Posts made by Crimp On_62210811129

Another disappointment with the battery cameras is there is no provision for changing how the software functions if the user:

• Connects the camera to a solar panel (which Reolink sells) and thus can recharge the batteries every day, or
• Connects the camera to a USB power supply, which provides infinite power.

The cameras are designed and programmed around the concept of prolonging battery life, with no provision for the user to say different.

The nerd in me wants to determine what the battery cameras are doing to conserve power. I have a strong suspicion that it is the modern technique described in this web article:
howiwifi(dot)com/2020/06/25/power-save-methods/

In other words, the camera responds to connection attempts from the Reolink app or Reolink Client because it sends one quick frame every couple of seconds and if nothing comes back, it goes back to low power mode. When I open the Windows Client, for example, regular RLC camera very quickly show the "Connected" status, and the battery camera remain "unconnected". Clicking on the camera causes it to connect in 3-4 seconds. A nerd with good Wireshark skills could probably capture the sequence of "wake" events and determine exactly how long the sleep periods are.

@magnust That is truly crazy. I am using Windows Client 8.8.5 (on Windows 10). When I select the folder to use for Downloads (or Images), the Client checks file permissions right then. and pops an error message if I select a folder that I have no access to. If no one on the community forum offers a solution, it may be time to write an email to support(at sign)reolink.com. (I do not know how Reolink is organized internally, but other vendors I use keep the support techs "nose to the grindstone" responding to customers and do not give them time to spend browsing forums or chat rooms.)

I know it takes a while for a response, but they have always come through for me in the past.

Alas, the battery powered cameras rely on a cheap Passive Infra Red (PIR) chip to detect motion. Whereas the line powered cameras compare video frames to detect how many pixels have changed, the battery cameras get a signal from the PIR chip, "motion detected". PIR chips are dirt cheap and consume practically no battery. (A single AA can keep a PIR sensor going for months and months.)
Thus, the idea of limiting detection to only part of the video frame is not feasible.

With all their limitations, there is a substantial market for "wireless" cameras (The Arlo, Nest, and Ring brands come to mind.) Personally, I found the lack of features and the "change the battery" problem made them unsuitable for me.

GMail changed to requiring app specific passwords. It is a feature on the Security menu under Two-Factor Authentication. Affected my Reolink cameras and my WiFi router sending logs.

(no idea about Hot Mail)

Could you please confirm which of the two Argus PT cameras this is?

1. Agus PT 2K, or
2. Argus PT 2K (2.4GHz and 6GHz)?

What sort of WiFi is installed? Does it have

• The same WiFi "name" (SSID/password) for both 2.4G WiFi and 5G WiFi, or
• Different WiFi SSID/password for 2.4G and 5G WiFi?

Could you please confirm which of the Argus PT cameras this is?

• Argus PT 2K
• Argus PT 2K (2.4G & 5G)

Which camera? (There are dozens of models)

I agree. There appears to be no setting for how (a) snapshots, (b) FTP images, or (c) email notification images are encoded.
On a 12MB camera:

• Snapshot from the Live View produces a 4,096x2,784 image that is compressed to 6.61MB (about 50%)
• The same image FTP'd produces a 4,096x2,784 image that is compressed to 1.12MB (factor of 10)
• I did not test the size of image that would be sent via email notification.

Good Luck.

Thanks for spotting this new "feature". I missed it entirely.

@email_525317533946102
Strange. I regularly FTP motion recordings, and used the "Download" function just now as a test. Indeed, the motion file from a 12MB camera is at Fluent resolution rather than clear.
I see only these icons in the lower right:

Was there previously another icon for "high resolution download"?

@joseph-chircop_497308027822318 There may be "more to this". Previously on 8.8.4 I had set all my cameras to display in "Clear". After installing 8.8.5 (manually), I opened each camera and every one of them displays in "Clear". I have no NVR, so the Windows Client connects directly to cameras.

Windows Client announced New Version Available:

Yet "Upgrade" failed with an error message (more than one time).

Oh, Dear.

Cameras rely on a photo sensor to determine when to change from daylight (color) to nighttime (black and white) mode.
It might be worth taking a few minutes to physically check that the front of the camera remains clear. The daylight sensor appears to be toward the bottom of the camera. Perhaps water has accumulated there are left residue?

My cameras have settings on the "Light" menu. (Windows Client)

On the Reolink app, are the cameras identified by the UID number? When the app connects to Reolink's "cloud" the UID is the key that matches the app to your cameras. On the LAN, the app searches the IP space to find cameras.

@blendih More detail would be useful:

• Are there other cameras on the network? Do they trigger the same warning from the Firewall?
• Which specific ports does the Firewall mention?
• How often does the Firewall complain about the camera?
• Is it correct to assume that 192.168.0.1 is the IP of the gateway from the LAN subnet to the internet?

My impression is that typically data connections are from a user device to the camera, not from the camera to other devices.

@rainman Yes, if the SD Card is removed from the camera and inserted in a computer, the individual files can be copied. Not a very convenient process.

I just tested downloading from an RLC camera with Windows Client 8.8.4. No problem. The screen capture was great, but I was unable to read the tiny error message that flashed on the screen during the file download. Is there a way to make it larger?

Modern web browsers complain about any SSL certificate that is not properly "signed" by a recognized certificate authority. Companies who enable https (encrypted) web browsing often include an SSL certificate that is "self-signed", and web browsers throw a fit. (maybe not the correct technical term).

Just ignore the warning and proceed to the NVR web site. The next time, that web browser should remember and not show the warning.

I would have thought that continuous is pretty clear. Tell the camera to record 5 minute videos, one after the other, all the time.
Tell the camera to record "motion" and what happens is a series of "motion recordings". May be 10 seconds, two minutes, whatever.

One or the other. User's choice.

If the user clicks on a 5 minute continuous recording, I would think the user wants to see 5 minutes. Why would the camera think, "oh, this time he wants to see something moving. Maybe next time he'll want to see all 5 minutes. I'm a camera. Cameras are great a reading minds."

This is after a Factory Reset, correct?
https:(two slashes)support(dot)reolink(dot)com/hc/en-us/articles/360006944693-How-to-Reset-Argus-PT