well, its been a fun little 24hrs, finding out about cameras…
I’ll give all readers 3 options, depending on how much they want to get into this topic…
A) 30 second read.
B) 2 minute read.
C) Comprehensive Beemer review…!!
A) Bunnings $50 offering is the Orion Pan and Tilt Security Camera.
Full HD Camera.
You download and connect through the free Grid connect App.
Easy to use, and add additional cameras. Insert SD card for local recording.
Phone live feed.
B) The Orion cameras are chinese made. Are there possible security issues…yes. Are they going to be an issue for Mums setup…No.
The cameras are fairly unobtrusive, and can pan and scan, to follow movement. Resting position adjustment via menu, with up / down /L /R commands.
It has night vision, and an audio pickup. Inbuilt speaker to, so you can speak through it. Onboard speaker is about average quality, about cheap walkie talky quality.
Security is dependent of the level of security of your modem router.
It is encrypted with router encryption ( WPA2 or WPA3) after leaving your modem to travel downstream. Basic but affordable.
C) Well, what a interesting little journey this has been.
From idea to setup in about 36hrs.!
Being chinese, Orion is designed to be able to communicate with the parent server in China. This is under the guise of easy firmware updates etc, but the Aust govt pulled chinese cams out of govt buildings, with good reason. Also, the Orion camera feed does not have encryption , on leaving the camera.
By contrast, D-link is made in Taiwan, doesn’t communicate directly with the parent server, and has the newer WPA3 encryption standard, leaving the camera.
So, Orion is leaving the camera unencrypted, until it hits your router.
The chain of security, looks like this…
ORION CAMERA (unencrypted) ----
Mums MODEM (older…WPA2)-----
GRID CONNECT APP (WPA3) ------
MY PHONE (WPA3).
obviously, the unencrypted camera feed is a concern…
But, it only has a tiny inbuilt aerial, much smaller than a modem, and has a very limited range. Like, about 10m.
For mum, on a corner block, it only means 2 neighbours are within range…and they aren’t going to hack her.
Once out of her router, its WPA2, which is still pretty decent.
I just updated her WPA2 password, to 12 characters, so its pretty strong now.
The Orion cameras only run on 2.4 Ghz frequency, so a slightly older modem is a good thing. The bunnings cams were $50 each…the equivalent D-link are $100 each.
So, with Mum it was 2 options…
-
Cheapest. Keep old compatible modem, update password and use Orion. Accept small risk. Total cost $200.
-
New WPA3 Modem. 4x D-link cams. Highest level of security, WPA3 all the way . Total cost $650.
I went with 1), because the risk is quite low, and mum basically Never uses her computer anyway. I only use it when i’m around. No bills paid on it. Apart from that, its just a bit of smart TV use, and thats it for her.
Worst Case: If she does get hacked…no real biggy. Hackers would quickly realise there is no juicy computer files or info to grab. Just instant, live images of a little old lady pottering around the house, Nothing to see here…
The camera’s work pretty well in darkness, menu is easy to use and navigate.
Transmitting audio is pretty cool…I can yell at mum in the morning remotely, and tell her to get out of bed…!! 
The orions ( and Dlink) dont upload footage to a server…they just save locally on a SD card you need to buy and insert…
No card, no storage…just instant images,
Thats good enough for me, for checking in, and keeping an eye on her.
Would i go chinese cameras for my home setup.??
Hard Nope.
Is it okay for mum, for a cheapy existing hardware solution.??
Yep.
A long answer, to a 3 line question…!!
And i knew nothing about cameras, 2 days ago…!
I does like me a good comp on the water. 
