Is there a data limit with the Reolink app?

[user_727999352516787_727999352516787]

Hi,

I recently purchased my first Reolink Duo Floodlight WiFi camera to start replacing my Ring products. To say I'm impressed is an understatement. It's honestly mindblowing just how good the quality is compared to my Ring products. I can't wait to start replacing my Ring camera one by one around the next year.

One of the reasons I purchased the Ring products is to provide security to my parents. When they leave the home, they are a little on edge due to recent break-ins around the area. So my Dad likes to review the camera throughout the day to make sure nothing is going on or one of us is in the home.

I read on Reddit and another website that there is a data limit with the Reolink app of around 1GB which can be chewed up by the high setting. What they claim is when you are on 3G or 4G, the app will use the UID to attempt to make a direct connection to the camera using UDP which allows for unlimited data to be transferred. If this fails, then TCP will be used to route the camera through the Reolink network which has a 1GB limit. However, from speaking with the support team, they are unaware of this limit and there is nothing mentioned on the website or the product pages. The app doesn't even mention how it's connecting to the camera when you are on the external cellular network. Apparently, you can get around this limit by creating a VPN within your home network to allow the Reolink app to use. Someone else mentioned that they tested this theory but just using the UID setting from their camera to the Android app, it showed a direct connection, they were never able to get it to run through a server.

I was just wondering if anyone from Reolink or a community member can elaborate on this.

I'm technical enough that I could create a VPN on my router to use but don't have a good enough setup where I can see incoming and outgoing connections, unfortunately. I would rather not use the VPN setup if I can help this.

Thank you!

[joseph_1979]

@user_727999352516787_727999352516787 Read my comments at https://community.reolink.com/topic/87/how-does-the-reolink-uid-actually-work/3?post_id=22657&_=1692644814908 and https://community.reolink.com/topic/6240/software-windows-resolution-start-up?post_id=23966&_=1692644814917 respectively.

If there will be a limit which I have never tested out then it shall be per connection. I had never used 1GB per session on my Android smartphone to watch a single camera. So even if there will be 1GB then it will be more than adequate to watch through the smartphone.

Note that you will have issues to watch high def streams on HSPA (3G). You need at least 4G.

You can check this out. Run reolink Win client and connect to the camera from an external network (to use the P2P relay servers) and from the cmd prompt enter netstat -s -p udp and take note of the datagrams received. Leave the stream in high definition. The data included in each packet sent by the P2P server is 1350 bytes..........so you need to receive 1G/1350 datagrams :)...... say 4 to 5 days assuming 100 packets/sec

[user_727999352516787_727999352516787]

@joseph_1979

Hi Joseph,

I don't own a Windows computer. I use macOS.

All of our phones are on 5G/4G typically, but sometimes they drop down to 3G in rural areas. However, a speed test still provides around 25Mbps which is fine for viewing the cameras.

I've read your posts but got confused about the public and private IP sections.

To break it down, am I correct in the following?

If the Reolink app is external, it will ping the P2P server for the Private (My IP) and Public (Amazon/Azure Server). It will try to make a connection through the Private IP using TCP which is a direct connection with unlimited bandwidth. If this fails, it will then use the Public IP with UDP which may have a 1G limit. If this is the case, is there a way of testing whether the app is connecting through Private/Public IP or not and would a VPN ultimately fix this? I could probably get a Firewalla to setup OpenVPN and then set this up on our devices for the Reolink app to use which should in theory make a direct connection as I assume the app would think the cameras are streaming locally? I read in your post that the default value over external networking is Fluent. However, if I set High on my iOS app, close it down, switch to 5G and open it again, it will prompt me with the message about playing in cellular but it starts streaming in High. Do I assume from this that it's making a direct connection and not using the Reolink servers?