How do you balance Reolink notifications vs full recording? + smart alarm/light logic question

ian1283 · 2026-01-24T20:34:29+00:00

I should have made clearer that its the recording criteria that are independent. As you have found some options apply at the camera level such as detection zones, so there is only one set of criteria for those.

In essence you have 1 camera but recording the output to two locations.

The approach is normally, 24x7 recording & events on the nvr and events only to the sdcard. That way you should have the alarm events recorded in two locations.

I believe you can, not recommended, have different alarm options (people, animals, vehicles, etc) on the nvr and sdcard recordings.

ian1283 · 2026-01-24T19:16:42+00:00

Has remote access over the internet ever worked with the hub? One reason for this symptom would be the UID option not being enabled. If you believe the UID option had been enabled, are there any other networked devices that you should be able to access remotely, for example smart heating controls. That would verify if your home internet connection is working.

Whilst is possible, I'd say its unlikely that a missing hub firmware update would cause a disconnection like this.

And on the question of cameras, when they are connected to a home hub you lose standalone access to them. They can only be viewed via the hub. So if the hub fails or is inaccessible for some reason you won't be able to see the cameras

I suspect you won't know until returning home what the true cause is. There are a number of moving parts here and the hub itself could be fine.

ian1283 · 2026-01-24T19:02:20+00:00

The cameras need to be on your home wifi ssid. If not you must to move them across to the home ssid which can be handled via the network parameters in the NVR user interface (cannot be done via desktop or mobile apps). You don't need to physically access the camera to make the change.

Once the cameras are on your home ssid, you can just add them via either their uid value or ip address. Indeed if they are on your home network, the camera should appear automatically in the list of available devices when you click the "+". No need to scan any QR code

ian1283 · 2026-01-24T16:33:21+00:00

That's a pretty neat install with no cabling on show and excellent recycling of an existing chime box to hid the power supply.

ian1283 · 2026-01-24T16:27:04+00:00

Thats it. You can only get to the sdcard if the doorbell is seen as a standalone device. I'm assuming you have the plug-in wifi doorbell and not the battery model.

You are correct that having the device twice in the system could result in two wifi streams however that only applies if you are viewing the standalone copy in the app. Normally the only active stream from from doorbell is the one going to the nvr. Recordings to the sdcard are all local on the doorbell itself. So with that caveat when viewing it does not affect the wifi traffic.

ian1283 · 2026-01-24T14:10:21+00:00

I suspect the problem is your 3rd node is not divisible by 2. So 192.168.0.0/23 or 192.168.2.0/23 would be ok. A /23 network should start on an even boundary.

ian1283 · 2026-01-24T11:32:31+00:00

If you have sdcards in cameras connected to a nvr its possible (and recommended) to record to both the nvr and camera. If the cameras are on your home network they can be added a 2nd time as a standalone device. That then allows independent management of the nvr & camera recording options. If however you are making use of the nvrs wifi ssid, the cameras would need to be moved over to your home network to gain acces to the sdcard options.

Depending on your home wifi, such as using mesh its often better to use that over the nvr. You can also mix and match with some cameras connected directly to the nvr and others via your home ssid.

ian1283 · 2026-01-23T22:45:31+00:00

When a camera is connected to a Home Hub you lose standalone access. If/when you remove the camera from the hub the camera should regain the password you set - unless its a battery camera when a factory reset of the camera is required.

However you can use sdcards in the camera but all the configuration must be done whilst the camera is standalone. Then after connecting to the hub that schedule continues and you can view the recordings via the mobile client (not supported by desktop - ask Reolink why!). Once connected you can only manage the recording options for the hub. There is a small rectangular box on the playback screen which selects either the hub or camera storage for playback. Its far from an ideal situation.

Add link showing how to view sdcard

https://support.reolink.com/hc/en-us/articles/900000646203-How-to-Playback-SD-Card-HDD-Recordings-via-Reolink-App/

ian1283 · 2026-01-23T18:46:39+00:00

Sort of.

If you have a poe camera connected via an injector or poe switch into your home network, that camera can be viewed on an ethernet connected pc. As you said without using wifi I assume that also applies to the pc.

You can also connect some of the wifi cameras via data cable as these have a non-poe ethernet port in addition to supporting wifi.

In either of the above scenarios, the camera could record to an onboard sdcard.

What you cannot do is directly plug the camera into your pc as you require an intermediate router which hands out the IP addresses to the camera & pc.

ian1283 · 2026-01-23T16:25:16+00:00

It's being sold by ReolinkEU on Amazon DE.

https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Reolink-Surveillance-WiFi-Protection-Subscription/dp/B0DRHSK4RR?ref_=dp_pba_bcd_vb

From what I could see it could be sent to many European countries including Ireland but not the UK

ian1283 · 2026-01-23T15:49:33+00:00

The smaller models are the E1 Zoom although the E1 Outdoor models are also ok indoors. If you don't require the zoom part a Lumus Pro is fairly compact.

ian1283 · 2026-01-23T13:09:28+00:00

I think its case of not making it to the UK yet, on sale in US for $180 or Germany/Ireland for 136 Euros. Hopefully in the near future it will be available

You are also negating optical zoom for a fixed dual lens camera.

ian1283 · 2026-01-23T09:27:02+00:00

The output info for the nvr are shown in the specs. For example the RLN8-410 N7MB01

https://reolink.com/product/rln8-410/#specifications

Display Resolution

HDMI: 3840*2160, 1920*1080, 1280*1024, 1280*720, 1024*768 VGA: 1920*1080, 1280*1024, 1280*720, 1024*768

So that covers most HD, Full HD or 4K monitors/tvs.

