NirusLaboratories
E2Test chambers
ACTIVE 06/ 16

The network has eyes

Test chamber 06. You are being watched. By us.

The network has eyes

Every device in the house hangs on a UniFi network. But not all on the same one: servers, smart plugs, cameras and guests each have a network of their own and may only go as far as they have to.

Separate networks4
Internet lines2
Guest networkisolated
Recordingsin the house

Experimental setup

  1. 01
    The router. A UniFi router in the server rack is the border to the internet. It routes, filters and decides who may talk to whom. If the fibre fails, it switches to Starlink.
  2. 02
    Separate networks. Servers and PCs in one network, light switches and plugs in a second, cameras in a third, guests in a fourth. What happens on the guest Wi-Fi stays on the guest Wi-Fi.
  3. 03
    The cameras. The camera network has no way to the internet. Recording goes to a recorder of our own in the house, not into a cloud.
  4. 04
    The doorbell. When someone rings at the front door, the chimes in the house ring, and the phones know too.

Why?

Because a camera that may reach the internet may also be reachable from the internet. And because a smart plug has no reason to chat with the server.

Which cameras hang where, and what the rules look like exactly, is of course not written here.

Test result

Operational. The cameras see everything. The internet does not see the cameras.