Posts made by md

@ryandanielwood_77905830711496 This is a common issue with many brand cams. Some brands say they have HDR but they don't really work that great. Some cams that cost more have good HDR in my opinion. If this is the only cam you have, I suggest you install another cam above your garage door, etc. for multiple views. It's wise to have double coverage anyway.

@user_730633382940830_730633382940830 I have two 811A, they don't have this issue. Have you looked close at the lenses to see if there is any condensation or dirt on the lenses? But it's likely due to the IR light reflection from the roof overhang (soffit). Try pointing the cams down a little to get the roof overhang out of view. You could also move the cams a little forward to get the overhang out of of view.

@matthew-willey_71877025214 On Reolink's cloud storage site there's a drop down menu that shows what cams are supported in the country you live in. It's wise to research before a person buys so they know what features are offered. A lot of users do not want to use the cloud on the small chance their cameras might get hacked. A strong password prevents hacking in most cases. You don't say what camera models you bought. Depending on the model, Reolink cams can record several ways, to memory card in the camera, to an NVR, notification videos sent to your email, FTP to another company server if you want. It takes time to learn how to do these but it's good to have multiple places to keep videos. I don't use cloud storage.

@bamainark_709557840093322 You could watch LifeHackster YouTube channel. He has reviewed both cams. Maybe that would help you decide. As you install cams and look at their fields of view on your house, it's likely you'll do some experimenting with locations, cam angles etc.

A lot of users end up buying several different models to better fit certain areas around the house with wider field of view or narrow like an entryway. Buying a system in a bundle saves some money but doesn't have the flexibility of having different camera models. I and others bought cams separately and run them through a POE switch connected to the NVR which gives us more options. Buying a bundle may work fine for your needs though, it's up to you to consider and you could add different cams later up to the number of channels the NVR can handle. I have two 811A, one 833A, one 823A, one Duo 2, one of the new low light cams CX410 which is a great cam for night vision IMO. The Trackmix is a great cam too but I don't need one, for now LOL.

See the first welcome post on Reddit Reolink which has a lot of info including camera specs comparisons.

https://www.reddit.com/r/reolinkcam/comments/133vod7/welcome_to_the_official_reolink_subreddit_please/

@user_720647334826202_720647334826202 Well you don't say what cam model(s) you have. They can have different settings controls. Battery cameras have limited settings. Some models have AI detection and you can turn off "any motion" to just detect human and vehicle, use alarm delay and object size. Go to Reolink support site, there's info there.

@joldham320_363419968991360 People can't help unless you provide more info, otherwise we are just guessing. Have you tried rebooting or restoring the cam? With restoring you'll need to use your password. How long have you had the camera? Was it working good before then started having problems? Is the cam plugged into a Reolink NVR or POE switch? Often it is wire connection/power problems and not hardware failure. The cable ends may have been exposed to water, not protected and they become corroded, etc. If it's installed you could take the cam down, bring it inside and test it with a short good cable. Or run another long temporary cable out the door to the cam, test that. If the cam works then you know your cable/connection is bad. Also, you could contact Reolink support, they'll need to know your setup specifics.

@brandoncarrolleet_691346059215349 I had not seen Elvia's article. Much of what she said I agree with. The part about license plate reading may be true for daytime, but certainly not at night. I assume she hasn't really seen any testing or reviews of the 823A models capabilities in real night conditions with license plates, either stationary or moving plates. She should edit her post IMO to say reading plates at night is hard to do. In fact I've never seen any home camera brand advertise videos of quick night motion of a person jogging/running, a license plate on a moving car, probably because they can't do it very good. Below is link to The Hook Up YouTube channel testing color night vision with him jogging, one is a Reolink cam. All have some blurr, difficult to ID a face.

One Reolink cam may be better for reading night plates, the new low light CX410. I have one, I keep its spotlights off. There's enough ambient light from a street light two houses down. It can see stationary car plates pretty well at close range to about 25 feet. Further and they become blurry. If Reolink added this low light sensor in a 823A with optical zoom that would be really sweet. I like my Reolink cams, good cameras at a good price. I don't expect them to have professional features of expensive cams.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Naufg0K6VqI

@brandoncarrolleet_691346059215349 License plate reading is very difficult at night. Home security cams are not designed to do this. Some companies sell expensive license plate reader cams, some come with expensive software to analyze the footage to better ID the plate, some even do online searches to ID the owner, for a fee of course. These type of cams are used for high security, military, banks, prisons, etc. and road toll booths. At night the IR from a regular cam will reflect back from a plate making reading difficult. In order to have a chance the cam brightness needs to be turned down so the view is very dark, not much else visible except the IR reflection on the plate. Or turn off the camera IR or its spotlights, have IR or spotlight from a different source and angle so the plate can be seen better. Being able to adjust the shutter speed may help some motion blurr but not much with home type security cams.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqnW05lUHzY

@user_722724860186806_722724860186806 Do you know about scene modes? You can select some or all cameras to be turned on/off with one button. In the phone app pull the cameras live view down, scene modes is on top of them. I use scene mode to turn off cams when I am mowing the yard or in the garden.

I have heard about geofencing but don't know much about it. I assume such programs might be pricey. If it needs facial recognition, device/phone recognition to be able to determine who is coming and going, I wonder how reliable it can be. Faces can be altered with hats, glasses or hidden, phones can be left in the house, turned off or not connect. Reolink detection zones are kind of like a fence, you decide where you want motion alerts to occur.

https://support.reolink.com/hc/en-us/articles/360026049414-What-is-Scene-Mode-and-How-to-Set-the-Scene-Mode-for-Your-Cameras-on-Reolink-App/

@joseph_1979 Looks like your link shows different compatible cams for their cloud than the link I posted? Maybe Reolink needs to update these.

