Updated Aug 15, 2026
Best Subreddits for Security Camera Brands in 2026
RedditFind ranked security-camera communities for CCTV brands, doorbell teams, installers, integrators, NVR vendors, and smart-home product groups.
Why this map matters
Security-camera buyers evaluate a trust system, not just a lens: detection, recording, networking, storage, privacy, support, and failure recovery.
A camera can have sharp video and still fail the purchase test through missed events, unreliable notifications, subscription changes, weak local storage, poor Home Assistant support, or unclear privacy controls.
This guide separates household buying, professional CCTV integration, brand ecosystems, smart-home workflows, and privacy discussions so teams can learn from the right context without treating surveillance as ordinary consumer electronics.
security camera and CCTV brands
Use RedditFind evidence to identify subreddits worth researching, monitoring, and joining for security camera and CCTV brands.
video doorbell and home security product teams
Use RedditFind evidence to identify subreddits worth researching, monitoring, and joining for video doorbell and home security product teams.
security installers and systems integrators
Use RedditFind evidence to identify subreddits worth researching, monitoring, and joining for security installers and systems integrators.
Top 5
The security-camera communities to read first
Start with security-camera, home-security, video-surveillance, Reolink, and Ring communities to compare category-wide needs with installer and brand-specific evidence.
#1 · 95%
r/securitycamera
This is a highly vertical security camera community, with core discussions focused on home/small business cameras, video doorbells, continuous recording, license plate recognition, brand comparisons, and deployment troubleshooting. Posts often directly compare solutions like Ring, Reolink, UniFi, Hikvision, and Dahua. · Read first, then participate only when the rules allow it.
27K
Weekly visitors
622
Weekly contributions
Why RedditFind recommended it
This almost perfectly overlaps with your target audience, covering both consumer buying decisions and PoE, NVR, AI detection, and commercial use cases. 27K weekly active visitors and 622 contributions show steady discussion density and consistently fresh posts, making it well suited for ongoing research and participation.
Main content
This is a highly vertical security camera community, with core discussions focused on home/small business cameras, video doorbells, continuous recording, license plate recognition, brand comparisons, and deployment troubleshooting. Posts often directly compare solutions like Ring, Reolink, UniFi, Hikvision, and Dahua.
Representative posts
#2 · 94%
r/homesecurity
This is a broad home security community covering cameras, video doorbells, alarms, monitoring services, brand reputation, and requests for help with real-world security situations. Discussions range from beginner product selection to very specific system experience, installation, and after-sales feedback. · Read first, then participate only when the rules allow it.
56K
Weekly visitors
442
Weekly contributions
Why RedditFind recommended it
Here you can directly see unfiltered feedback from everyday buyers on subscription fees, reliability, installation difficulty, brand service, and alarm integration, which closely matches your buyer research goals. 56K/442 weekly activity gives it enough scale and freshness, making it especially suitable for VOC work and demand mapping.
Main content
This is a broad home security community covering cameras, video doorbells, alarms, monitoring services, brand reputation, and requests for help with real-world security situations. Discussions range from beginner product selection to very specific system experience, installation, and after-sales feedback.
#3 · 91%
r/videosurveillance
This is a more industry- and technical-oriented video surveillance community, with common topics including CCTV, ONVIF, VMS/NVR, Axis/Hikvision/Dahua, school/commercial surveillance projects, ALPR, and privacy controversies. Overall, it is more professional and integration-oriented than typical home-use communities. · Read first, then participate only when the rules allow it.
11K
Weekly visitors
262
Weekly contributions
Why RedditFind recommended it
This is a strong match for installers, systems integrators, NVR/VMS vendors, and commercial surveillance teams, where you can see real project-driven needs. 11K/262 weekly activity is not the largest, but contribution density is solid, and the professional signal is clearly stronger than in broader communities.
Main content
This is a more industry- and technical-oriented video surveillance community, with common topics including CCTV, ONVIF, VMS/NVR, Axis/Hikvision/Dahua, school/commercial surveillance projects, ALPR, and privacy controversies. Overall, it is more professional and integration-oriented than typical home-use communities.
Representative posts
#4 · 89%
r/reolinkcam
This is Reolink’s official community, mainly discussing new products, firmware, accessories, doorbells, NVRs, Home Assistant integration, installation experience, and after-sales issues. You can also see official announcements, beta recruitment, and immediate user feedback on specific features. · Read first, then participate only when the rules allow it.
49K
Weekly visitors
767
Weekly contributions
Why RedditFind recommended it
If you want to study Reolink itself, or use it as a competitor benchmark, the signal here is highly concentrated, especially for tracking feature demands and reactions after version updates. 49K/767 weekly activity is very strong, but because it is an official community, it is better suited for VOC and competitive benchmarking, and participation should avoid feeling overly promotional.
Main content
This is Reolink’s official community, mainly discussing new products, firmware, accessories, doorbells, NVRs, Home Assistant integration, installation experience, and after-sales issues. You can also see official announcements, beta recruitment, and immediate user feedback on specific features.
Representative posts
#5 · 87%
r/ring
This is a brand community centered on the Ring doorbell, camera, and alarm ecosystem, with core discussions focused on subscriptions, missed detections, video quality, app experience, policy changes, and troubleshooting. There are many brand experience posts as well as migration/substitution discussions. · Read first, then participate only when the rules allow it.
95K
Weekly visitors
665
Weekly contributions
Why RedditFind recommended it
This is highly valuable for researching video doorbells, cloud-subscription security, and the reasons behind brand retention or churn, since you can consistently see why users stay and why they want to switch away. 95K/665 weekly activity is very high and steady, but the community is sensitive to pure complaining and external brand diversion.
Main content
This is a brand community centered on the Ring doorbell, camera, and alarm ecosystem, with core discussions focused on subscriptions, missed detections, video quality, app experience, policy changes, and troubleshooting. There are many brand experience posts as well as migration/substitution discussions.
