I have just downloaded the new Client version which is v8.12.1. When opening it, I get a warning message saying that it is missing DirectX files. Click the link and you will receive an ancient (2010) version of DirectX drivers that will not install on a Windows 11 machine.

@user_711725607157890_711725607157890 I have returned some Reolink products before and never had such problems with getting a full refund. But before I return this I will try to fiddle a bit with my own FTP server and notification system.

@reolink-lorenz Why not make rich notifications available to people who have an NVR then?

@joseph_1979 Pushover sounds promising, especially since I already own that app.

When testing e-mail notifications today I found out that it is best to send them from the camera itself directly, and not from the NVR. In the camera settings (using the smartphone app) you can select to be notified if there is a visitor, meaning someone is pressing the doorbell. The NVR does not have that setting.

After I pressed the button, I received a message from the doorbell almost immediately, including a picture showing me with my hand still at the button (12:38:52).



NVR did not detect me ringing at the door, but detected a person and sent a message that arrived almost a full minute later (12:39:47!) in the same inbox, with a different photo, taken after I had already disappeared...




Next up, I'm going to experiment with FTP notifications. 

@user_711725607157890_711725607157890 I usually buy in the Reolink store at Amazon, where you will get a full refund if returned within 30 days.

I have just replaced my Ring Pro with a Reolink Doorbell. It works fine out of the box and even has a better and wider picture. However, the Reolink Doorbell does have one major drawback and that is that there is no separate notification channel for notifying you that someone is ringing. 

In fact, you actually get the same push notifications in the Reolink app that you get when one or more of the Reolink camera's connected detect motion. In my case, there are currently 10 camera's plus an NVR. You'll understand that the attention value of a doorbell notification is completely lost among the daily stream of notifications, leaving me completely unaware that someone is at the door. 

This is a serious limitation to the functionality of the Reolink Doorbell and, in my opinion, should be a prority for further development of the app. 

What is needed is a separate notification in the app, with its own recognisable sound, when someone rings the doorbell, and preferably also the option to open the app with one click on the notification to communicate with the person at the door. Ring has had this option for years and no doubt other video doorbell manufacturers have too.  

Another long-held wish of mine is the transmission of alarm notifications via MQTT. If the Reolink cameras or the NVR as a central hub relay the MQTT message that someone is ringing the doorbell, this can easily be converted to a new notification, customised push messages and other actions in the well-known smart home systems. 

@joseph_1979 Actually, I found a (limited) way to achieve this. I made port 9000 of my 3 external cameras (one RLC-420 PoE, two E1 Pro WiFi) accessible on my modem, using port forwarding to external ports 9001, 9002 and 9003. I then added them to the NVR via Customized Add Camera. All three cameras could be added this way, but unfortunately the NVR only remembers only 1: the camera that was added last...

I have been using a RLN36 NVR with 10 Reolink cameras some time now and I am very satisfied with it. Most of my cameras are PoE types, some are WiFi. Since they are all on the same local network as the NVR, installation was a breeze. However, I have also got 3 Reolink cameras on another network, in another location, saving their recordings on sd cards. I would also like to save images from these remote cameras on the NVR, by opening up remote acces through port forwarding on the router. This means I will have three IP adresses for three Reolink cameras that are not on the same local network as the NVR. How can I make the RLN36 recognise these cameras? Are there some manual settings that I can enter, or maybe a configuration file that I can edit manually?

Pierre

@joseph_1979 Pushover sounds promising, especially since I already own that app.

When testing e-mail notifications today I found out that it is best to send them from the camera itself directly, and not from the NVR. In the camera settings (using the smartphone app) you can select to be notified if there is a visitor, meaning someone is pressing the doorbell. The NVR does not have that setting.

After I pressed the button, I received a message from the doorbell almost immediately, including a picture showing me with my hand still at the button (12:38:52).



NVR did not detect me ringing at the door, but detected a person and sent a message that arrived almost a full minute later (12:39:47!) in the same inbox, with a different photo, taken after I had already disappeared...




Next up, I'm going to experiment with FTP notifications. 

@user_711725607157890_711725607157890 I usually buy in the Reolink store at Amazon, where you will get a full refund if returned within 30 days.

@user_711725607157890_711725607157890 I have returned some Reolink products before and never had such problems with getting a full refund. But before I return this I will try to fiddle a bit with my own FTP server and notification system.

I have just replaced my Ring Pro with a Reolink Doorbell. It works fine out of the box and even has a better and wider picture. However, the Reolink Doorbell does have one major drawback and that is that there is no separate notification channel for notifying you that someone is ringing. 

In fact, you actually get the same push notifications in the Reolink app that you get when one or more of the Reolink camera's connected detect motion. In my case, there are currently 10 camera's plus an NVR. You'll understand that the attention value of a doorbell notification is completely lost among the daily stream of notifications, leaving me completely unaware that someone is at the door. 

This is a serious limitation to the functionality of the Reolink Doorbell and, in my opinion, should be a prority for further development of the app. 

What is needed is a separate notification in the app, with its own recognisable sound, when someone rings the doorbell, and preferably also the option to open the app with one click on the notification to communicate with the person at the door. Ring has had this option for years and no doubt other video doorbell manufacturers have too.  

Another long-held wish of mine is the transmission of alarm notifications via MQTT. If the Reolink cameras or the NVR as a central hub relay the MQTT message that someone is ringing the doorbell, this can easily be converted to a new notification, customised push messages and other actions in the well-known smart home systems. 

@reolink-lorenz Why not make rich notifications available to people who have an NVR then?

I have just downloaded the new Client version which is v8.12.1. When opening it, I get a warning message saying that it is missing DirectX files. Click the link and you will receive an ancient (2010) version of DirectX drivers that will not install on a Windows 11 machine.

Hi, As a home automation enthusiast, I want to link my new RLN36 NVR to my smarthome system (which is Domoticz, but I think this discussion applies to Home Assistant and others as well). Currently, I think this needs to be done hardware-wise, by connecting the alarm inputs and outputs on the NVR (via a pull-up resistor?) to the GPIO jacks of a Raspberry Pi, Arduino or ESP8266/ESP32 that translates the signal and forwards it to the smarthome system.

For example, you could use 1 to 8 alarm inputs from the NVR to enable recording on selected cameras as soon as an incident is detected from Domoticz/HAS, such as a motion detector or a door sensor being triggered. However, it is not clear from the manual what the signal level of the NVR's alarm input should be, +12V? +5V? Does the signal control a relay or an optocoupler inside the NVR? What is the required current in mA? 

Next, you can send the NVR's four alarm outputs to Domoticz/HAS to register that one or more cameras see movement. The alarm outputs are low on alarm, that is the only information you will get. It is not clear on which cameras motion has been detected and whether this is a detected person, car, pet or otherwise. 

It is however possible to let the NVR send an e-mail message with a picture in the event of an alarm, which contains more information in the subject line. By setting up an e-mail server on the machine running the smarthome system, interpreting the e-mail subject and translating it into an HTTP request or MQTT message, it is possible to still use this information in your smarthome. Not a very elegant solution. 

So my suggestion for the next software version of the RLN36 and other NVRs is: make it possible to send (and receive) information via HTTP Requests or MQTT messages over the (local) network. That would be a fantastic leap forward in linking the NVR and both hobbyist and professional smarthome systems  

Pierre
(robothuis.nl)

@campbell_99 I installed a new RLC-822A a week ago and also noticed that the autofocus is not working. I have to adjust the focus manually, but can only do that by day when the image is bright enough to see what's in focus. So the only advice I can give is: set up the camera once and tell everyone that has access to it not to touch the PTZ anymore.