Hello everyone,

I have a few questions about Frigate and security cameras, and I thought this would be a good place to ask.

I’m new to security cameras and Frigate, so please excuse any basic questions I might have.

I have a PC at home with an i7-8700 CPU running Proxmox, where I plan to install Frigate in an LXC container for device passthrough.

I came across this Amcrest camera on Amazon: Amcrest IP5M-B1276EW-AI. Since Amcrest is recommended, I assume it should work well, but I’d like to confirm before purchasing. If you have any camera recommendations in the $60 range, I’d appreciate them.

I also read that having dual network interfaces is recommended. My router doesn’t support creating new subnets (I don’t know if that would be a problem), and my PC currently has only one network interface. My initial plan was to get a PoE switch and connect the cameras and the router to it, but would getting a separate PCIe network card, and then connect my PC to the switch instead of the router work for creating a separate, internet-less network?

Lastly, I understand that using a Coral accelerator is highly recommended. I’m deciding between the $25 PCIe version and the $60 USB version. Does Frigate benefit from the more expensive USB Coral, or is the $25 PCIe version sufficient? My motherboard is a Gigabyte B365M DS3H, in case that’s relevant.

Thanks in advance for your help!

  • brownmustardminion
    2·
    13 days ago

    I use the pcie coral and it works fine with plenty of processing to spare although I believe mine coast e closer to $50. I have 6 amcrest PoE cameras. You should just buy a PoE switch and directly connect all cameras to it. Then link that directly to your frigate box and lock down access. Any amcrest camera should work well with frigate. I believe they all support rtsp protocol.

    • om1k@sopuli.xyzOP
      2·
      13 days ago

      My frigate box is a PC which only has one ethernet port, so I should buy a separate network card in order to do that, right? I was thinking of buying a 2.5gb card anyways.

      • brownmustardminion
        2·
        13 days ago

        Yeah I would suggest buying another NIC. They’re cheap, its good security, and it opens up another port upstream for other uses.