Representative posts
Use cases
How different teams should use the map
Separate listening, comparison, support research, and careful participation before posting.
| Goal | Priority communities | Primary use | Recommended format |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buyer-language research | r/securitycamera, r/homesecurity, r/videosurveillance, r/reolinkcam, r/ring | Read how people describe problems, comparisons, objections, and trust before purchase. | Internal notes and careful replies when rules allow. |
| Product-page and support copy | r/securitycamera, r/homesecurity, r/videosurveillance, r/reolinkcam, r/ring, r/cctv, r/smarthome, r/hiddencameras | Turn repeated questions into FAQ, comparison copy, and support language. | No direct pitch; use clear evidence and disclosure. |
| Participation risk check | r/securitycamera, r/homesecurity, r/videosurveillance, r/reolinkcam, r/ring | Review official About and Rules text before a brand account enters a subreddit. | Modmail or disclosed expert help when appropriate. |
Operating clusters
Community clusters by job to be done
The clusters separate household replacement decisions, PoE and NVR integration, brand reputation, smart-home automation, and privacy or surveillance risk.
Home security buying and replacement demand
Recommended mix · 3 subreddits
How to use this cluster
- Treat this as a demand pool. Do not start by pushing products; first consistently answer high-frequency questions such as budget, camera placement, power supply, subscription fees, and local storage.
- Focus on why users want to replace Ring, Blink, Arlo, Vivint, and ADT, then organize those reasons into comparison tables and FAQs.
- Well suited for consumer insight work: doorbell wake-up speed, missed recordings, night vision, Alexa compatibility, local recording, and subscription-free use.
Key content to read
- Subscription-free cameras and local storage solutions
- Battery doorbell wake-up speed and missed recordings
- Ring replacement checklists and Alexa compatibility
- License plate recognition, continuous recording, and night vision performance
Representative posts and communities
Representative posts
- Best home security cameras without a monthly fee?
- Am I chasing a video doorbell that doesn’t exist??
- What security cameras are the best right now? I’m currently using Ring and debating whether I should stick with it or switch to something else.
- Sharp enough to see license plates?
- Honestly done with ring
| Community | Fit | Why relevant |
|---|---|---|
| r/securitycamera | Match 97% | This is the closest match to your target. Security cameras, CCTV, PoE, NVR, and doorbells are all core topics. 27K weekly actives and 622 weekly contributions show that while the overall size is not the largest, question density is very high and demand signals are very concentrated, so it ranks highest. |
| r/homesecurity | Match 96% | Highly aligned with home security, video doorbells, Ring/Reolink replacement, monitoring services, and installation issues. 56K weekly actives and 442 weekly contributions mean larger traffic, but topics are slightly more dispersed than in a pure camera community, so it scores slightly below r/securitycamera. |
| r/ring | Match 90% | A perfect fit for Ring, video doorbells, and home security buyer research. 95K weekly actives and 665 weekly contributions are extremely strong, showing active brand discussion; however, the topic scope is heavily single-brand, so it is better suited for competitor radar work and ranks near the top among brand strongholds. |
PoE, NVR, and installation integration
Recommended mix · 4 subreddits
How to use this cluster
- This is better suited to technical participation, using hard questions like cabling, bitrate, PoE budgeting, ONVIF compatibility, and VMS migration to establish professional credibility.
- Installers, systems integrators, and NVR or surveillance software vendors should monitor this closely, especially for schools, warehouses, multi-site projects, and legacy system replacements.
- Do not speak vaguely about brands; give reasons for architecture choices, compatibility boundaries, and deployment pitfalls.
Key content to read
- PoE cameras, cabling, and switch selection
- NVR/VMS migration and compatibility
- ONVIF, RTSP, and Blue Iris/Frigate scenarios
- School, commercial, and multi-site surveillance projects
Representative posts and communities
Representative posts
- Reolink vs UniFi vs Hikvision vs Dahua for a New Home?
- K–12 sysadmins: What video surveillance platform would you choose in 2026?
- I didn’t expect Axis to have such a clear lead over Hikvision in North America.
- Outdoor Ethernet Cable Recommendations for IP Camera Installations
- Best dumbed IP camera for Frigat/Blueiris?
| Community | Fit | Why relevant |
|---|---|---|
| r/videosurveillance | Match 94% | An excellent match for CCTV, video surveillance platforms, installation integration, and the brand competitive landscape. 11K weekly actives and 262 weekly contributions are not huge, but discussion quality and signal density are high, so it remains near the top. |
| r/reolinkcam | Match 92% | If you are researching Reolink, PoE cameras, doorbells, NVRs, or HA integration, this is a must-watch brand stronghold. 49K weekly actives and 767 weekly contributions are very strong, but because of its official nature it is more suitable for version and feedback monitoring than for fully neutral brand sentiment, so it scores slightly below general communities. |
| r/cctv | Match 87% | A very strong match for CCTV, PoE, NVR, surveillance software, and installer needs. 4.3K weekly actives and 65 weekly contributions make it relatively small, but its topic purity is high and noise is low, so it still scores well. |
| r/securitysystems | Match 48% | Directly relevant to alarms, cameras, and access control, but the scale is clearly small. With 207 weekly actives and 1 weekly contribution, it is basically a low-activity supplemental slot, so only light monitoring is recommended and it gets the lowest score. |
Official brand and competitor reputation radar
Recommended mix · 3 subreddits
How to use this cluster
- Treat official communities as radar for launches, firmware, accessories, and after-sales issues, and non-official or user communities as samples of real sentiment. You need both views together to avoid bias.
- Focus on signals like “it got worse after the update,” “why switch brands,” “subscriptions are too expensive,” and “accessory and compatibility pitfalls.”
- If a brand participates, it must disclose its identity first to avoid being seen as stealth advertising.
Key content to read
- Second-generation doorbell, accessories, and firmware update feedback
- Subscription pricing and perceived value
- Complaints about after-sales support, warranty, and policies
- Competitor migration and replacement reasons
Representative posts and communities
Representative posts
| Community | Fit | Why relevant |
|---|---|---|
| r/reolinkcam | Match 92% | If you are researching Reolink, PoE cameras, doorbells, NVRs, or HA integration, this is a must-watch brand stronghold. 49K weekly actives and 767 weekly contributions are very strong, but because of its official nature it is more suitable for version and feedback monitoring than for fully neutral brand sentiment, so it scores slightly below general communities. |
| r/ring | Match 90% | A perfect fit for Ring, video doorbells, and home security buyer research. 95K weekly actives and 665 weekly contributions are extremely strong, showing active brand discussion; however, the topic scope is heavily single-brand, so it is better suited for competitor radar work and ranks near the top among brand strongholds. |
| r/reolink | Match 66% | If you are specifically researching Reolink user sentiment, this is a useful supplementary sample to the official community. 3K weekly actives and 81 weekly contributions are much smaller, but there are still some valuable product-level issues, so it remains at the tail end of the ranking. |
Smart home integration and Home Assistant
Recommended mix · 3 subreddits
How to use this cluster
- Focus on answering integration questions rather than talking only about image quality; people here care more about whether it works with HA, Alexa, panels, and automation.
