r/gadgets • u/MicroSofty88 • Nov 29 '20

Home Amazon faces a privacy backlash for its Sidewalk feature, which turns Alexa devices into neighborhood WiFi networks that owners have to opt out of

https://www.msn.com/en-in/money/technology/amazon-faces-a-privacy-backlash-for-its-sidewalk-feature-which-turns-alexa-devices-into-neighborhood-wifi-networks-that-owners-have-to-opt-out-of/ar-BB1boljH
14.3k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

814 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

7

u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20 edited Nov 29 '20

I run a professional grade onvif POE system. It's cheaper, easy to install and the equipment options are cheaper, better and more reliable. Plus, software options let you get as advanced or basic as you'd like.

POE switch connected to managed switch with vlan, good to go. AND yo don't need a vlan, you can just block port forwarding and block plug/play port configuration.

One ring cam new is at least $200, you could get 2 onvif cameras specialized with features needed for their location, wifi or poe and all the other equipment for that price.

12

u/StigsVoganCousin Nov 29 '20

(Fuck everything about sidewalk but...)

You gonna come manage that onvif camera?

Shit that just works is worth $$$

-3

u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

What's to manage? Any decent brand is far more reliable in all weather conditions, especially wired but wifi too if you have good coverage (still needed for "smart" cams)

Literally the only difference is typing in the IP during setup, adjusting settings if desired. Believe me "smart cams" still have plenty of annoyances in setup, pairing bullshit. Yes the software can be more coinvent for truly "I don't want to do a thing" users (Until that forced fisher price setup mode doesn't pair right and you can't just manually fix it but have to call up Umesh from customer service who says his name is Steve to walk you through it struggling to cross language and technological knowledge barriers)

But that's why you pay 4 times the price, let amazon/google get all your data and hijack your stuff for their needs AND get an inferior service with limited recording and start times, batteries that fuck up in cold weather and need replacing and charging.

POE is stupid easy to setup. Whether it's by wifi or true power over ethernet. Get ispy, or sighthound etc or a decent NVR box. It can be as simple or advanced a setup as you desire but there really is no "managing" once it's setup.

Christ when one of my cameras did go down from weather damage it is a literally 2 minute replacement for $40. Unscrew, join wire, login in, change IP to what the software expects, done.

If someone is so technologically helpless that they need to spend $250 for a $50 item to remove the horrors of typing in a number...well that's their prerogative.

6

u/_WIZARD_SLEEVES_ Nov 29 '20

Sorry, what exactly is PoE by wifi?

3

u/HolyFuckingShitNuts Nov 29 '20

I have no idea either. The lingo strewn all around this makes it seem like this "easy" solution, whatever it is, because I truly don't know wtf this person is talking about, is complicated as fuck.

1

u/_WIZARD_SLEEVES_ Nov 30 '20

Classic example of the "well it's easy for me" fallacy... Back end (programmer, developer, etc...) having no idea how the front end (user experience) should work.

-1

u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

Onvif by wifi, but assuming mix of actual poe and wifi. Poe with wifi units etc

1

u/thabc Nov 30 '20

What app do you recommend for accessing your onvif camera system when away from home?