cameras you see out there these days, where all you need is an app on your mobile. You connect to the camera using the mobiles wifi then use the app to see the video. I'm curious to know if such a method could be done using openwrt where the wireless (not IP camera) would be wirelessly connected to the openwrt device then you would use a browser to view the video.

That depends on having a server on the Internet. The manufacturer sponsors it and recovers the cost either through marking up the price of the cameras, or requiring you to subscribe to their service, or both.

It is possible to set up such a thing entirely independently at ome, but that's outside the scope of OpenWrt. A video server need lots of disk space obviously and usually quite a bit of CPU.

Depends on if the device would let you listen to the video feed, or not.
It's s fully doable technically, and software wise. Openwrt isn't really a part of this though.

Technically you could forward yourself from the Internet directly to the camera but that is hugely insecure.

There were cameras in public places set up like that-- well let's say that any camera set up like that will become a public place.

Lots of interesting thoughts but maybe further than what I'm asking about.

Sure, there could be a server over the Internet, that would not be an issue.
My main interest however is more about the hardware (wireless camera) and how to get that video/images to the openwrt device without an app.

Whether I can view the video directly from openwrt using a browser or not is secondary to me. My main curiosity is what camera could do that with openwrt.

I mean, it's easy to use a USB camera for example and view the video/images using mjpeg-streamer but that camera is physically connected to the device. I'm curious about using a wireless (not IP based) camera.

Like I said, wyze can do it.

But any consumer camera which would support RTSP, could be used.

Your question is not related to OpenWrt in any way. What you are searching for is detailed information about camera capabilities. You will get better support and come to a faster solution if you ask your question in hardware / surveillance specific forums.

I'm specifically looking for something that would work with openwrt since I'm using the mjpeg-streaming package on one but it's fine, I can try looking somewhere else.

Is there a package that could communicate with an RTSP based camera?

USB camera + mjpg-streamer = homemade IP camera.

In other words if you buy an IP camera you don't need extra pieces. It's already built. Just connect it to any network and go. The network can be as simple as an Ethernet cable direct to a PC with a web browser.

Also new IP cameras have GPU chips which implement much better compression than mjpg, such as H.265.

I'd say you're starting at the wrong end.

What's the mjpeg package capable of, if it's a must for you, and take it from there.

Alright then, thank you for all of the input. I'll do some more digging.

FFMPEG, but the openwrt version doesn't (or didn't) have all the required capabilities enabled.

I generated a custom version myself, which would be able to process RTSP camera streams.

If you buy something like an Amcrest IP camera, you just wire it into your network (or connect to your wifi) and then point your browser at it's IP... Voila you log in and watch the feed. If you want to grab the feed not through a browser then you can also do that, like through VLC... OpenWrt isn't involved at all except that it controls where the packets go.

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all decent camera systems (i.e. not consumer garbage with apps and phone-home and remote-hacking) can be set to or at least allow you to send their stream to a CCTV server application running on the same network, and you can have the GUI there.
Well-knwn opensource CCTV server applications are Shinobi https://shinobi.video/ or Zoneminder https://www.zoneminder.com/
I suggest to look at the list of cameras that are supported by them as a start, and use a mini PC or a thin client as the "CCTV server", aka the system where you install Shinobi or Zoneminder.

OpenWrt devices on average are too weak to do this job for more than a couple cameras so it's always been kind of hacky and not well supported.

If you are into making your own IP cameras, you should also look at MotionEyeOS, an opensource firmware with web interface and all that turns the supported devices in a IP camera. https://gndtovcc.home.blog/2020/04/17/install-motioneyeos-on-raspberry-pi-surveillance-camera-system/

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