- This is a good place to publish content around local-first setups, no-cloud dependence, doorbell pop-ups, panel previews, and event-driven automation.
- If the product supports RTSP, ONVIF, Webhook, or HA integration, provide the actual configuration path whenever possible.
Key content to read
- Home Assistant camera and doorbell integration
- Alexa, panels, and local stream preview
- Doorbell event linkage and automation
- Local-first vs. cloud dependence
Representative posts and communities
Representative posts
| Community | Fit | Why relevant |
|---|---|---|
| r/securitycamera | Match 97% | This is the closest match to your target. Security cameras, CCTV, PoE, NVR, and doorbells are all core topics. 27K weekly actives and 622 weekly contributions show that while the overall size is not the largest, question density is very high and demand signals are very concentrated, so it ranks highest. |
| r/reolinkcam | Match 92% | If you are researching Reolink, PoE cameras, doorbells, NVRs, or HA integration, this is a must-watch brand stronghold. 49K weekly actives and 767 weekly contributions are very strong, but because of its official nature it is more suitable for version and feedback monitoring than for fully neutral brand sentiment, so it scores slightly below general communities. |
| r/smarthome | Match 79% | It has supplementary value for smart home and Home Assistant product teams, especially for understanding how cameras fit into broader automation workflows. 115K weekly actives and 1.1K weekly contributions are very strong, but it is not a dedicated security vertical, so it scores clearly below the pure security communities above. |
Privacy, hidden cameras, and surveillance controversies
Recommended mix · 3 subreddits
How to use this cluster
- Do not push products aggressively here; this is better suited for risk sensing, compliance language testing, and trust-building.
- Focus on local storage, who can view footage, whether employees and tenants are informed, and public surveillance controversies such as ALPR/Flock.
- If your brand communicates around privacy, use language users can easily understand, such as “local by default,” “minimal data,” “clear indicator lights,” and “visible privacy shutter.”
Key content to read
- Hidden camera anxiety in Airbnb and offices
- Backlash against public surveillance, ALPR, and Flock
- Local storage, permissions, and visibility
- Privacy compliance and trust design
Representative posts and communities
Representative posts
- Found in Airbnb, unsure if it’s a sensor or a camera. It was in the living room near the balcony door and aimed at the couch
- Anyone report a hidden camera in an Airbnb?
- FOR MY OTHER POST
- Madison Square Garden Secret Celebrity Database Sparks Major Privacy Controversy
- 85 Flock Surveillance Camera Contracts In 28 States Canceled - LAPD Also Won't Renew Their Contract
| Community | Fit | Why relevant |
|---|---|---|
| r/homesecurity | Match 96% | Highly aligned with home security, video doorbells, Ring/Reolink replacement, monitoring services, and installation issues. 56K weekly actives and 442 weekly contributions mean larger traffic, but topics are slightly more dispersed than in a pure camera community, so it scores slightly below r/securitycamera. |
| r/videosurveillance | Match 94% | An excellent match for CCTV, video surveillance platforms, installation integration, and the brand competitive landscape. 11K weekly actives and 262 weekly contributions are not huge, but discussion quality and signal density are high, so it remains near the top. |
| r/hiddencameras | Match 74% | Highly relevant to surveillance privacy, privacy communication, and consumer trust-building. 50K weekly actives and 257 weekly contributions show these concerns are very real, but the topic focus is not mainly conventional home security products, so it scores in the upper-middle range. |
Participation
Where brands should be careful
Posting limits vary by community. Check the captured rules for promotion, links, surveys, low-effort content, and other topic-specific restrictions before participating.
| Community | Promotion risk | Suitable | Avoid |
|---|---|---|---|
| r/securitycamera | High; rules mention commercial posts or brand promotion. | Use it for: This almost perfectly overlaps with your target audience, covering both consumer buying decisions and PoE, NVR, AI detection, and commercia… | Avoid commercial posts or brand promotion; keep any participation specific, disclosed, and useful. |
| r/homesecurity | High; rules mention commercial posts or brand promotion, surveys or market research, affiliate links, referral links, or external links. | Use it for: Here you can directly see unfiltered feedback from everyday buyers on subscription fees, reliability, installation difficulty, brand servic… | Avoid commercial posts or brand promotion, surveys or market research, affiliate links, referral links, or external links; keep any participation specific, disclosed, and useful. |
| r/videosurveillance | High; rules mention commercial posts or brand promotion, sales, transactions, or DM solicitation, low-effort posts, spam, or AI-generated content. | Use it for: This is a strong match for installers, systems integrators, NVR/VMS vendors, and commercial surveillance teams, where you can see real proj… | Avoid commercial posts or brand promotion, sales, transactions, or DM solicitation, low-effort posts, spam, or AI-generated content; keep any participation specific, disclosed, and useful. |
| r/reolinkcam | High; rules mention commercial posts or brand promotion, affiliate links, referral links, or external links, low-effort posts, spam, or AI-generated content. | Use it for: If you want to study Reolink itself, or use it as a competitor benchmark, the signal here is highly concentrated, especially for tracking f… | Avoid commercial posts or brand promotion, affiliate links, referral links, or external links, low-effort posts, spam, or AI-generated content; keep any participation specific, disclosed, and useful. |
| r/ring | High; rules mention commercial posts or brand promotion, affiliate links, referral links, or external links, sales, transactions, or DM solicitation. | Use it for: This is highly valuable for researching video doorbells, cloud-subscription security, and the reasons behind brand retention or churn, sinc… | Avoid commercial posts or brand promotion, affiliate links, referral links, or external links, sales, transactions, or DM solicitation; keep any participation specific, disclosed, and useful. |
Full ranking
The full community list from the RedditFind run
Use the full ranking across cameras, doorbells, CCTV, PoE, NVR, VMS, Home Assistant, installation, cybersecurity, and privacy concerns.