@user_716104480747703_716104480747703 I don't know if there is new firmware for the E1 Outdoor but some Reolink PTZ cams now have a limiting function so they only go as far right/left as you control in the settings. That way it does not point to a wall. Contact Reolink support. PTZ cams are cool but their downside is they may miss an event if they follow something but out of their field of view another thing happens. It's better to have multiple fixed cameras overlapping each other's field of view than just one PT or PTZ cam. The Duo 2 with 180 degrees field of view is also a great option.

My E1 Outdoor had some guard points drift. But its circuit was ruined with a close lightning strike. I opened it. You can see the motor drive shaft goes directly into the top rotating housing, no gears. I have a 823A that operates perfectly, no drift of guard points, always precise. I think the E1 Outdoor is a good cam for the money but it's just not as good a cam as the 823A.

@user_713871212949686_713871212949686 Reolink sometimes changes what cams work with their cloud and it depends what country/region you are from. They used to offer more models for the cloud but I assume rising server costs may have made them reduce them. I don't want to use the cloud. Users can record to installed card in camera, send alerts to email. Wire powered cams support recording to NVR and using another cloud storage company with FTP but you have to learn how to use FTP. Here is link to their cloud and what cams work, but I don't know how updated it is:

https://cloud.reolink.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI98n26t_J_AIVTRZMCh0-6wd0EAAYASAAEgKYoPD_BwE

@user_715880657940615_715880657940615 I don't think the problem is Reolink. I've heard it's because most web browers do not support yet H265 streaming which 4K cams use. I've tried the web interface. I prefer Reolink client app on my laptop which does playback in 4K. Your cam can record 4K. Check your day and night setting, resolution, bitrate, frame rate in the phone or client app. Depending on your settings the frame rate will auto drop down at night to allow more light in each frame.

@user_714875695747321_714875695747321 Welcome to Reolink Community. The Argus PT has been out for a while, I've had one since 2020. Their newest version is Argus PT Ultra, higher resolution with spotlights. Don't buy any of the older models without AI, person, vehicle detection. Before AI was implemented people would get a lot more false alerts. Reolink has a YouTube channel and one of my favorite channels is LifeHackster. He reviews a lot of Reolink cams, you can check him out to compare models. Also below is a link to Reddit Reolink forum with info about Reolink cams and there are camera specs comparison charts. The Trackmix is a popular model but I don't have one. The POE cams I have are 823A, Duo 2, 811A, 833A and a new CX410 low light. I like them all.

https://www.reddit.com/r/reolinkcam/comments/133vod7/welcome_to_the_official_reolink_subreddit_please/

@user_713697605443803_713697605443803 Reolink cameras are for home owners and small businesses. They don't have all the features we may want or large businesses use, banks, prisons, military bases. Reolink has cheaper prices. Their block out detection zones are a form of geofencing IMO. In the future Reolink will likely add more features. They said they are working on motion tagging for some cams.

@user_678847467118728_678847467118728 In the download specs it says the tilt capability is 90 degrees. So if the cam is mounted level, it can tilt down 45 or up 45 degrees. My 823A is the same. If you are saying the cam is stuck in one position, try rebooting or restoring it. Restoring it is like adding a new cam, it will ask for password and you'll have to redo all the settings. You could contact Reolink support, maybe there's bug in the firmware that needs to be fixed or has been fixed.

@martinbarrett_533327547867360 Thanks for the cam info. I don't use email alerts, sorry I don't know much about that. But I assume the email alerts work like the phone push otification on/off and are triggered by the detection alarm settings.

AI detection is not 100% perfect but it's much better than just a few years ago when cams could only detect any motion and not distinguish between person, vehicle, pets. AI is getting better with time. Sometimes birds, insects, heavy rain/snow, leaves blowing can cause the cam to trigger. To reduce this try using the alarm delay and object size functions. It can take some experimenting. Reolink has info about this on their support pages and there's YouTube videos you can watch. Here's good info on Reddit Reolink forum written by moderator mblaser. Scroll down to the section on how to reduce false alerts:

https://www.reddit.com/r/reolinkcam/comments/133vod7/welcome_to_the_official_reolink_subreddit_please/

@n9724w_396710203670663 I don't know if you can plug one NVR into the port of another NVR if that's what you are asking. I had a close lightning strike last year, shorted out my smoke alarms, one Reolink camera, my POE switch and router. Thankfully no fire. An electrician suggested I put a circuit breaker on my main breaker box, don't know if that would have helped.

@martinbarrett_533327547867360 Nobody can help unless you are more specific. What camera model is it, what firmware are you using? Does this happne 24/7 or just at night? Cameras have different settings depending on the model. Is "any motion" setting off, if your camera has that. Try adjusting the sensitivity settings.

Downloading highest quality video is a lot of data transfer, something along the way can't handle it. Contact Reolink support for more detailed help. Maybe there is a newer firmware version that works better. I can view/control my NVR through my PC Reolink client app. But I prefer to use a TV monitor plugged into the NVR and a mouse. I have settings controls that way, easy to set up cameras, check the temps of the HDD, etc. Works great. I can download videos from NVR directly to a plugged in usb flash drive. So to preserve those videos you could bypass your router, use monitor/mouse, download the clips from NVR to usb drive, you'd have copies of them.

https://support.reolink.com/hc/en-us/articles/360009060694-How-to-Cut-and-Backup-Recordings-on-Reolink-NVRs/