Best posts made by Chopstix

@gahoak_900061514571953 I am running the same version. Expand the device list of camera on the left side pane. Click the setting cog for the camera you wish to check firmware then click Info.

@crewy_788072062582970 I don't blame you, I am 53 and this vessel isn't what it used to be. There isn't much reason to hard reset cameras once they are deployed and working properly. If you find yourself having to do so, open a new thread and let's see if we can help you figure out what's going on.

@radioastronomy_410111540293820 I have two external IR flood lights in my back yard for this reason. I have the cameras IR turned off and my two external out of view from the cameras while still splashing the the grounds. Reolink already makes an external camera controlled flood light so I don't see why they could not do the same with an IR light.

@celina_867750978158811 your SMTP server address is incomplete. It is missing the host. Try using mail<dot>disroot<dot>org for the SMTP server address.

@crewy_788072062582970 understood. If you decide later to go back to your Reolink system, we are here if you need us. Cheers friend.

I have had the opportunity to test this model. Just some brief thoughts here and I am happy to answer any questions to the best of my ability.

1. Motion tracking with a camera that has to wake from standby mode sometimes does not trigger. In many cases, the object that triggers the PIR is already gone.
2. Still no 360-degree PIR.
3. When active, motion tracking seems to work best when followed object is no closer than 3-4 feet. If too close to the camera, it looses tracking and returns to Monitor Point.
4. Motion tracking is not smooth. I jumps/stops/jumps as the object moves.
5. 3W solar panel is inadequate. Perhaps my unit is faulty. I get no increase in charge percentage from the solar panel even though the connected icon is present.
6. Zero signal issues with the camera on the outside eve of my deck and the Home Hub Pro on the other side of the house. Full 5GHz bars. App and/or camera desperately need a Wi-Fi signal PERCENTAGE meter.
7. Video output is not a contiguous video. For any given motion event, the camera breaks up the video into random length segments. For one of the tests, the motion event was 1:58 and the event was broken into 7 video segments ranging from 8 seconds to 27 seconds each (video is below). I have not been able to determine what criteria it uses for breaking up video.

@reolink-oskar off-grid users take their gear seriously. If you really want to make a statement, offer a complete ecosystem. As @joseph_1979 stated, for multiple cameras, offer a Reolink branded 4G Wi-Fi router (we use these in motorhomes) paired with multiple solar-powered Wi-Fi cams. For single camera deployments, 4G solar-powered cameras which you already have. Now to top it all off, offer a line of Reolink branded all-weather high-capacity external battery packs (different capacities for various need) with large solar panels. By offering these things directly, you create your own sustainable branded off-grid ecosystem. Penty of Chinese-based companies already offer these solutions that Reolink could partner with.

@oakmont_633419891937300 best to email Reolink Support for that request. We Global Moderators are not Reolink employees. We are end users just like you that volunteer our time to help the community.

@kimchigun I am in SE Michigan. Weather has been similar, cold, overcast and rain with a few days of sun. Fully charged before install and today sitting at 52%. The 3W solar panel has never shown to be charging even on the few fully sunny days we have had. Average 1% drop on days with little to no detections, 2-3% on days that I play/test the camera.

Also, I am having an occurrence of recorded events being fragmented in to multiple videos, even with constant motion occurring. Even had one occurrence where the video fragments during a tracking event.

@weiliang_905921904210101 the Argus 3 Ultra does not support encryption to its SD card. For encrypted recordings, you must use their cloud service or the Home Hub as you are currently doing.

@mitchloveless5_314377601749240 Many of us shar ethe same sentiment. For those if us that have been around since the days of 4:3 CRT televisions, the letterbox effect is nothing new. The ideal solution would be for the app to detect the the wider aspect ratio and adjust for the correct resolution for monitoring. We continue to hope.

@kimchigun My battery has never shown the lightning bolt except during charge from USB wall charger. With panel connected, I get the sunburst icon but never the lighting bolt icon. I am wondering if I have a bad panel.

I am starting to play PIR sensitivity an other settings to see if I get less fragments.

@joseph_1979 very good. Then we are in agreement with that wired backhaul will be the preferred method. I would also like to see the OP check the Wi-Fi connection from camera 2 to the AP as he states he is only getting two bars. Forcing 2.4GHz may improve that.

@joseph_1979 From my limited use of this unit so far, agreed... Battery cams that support 24/7 recording (always on) are better candidates for motion tracking. I have found that if the object is coming towards the camera, there is enough time to power-up and track. However if the object is moving across the FOV, it has a high probability of missing. I'd like to give the Atlas a try at some point.

