Posts made by Crimp On_62210811129

When you get a resolution, please post an update here. I just used Wireshark to capture packets on my PC when I started the Reolink client software (Windows). Sure enough, there is a constant stream of UDP packets, in my case to 255.255.255.255 port 2018 (not 2000). I notice that the source port increments by one each time, although the destination port remains 2018.

Looks like it is hoping "somebody is listening" for a UDP broadcast and will respond with "I'm at IP address xx.xx.xx.xx" Maybe looking for a Reolink NVR?

Could you please clarify a few points?

1. You say "at first...". Does that mean that the camera in this position DID recognize people coming to the door, but NOW it does not? In other words, the same camera in the same position behaved one way at first, and now behaves differently? If so, it might be worth cleaning the front of the camera. Perhaps the PIR sensor is dirty.

2. What is the distance from the camera (a) to the front door and (b) to the far end of the sidewalk?

3. You mention recording someone as they "step down" to the sidewalk. PIR sensors appear to have difficulty recognizing movement "toward" the camera and are more capable with movement "across" the picture. RLC cameras which have constant power record continuously, and when motion is detected they can record starting 5 seconds before the motion begins. Battery operated cameras, like the Argus (and Netgear's Arlo), do not begin recording until motion is detected. Thus, the camera might not detect motion as a person comes up the sidewalk, detect motion when they step up and move across the picture, and then begin recording as the person turns around and steps down back to the sidewalk. Scanning user forums, I see a lot of complaints that battery cameras "miss the event" because, for example, the UPS delivery person walks up, drops a package, walks off, and THEN the camera starts recording.

4. You have more than one Argus 2 camera. If you change to a different camera, does it also behave the same way?

(I thought installing security cameras was going to be quick and easy. It has been neither, but I'm glad I kept at it. Good Luck!)

Alas, I fear your suggestion will be impossible to implement. PIR devices are cheap, self-contained devices, manufactured by the millions. They appear in things as cheap as a $7 nightlight. The reason they are included in battery operated security cameras is the low cost and the low current drain. Seriously, one AA battery can power a PIR sensor for nearly a year.

PIR's work by detecting when Infrared intensity changes from one sector to another. That's why they do pretty well when something moves "across" the camera, and significantly less well when something moves "toward" the camera.

Having low, medium, high settings is about all that can be done.

Doubt that I'm wrong, and would be VERY happy if Reolink says, "we can do that!"

It might help people offer suggestions if you identify

which camera model

you want to set up and how it is connected to your home network.

I also support a change to the Reolink App in regards to PIR control of battery powered cameras. While "better than nothing", scheduling PIR on/off one camera at a time falls short. Most of the time, I want to record any time someone comes to the door or into my back yard, even if I am home at the time. (Proof that UPS actually delivered like they say they did, for example.) However, there are occasions when we are in and out dozens of times, like doing yard work, sitting on the porch watching hummingbirds, etc. etc. That generates dozens of alarms, recordings, emails, etc. and EATS UP BATTERY.

Yes, I can open the Reolink app. Connect to one camera. Turn off PIR. Connect to another camera. Turn off PIR. etc. etc. Then, when I want detection again. Open the App. Connect to first camera. Turn on PIR. Connect to next camera. Turn on PIR. etc. etc. Blech!

What I would like is an option on the Reolink App that says:

Turn off PIR on (this list of cameras) until:
I turn it back on, or
n minutes or hours from now. (60 minutes = one hour, so 300 minutes = five hours)

Open the App, click the button, and PIR is off (and might come back on automatically).

Other products offer "geofencing", which turns motion detection on when my mobile phone leaves the area and turns detection back on when it returns. Many people would find that useful, and I wouldn't mind if it was one of the options. In my particular case, I'd rather have "one click".

It may help people respond if you can give a more detailed explanation of what the housing is intended to accomplish. As you have already discovered, Reolink bullet cameras are weather resistant and are designed to be mounted to a structure so that the power/communication/reset cable will pass through the mounting bracket and into the structure. Protective housings seem to be designed around people using common indoor CCTV cameras. (Really expensive housings provide heating or cooling, but that seems like overkill for a $60 camera.)

