Unifi G3 Instant $29 camera SecuritySpy compatible?

pinkoos

Hi @Ben is the $29 G3 Instant compatible with SS?

https://store.ui.com/collections/unifi-protect-cameras/products/unifi-protect-g3-instant-camera

Thanks

Ben

It doesn't look like it: on the page you link to, it says "Note: UniFi Protect is required to run this product". UniFi Protect is Ubiquiti's own software. That's a shame, as this seems like a neat camera otherwise.

pinkoos

Ok, thanks

That's a bummer

DoctorQ

I have one, works fine using RTSP feed.

pinkoos

Really, that exact model?

That's encouraging to hear if it's true

DoctorQ

Excuse me, it does require a Protect server (UDMP or UNVR). I assumed you had some Ubiquti gear.

cstout

At $30 I may buy one and experiment with it. This page has some great info about configuring from the camera's IP address, similar to how a regular IP Camera would be. The guide is specific to the UniFi Video line (since replaced with Protect) and I've seen conflicting posts as to whether or the camera's management page is still available on the latest models of the Protect line of cameras.

https://help.ui.com/hc/en-us/articles/221314008-UniFi-Video-How-to-Utilize-RTSP-Directly-From-the-Camera

Edit: Added clarification

pinkoos

Let us know if you get it working @cstout

I have a G3 Flex and no other Ubiquiti hardware and was able to configure it to work with SS just using the camera's IP address

cstout

If only I had read about this yesterday. I *just* placed a large order with UI and could have added this on. Now I have to pay $14 shipping on this $29 camera. haha

jtodd

pinkoos: Does the audio stream work with the RTSP feed or just video?

pinkoos

@jtodd audio and video work great with the G3 Flex and SS

cstout

@pinkoos bad news. UI has locked this little camera down. Not only have they killed off their scalable and self-installable UniFi Video system, but they've made it so this camera is only configurable through a Protect controller (not even just their Protect app). You need to have a working Protect controller before you can do anything with this camera. It's a shame too, because for $29 this camera appears well-built. I don't have a Protect controller, but I might be able to emulate one long enough to get the camera set up. Others have reported that once the camera is joined to a network it doesn't technically need to talk to the controller anymore. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

pinkoos

How do you plan on emulating the controller?

Thank you for the feedback

cstout

There's a project out there called unifi-protect-x86 and that worked well enough to get my Instant activated and on wifi. I'll need to dive deeper, but this camera has a buttery smooth 30fps feed that is only 1fps in the web browser. RTSP can be enabled for it, but all I've seen so far as success with it is that the RTSP feed that's generated is fed through the controller instead of direct from the camera. I hope there's a way to grab it straight from the camera. Not sure why they would want to man in the middle this stream unless it's a proprietary stream format that's being translated to RTSP through the controller.

pinkoos

Okay, thanks for the explanation!

cstout

Interesting (to me) find regarding streaming ports used by the G3 Instant. 10.0.3.36 below is the camera and 10.0.1.98 is the controller.

Proto Recv-Q Send-Q Local Address Foreign Address State PID/Program name
tcp 0 0 0.0.0.0:443 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN 496/lighttpd
tcp 0 0 0.0.0.0:80 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN 496/lighttpd
tcp 0 0 10.0.3.36:37992 10.0.1.98:7550 ESTABLISHED 436/ubnt_streamer
tcp 0 0 10.0.3.36:37984 10.0.1.98:7550 ESTABLISHED 436/ubnt_streamer
tcp 0 0 10.0.3.36:37986 10.0.1.98:7550 ESTABLISHED 436/ubnt_streamer
tcp 0 0 10.0.3.36:43900 10.0.1.98:7442 ESTABLISHED 501/ubnt_avclient
tcp 0 0 10.0.3.36:43908 10.0.1.98:7442 ESTABLISHED 449/ubnt_reportd
tcp 0 0 10.0.3.36:80 10.0.1.11:63945 ESTABLISHED 496/lighttpd
udp 0 0 0.0.0.0:10001 0.0.0.0:* 836/infctld
udp 0 0 0.0.0.0:7004 0.0.0.0:* 446/ubnt_talkback

cstout

I did some Wireshark tests today and I think it's time to let this lil' camera die. There are no RTSP streams coming from this camera whatsoever. The entirety of the data stream is in TCP and is encrypted over TLSv1.2.

It looks like there are three data streams active while the camera is powered on, each sending directly to the controller on ports 45076, 45078, and 45082.

My best guess is that those are the three ports handling the every 5 second screenshot, 720, and 1080 streams.

I was really hoping to see some RTSP traffic coming from this camera, but as of now it's a nice camera that's firmware-locked to the Protect ecosystem.

pinkoos

Wow, thanks for looking into this so in depth, really appreciate it

That's too bad, would have been a great add on for my SS setup

cstout

Oh me too. I'm always looking for the highest quality super cheap cameras. I've tried a lot from Wyze and Eufy, and now this G3 Instant. I had high hopes it would be "the one".

Wyze v3 is an amazing camera for the price, but they're infuriating their customers (like me) who pre-ordered that bad boy with the promise of an RTSP firmware that's still nowhere to be found.

Eufy and this G3 Instant make nice, crisp low cost cameras but they're tied to their own ecosystem. If you enable RTSP on Eufy cameras (the 2K for example) it will greatly reduce the quality to the point where it's unacceptable (blurry, overly compressed, over saturated, and signal downgraded to 1080).

cstout

@pinkoos and anyone else interested. UI Support asked me to file a feature request for RTSP on the G3 Instant. Please upvote. Thanks!
https://community.ui.com/questions/Add-Standalone-Mode-RTSP-to-G3-Instant/88cb7364-5b2e-45b7-a5c3-645ecd01d070

pinkoos

Just did it!

DoctorQ

Same here

Howdy, Stranger!

Categories