As for 360 PIR, they could simply add multiple sensors around the base. If one or more sensors detects motion, the camera rotates to that direction. It might not be that simple, but it works like that in my head.

I am going to have to test the solar panel. Granted it is winter here and the sun is at it's lowest azimuth to me (although I do have the panel angled to match), but even if there are zero detection events in a given day, the battery percentage does not go up. It has been a steady decrease at an average of 1-percent per day. The days that I test the camera, it drop 2-3 percent. I am wondering if perhaps the panel is defective.

I like the specs on the TrackMix but for this area I don't need wide-angle as I have a Duo2 overhead on the 2nd floor roofline. Honestly, I don't even really need motion tracking for this application (I just need to monitor the deck door) but I like the option of manually panning over to the pond and capturing events.

I am having zero Wi-Fi issues. My Home Hub Pro is at the front of the house on the second floor so assuming the antenna has a donut signal shape, this orientation is ideal. But to our points, having RSSI or a percentage would help users fine-tune placement although I think percentage would be more user-friendly. Or why not both? Case-in-point, the HHP is in the room directly above my Wi-Fi doorbell and that shows 2 bars signal strength. No signal issues but I am very curious on he actual signal strength.

My recording schedule is set for always. The post-detection recording is set for 8-seconds and oddly, the first video segment of any event is always 8-seconds. It's almost if the camera is not recognizing that the event is longer than 8-seconds so it stops recording and then immediately starts again. But that does not explain the continuous video fragmentation (at random lengths) for a single event. I am going to increase the post-detection recording time to see if the first video segment time matches.

@kevinkss from while I have no experience with your specific cellular router, I can tell you that in general they do not have tremendous range as they are meant as close proximity hotspots. Pair that with being enclosed in a metal trailer, you're really clipping the range. 2 bars at 100-ft I'd say is actually pretty good given the environment.

My suggestion for your next job, turn your router's Wi-Fi antenna (if possible) OFF and put a wireless access point on top of the trailer with a direct ethernet connection to the router inside the trailer. And then if needed, drop Wi-Fi repeaters/mesh points no more than 75-ft away (less if indoors) from one another if using wireless backhaul. If you have the ability to homerun ethernet drops back to the cellular router, you can put them out as far as 328-ft as long as the clients that need Wi-Fi access can still get 80-100% signal from them.

@kimchigun Happy wife, happy life something something hahaha. I did have to disable "Other" as well as "Vehicle" since turning up the PIR sensitivity.

@user_901203979997352_901203979997352 agreed, ring and motion notifications should have separate schedules for both Home Hub alerting as well as push notifications. While this won't help for push notifications, you can get a Reolink Chime that can serve as your 24/7 'ring' sound and then set the schedule based on monition events for the Home Hub. However, this only works if Reolink has updated the battery doorbell firmware to support simultaneous connections to a chime and a Home Hub. Currently (unless FW has been released) the battery doorbell can only connect to a chime -OR- to a Home Hub, not both.

EDIT: I removed your post from the Wish List as it comes across looking like a duplicate to this post. If you'd like a Wish List post, please post a new one that is simplified and direct with what you are asking for and then cross-reference to this post for more information. This will help avoid cluttering Wish List posts with community help responses. Thank you.

@joseph_1979 that's how it SHOULD work, but it does not. With this camera (at least with mine), post-recording time starts as soon as motion is detected NOT after the motion stops. I can jump in front of the camera momentarily and it will recorded the full 30 seconds. My son can do a 3-minute Fortnite dance in middle of the FOV and it will fragment after 30-seconds with multiple video fragments to follow. I have tried this repeated times and the initial fragment is 8, 15, 30 seconds respectively. I am convinced that there is a firmware bug.

@joseph_1979 I did not make any changes to the band preference setting up until I attempted to switch to 2.4 GHz. I do recall it listing 5 GHz not Auto when I opened the page in the app. Definitely a bug then as it should not matter what option is selected. If you switch the setting, the camera should switch.

@Techgirl_849769519804666 what's up with the down vote on my comment above? If there is something about it that concerns you, please allow me the opportunity to address it. Thanks!

@kimchigun it’s 8° today however last week it was above freezing, 34 to 38° daily on average with sun and I wasn’t getting charging. Could simply be some quality consistency issues with whoever supplies the batteries. I know of a lot of batteries won’t charge below 40F. Maybe that’s what I am experiencing.