Reolink E1 Zoom
Hi there, I've been using SecuritySpy with the Reolink E1 Zoom for a while, but even after upgrading firmware in the camera, I still have an issue whereby SecuritySpy tries connecting over and over, but fails with No Key frames recently, or Unexpected Data. The only way I've been able to connect is to reboot the camera at this point, either by unplugging/replugging (cold boot), or going into the camera web interface and doing a warm reboot, aside from rare instances where the cameras come online by themselves after some arbitrary and long period of time.
I've tried bringing the bit rates up and down, frame rates up and down, nothing seems to work. I have also tried different camera setting types (ONVIF, Reolink), to no avail.
Is there something else I should try that I haven't thought of? All my other Reolink cameras work fine, and have never had this issue with them.
Thanks!
Comments
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I have been struggling with using Reolink cameras with SecSpy for some years now. It just doesn't work. Also happens when using a couple of other common Chinese camera manufacturers. But Reolink just won't work with SecSpy. I tried all of what you describe - frame rate, resolution, data rate, H.246/256, this and that, you name it … Reolink must have a pretty unconventional proprietary streaming format - so that the makers of SecSpy can not seem to circumnavigate its weird issues. Your only chance is to run the Reolink App for a smooth and stable live view and maybe run a FTP server on your Mac and then, in the settings for your Reolink camera, in the Reolink App, set up motion and continuous recordings to transfer via FTP to your Mac. It's not very intuitive and he Reolink App is badly coded and its interface is pretty unique, Mac-unlike, - but I found it better than being stuck with the outages of Reolink cameras within SecSpy. I think you could also have the Reolink App running, in order to have that App recording motion detection. But I found the Reolink App hogging CPU and pretty unstable, it crashed after some hours or days, usually. If you got a fast machine, you may be able to run Reolink App and SecSpy in parallel.
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It's true that users have had very mixed results with Reolink cameras, and we ourselves have seen many problems with them in terms of invalid video stream data. This is why we warn agains them on our camera list, and have done so for years. Some users have found that they can get their Reolink cameras working well with SecuritySpy by installing the latest firmware, but other users have tried this without success. We will continue to do our best to work around these issues and get these cameras working as reliably as possible, but in general we would recommend users buy from other manufacturers instead. For example, Amcrest makes similar cameras at similar price points, and we have seen no such problems with Amcrest cameras.
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I gave up on Reolink cameras. The hardware is seemingly cool, and the price point is enticing. But the Firmware is a hot mess. The processors are slow, and there is a two second Lag in the video display that can not be overcome by any settings changes. I have spent some hours trying to get these dogs to hunt. They are a waste of time. And, I have real concerns about the security, considering these are made in China and all companies there must bow to the will of the PRC. In my opinion, the user must consider the dangers of installing a Chinese Government controlled computer on their network.