| Rank | Community | Score | Weekly visitors | Weekly contributions | Community content |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | r/securitycamera | 95% | 27K | 622 | This is a highly vertical security camera community, with core discussions focused on home/small business cameras, video doorbells, continuous recording, license plate recognition, brand comparisons, and deployment troubleshooting. Posts often directly compare solutions like Ring, Reolink, UniFi, Hikvision, and Dahua. This almost perfectly overlaps with your target audience, covering both consumer buying decisions and PoE, NVR, AI detection, and commercial use cases. 27K weekly active visitors and 622 contributions show steady discussion density and consistently fresh posts, making it well suited for ongoing research and participation. |
| 2 | r/homesecurity | 94% | 56K | 442 | This is a broad home security community covering cameras, video doorbells, alarms, monitoring services, brand reputation, and requests for help with real-world security situations. Discussions range from beginner product selection to very specific system experience, installation, and after-sales feedback. Here you can directly see unfiltered feedback from everyday buyers on subscription fees, reliability, installation difficulty, brand service, and alarm integration, which closely matches your buyer research goals. 56K/442 weekly activity gives it enough scale and freshness, making it especially suitable for VOC work and demand mapping. |
| 3 | r/videosurveillance | 91% | 11K | 262 | This is a more industry- and technical-oriented video surveillance community, with common topics including CCTV, ONVIF, VMS/NVR, Axis/Hikvision/Dahua, school/commercial surveillance projects, ALPR, and privacy controversies. Overall, it is more professional and integration-oriented than typical home-use communities. This is a strong match for installers, systems integrators, NVR/VMS vendors, and commercial surveillance teams, where you can see real project-driven needs. 11K/262 weekly activity is not the largest, but contribution density is solid, and the professional signal is clearly stronger than in broader communities. |
| 4 | r/reolinkcam | 89% | 49K | 767 | This is Reolink’s official community, mainly discussing new products, firmware, accessories, doorbells, NVRs, Home Assistant integration, installation experience, and after-sales issues. You can also see official announcements, beta recruitment, and immediate user feedback on specific features. If you want to study Reolink itself, or use it as a competitor benchmark, the signal here is highly concentrated, especially for tracking feature demands and reactions after version updates. 49K/767 weekly activity is very strong, but because it is an official community, it is better suited for VOC and competitive benchmarking, and participation should avoid feeling overly promotional. |
| 5 | r/ring | 87% | 95K | 665 | This is a brand community centered on the Ring doorbell, camera, and alarm ecosystem, with core discussions focused on subscriptions, missed detections, video quality, app experience, policy changes, and troubleshooting. There are many brand experience posts as well as migration/substitution discussions. This is highly valuable for researching video doorbells, cloud-subscription security, and the reasons behind brand retention or churn, since you can consistently see why users stay and why they want to switch away. 95K/665 weekly activity is very high and steady, but the community is sensitive to pure complaining and external brand diversion. |
| 6 | r/cctv | 82% | 4.3K | 65 | This is a pure CCTV-oriented community discussing IP cameras, PoE, DVR/NVR, cabling, displays, surveillance software, and installation details. Overall it leans toward hardware, deployment, and technical troubleshooting. The topic focus is extremely precise, especially for PoE, NVR, RTSP, Blue Iris/Frigate, and installation issues. 4.3K/65 weekly activity is not large, but relevance is high, making it a strong supplementary sample pool. |
| 7 | r/smarthome | 79% | 115K | 1.1K | This is a large smart home community covering automation, voice assistants, lighting, locks, sensors, cameras, panels, and Home Assistant-related use cases. Cameras are not the only topic, but they frequently appear alongside automation and doorbell integrations. While it is not a pure security community, it is highly relevant to your smart home / Home Assistant / camera integration target audience. 115K/1.1K weekly activity is very strong, but you must narrow your focus to cameras, security, and HA integration, or it will be easily diluted by broader smart home topics. |
| 8 | r/hiddencameras | 73% | 50K | 257 | This community mainly discusses hidden camera detection, privacy concerns in Airbnb/offices/public spaces, covert recording risks, and evidence-gathering advice. The content leans more toward fear of being watched and compliance boundaries than system selection. If you care about surveillance privacy, what users dislike about cameras, and compliance narratives, this is highly valuable for research. 50K/257 weekly activity is not low, but the emotional intensity and risk level are high, so it is better suited for privacy insight work than for proactive brand-led selling. |
| 9 | r/homeowners | 68% | 1.1M | 11K | This is a broad homeowner community with a wide mix of topics, but doorbells, neighbor disputes, camera evidence, driveway monitoring, and security lighting keep appearing in real-world scenarios. Overall, it functions more as a demand pool triggered by everyday life. This is not a main battlefield, but it captures many real trigger points for non-enthusiast buyers, such as theft prevention, evidence gathering, packages, neighbor conflict, and nighttime lighting. 1.1M/11K weekly activity is massive, though security is only a small share, so it is best for peripheral consumer insight. |
| 10 | r/reolink | 64% | 3K | 81 | This is a smaller Reolink discussion forum, with content mostly about specific product issues, feature suggestions, doorbell/NVR/Hub troubleshooting, and user experience. The tone is usually more direct than in the official community. It is useful for supplementing your view of Reolink users’ rawest complaints and feature demands, which is valuable for competitor research. 3K/81 weekly activity is not large, but it is still better than a completely hollow community and can serve as a second observation point outside the official forum. |
| 11 | r/security | 58% | 7.7K | 46 | This is a security-professional-leaning community, with topics mixing cybersecurity, physical security jobs, alarm monitoring, and some professional practice. Overall, it is not centered on home security cameras. It is not a strong match for cameras/CCTV, but you may occasionally find discussions about alarm monitoring roles, security workflows, and security habits. 7.7K/46 weekly activity is relatively low, and the rules are more geared toward professionals, so light observation is best. |
| 12 | r/cybersecurity | 56% | 358K | 6.4K | This is a technical and news community for cybersecurity professionals, focused on vulnerabilities, attacks, infrastructure security, privacy incidents, and compliance risks. Its content is not centered on security hardware selection. It is only truly useful if you want to research camera privacy, connected-device security, default passwords/backdoors, and security messaging. 358K/6.4K weekly activity is very large, but it is not directly relevant to CCTV selection, installation, or buyer research, making it better as a secondary security sample. |
