Eufy home security thread

jonneymendoza · 1 Dec 2022 at 18:42

rodders said:
It was made a day late for me, lol!

Lol can't you cancel and return your order?

rodders · 1 Dec 2022 at 21:12

jonneymendoza said:
Lol can't you cancel and return your order?

Haha, nope I'd just finished bolting it all up on the walls, then read this thread ........

Uhtred · 1 Dec 2022 at 23:03

I don't know the ins and outs of all this as I don't own any of their products, but this guy makes solid videos, and he doesn't agree with much of what is being said.

The Internet is WRONG about Eufy. (Mostly)

You need the rest of the story about the Eufy cloud scandal. Paul Moore's Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOjiCbxP5LcLTT WAN Show: https://www.youtub...

www.youtube.com

jonneymendoza · 1 Dec 2022 at 23:12

Uhtred said:
I don't know the ins and outs of all this as I don't own any of their products, but this guy makes solid videos, and he doesn't agree with much of what is being said.

The Internet is WRONG about Eufy. (Mostly)

You need the rest of the story about the Eufy cloud scandal. Paul Moore's Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOjiCbxP5LcLTT WAN Show: https://www.youtub...

www.youtube.com

Android Central can no longer recommend Eufy cameras

A series of unfortunate events have broken our trust in the brand.

www.androidcentral.com

Jimbeam3678 · 2 Dec 2022 at 07:08

Uhtred said:
I don't know the ins and outs of all this as I don't own any of their products, but this guy makes solid videos, and he doesn't agree with much of what is being said.

The Internet is WRONG about Eufy. (Mostly)

You need the rest of the story about the Eufy cloud scandal. Paul Moore's Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOjiCbxP5LcLTT WAN Show: https://www.youtub...

www.youtube.com

Thanks for sharing that, always good to hear a more balanced view.

UberTiger · 2 Dec 2022 at 10:33

Uhtred said:
I don't know the ins and outs of all this as I don't own any of their products, but this guy makes solid videos, and he doesn't agree with much of what is being said.

The Internet is WRONG about Eufy. (Mostly)

You need the rest of the story about the Eufy cloud scandal. Paul Moore's Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOjiCbxP5LcLTT WAN Show: https://www.youtub...

www.youtube.com

This is what I meant when it felt like this was a little blown out of proportion, but The Hookup communicated the reasons why much better than I. He addressed some the thumbnail URL questions I had, and even admits he couldn't find an example of the actual video stream being abused or leaked (although I'd still be interested to see more research done on this)

Certainly doesn't leave Eufy off the hook for their sloppy sweeping claims of zero cloud in their marketing, or the other issues such as being able to reset the camera without access to your account or the station in your house, but I don't think there was anything nefarious about this. It would have been so easy for them to have added a disclaimer explaining what data has to be cloud processed in order for certain features to function. I'm sure the URL issue could be fixed too, using unique API keys or some other form of authentication/encryption, it certainly needs addressing.

After spending way more than anticipated on a home server, Blue Iris, Hikvision cams, and networking equipment I've come to appreciate there will be a pretty massive gap between these off the shelf kits and custom CCTV installs for a long while to come. It will continue to be a huge balancing act when it comes to balancing cost, convenience, local storage, security, technical knowledge required to install, and other factors that go into a CCTV system. Eufy is trying to strike a very delicate balance of allowing users to store and process 99.9% of all their data locally, yet still give users quality of life features such as polished mobile app, and fast rich notifications, all for a very affordable price.

I certainly wouldn't be ripping my system off the walls if I was a Eufy owner, but I would just be wary of how they respond to this going forward and just be glad to be more informed about what trade-offs are required to get a system of x quality for x price.

I'd also be interested to see more security researchers probe all these newer cameras coming to market, to highlight these kinds of potential security flaws as manufacturers try to strike a balance between 100% cloud stored and processed (Nest and Ring), and 100% off line and blocked from the internet and inaccessible unless you VPN into your own network (which can break features home users like such as push, and require more networking knowledge to setup and troubleshoot than most users care to deal with)

Jimbeam3678 · 2 Dec 2022 at 12:49

Good post @UberTiger sums up my thoughts exactly, although I couldn't articulate it as well as you did!

