Adding Unifi Cameras & Reaolink Cameras

Hardware
1

Hello

I have a few questions about adding Unifi & Reolink cameras to my home assistant. I’m hoping someone can clear up a couple of thinks for me.

1.) On both devices I will be streaming using RTSP; yes?

2.) I believe there are two integration I can use, which one is better; “Generic Camera” or “RTSPtoWebRTC” integration. I believe I want to use “Generic Camera”

3.) With the “Generic Camera” integration I see different protocols that can be used with the live stream. Is it recommended to go with UDP? I’m concerned about latency.

4.) I’ve seen in the “Generic Camera” integration a field to add a user ID and password for each camera. What is this for? I’ve got my existing Unifi cameras connected to Unifi Protect. I require a user-ID & password to log into Protect, but I don’t require one for each camera. So what am I inputting in this field for each camera in the “Generic Camera” integration?

5.) Is the “still Image” URL the IP address of the camera?

Generic Camera Integration > Configure

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Thanks in advance for any help that can be provided.

2

@mcoulton The generic camera integration loads images and/or streams from the urls you provide (could be anywhere online too - not just cameras).

If you don’t know a setting, try the default.

The username and password are optional.

You can test image urls by visiting them in your browser in private mode. If it doesn’t need a password there you can leave the fields blank.

You can try different options for protocol by selecting configure in the UI to decide which works best.

3

Assuming you are using the Unifi Protect ecosystem for your Unifi cameras you may get more functionality by using the specific integration.

4

Thanks TazUK
I thought about using the specific integration but I also have a Reolink that can’t be integrated with Unifi Protect. I wanted to try and keep all my cameras (Unifi and Reolink) within the one type of integration system. This approach would be useful if I add another Reolink or other branded camera to my network.

1 Like
5

I don’t understand why would that be better? All your unifi cameras can be maintained via unifi integration. And reolink as generic cameras.
In the end, they are all just entities. Why does it matter?