| 13 | r/securitysystems | 54% | 207 | 1 | This is a small security systems community covering alarms, door sensors, cameras, locks, wiring, and troubleshooting. The topic direction is right, but it functions more like a scattered Q&A board. The theme aligns with your security systems focus, but the community is too small. Weekly activity is only 207/1, showing very weak ongoing conversation, so it is only suitable for occasionally picking up installer/DIY questions and not for stable operations. |
| 14 | r/videodoorbells | 46% | — | — | Judging from the name, this is a very vertical video doorbell community, but there is currently almost no usable content sample. In theory it should center on doorbell products and user experience. The direction is highly aligned with your video doorbell target, but unfortunately there are currently no post samples or active metrics available. It is worth bookmarking for observation, but not worth investing real operating resources yet. |
| 15 | r/homesecuritypropose | 24% | 3 | 0 | This is a very small general home security discussion community. Its description mentions cameras, detectors, and anti-theft tips, but there are currently no valid post samples. Overall it feels more like a hollow shell. The topic is only marginally relevant, and weekly activity is just 3/0, meaning there is basically no real discussion to review. Unless it suddenly becomes active later, its value for brand research and participation is very low. |
| 16 | r/homesecurityideas | 22% | 3 | 0 | This community leans toward home security ideas, tips, and information, but currently has almost no content depth. There are not enough samples to support in-depth research. The direction is fine, but weekly activity is 3/0, which is basically equivalent to being inactive. For camera brands, installers, or buyer research teams, the practical value is very limited. |
| 17 | r/homecams | 21% | 418 | 3 | This community allows home/doorbell/surveillance video sharing as well as device recommendations and related discussion. Compared with purely entertainment-focused video communities, it at least has some direct relevance to home security. The topic is somewhat more relevant than comedy-style “surveillance video” communities, but weekly activity is only 418/3, which is too little sample volume. You can monitor it occasionally for useful posts, but it is not suitable as a primary research pool. |
| 18 | r/ringdoorbell | 20% | 1.3K | 0 | This is the old Ring Doorbell community, and the description clearly states that it has moved to /r/Ring. There is basically no new content now. The topic is highly precise, but the community has already migrated, with 1.3K/0 weekly activity and no new post samples. For Ring research, /r/Ring alone is enough; this is only worth keeping as a historical shell for observation. |
| 19 | r/cctvcameras | 15% | 43 | 0 | The community description says it is for CCTV-related questions and videos, but there are currently no post samples. Overall it feels more like an idle placeholder shell. The topic is extremely relevant, but unfortunately weekly activity is only 43/0, meaning almost nobody uses it. It can stay on a watchlist, but it is not worth any real operating effort. |
| 20 | r/homesecurity_ | 14% | 2 | 0 | This is another extremely small home security community, with a description covering DIY and professional services, but it currently has almost no content. No real discussion has formed. The direction is correct but activity is nearly zero, at 2/0 weekly. Both research value and participation value are very low; it is only relevant in name. |
| 21 | r/ringdoorbell_feat_req | 13% | 3 | 0 | This is a small community for submitting and voting on Ring feature requests, but there are currently no usable discussion samples. In theory it is product-feedback oriented, but in practice no one uses it. It offers a little imagined value for researching Ring’s feature roadmap, but weekly activity is 3/0, so the real value is very weak. Compared with this, the organic discussions in /r/Ring reflect user demand far better. |
| 22 | r/ringdoorbell_rants | 11% | 5 | 0 | This is a small free-form complaint community for Ring users, and it currently has no post samples. Its positioning is narrow, and it has not developed active discussion. If it ever became active, it might have negative VOC value, but right now weekly activity is only 5/0. Its research value is far below that of the main /r/Ring community. |
Original About and Rules evidence
This section keeps the raw About / Rules text captured for each subreddit so operators can check the source before participating.
About / Public Description
A place to discuss security cameras and recorders - either domestic systems or professional systems.
Rules
Be helpful
Top level comments should help OP. Unhelpful comments will be removed. Repeat offenders will be banned. Posting for the sake of posting something is not recommended unless you'd like a ban.
Know what you're talking about.
This sub is a place to get useful and helpful information. State if your comment is speculation, a wild guess, an educated guess or probably spot on. Unhelpful comments will be removed. Downright incorrect or bad advice will be removed and the used banned permanently.
Clear, detailed posts.
When posting, please provide details including brands, models, firmware versions and so on. It's easier to get help when Redditors have the information they need.
No advertising
This is not the place to promote your business or product. Posts will be removed and users permanently banned.
About / Public Description
We're a place to get help with and discuss all topics relating to home security. All topics from beginner questions to help with your esoteric GE panel from 1989 are welcome! Are you looking for advice on cameras or security systems? Try using the search bar! NOTE: We require a minimum of 50 karma to post.
Rules
Reddiquette
[Reddiquette](https://www.reddithelp.com/en/categories/reddit-101/reddit-basics/reddiquette) guidelines must be followed, and will be enforced. This community is welcoming to everyone; flaming, trolling, vulgar insults, sexism, hate, bigotry, etc will not be tolerated. Respect others, especially if you disagree with them. Please report issues to moderators immediately! Do NOT attempt vigilante comments, stop responding to comments and await appropriate moderation.
Don't Troll
If your response does not: Answer the OP's question, Provide information relevant to the discussion, Participate in the greater conversation, Vague not discussing home security. It may be removed. This includes random low-effort posts like; "<brand x> sucks" without any elaboration on why you don't like <brand x> (especially if the OP doesn't have the same brand). However if you have your own unique question(s), then create a New Post rather than hijacking an existing post.
No Doxing
Don't post personal identification; names, phone numbers, email address, physical addresses, or any other information that can be used to identify someone.
Disclose your business relationships
Disclose your business relationships. If you mention a company and you have any relationship other than being a customer, you must disclose that in your post. This includes but is not limited to being an owner, employee, contractor, supplier, or affiliate of the company, or being in any way related to such.
No spam
Everyone has their favorite brands. But if all you do is post the same brand over and over without explaining why, that's spam. Likewise, don't post affiliate links, self-promotion, attempts to solicit customers, offers to give quotes, or solicitations of private messages. In fact, doing anything that earns you money is going to be a violation of this rule.
