Reolink joins Works with Home Assistant

[Schinken6]

2 way audio and better integration in Frigate would be nice

[MiAutomations]

It will be nice in future get the support for standalone floodlights POE and WIFI over this integration please Tks !!

[denwald]

I bought some Eufy cameras last summer, and I really regret not looking into Reolink before my purchase. The Integration with Home Assistant is so useful, I’m even considering switching my set-up over soon.

I was considering buying a couple of E1 Zoom indoor cams to test out the Reolink-HA integration. It seems though, that this specific camera model has not been updated in years.

Is the E1 Zoom a good first buy, or should I maybe wait for a newer model to be released?

Also, congrats on the certification! It’s good to see more manufacturers embracing HA and intensifying their integration efforts.

[jeepotvin (Jee)]

No worries. Still trying to figure out what a certification would bring more to our already excellent POE Video Doorbell.

[philvidler]

Hi @Nooton

Can you share how you got 2 way audio working in Frigate using the doorbell please?

Any guides you used or yaml etc would be great to review

[evilspoons]

Huh - I had no chime controls at all when I first set this up but they are there now. My mistake! I should be able to do exactly what I need.

[bbrendon]

I STILL THINK REOLINK IS JUNK!!! NOT GOING TO CHANGE MY MIND!!

[ShadowFist]

Thank you for such an insightful comment with absolutely no posts in your history to back up your statements.

[RPGWiZaRD]

Is there any advantage/disadvantage of choosing Home Home Pro vs for example the RLN8 NVR for Home Assistant if integrating a battery cam to it? Like do they both nowadays lead to similar battery consumption in this kind of setup (and or) is there potentially anything else in regards to HA that would be advisable to pick either or?

[nickrout]

It’s rude to shout.

[tom_l]

The only issue I’m aware of was that for a long time you couldn’t specify the keyframe (i-frame) interval on reolink cameras. They adjusted it dynamically which played havoc with external motion detection systems that used main and substreams. To their credit reolink did eventually release a firmware fix for this.

[petro]

Only on some cameras. I have a few circa 2017 that don’t support it even after firmware updates. It do be causing problems w/ blue iris but I’m too cheap to replace them.

[bbrendon]

This sounds familiar. I was looking for cameras and ran across a (what seemed creditable) YouTuber review saying how great they were. I fell for it. Never forgave reolink or the YouTuber.

[BlinkyLights]

Would love to know which YouTuber and which Model of camera made you so angry.

[petro]

It’s pretty much a cutoff on a year, IIRC 2016/2017/2018 models of Reolink Cameras. E.g. RLC-423, RLC-410-5MP, RLC-422, and everything else from that era.

They don’t support a setting that makes them work well with Blue Iris or things like blue iris. So you never get optimal FPS and the recording has tearing in it.

@tom_l

The only issue I’m aware of was that for a long time you couldn’t specify the keyframe (i-frame) interval on reolink cameras

This setting specifically is what causes problems.

That and many reolink cameras that are battery powered don’t support external streams.

[TRS-80]

@BlinkyLights

Hopefully HA can put some pressure on them to improve their ONVIF Profile T 2way audio and RTSP compatibility / stability. They are improving but really inconsistent when used to stream with 3rd party NVRs like Frigate

It was precisely this reason why I bought the exact camera recommended by the Frigate project, instead of a Reolink, even though the latter was probably cheaper, and much more often mentioned by the community (both here and at Frigate).

@Brad_Ford

oh I wish they would make it easier to integrate into Frigate

@Merc

I have 4 Reolink cams in Frigate…3tpz and the doorbell. No issue, just followed the Frigate documentation.

As already mentioned, I often see Reolink mentioned by people who seem to be using them just fine. However the Frigate developers specifically recommend against them, I guess because of issues as mentioned above (in first reply).

Some times I wonder if I spent too much money (on the Frigate recommended camera, which is not a Reolink) unnecessarily.

@rgerbers

This doesn’t make much sense to me. I see it as a major drawback for battery-powered devices. It would be great if they could be integrated without requiring an NVR.

Probably because they are doing some secret sauce to get the streams to work more reliably. You could instead just buy some PoE (wired) cameras (which have good support for standardized protocols), and do whatever you want. There are many reasons why Wi-Fi cameras are recommended against by anyone serious about implementing a quality and reliable IP camera system. Essentially wireless cameras are consumer oriented trash which inevitably have some trade-offs due to the inherent nature of the technology. But they are “convenient” which is all that the muppets seem to care about.

Not trying to imply you are a muppet, in fact it is entirely possible you have some legitimate use case. However the marketing of crappy solutions to consumers (who may not know any better, and don’t inform themselves) is something that grinds my gears a bit. Apologies if you were innocently caught in the cross-fire.

I don’t shop at convenience stores, either, and yet they are on every corner, Now get off my lawn.

@petro

It’s pretty much a cutoff on a year, IIRC 2016/2017/2018 models of Reolink Cameras. E.g. RLC-423, RLC-410-5MP, RLC-422, and everything else from that era.

They don’t support a setting that makes them work well with Blue Iris or things like blue iris. So you never get optimal FPS and the recording has tearing in it.

@tom_l

The only issue I’m aware of was that for a long time you couldn’t specify the keyframe (i-frame) interval on reolink cameras

This setting specifically is what causes problems.

That and many reolink cameras that are battery powered don’t support external streams.

Thanks a lot Guise, this seems like exactly the information I have been looking for (since months now, in fact).

Just to be sure, you are saying that no modern (currently sold) Reolink cameras suffer from this any longer? And have not since some years now?

[petro]

I have multiple modern reolink cameras connected to Blue Iris and I don’t have issues with them. Just understand that the solar & battery powered reolink cameras can’t really connect to any NVR (blue iris or frigate).

[BlinkyLights]

@petro

It’s pretty much a cutoff on a year, IIRC 2016/2017/2018 models of Reolink Cameras. E.g. RLC-423, RLC-410-5MP, RLC-422, and everything else from that era.

They don’t support a setting that makes them work well with Blue Iris or things like blue iris. So you never get optimal FPS and the recording has tearing in it.

Going back to my comment I think it is devices with Firmware: v3.0.0.x firmware and newer.

The Reolink Doorbell is particularly popular with home assistant and Frigate users but even it has had MULTIPULE flakey RTSP issues in various firmware since release.

I know when I got mine soon after launch RTSP would just stop transmitting after being on for 1 day and need a reboot to resume.

Frame skipping is still an issue and why frigate devs suggest using the FLV stream still.

The problem is that as Reolink moves completely to H.265 4K plus they really need to make RTSP SOLID.

[TRS-80]

I have been trying to resolve the apparent incongruity between the community (which often recommend Reolink) and the Frigate developer(s) (who recommend against), as well as some in this very thread (who at minimum, seem to report many problems) for quite some months now.

Now the problem is, that I am no expert on IP cameras, so I am not sure what to believe. However, I know some(one) who are(is), the developer(s) of Frigate. And so I went ahead and asked them for some up-to date clarification around this issue. Already NickM-27 replied (essentially immediately)[0] to my post. And I found his reply very illuminating.

[0] Which I have experienced before, yet never ceases to amaze me!

[petro]

That seems to explain why I have good results. I don’t have (or need) any of the H.265 4K plus cameras.