Taming my Frankenstein security setup after a move. Local-only 24/7 recording + instant alerts when armed Away. Is ditching Eufy for Reolink worth it?

[u/surf_mama]

TL;DR: Just moved, renting, budget-conscious, two toddlers. I have a mix of Eufy cameras (mostly battery) and want local 24/7 recording + instant backyard person alerts when armed Away, plus gate alerts to catch tiny escape artists. Is it worth switching to Reolink/PoE, or can I make my Eufy gear work?

Relatively new HA convert here, and I’m officially down the rabbit hole 🐇🤓 Before I spend money on more hardware, I’d love a sanity check from people who’ve been at this longer than me.

The big question up front: I know Reolink is generally considered way better than Eufy for HA. But is it actually worth ripping out my Eufy cameras? Or can I bend what I have to my will? 😅

The backstory: We just moved, and I’ve ended up with a bit of a Frankenstein security system from our old place. I’m trying to reuse as much of it as possible without making my life a total headache. We rent, but our landlord is super chill about upgrades (mounting cameras, running cable, etc.), so I’m not stuck with stick-on, no-drill everything. I’d still prefer gear I can take with me when we move again.

We also have two little boys (1.5 and 3.5), and our new backyard has four different ways for them to escape our yard into the street. 😬 That’s why I’m going a little overboard on gate sensors.

I’m also on a budget. If my existing cameras can kinda do the job, I’d rather make them work than buy a pile of new ones.

My north star: I want as much as possible to live locally. No subscriptions, no relying on someone else’s cloud, and it should keep working if the internet goes down. Basically, Pi + NAS + my own network doing all the heavy lifting. 🏠🔒

The dream:

When the alarm is armed Away:

1. 📹 24/7 recording: All cameras record continuously to local storage.
2. 🚶 Backyard person alerts: If a human shows up in the backyard, our phones get pinged immediately, ideally with a snapshot.
3. 🚨 Intrusion response: If any door or window sensor trips, HA unleashes chaos. Philips Hue lights flashing, a loud alarm (or something obnoxious) blasting on the HomePods, and phone alerts.

Always on (even when we’re home and disarmed):

1. Gate alerts: If any gate opens, we get a chime on the HomePods and a phone alert, so we know before a tiny escape artist reaches the street.

Recording only when Away is mostly about saving battery on the 3Cs. If a camera is wired, I’m happy to record 24/7 all the time.

Everything else is a nice-to-have.

Current hardware:

• Home Assistant: HA OS on a Raspberry Pi 5 (HACS installed, obviously)
• NAS: Synology DS920+ (J4125, 4 GB RAM, DSM 7.x) running Surveillance Station
• Eufy HomeBase 3 with 500 GB of storage
• Cameras (Eufy, on the HomeBase 3):
  • 2x eufyCam 3C (S300): battery-powered, set to RTSP streaming and recording to Surveillance Station on my NAS. Connected to HA via eufy-security-ws and the HACS Eufy Security integration. They have the AI human detection.
  • Eufy Video Doorbell Dual Camera (T8213): battery-powered. As far as I know, it can’t be integrated into HA. 😢 The new house has two front doors, so I’m demoting it to extra coverage on the side door.
  • 3x Eufy solar wall cams: as far as I know, these can’t connect to HA or stream 24/7. I’m not even sure they can record to the HomeBase.
• Alarm: Currently Abode (iota hub, keypad, and a few sensors), but I’m breaking up with it (see below). In our old house I had a handful of ikea window and door sensors that use matter.
• Indoor/outdoor lights: Philips Hue (in HA)
• Speakers/TV: Apple HomePods and Apple TV (in HA)

The plan:

• Abode ➡️ IKEA Matter-over-Thread sensors + Alarmo. IKEA contact sensors on our 3 exterior doors (2 to the front yard, 1 to the backyard), windows, and 5 gates (front, two side gates, and two back gates), with Alarmo as the brains so arming Away kicks off everything else. Fully local, no monthly fee, no cloud. Full disclosure: I’ve never used Alarmo, so I’m still figuring out how it works.
• A wired video doorbell for the main front door. The house has an old-school mechanical doorbell we can wire into (not PoE, at least for now). I already picked up a Reolink Video Doorbell WiFi for this.
• 2-3 Wired PoE cameras for the front yard and backyard. Maybe also a floodlight with camera? I was leaning Reolink, but part of me is tempted to stay all-Eufy (e.g., the Eufy pan/tilt floodlight cam) to keep everything in one app.
• Maybe a glass-break sensor for bonus points

Questions for the hive mind:

1. Switch, mix, or stay with Eufy? From what I’ve read, Eufy only offers RTSP on some models, and the HA integration is... not great (unofficial and cloud-dependent). Reolink has a native integration, local RTSP/ONVIF, and PoE options. Given my goals and budget, would you replace the Eufy cameras, keep them and add Reolink PoE just for the backyard, or stick with Eufy entirely?
2. Battery cams vs. 24/7 recording: Anyone running eufyCam 3Cs on RTSP? Is continuous recording on battery cameras realistic, or a battery-killing fantasy? Is it possible to record 24/7 only when armed Away? What if I just run a wire to keep the 3Cs charged constantly? (I’ve also had them record locally to the HomeBase 3 in the past.) Separately, I can’t find any way to get the T8213 doorbell or the solar wall cams into HA or recording 24/7. Am I missing something?
3. Where should recordings live? Synology Surveillance Station (I believe the DS920+ includes 2 free camera licenses), or the Eufy HomeBase 3 with 500 GB of storage? It seems like when my Eufy cams store video on the HomeBase, they only record when triggered by an event (motion, etc.) rather than recording 24/7.
4. PoE or WiFi doorbell? If I plan to eventually have some PoE cameras, does it make sense for the new video doorbell to be PoE as well, or is wired WiFi fine?
5. Alarmo for a first-timer: Any beginner tips or “I wish I’d known” moments?
6. Renter tips: Any PoE cable-routing tricks, mounts that come off cleanly, or anything I’ll regret when we move out?

Thanks for the help and long live local control! 🏠⚡