Don't post conspiracies
If you make a claim about a product or organization, such as "Brand X steals your data and sends it to foreign intelligence services", post reputable sources to back it up.
No Solicitation
No affiliate links, no links that earn you money/anything, no self-promotion, no promotion of your business, no promotion of your channel or subreddit. No attempting to solicit customers, no offers to give quotes, or ask others to send private messages. Remove the excessive query string parameters from URLs that track users clicking on links when sharing, (generally EVERYTHING after the question mark is unnecessary tracking).
No Surveys
This one should be pretty obvious as it's spam, but no surveys, no school projects, no link to research surveys, no opinion collecting, etc.
About / Public Description
Discussion of both technical and non-technical issues related to Video Surveillance. Examples: Analog and Network cameras, DVRs/NVRs (Digital Video Recorders / Network Video Recorders), Video Analytics (Computer Vision), mobile applications and integration.
Rules
Unrelated
Has nothing to do with video surveillance, CCTV, installation, networking, or similar. If in doubt, feel free to flag. The Mod team will review the post/comment and remove at our discretion.
Spammy
Promotional post or comment that has no inherent value to the sub. Posts by vendors are allowable if they are helpful to visitors. Generic blogspam, YouTube clickbait, and "cold call" sales pitches are not helpful content and will result in removal and/or bans.
Questionable
Offensive, immoral, unethical, illegal, or close enough that it makes the Mod team uncomfortable. This includes anything that breaks Reddit site-wide rules. The post and/or comment will be reported to Reddit Administrators.
Personal Attacks and/or Harassment
This post or comment does not offer advice or constructive criticism. Note: A post or comment that you do not agree with is not a personal attack or harassment. Slapfights, name-calling, slurs, and generally acting in an immature fashion will probably fall into this category. If two posters engage each other in a petty argument don't be surprised if both get time outs. All posts and comments reported for this reason will be reviewed. The Mod team reserves the right to ban anyone.
#4
r/reolinkcam
About / Public Description
An official subreddit for all Reolink products. Reolink is devoted to creating the finest security products for consumers and business owners. We care what you feel about our products. Share thoughts and suggestions and help each other in this community dig up the hidden potentials of Reolink! We will keep posting exclusive news and campaigns! Please be sure to read the Welcome post that's pinned as the first post of the Subreddit.
Rules
About This Group
This group is where Reolink users can communicate with each other. We hope more and more people can share their tips, guidance or video clips related to security cameras or smart home.
Read the Welcome post and FAQ before posting
Read the welcome post (linked below and pinned as the first post of the subreddit) before making a new post, there's a good chance it may already answer your question. It will also tell you what to provide in your post if you do need to make one. https://www.reddit.com/r/reolinkcam/comments/133vod7/welcome_to_the_official_reolink_subreddit_please/
Troubleshooting
If you want to request Reolink support staff to help you, please see here: https://support.reolink.com/hc/en-us/ If you want to ask other users here, elaborating the issue will help us better help you. Please tell us the camera or NVR model, its hardware and firmware versions, and what you’ve done so far to troubleshoot it.
Constructive Feedback
We welcome all feedback about our cameras. There is no perfect product in the world, only the most suitable one for you. If you have comments or legitimate concerns about our cameras, please share so we can look to improve or add to our products. However, please remain civil and refrain from using profanities, we reserve the right to remove your post if it infringes on these principles.
Other Brand’s Camera
This is a group for Reolink users, so whilst we acknowledge mentioning of other brands, please avoid using the group for general camera chat.
Be Kind and Courteous
We're all in this together to create a welcoming environment. Let's treat everyone with respect. Healthy debates are natural, but kindness is required.
No Hate Speech or Bullying
Make sure everyone feels safe. Bullying of any kind isn't allowed, and degrading comments about things like race, religion, culture, sexual orientation, gender or identity will not be tolerated.
No Promotions or Spam
Give more than you take to this group. Affiliate, Self-promotion, spam and irrelevant links aren't allowed.
Respect Everyone's Privacy
Being part of this group requires mutual trust. Authentic, expressive discussions make groups great, but may also be sensitive and private. What's shared in the group should stay in the group.
Read Group Announcements Before Posting
Please kindly read the group announcements before posting, especially the pinned post. All the important information is in the announcements. Relax and Chill
#5
r/ring
About / Public Description
A community space for discussion about all things Ring. This sub is run by the community and has no affiliation with Ring.com or its products.
Rules
Rude Behaviour
Simple. Just be excellent to each other. Don't get too heated, don't start tossing ad hominem attacks at people. Focus on the subject, not the person making the point. And if someone is legitimately trying to help you but you're not getting the answer you want, please don't lash out at people, including the Ring rep. We're all trying to help to the best of our abilities.
Contains Personal Information
Don't reveal any information that can be used to track someone down in real life. If you recognise the neighbourhood that's posted in a Ring Clip do not reveal this in the comments. Please take extra care in ensuring you keep your own information safe too.
Negative or Does Not Promote Conversation
If you need help, just ask! If you're going to complain, make it a constructive complaint. We are all here to help. Posts that are made to bash Ring or a product will be removed. Posts that are purely negative and/or do not promote further conversation will be removed. Constructive criticism about Ring is perfectly acceptable, but hate, memes, and pure bashing is not.
Unrelated to Ring
The purpose of this subreddit is to discuss all things Ring. Try and focus on Ring when you make your post. Non-Ring posts are allowed if the goal is a discussion about Ring. Direct links to other carrier's advertisements or press releases will likely be removed. Try not to post something unrelated to ring, purely because it was recorded from a ring device.
Spamming and Referral Links
Our aim is to keep things tidy, a useful resource for others and utilise the flair system. Blatant spamming or links to referral pages where a user could gain will be removed. Creating multiple posts relating to the same topic will be removed - keep a topic hot and at the top by promoting conversation and engaging with other users.
Selling Ring Products
Reddit is not intended to be used as a marketplace and it's not something we can safely monitor so we ask that you use the proper websites around the internets. This also means we will not allow you to share your link on the sub either sorry.