Reolink users have put cameras in a lot of places, so there is a good chance that someone has come up with a solution that might work for you. So, what do you need that the camera does not provide?

(It's just my opinion, but) Yes, you have the wrong camera. Except for the battery-operated Argus line, all Reolink cameras detect motion by "how many pixels changed". The sensitivity setting allows you to require more (or less) pixel change to trigger "motion." If you search through the posts, this is one of the biggest frustrations of Reolink users. If you've already "blacked out" all of the screen except for critical areas, you're screwed.

Some of the instances that people mention are: (1) insects which are drawn to the infrared LED's and appear "really bright" as they fly rapidly close to and past the camera. They are gone in a flash, but they are "motion." (2) When the camera changes from "day" to "night" mode, ALL of the pixels "change", so the camera triggers motion. (3) when plants rustle in the wind or tree shadows move quickly in the wind. and (4) when auto headlights go by or shine off of an object. I have reported these issues as have many others.

My recommendation to Reolink was to allow the user to specify "how long" motion has to continue before it will trigger recording. i.e. if something "moves" for less than one second, I don't care about it. (or 2, 3, 4 seconds. Let me pick.) That would eliminate most of the frustration. If the UPS driver can walk to my door, place a package, and get out of range in less than 2 seconds, then I won't record it. Oh, well.)

Changing how the camera software detects motion is not a trivial programming effort. I suspect that Reolink may not have created the camera software themselves. My guess is the reason Reolink cameras are inexpensive relative to other brands is that they are "integrators" of off-the-shelf components and have very low overhead. Thus, they may not have the resources to rewrite complicated parts of the camera firmware.

PIR motion detectors are not perfect, either. They have definite range limitations and do not detect something moving directly toward the camera as well as they do something moving "across" the camera.

Personally, I'd like to see a camera with BOTH pixel and PIR motion detection, although I have never seen such a camera for sale.

WiFi issues are affected by so many factors that it is hard to predict what can be done to improve them. For example, I moved the base station for my wireless home security system six inches and suddenly the keypad reported "out of range". Moved it back, and the base station is OK. Six inches!

I don't see how installing antennas designed for 2.4GHz could harm the camera. It's not expensive to perform an experiment. Amazon sells a package of two antennas for under $15US: https://www.amazon.com/TECHTOO-Antenna

Since Reolink's cameras with external WiFi antennas require power, you could also try a pair of PowerLine adapters to extend your WiFi network. Zyxel (Powerline AC900,1000 Mbps Wireless Extender [PLA5236KIT] is one example.) That experimente would cost about $50US. Of course, PowerLine has its own complications. The units must match the electrical outlets, which are different in many countries.

Solving WiFi problems is not simple. Good Luck!

The short answer is, "yes." Reolink WiFi cameras have standard SMA connectors and will accept standard WiFi antennas with SMA connectors.

The long answer is, "It's complicated" for a LOT of reasons.

A different omnidirectional antenna is not going turn the WiFi signal from "one bar" into "five bars". Reolink does not specify the antenna gain on their products. Typical consumer antennas are 3dB, and typical "high gain" antennas are 6-7dB. A difference of 3dB antenna gain results in twice the signal. It also matters whether you are connecting at 2.4GHz or 5GHz. The antenna you get has to support the frequency band you are using. It's won't help to purchase a high gain 2.4GHz antenna if you want to connect at 5GHz.

Antennas with higher gain tend to be longer, which may affect where you can mount the camera. (They are also typically black, whereas Reolink outdoor cameras are white.)

There are "patch" and "Yagi" antennas which have higher gain, but they have to be aimed directly at the WiFi router and mounting them is a chore.

