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I have a questions as stated in title - I hope it will not be "primarily opinion based" since I wanted to ask you if what I have in mind is even doable.

I want to create network of couple cameras that could stream from given location to local server.

Few requirements for my project:

  • attaching another camera to network should be easy (REST API?)

  • cheap & relatively good quality, around 720p (Microcontroler like Arduino, Raspberry PI, surveilance cam?)

  • should have one main router (Raspberry Pi?) that would stream the data to other devices

In the internet I saw simple examples where 1 cam = 1 Raspberry Pi but I don't know if it isn't overkill since that setup costs around 50 euro and you get OS for one job

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  • I made a little search and stumpled upon a link "cheap video streaming toolkit under $500". It all depends..
    – mico
    Jun 11, 2017 at 13:20
  • Of course it depends, I found even cheaper solutions for example w/ Arduino + webcam but AFAIK Arduino is not meant to recording videos due to low memory so that's why I came up with this question :) So I don't buy stuff that is not the right tool for this job
    – sdooo
    Jun 11, 2017 at 13:24
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    Too general, I fear. Plenty of other places that have answers for this - which leads me to suspect you should do more research, then ask specifics...
    – Sean Houlihane
    Jun 11, 2017 at 14:55

2 Answers 2

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You should have a look at the Raspberry Pi Zero W for this. It doesn't cost more than $9 or so, and it can handle a camera. You would also get the benefit of an OS that is easy to program and configure.

Once you're done with the programming and configuration of one, and provided that you solve it in a reasonably flexible manner, you could just clone the SD-card and add new cameras to your network dynamically.

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  • Thank you! Could you tell me if Pi Zero can handle load of +/- 720p videos that are streamed over Bluetooth/Wi-Fi to main device?
    – sdooo
    Jun 11, 2017 at 18:35
  • Well, the camera module can handle 720p. At some time your WiFi or host will be saturated, but I can't tell on what load.
    – Bex
    Jun 11, 2017 at 18:38
  • Great, Pi Zero really looks like a way to go with my idea, I'm marking this as an answer :)
    – sdooo
    Jun 12, 2017 at 6:34
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    @Sindis note that there are two versions: one with WiFi and one without. You probably want the WiFi version and that one has a W at the end of its name.
    – Bex
    Jun 12, 2017 at 6:45
  • Yes, that was the first thing I checked :) I also noticed that Pi Zero has dedicated camera 8MPx / 1080p so it really fits my needs
    – sdooo
    Jun 12, 2017 at 6:48
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It's easy to build your own platform to stream video/security camera for less that $50. You can use any Pi, buy one used for cheap or a Pi Zero W (it has wireless) for less than $10.

Here are a few examples of how this can be achieved using both Raspbian and Windows IoT Core. You can use the Raspberry Pi Camera Module or a Webcam.

Raspbian - Streaming to the public internet

Windows IoT Core - Streaming on your local network

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    Please quote relevant parts of the links you provided to improve your answer. You answer should be able to stand on its own even if the links are broken.
    – Helmar ♦
    Sep 25, 2017 at 11:11

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