#6
r/cctv
About / Public Description
This community is for discussing all things related to CCTV. No advertising, If there is a hint that a post could be an advertisement the mod(s) will take action. There has been huge issues with spam here. No link posts. Spam filters are on high All things CCTV are on the table. Cameras Cable DVR's NVR's Monitors PTZ controllers Tools Capture Cards Software Power Supply's PoE Switches Anything else to do with CCTV If you need help, ask
Rules
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#7
r/smarthome
About / Public Description
This is the place for all your smart home product. This subreddit topics about a wide variety of smart home products and IoT's. Find help, tips, tricks and advice from our users!
Rules
Must be Smart Home related
Posts must be a question, review, or story related to Smart Home products. Please don't mistake this for a smartphone sub.
Citing Sources/Products Used
Posts that review a Smart Home product or service should include links to said product or service. Readers should be able to easily verify your research whether it be price or the specs of the product. Affiliate links must not be used.
No Abusive Behavior
If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all! Abusive language, insulting others' opinions or knowledge of subject matter, and other hostile behaviour will not be tolerated. Keep it civil and be polite! Don't be a dick.
No Referral Links
Please do not posts referral links in comments or posts, nor link to them via blogs or other media. This sub is not a mechanism for promoting your product. In order to facilitate discussion and keep this an open and welcoming place, we do not allow affiliate links of discounts codes. This includes but is not limited to, linking to blogs, mass posting discount codes, sharing a personal affiliate link, bombarding posts with specific links, and/or soliciting users to check your profile.
No AI generated posts or comments
Low effort AI generated posts and/or obviously copy/pasted responses from Chat GPT etc will be removed. Repeated violations will result in a permanent ban.
Duplicate post
This post or topic has already been submitted recently, removed as a duplicate.
Other - Mod Discretion
Content can be removed at any time at the discretion of the moderators.
#9
r/homeowners
About / Public Description
The best place to talk about your place.
Rules
No promotional content (spam)
No ads, no self-promo, no blogs, no links to your business, etc. Posts and comments from business-owned-or-operated accounts are strictly forbidden.
No surveys of any kind
We recommend using r/samplesize or related subs for this.
Do not advise others to commit crimes
Don't encourage others to break the law. Insurance fraud; animal abuse; harrassment; etc.
Posts must be about homeownership
Posts about renting, relationship advice, or any other off-topic topics will be removed.
No politics
Leave the politics for the rest of reddit. They have no place here.
Be nice to each other
No name calling. If you can't be civil, don't say anything at all.
No AI-generated content
AI-generated content is not allowed, and will be removed if identified.
Search the sub
Some questions get asked here repeatedly, so repeat posts may be removed and directed to prior posts.
Don’t post addresses
Don’t dox yourself or anyone else.
Post titles must be descriptive of the post content
If you have a question, put it in the title. Click bait or low-effort titles will be removed.
Don't request legal advice
Legal advice is for legal professionals. If you must ask reddit, there are other subs for that.
Requests for price/cost estimates must include details of at least three bids you've secured
An international subreddit doesn't know what things cost in your area to your specification, but local professionals do. Before you ask r/homeowners for price or cost estimates, you'll need to have at least three bids from local contractors/professionals in hand and include that information in your post.
Do not delete your posts
Deleting posts is rude to those who have taken the time to respond and to those who could benefit from the post/comments in the future.
#10
r/reolink
About / Public Description
This sub-reddit is to discuss or ask questions involving the Reolink security camera systems
Rules
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#11
r/security
About / Public Description
r/security -- A place for security professionals.
Rules
No Low effort / Poor Quality posts
This security forum is oriented towards private white hat security professionals. If a post has very basic information, is is not appropriate here. Posts may be removed at the Mods' discretion.
Must be relevant to security professionals
Posts should be relevant to security practitioners. Memes, politics, current events (unless they are relevant to security), an off-topic posts are not permitted.
No fundamental security questions
Basic questions on security concepts and fundamentals are not appropriate for this subreddit
SECURITY FIRST (no editorializing)
This is the guiding principle for all posts. No editorializing and no political agendas. Posts discussing political issues that affect security are fine, but the post must be geared towards the security implication. Such posts will be heavily monitored and comments may be locked as needed
Civility
We're all professionals. Be excellent to each other. Any unprofessional behavior such as name calling or intentionally giving bad advice will not be tolerated
NO ADVERTISING.
Want to share information or resources? Message The Mods to find out how! You would rather build a relationship with the /r/Security community than get banned! Please message the mods before posting links to your own projects or if you have any questions about the advertising policies
NO Personally-Identifiable Information.
Do not post personally-identifiable information, unless the source has consented to it. Doxxing or tracking down people is against site-wide rules
All posts must be flaired
All posts must be tagged with an appropriate flair. This will help keep things more readable for our users.
We are not your personal army
Do not ask users of this community to take action on your behalf. Brigading, mass-reporting, or other actions here, or on any other site is not permitted.
#12
r/cybersecurity
About / Public Description
This subreddit is for discussing cybersecurity topics, research, and emergent threats/findings.
Rules
Read the FAQ before posting
Please read the [FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/cybersecurity/wiki/faq) before posting a question, as it may contain the answer you are looking for. Please also check the collections we have, such as the [Breaking In to Cybersecurity](https://www.reddit.com/r/cybersecurity/wiki/faq/breaking_in) FAQ, which contains a *ton* of useful information for people looking to go into cybersecurity! Due to repetition, posts containing questions which are answered in the FAQ will be removed.
Must be relevant to cybersecurity professionals
This is a discussion-oriented sub for people who are, or aspire to be, cybersecurity professionals. The rule of thumb we apply is: if professionals would find it insightful or would enjoy insightful discussions around it, then it's appropriate here. Questions about personal or "home" cybersecurity MUST be posted on r/cybersecurity_help or r/techsupport. Memes, "security fails," homework help, etc. historically don't drive conversation, and will generally be removed.
No low effort / poor quality posts
This is a community of cybersecurity professionals - the people reading and replying to threads are actual people taking time out of their day. If you aren't putting effort into writing something, why should anyone put effort into reading it? "AI"/machine generated content, whether linked to or posted directly, is explicitly forbidden across this subreddit and will be removed when discovered. Copywritten content, SEO farming, and other slop are similarly forbidden.
Security first / no editorializing
This is the guiding principle for all posts. No editorializing and no political agendas. Posts discussing political issues that affect security are fine, but the post must be geared towards the security implication. Such posts will be heavily monitored and comments may be locked as needed.