Reolink cameras use two multi-band antennas, whereas most inexpensive WiFi security cams use only a single 2.4GHz antenna. So, replacing Reolink antennas requires two. (I actually run one of my Reolink WiFi cameras with a single antenna because turning it past about 60 degrees to the side made the antenna bump into the mount. I think they "cheaped out" by using the same camera mount for WiFi cameras as they did for regular bullet cameras.)

Sometimes, moving the camera will result in a better signal. WiFi does not penetrate things like refrigerators, AC duct work, metal garage doors, etc. Stucco walls can be a problem.

My next door neighbor found that two of his security cameras did not get good WiFi signal, so he purchased inexpensive extension 2.4GHz WiFi antennas from Amazon that came with an extension cable. He was able to run the cable through his wall. With the antennas inside, he got a better signal inside the house than he did outside.

The alternative to changing camera antennas is to extend the WiFi signal. There are a zillion ways and products that accomplish this. Google topics like "extend WiFi signal" and "Wifi signal booster."

In my own case, I installed an old WiFi access point using PowerLine to improve the signal to three of my cameras.

Sorry if this isn't helpful. Good Luck!

You are correct in your analysis. A bright light or IR illuminator from another camera that is directly visible to a camera will adversely affect the image. Your camera needs to be pointed down and to the right. That will take the other camera out of the picture as well as the reflection from the white eaves. You would not lose any useful coverage, and would actual gain some more useful coverage. I have seen advice from Reolink about how to position cameras for night vision, but (alas) cannot find a link to it right now. There is an excellent article on the web about night vision at https://networkcameratech.com/10-ways-to-improve-security-camera-night-vision.

I also noticed this issue, and how it should be possible to avoid the camera causing a motion event (itself) by switching between day and night modes. Basing motion detection on changes in the actual picture offers significant capabilities over using a cheap PIR sensor (like the Argus models), but it also leads to irritating issues, like this one and those pesky insects flying close to the infrared LED's.

I'm so glad you posted this, because it opens up entirely new possibilities for me. Can you please describe more about the video files? Like, when the camera is recording constantly, does it send one GIANT file for the whole time? Does it break recordings up into set length? The video files I've seen have REALLY ugly names. How do you know which files have motion (and which do not)?

Thanks

My understanding is that FTP (File Transfer Protocol) implies sending a "file". Since the 410 camera has no internal storage, the only "file" it could FTP would be an image. (Other camera models use memory cards to record motion events, which can be played back or transferred later.) So, it doesn't seem like FTP really applies to the 410 as far as motion recording is concerned.

Traditional POE cameras, like the 410 are intended to stream (either constantly, or when they detect motion) to a server that they are constantly connected to. (Such as one of Reolink's NVR models, a NAS system, or software like Blue Iris.)

I don't have an NVR, so I purchased models with SDCards which store recordings on the camera.

Hope you find a way to do what you want.

I have verified that email from Argus does work. One thing that threw me in the beginning was that the Argus needs to have an email "account" it can access to send the message using SMTP. I set up a GMail account named "myhousename@google.com". The camera logs into Google's SMTP server using this account name and password, and sends messages to the email addresses that I specify. (My regular GMail account, for example.)

Another wrinkle is that you have to know which "port" the SMTP server listens to. "Normal" SMTP listens to port 25. Google, however, listens to port 465.

There are other ways that Reolink could have set this up. For example, they could have a BIG email server that the camera would access using credentials known only to Reolink, and that server could send messages to wherever you specified. They could also have made each camera an SMTP server, which runs into issues with a log of ISP's. But, that's not what they did.

The way it works is probably the best solution. I'm on Time-Warner (now Spectrum), and all my cameras send email as they are supposed to.

Hope that helps.

PIR scheduling is obvious, (

once you understand it

).

For row one:
0-5 on the left means the first box is hour "0", i.e. midnight to 12:59am
second box is 1:00am to 1:59am
third box is 2:00am to 2:59am
forth box is 3:00an to 3:59am
fifth box is 4:00am to 4:59am

For row two:
6-10 on the next row, the first box is 6:00am to 6:59am
box two is 7:00am to 7:59am

etc. etc.