TP-Link only works with a permanent internet connection
TP-Link Tapo C100 model only works with a permanent connection to their servers.
The second you cut internet on the camera it powers off. Why would anyone put a "security" camera in their house with a forced connection to TP-Link servers? And what does it transmit?
So my question is does anyone have a TP-Link camera that works without internet?
TP-Link has a ton of cameras but I don't want any that connects to the internet. Thanks. This is a pretty interesting claim...I have a few C110 and C200 that work just fine offline after null routing them. You may need to enable RTSP (https://www.tp-link.com/us/support/faq/2680/) to get a feed off them directly, it works fine in Frigate and any other viewer that can consume RTSP. I am not defending TP-Link, but it's a pretty big claim for you to say their devices don't work offline and will immediately power down, without any supporting technical evidence. I have the same C200 camera and recently had a 24hr+ internet outage and the camera stayed on just fine. I am also using RTSP with Frigate and Scrypted. This trend worries me too.
Losing basic local functionality just because the internet is down feels like a step backward. What worries me the most is that someone can see my granny naked and die or have permanent eye damage. Or worst, my mother in law... dang... I think a starting point to avoid such things even if one does not use Zoneminder would be to look at their hardware compatibility lists [1] and ask on their forums [2] to find stand-alone cameras and keep them on an isolated network using a layer-7 proxy such as HAproxy [3] to reach your management interfaces so they do not have a gateway but you can still access your devices. The forums of all the assorted open source NVR's would also be a good place to share your findings. Zoneminder, Shinobi, Frigate, etc... I mentioned Zoneminder as they are used by a number of corporations and requiring an outbound connection to a 3rd party would be a show stopper for many of them so this topic should be a shared concern. [1] - https://wiki.zoneminder.com/Hardware_Compatibility_List#IP_C... [2] - https://forums.zoneminder.com/ [3] - https://www.haproxy.org/ Thanks I will look into that. it probably checks if the firmware needs to be updated.