No advertising
Want to share information or resources? Please review these guidelines: https://www.reddit.com/r/cybersecurity/wiki/advertising_guidelines You would rather build a relationship with the /r/CyberSecurity community than get banned! Educational articles or blogs that contain advertisement to a service are to flair their posts with "Corporate Blog." Soliciting DMs/calls/etc instead of posting answers directly has been used by marketers to try to circumvent this rule, and may also result in a ban.
No excessive promotion
All promotion (i.e. self-promotion) on this subreddit must be both: * Under 10% of your posts and comments on this subreddit. * Once per week at most per promoted entity. This rule is enforced to curb spam and unwanted promotional posts by non-community-members. We must always be a community member *first*, and self-interested *second*. A full explanation with examples is available on our [wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/cybersecurity/wiki/rules/promotion).
No personally-identifiable information.
Do not post personally-identifiable information, unless the source has consented to it. Moderation staff can and will request proof. Do not request personally identifiable information, or link to sites gating information/articles/documents/etc. and requiring personally identifiable information to proceed. A "free" sign-up to view content requiring your email is not "free as in freedom."
Civility
We're all professionals. Be excellent to each other.
Ongoing security incidents are to be collated into one thread
During ongoing major incidents - hacks, vulnerabilities, etc - in order to collate all discussion into one area, threads will be locked or removed and discussion redirected to one or few megathreads.
About / Public Description
This sub is about security systems, home security, business security, security cameras, access control, etc. Anything else is not acceptable.
Rules
Spam - Obvious spam, nonsense, self-promototion...
No posts or comments that are obvious spam, nonsense, click on articles for money, self-promotion of items/services, etc.
Innappropriate - Rude, unacceptable behavior, etc.
Nothing innappropriate - No rude, unacceptable behavior, etc.
#14
r/videodoorbells
About / Public Description
Video Doorbells
Rules
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About / Public Description
We discuss everything about enhancing home security. Security camera, detector, anti-theft techniques, danger prevention, etc. Professional answers, seeking help, sharing of family safety experience, monitoring interesting facts, we welcome all topics about home security.
Rules
Keep the debate civilized
If we disagree with others' views, please don't personally attack, it is very good to give your reasons. Name-calling, insults, trolling someone's post history, or other similar conduct will be removed.
Meaningful discussion
If the content of the comment/post is not information related to the OP’s question, general discussion of home security, or some negative and unreasonable posts like "<Brand xxx> sucks" that does not explain why, it may be removed.
About / Public Description
Infographics & Home Security Ideas, Tips & Tricks. All for your home security.
Rules
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#17
r/homecams
About / Public Description
Post videos from home cams, including doorbell cams and surveillance footage. Also, discussion regarding recommendations, reviews, and anything else it welcome!
Rules
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#18
r/ringdoorbell
About / Public Description
This subreddit has moved to /r/Ring
Rules
Rule #1
Simple. Just be excellent to each other. Don't get too heated, don't start tossing ad hominem attacks at people. Focus on the subject, not the person making the point. And if someone is legitimately trying to help you but you're not getting the answer you want, please don't lash out at people, including the Ring rep. We're all trying to help to the best of our abilities.
Rule #2
Not only is this against the rules here, it's frowned upon reddit-wide. Please don't reveal any information that can be used to track someone down in real life. It just simply isn't a nice thing to do.
Rule #3
If you need help, please ask! If you're going to complain, make it a constructive complaint. We are all here to help. Posts that are made to bash Ring etc will be removed. Posts that are purely negative and/or do not promote further conversation will be removed.
Rule #4
The purpose of this subreddit is to discuss all things Ring. Try and focus on Ring when you make your post. Non-Ring posts are allowed if the goal is a discussion about Ring. Direct links to other carrier's advertisements or press releases will likely be removed. Constructive criticism about Ring is perfectly acceptable, but hate, memes, and pure bashing is not.
Rule #5
Our aim is to keep things tidy, a useful resource for others and utilise the flair system. Blatant spamming or links to referral pages where a user could gain will be removed. Creating multiple posts relating to the same topic from the same user is frowned upon and will also be removed - keep a topic hot and at the top by promoting conversation and engaging with other users.
Rule #6
Reddit is not intended to be used as a marketplace and it's not something we can safely monitor so we ask that you use the proper websites around the internets. This also means we won't allow you to share your link on the sub either sorry.
#19
r/cctvcameras
About / Public Description
CCTV Cameras Video Surveillance System, Wholesale Security Equipment, Spy Devices
Rules
must be in english
if i cant understand it i cant moderate it accordingly. any post with hindi or some other shit will be removed.
NO ADVERTISING
this is for cctv footage and questions about cctv. not a rule but we encourage you to post video instead of text.
#20
r/homesecurity_
About / Public Description
Share your experiences, ask questions, and get advice on the best products and practices to protect your home. From DIY solutions to professional services, discover the best ways to keep your residence safe
Rules
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About / Public Description
This subreddit is dedicated to submitting and voting for feature requests for Ring.com's ecosystem of products.
Rules
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About / Public Description
This is NOT an official Ring sub. It is provided as a place for those of you who have been silenced on other venues like Facebook or even here on reddit.
Rules
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How to turn this into a weekly workflow
Tag posts by property type, camera form factor, network, local storage, power, software, and installation skill.
Separate purchase questions from field reliability, firmware, subscription, support, and privacy incidents.
Use recurring failure language to improve setup, alerts, compatibility notes, local-recording explanations, and support content.
Check promotion, footage, privacy, security-disclosure, affiliate-link, and support rules before posting.
FAQ
Which security-camera communities should a product team read first?
Start with r/securitycamera, r/homesecurity, and r/videosurveillance, then add r/reolinkcam or r/ring when brand ecosystems and customer support are relevant.
Where can teams research PoE and NVR deployments?
Use technical CCTV and video-surveillance discussions, then cross-check smart-home and brand communities for ONVIF, local recording, networking, and Home Assistant behavior.
How should brands handle privacy-related discussions?
Treat privacy and security as product requirements. Do not solicit or amplify invasive footage; provide precise information about local recording, account access, visible recording indicators, privacy shutters, disclosure, and user controls when rules permit.