The reason we went with Eufy, is that we wanted a deterrent and didn't particularly want the perceived hassle of custom CCTV installs. We did message 8 companies for quotes not one of them return my messages, that's when we decided to go with Eufy.

krooton · 4 Dec 2022 at 12:15

Yeah, "Scandal" aside, I have spent £200 for 3 cameras covering outside and a homestation, and really can't grumble for the price (I don't have thumbnails enabled any way).

jaybee · 4 Dec 2022 at 14:26

But the point is people make their choices based on the advertised and marketed features, which EUFY lied about. Surely you can see the irony and incompetence in their functional security issues with a SECURITY product. It's not blown out of proportion imo and they deserve to face legal issues and fines for misleading and incompetently handling customer data. The reset issue still goes unfixed and is laughable as a functional issue as to how that got past testing and allowed to be produced.

jonneymendoza · 6 Dec 2022 at 08:21

Reuben klang · 6 Dec 2022 at 10:03

I use anker cables, chargers and battery packs all the time. They’re great. This is a massive loss though, I won’t be touching their other stuff now though.

Glad I didn’t bother getting eufy stuff

Renard · 7 Dec 2022 at 18:51

Despite being set to detect only humans, my Eufy camera has begun detecting every passing car. Please can anyone advise?

rodders · 7 Dec 2022 at 21:05

Just when it's dark? If so it swaps to all motion in the dark.
If not, then reduce the activity zone and sensitivity.

Renard · 7 Dec 2022 at 23:25

rodders said:
Just when it's dark? If so it swaps to all motion in the dark.
If not, then reduce the activity zone and sensitivity.

Thanks, Rodders (or is it Dave?!). Yes, it is mainly after dark. I've already considered reducing the zone. I don't understand reducing sensitivity?

rodders · 8 Dec 2022 at 06:46

The cameras switch to detect all motion in the dark, I guess as they can't decifer if it's a human so easily? I'm refering to the 2c pros I have, the newer ones might be better?

I think ours detect car lights too, when it moves through the camera pick up zone, which I can't stop it doing. They shine everywhere!

Reducing the sensitivity will mean the movement has to be more prominent, so on the highest setting it might pick up a fast flying bird whizzing past, where as on a low setting, it would ignore it.

Yes, Dave is fine, it's what my brother and I call each other

Renard · 8 Dec 2022 at 09:37

rodders said:
The cameras switch to detect all motion in the dark, I guess as they can't decifer if it's a human so easily? I'm refering to the 2c pros I have, the newer ones might be better?

I think ours detect car lights too, when it moves through the camera pick up zone, which I can't stop it doing. They shine everywhere!

Reducing the sensitivity will mean the movement has to be more prominent, so on the highest setting it might pick up a fast flying bird whizzing past, where as on a low setting, it would ignore it.

Yes, Dave is fine, it's what my brother and I call each other

Thanks again. Yes, I'm pretty certain mine is responding to the cars' lights. I will follow your suggestions. Best wishes.

kinetic747 · 9 Dec 2022 at 08:52

Can't get my automation to work. I have it so that pressing the doorbell activates the porch camera to record, but nothing happens. :confused:

Cheetah Designs · 6 Jan 2023 at 10:32

Does anyone else find that it takes ~10s for the Eufy Camera feed to show up on a Fire TV device? (Fire TV Cube latest gen in my case)
Is this the same for all home automation solutions or specific to this hardware?

Raz · 1 Feb 2023 at 12:17

Cheetah Designs said:
Does anyone else find that it takes ~10s for the Eufy Camera feed to show up on a Fire TV device? (Fire TV Cube latest gen in my case)
Is this the same for all home automation solutions or specific to this hardware?

Same issue here but looking at reviews etc this seems to be a non-issue when using the newer Homebase 3.

joelk2 · 24 Feb 2023 at 09:43

so is this eufy scandal really much of an issue these days?

moving into a new house next week and looking at the different options for cameras/doorbells and eufy seems to tick the box for the right price.

only need something simple to cover back garden/shed.