Homebase (1) vs Homebase 2

#1

Hi Guys, I recently purchase a EufyCam E set up (two cameras and one Homebase (Homebase 1 I think).

I’ve subsequently purchased an additional EufyCam E as well as a Eufy Wireless 2k Door bell. All of them work really well and all 3 cameras and my door bell are paired to the original Homebase (1). The door bell came with a new Homebase 2 which currently still sits in the box.

My question is, should I be pairing the Cameras and Door bell to the Homebase 2 rather than the original unit ? Does the Homebase 2 actually get me anything over my current unit. I know for instance that my Homebase original can take an external SD card up to 128GB, whereas the Homebase 2 is NV RAM internally at 16gb (with a promised but as yet unavailable firmware upgrade to use the USB port as a storage facility), but I think somewhere i read that the Homebase 2 also acts as a WIFI repeater (does the other unit not) ?

As you can see I’m confused. Thanks.

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#2

@Tank @Ice1 @n1976jmk Maybe you guys can help answer this question and give a little introduction of eufy security community :wink:

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#3

@Sootchucker seems you already have some understanding of the differences. :slightly_smiling_face:

  • Homebase1 also supports some additional AI features such as facial recognition when you pair supporting devices such as eufycam (original). It has expandable SD card storage slot supports upto 128 GB. additionally it has built-in battery back up incase of power outages.
  • Both Homebase 1 & 2 supports wifi repeater setup (mind you it’s not a router, only supports eufy devices)
  • Homebase 2 comes with 16GB builtin memory, which you cannot expand if you need to. The USB port provided in the back is only for charging devices like eufycam, E or a battery doorbell. It cannot be used to attach external thumb drive or portable hard drive.
    This is what I know so far.
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HomeBase 2 models
#4

HomeBase “pseudo 1” T8001 also has battery backup (quoted as 10 hours) if the AC mains is not available which means that camera detected events are still being stored - the HomeBase 2 T8010 doesn’t have this feature and thus events are “lost”.

The HomeBase 2 T8010 supports Apple HomeKit - the HomeBase “pseudo 1” T8001 doesn’t have this feature. The provided storage is 16GB eMMC with promised expansion - there are discussions in this Forum Community where people have plugged in USB storage devices and that has stopped the HomeBase 2 T8010 from working (especially when it has been reset or AC mains has been restored)

All Eufy home bases can use either ethernet or 2.4GHz WiFi to connect to your home network and uses your home network as the “gateway” to the internet for access by the Eufy Security application on a mobile telephone or from a browser (this limited to live viewing and needs Adobe Flash Player enabled). Use of either access requires your login to be authenticated by the Eufy Authentication server solution (and Eufy have had issues where this service has not been available). If you cannot connect to a home base, there could be an issue at any of these “points of failure”.

The connection between the home base and camera/s is a private WiFi 2.4GHz network that utilises “Wi-Fi Protected Setup” (WPS) and thus that network name (a Wifi Analyser shows the name as hidden) and password are not provided. This private network CANNOT be extended - site the home base in a location that supplies the best signal strength of this private network to all cameras (the Eufy Security application provides a signal strength “meter” in it’s camera setup section)

#5

First, thanks for the info you provided

  • it’s hard to get detailed info on these devices so much appreciated!

You mention that the HomeBase Wifi “cannot be extended”. I was under the impression that you could “extend” the wifi coverage for the cameras by adding a second homebase. Are you saying that won’t work, or that a generic “extender” won’t work?

#6

Tony,
Each home base “acts as” an “Access Point” i.e. provides a separate private 2,4 GHz wifi network and uses Wifi Protected Setup to provide the wifi network name and password for devices connected to it (the network name is seen as “hidden” by a wifi analyser tool). If you add more home bases, each provides another private network and again uses the WPS configured for it to enable the wifi connection to the devices connected to it. Each network is separate so a device can only be connected on one particular private network (thus one home base). Looking at your local wifi network with an analyser with two home bases used would show two “hidden” networks. A "Range Extender’ will not work as it propagates the network name and password of the network it is connected to - Eufy wifi devices that connect to a home base cannot be configured for the home network network name or password

Note: normally a network device working as an “Access Point” require an ethernet connection to your home network router to provide this separate wifi network. In the case of the Eufy home bases, they can use an ethernet connection or 2.4 GHz WiFi connection to the home network router that is why I wrote “acts as”

See https://www.linksys.com/us/r/resource-center/what-is-a-wifi-access-point/

#7

But could someone in this situation, disconnect devices from a T8001, then reconnect to T8010 if say they wanted the Homekit functionality?

#8

Correct - if either of the T8001 or T810 home bases have the latest firmware, any camera can be connected to it

#9

Note: accessing the Eufy Security solution via a web browser has now been updated to support HTML5 where previously the latest version of Adobe Flash Player was needed. It still only allows one to view a live camera feed.