TractorGuy
Elite Member
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2013
- Messages
- 4,591
- Location
- N. FL
- Tractor
- John Deere 4310 CUT, Ford New Holland 575E Industrial Backhoe, John Deere F725 Front Mount Mower
I have been trying out a pair of Reolink RLC-411WS security cameras. I figured I would share my thoughts and experience with them so far. At this time I give them a 3 out of 5 rating.
My purpose for buying was to use as a game/security camera. I set these up on a 12V battery with a solar panel to maintain charge. I have tried various game and security cameras in the lower price range and none were satisfactory. These may prove to disappoint also but with this much invested I need to try and make them work. I've had these about a week and right now I give them 3 out of 5 rating.
The first advice I can give is to download and read the generic user manual. This will give a better insight as to how these cameras need to be set up and what to expect. Plan on the setup and use to take some time and learning.
Try installing the software provided on the disc with the camera. I got ahead of myself and downloaded the windows software from their web site. After installation it would not open on either of my windows 7 machines. Hopefully the software on the disc will work for you. In my case I didn't think to try that and contacted Reolink support. They directed me to a dropbox I had to create a profile to use and sent me a different version from what I had downloaded that worked. (kind of)
These cameras require a wired connection for setup. Even after I got the software to load and open it did not save or activate the network settings I entered so my cameras would still not connect wirelessly. I again contacted support and they requested I download and install a program to allow them remote access to my computer. What the support tech did was to use the software to obtain the ip address for the camera and then they set it up using a browser interface. Once you know the ip address for each camera you can access it via Firefox. After you log into the ip address you will have to tell Firefox to allow the use of flash player for the browser interface to work. After you get the network and password entered into the cameras they can be accessed wirelessly. Only then will the phone app add and see the cameras. For that you can scan the QR code.
I purchased a pair of cameras. One disappointment is they arrived with a different finish. One is a white textured finish while the other is a beige smooth finish. They also function somewhat different. One reports a 16GB SD card and the other reports a 15GB SD card. Image quality also varies between the two. One camera will not show the video decode setting or allow me to change it from the software but both are settable from the browser interface. I find the browser interface clearer and more intuitive. It appears some things work better from the browser interface but I haven't found all the settings the software has. For instance if you want to set the camera to record video events to your computer it has to be done from the software. You also have to leave your computer on and the software running to perform recording.
The videos recorded on the internal SD cards can be downloaded wirelessly. If you have the playback set to Fluent they download as 640x352 @ 7fps. If you have the playback set to Clear they download at whatever resolution setting you have the cameras set to record at. I have my cameras set to 1080P @ 30fps and the downloaded videos play clear and smooth. In contrast the videos recorded to the PC through the software all seem to stall part way in then catch up and start to show movement towards the end.
The default higher resolution recording settings did not produce a recording that my windows media player would play. I had to set both cameras down to 1080P at 30 FPS to get it to save a decent recording.
PROS: Daylight image quality pretty good after the learning curve has passed. Motion detection notification to app is pretty quick even while away from network. Wifi range pretty good but I suppose that is dependent on network range more than camera attribute. (I am using a GL-AR300M EXT router) I have a wifi connection out to 450 ft and have tested cameras out to 360 ft. Infrared lighting goes out near 100 ft.
CONS: Pricing on ebay changes frequently. Ads proclaim audio function this model doesn't have. Ad proclaims higher video encoding that windows media player won't play. Inconsistent quality between units. Videos freeze mid stream then catch up in software recordings. Night videos are grainy and low quality. Motion detection distance is inconsistent. I watched a fox cross my field the camera did not pick up on and record but it will pick my backhoe up from the same distance I saw the fox at.
Here is a short clip of the video it recorded to the internal SD card.
Reolink RLC-411WS set to 1080P @ 30fps example - YouTube
My purpose for buying was to use as a game/security camera. I set these up on a 12V battery with a solar panel to maintain charge. I have tried various game and security cameras in the lower price range and none were satisfactory. These may prove to disappoint also but with this much invested I need to try and make them work. I've had these about a week and right now I give them 3 out of 5 rating.
The first advice I can give is to download and read the generic user manual. This will give a better insight as to how these cameras need to be set up and what to expect. Plan on the setup and use to take some time and learning.
Try installing the software provided on the disc with the camera. I got ahead of myself and downloaded the windows software from their web site. After installation it would not open on either of my windows 7 machines. Hopefully the software on the disc will work for you. In my case I didn't think to try that and contacted Reolink support. They directed me to a dropbox I had to create a profile to use and sent me a different version from what I had downloaded that worked. (kind of)
These cameras require a wired connection for setup. Even after I got the software to load and open it did not save or activate the network settings I entered so my cameras would still not connect wirelessly. I again contacted support and they requested I download and install a program to allow them remote access to my computer. What the support tech did was to use the software to obtain the ip address for the camera and then they set it up using a browser interface. Once you know the ip address for each camera you can access it via Firefox. After you log into the ip address you will have to tell Firefox to allow the use of flash player for the browser interface to work. After you get the network and password entered into the cameras they can be accessed wirelessly. Only then will the phone app add and see the cameras. For that you can scan the QR code.
I purchased a pair of cameras. One disappointment is they arrived with a different finish. One is a white textured finish while the other is a beige smooth finish. They also function somewhat different. One reports a 16GB SD card and the other reports a 15GB SD card. Image quality also varies between the two. One camera will not show the video decode setting or allow me to change it from the software but both are settable from the browser interface. I find the browser interface clearer and more intuitive. It appears some things work better from the browser interface but I haven't found all the settings the software has. For instance if you want to set the camera to record video events to your computer it has to be done from the software. You also have to leave your computer on and the software running to perform recording.
The videos recorded on the internal SD cards can be downloaded wirelessly. If you have the playback set to Fluent they download as 640x352 @ 7fps. If you have the playback set to Clear they download at whatever resolution setting you have the cameras set to record at. I have my cameras set to 1080P @ 30fps and the downloaded videos play clear and smooth. In contrast the videos recorded to the PC through the software all seem to stall part way in then catch up and start to show movement towards the end.
The default higher resolution recording settings did not produce a recording that my windows media player would play. I had to set both cameras down to 1080P at 30 FPS to get it to save a decent recording.
PROS: Daylight image quality pretty good after the learning curve has passed. Motion detection notification to app is pretty quick even while away from network. Wifi range pretty good but I suppose that is dependent on network range more than camera attribute. (I am using a GL-AR300M EXT router) I have a wifi connection out to 450 ft and have tested cameras out to 360 ft. Infrared lighting goes out near 100 ft.
CONS: Pricing on ebay changes frequently. Ads proclaim audio function this model doesn't have. Ad proclaims higher video encoding that windows media player won't play. Inconsistent quality between units. Videos freeze mid stream then catch up in software recordings. Night videos are grainy and low quality. Motion detection distance is inconsistent. I watched a fox cross my field the camera did not pick up on and record but it will pick my backhoe up from the same distance I saw the fox at.
Here is a short clip of the video it recorded to the internal SD card.
Reolink RLC-411WS set to 1080P @ 30fps example - YouTube
