Recommendations for RTSP Video Surveillance Camera

[GHenry]

What video surveillance cameras do you suggest for use with eisy/HomeKit (planning ahead…)?  I believe one requirement is RTSP support, right?

I asked my AI for a list of video surveillance cameras that support RTSP.  Trusting AI (not!), I’m asking the forum for suggestions.  AI gave me the following list; is it on-point, or off the mark?

• Reolink RLC-810A
• Reolink RLC-811WA
• Topodome RTSP WiFi Bullet Camera
• Topodome 940nm RTSP PTZ Camera
• Alptop 8MP 4K PTZ IP PoE Dome Camera
• SV3C PTZ Outdoor WiFi Camera
• ZOSI 4K PoE Security IP Camera
• Amcrest cameras
• UniFi cameras

Any suggestions welcome; thanks in advance!

[Athlon]

I'm using 3 Reolink E1 Outdoor Pros and their wired doorbell with Blue Iris (NVR software). I can also view all 4 cams on my Roku TV's with an app available in their channel store. All 4 cams show up in each of my TV's screensaver as well. 

I have not integrated them into my Polisy, although it might be possible as they are all capable of RTSP. I also know that some Reolink cameras are not RTSP capable. I like Reolink - they are subscription free and just work well for a mid-priced camera.

As for your list of cameras, try visiting their manufacturer's website for their specs.

Also, see this thread for some ideas:

 

 

[oberkc]

I have several reolinc cameras.  I have them working with alexa, google, and the ipcamviewer app on both android and alexa, with direct connections (not cloud-based) through static ip addresses and port forwarding.  This makes me think that it should work with ud mobile.  Unfortunately, I have never figured out how to make it work with ud mobile.  Still, it may be my minimal skills in this area that comes into play.  Maybe I just donkt have the necessary stream address for these cameras .

[Athlon]

2 hours ago, oberkc said:

Maybe I just donkt have the necessary stream address for these cameras .

The stream address I use for my Roku's is the one provided by Blue Iris and not the cameras directly. Nothing goes to the cloud here, and I don't have any ports forwarded.

You can use VLC to test various direct streams from your Reolink cameras. The Reolink website has a few good tutorials that show you how to discover them and make that happen based on the model cam you have.

[oberkc]

8 hours ago, Athlon said:

You can use VLC to test various direct streams from your Reolink cameras

Yes, I can view the cameras via VLC, but this is a local IP address.  The problem that I experience seems to be when I tried such an address in ud mobile I had less success and could not get this to work from outside my network using the external ports I have reserved and forwarded for each of the cameras.  

It has been a while since I have last tried, and I was not extremely motivated to get this working, since I already had a viable option for viewing via IPCamViewer app.  Maybe I will give it another try.

[GSpitale01]

I am now on my 2nd whole home setup using this product:

https://www.backstreet-surveillance.com

I have a variety of the cameras depending on the location (front door, driveway, back yard, etc) and have been extremely happy with the entire system.