How to Share Camera With Others

[Ken]

I’m trying to share my Argus PT with a neighbor. On my end, everything works fine. Argus PT has been great for over two months. I’m looking at pedestrians, vehicles, etc., panning and tilting, etc., day, night, etc., reviewing recordings, etc.

So I send neighbor this URL, they install app, then I send them my QR code. Yeah yeah I know I should do it in person, but we’re too busy and I trust them.

But they’re stumped. What’s missing?

[Crimp On_62210811129]

When I have installed the Reolink app on a new device (phone, tablet) I add cameras to the app using the UID code and then enter the user name (default is 'admin') and password for the camera.
Reolink RLC cameras have a provision to configure multiple users and each can be an Administrator or a 'regular' user. (When I all Reolink engineers to connect to a camera, I set up a user account for them to use and then delete it after the support episode is finished.)

I do not have a PT camera, but the two models of battery cameras that I do have do not have a provision for adding users. This would seem to indicate that you need to share the admin account password for the camera with the neighbor.

[Ken]

Thanks for the thoughts, but I think this QR sharing feature is designed so that sharing of default admin credential is not necessary. Would not make sense to have QR code.

[Ken]

https://support.reolink.com/hc/en-us/articles/360006916814-How-to-Share-Your-Device-s-UID-QR-Code-with-Others

??

[Crimp On_62210811129]

Thanks for providing the link. I followed the directions to display the QR code and then scanned the QR code with two different "QR Scanner" apps on my phone.
Both apps report the contents of the QR code as a string that includes the UID of the camera, but not the user name or password.

My conclusion remains the same. The neighbor can (a) enter the UID manually, or (b) scan the QR code, but either way the app will not connect to the camera until the user name and password are entered.

The follow-on link clearly states that the user name and password must be entered (Step 4): https://support.reolink.com/hc/en-us/articles/360003432894

[Ken]

@crimp-on_62210811129
Thanks again.

As it turns out, the key information not clearly explained anywhere is that the neighbor/ friend/ family member adding the camera in the sharing process still needs and only needs the DEVICE PASSWORD, not the default admin password, upon accessing the device with QR code or UID number. It’s a different password. It’s a separate password. It’s a password that the admin user can change at any time from within the Reolink mobile app. As such, it’s not sharing the entire account that would reveal personal financial info, purchase history, forum posts, etc. In fact, it seems the only way to later remove the shared member is to change the device password.

The above critical information is not found anywhere. We discovered it on our own, and now we’re running shared just fine.

The subsequent question is, How to Tell If Someone Is Successfully Shared On The Camera? So other than direct personal communication, there’s probably no way to tell from within the app.

And it seems the bog down performance is clue that the shared person is simultaneously viewing device at the moment.

[Ken]

Just a note that, in the broader discussion of sharing, we were talking elsewhere about sharing cloud recordings. I’ve been informed by Reolink Tech Support that sharing cloud is not possible except by sharing entire default admin credentials. This is why it’s important to NOT assume that sharing default admin credentials is out of the question.