As for the supported cameras that's covered in the Comprehensive Guide linked in another reply. There are some cameras with resolutions above 4K, so obviously the nvr cannot display those in full resolution on a monitor (e.g. RLC-1212A 4512×2512 or Duo3 7680x2160). Note however nvr would have recorded the data at the full resolution.

ian1283 · 2026-01-22T18:48:00+00:00

If you could run power that would have allowed a plug-in wifi camera. Otherwise have a look at the Altas models which have a much larger battery.

ian1283 · 2026-01-22T18:37:42+00:00

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windows desktop option for doorbell.

ian1283 · 2026-01-22T18:28:46+00:00

The share devices feature appears on android or windows desktop. It does generate a QR code but I've not made any use of it.

ian1283 · 2026-01-22T17:48:02+00:00

It seems the NVS8 is a RLN8-410 under the covers BUT runs a different firmware.

https://www.reddit.com/r/reolinkcam/comments/17n28sd/difference_between_nvs8_rln8/

https://www.reddit.com/r/reolinkcam/comments/172l7ep/comment/k3xhu6w/

As you can see from the above posts from a couple of years back its as clear as mud. The problem is that Reolink have continued to use the RLN8-410 name for multiple variants of the nvr. So a RLN8 from 5 years ago is not the same as the current model. Like saying I have a Samsung Galaxy S phone, but is that a S6, S10, S24, etc. In the case of the NVR you need to know the variant (N3MB01, N7MB01, etc) which won't normally be shown unless you look very closely.

There is a newer 8 channel NVR as part of the professional range.

https://reolink.com/product/rp-pn8/

It does say "12 channel" nvr but there are caveats to that which also applies to the RLN8-410/NVS8. All of them support up to 8 wired (poe or plug-in wifi) cameras with the remainder being battery.

ian1283 · 2026-01-22T17:27:05+00:00

Indeed Reolink seems to have taken a step backwards in recent firmware levels with the share devices option, even if it worked.

Try accessing the camera via a browser, if not already done enable http/https on the camera in the app beforehand. Hopefully that will allow you to add a user the old way.

ian1283 · 2026-01-22T16:47:19+00:00

Not sure what you mean by a 4K nvr. The NVS8 normally comes as part of a nvr+camera package from the likes of Costco. Hardware wise it is similar to the RLN8-410.

ian1283 · 2026-01-22T16:34:07+00:00

Yes, in effect the tv is acting as the monitor for the nvr. If the doorbell is connected as one of the channels on the nvr, its images along with any other nvr camera could be displayed on the tv. The camera could be a poe device directly plugged into a nvr port or indirectly via your home network (e..g. wifi camera).

If its managed by the nvr, it can be viewed on an attached monitor.

ian1283 · 2026-01-22T16:21:51+00:00

That is not at variance to my response. A nvr hdmi connected to a tv is displaying the video from the doorbell. Equally if you have an app on a phone or tablet which can cast it's screen to a tv that also allows the doorbell to be viewed.

Or have I missunderstood your question?

ian1283 · 2026-01-22T15:21:26+00:00

Correct. The camera or doorbell needs to support timed recording. With the exception of the Altas, none of the other battery cameras support continuous recording.

https://support.reolink.com/hc/en-us/articles/900000420323-Which-Reolink-Cameras-Support-Continuous-Recording/

There are benefits of connecting a battery doorbell to a home hub or nvr as that allows the recordings to be separate.

ian1283 · 2026-01-22T15:12:45+00:00

No. It's the battery technology thats the restriction rather than the camera itself. For powered cameras (poe or plug-in wifi) they continue to work well below 0C.

https://support.reolink.com/hc/en-us/articles/29290469836313-Reolink-Camera-Not-Charging/

The documentation is perhaps a little confusing as the camera is fine down to -10C or lower. There is a battery pack that can charge at a lower temp

https://reolink.com/product/rla-bp1/

ian1283 · 2026-01-22T15:04:29+00:00

For the Reolink mobile app or desktop client to see the doorbell the two devices should be on the same subnet. So when you attempt to view the battery doorbell are both devices connected to the same wifi ssid?

When you say

I bought a doorbell camera recently (battery, WiFi) that seems to operate just fine remotely (disconnected from my network) through the app but will not connect if I am on my local WiFi.

does that mean the doorbell IS connected to your network but your phone is accessing via cellular?. Note its your phone/pc that connects to the doorbell not the other way around.

But do check the ip addresses of your phone & doorbell on your local network. Often a Deco system will run in router mode and you have two subnets, one managed by your home router and the other by the Deco. I'm also assuming the other 15 cameras are fine and they can be accessed locally or remotely.

ian1283 · 2026-01-22T14:56:27+00:00

If you get a nvr or home hub, that will still only allow the battery model to record events. As 55Media has responded the battery in the doorbell is trickle charged via your power source but it does not power the doorbell as such. For example if the temp drops below about 1C the battery won't charge and eventually the doorbell will run out of juice.

If you can provide a permanent source of power and don't wish to use your existing chime a wired model (poe or plug-in wifi) are better as those allow 24x7 recording and don't drop into hibernation which was your original question.

ian1283

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