NVR selection help for (mainly) Reolink cameras

[bfred]

Hi!

So I've read a lot of posts and discussions about the topic, lived in China and agree that selecting the cheapest NVR on Aliexpress is probably not a great idea (don't get me wrong, I thought about it ;-) )

Now I initially bought 2 Reolink wifi cameras a while ago to put inside the house as we needed to record things. I used my Synology NAS to manage the streams and all, and it was working fine... until I realized it was not a great idea to use my NAS for NVR purpose if my NAS is also used for backups (not great for the disks).

Then I got a few more cameras for here and there not thinking about the whole picture. So most of them are Reolink as I was happy (more than?) with the image quality and either Synology or Reolink mobile app.

Now I need to consolidate everything and a NVR would be nice. Reolink is out of the question, cheap Chinese NVR too. I also only use Linux at home, so BlueIris will not be ok for me.
And finally I have opted to buy locally rather than import whatever is "the best solution". I have limited choices which I don't really know about.

So I would need a 8 channel NVR (i think 8 is enough for me) and I can chose between Hikvision and Dahua. Possible choices I can see now are:

• NVR Hikvision DS-7616NI-K2
• NVR Hikvision DS-7608NI-K1
• NVR Hikvision DS-7616NI-K1
• Dahua: the model descriptions I have are a bit confusing.

My cams all have video and sound. I like the ability to zoom on the live image (i check on my parrots). Of course should you have different suggestions please do not hesitate. Watashi seems to be available but can't find much about this brand (I have one camera from them). Pricing of the above is between $80 and $150 (I guess with no HDD).

I hope I gave enough details, if not please ask.

Thank you very much for your help.

Fred

 

[Skypt]

Hi,
Im in same spot as you

Any solution so far ?

I've been using MotionEye and ZoneMinder on a Linux box, Docker based,
but its not perfect because it uses a lot of machine CPU .

Tanks

 

[bfred]

Unfortunately no. Seeing no response here I thought I miswrote my question but am glad someone found it at least. Hopefully someone will chime in and save the (our) day!

And if ever I find something I'll come and share.
Thank you.

 

[dudemaar]

Hello, I don't know much about reolink, I've heard they junk and only work on reolink nvr's?? Rule of thumb around here is You should keep the cams and NVR all the same brand. As far as buying a NVR, most people here deal with Andy @EMPIRETECANDY for Dahua cameras and NVR's. Here is a link to his store.

Buy Products Online from China Wholesalers at Aliexpress.com

 

[bfred]

Thank you, that's a start. I will definitely check that.

 

[Skypt]

does Hahua NVR's works with Reolink cam ?

I have 3 cam from Reolinks for over 2 years wihtout any problems

 

[wittaj]

As others have said, It is best to match camera brand with NVR brand. Some mix-n-match may work, but there are so many brands of cameras and so many brands of NVR that one camera from a company may work but a different model from the same company doesn't work. But you won't know for sure unless you try.

Does your reolinks give you great video at night with motion that isn't blurry or ghosting? If so, please post a video for us all to see how great they are at night. Not even their own marketing shows a good job...

Reolink: Deconstruction of a dangerous misleading youtube review "Finding the BEST 4K Security Camera NVR Package (Reolink vs Amcrest vs Swann)"

But...But...But look at that nice picture of the criminal that will stop dead in their tracks long enough to get a clean picture... because that is what all perps do is just stop for a moment to let a camera get a good shot LOL:p

ipcamtalk.com

Yes, there is a person in this picture. Will give you a hint - in between the two columns:

 

[mat200]

FYI - The reason why there are so few responses to

Q: "Help me find a NVR for my Reolink cameras?"

A: Is that Reolink has a number of compatibility issues that many members have noticed, and thus most members have decided to move away from Reolink. Due to this issue, if using Reolink cameras you have to decide if you want to go 100% Reolink and limit your camera options ( and limit the quality of the cameras you can put up ) you can pick up a Reolink NVR.
Most members here prefer Blue Iris as that gives them options to mix and match cameras, but even with that there are issues with Reolink.

For NVRs, ideally you want to match the OEM of the cameras with the same OEM for the NVR. Otherwise you may not get all the features to be functional, and even with the same OEM some NVRs do not support all the features newer cameras may have - so you do want to check on that. ( in other words.. it gets complicated.. )

 

[Teken]

My reply isn't directly related to your question but more food for thought. Almost everyone in life starts off with Something and later migrate / upgrade to something better. That's solely based on personal experience of seeing how something performs or not.

Now . . .

Given the above it seems to me you have learned this lesson but are on the fence on some things. There's nothing wrong with the NVR's you listed up above considering they support more than 8 channels - Good! Going with a NVR no matter what brand offers the simple Plug & Play with very little issues out of the box. But, as others members have noted above not all NVR's provide X feature vs Y support.

The most basic thing to check is that the NVR / Camera is ONVIF compliant. If so you're 90% of the way with having the ability to connect to many 3rd party services and hardware. If its not ONVIF compliant than having the ability to connect to other 3rd party hardware is quite limited. One thing to consider is a all in one box like a NVR depending upon luck, maker, brand, model, be prepared to replace it at some defined interval when you least expect it.

Anything can explode and die but with a PC you have more opportunity to replace any failed component no matter what it is. You of course have the ability to purchase used vs new that balance performance vs costs.

There is no reason not to run a Windows PC vs Linux . . .

That sort of mentality is born from decades of Ford vs GM, Apple vs PC, Blue vs Yellow.

You don't even need to use BI you can install what ever you want in terms of freeware vs paid ware.

RE: Reolink -> Everyone starts from somewhere like those who use Amcrest, Foscam, Wyze, etc. At some point you'll realize there's better for not a lot more while offering greater integration and value. Reolink offers lots of value to many people it seems and you're one of them so enjoy it. Just try to keep in mind good enough isn't the same as great!

 

[bfred]

So just everyone knows I went the Dahua road. This site has extensive descriptions and explanations and... I thought that'd be a good choice. Now I picked a 8channels 4PoE NvR and.. yes, I have too many wifi cameras. Bought them first one by one (I guess Teken has a point right at the beginning of his post - Maybe I should have taken the 16 channel ones...) and now realizing they are H.264 and will use bandwidth (on top of being mostly all Reolink).

I looked a bit here and on the rest of the internet and couldn't really find how to set up my 2 wifi/lans (1 wifi/lan for the cameras, 1 wifi for normal internet stuff) , where I should put the NVR and other recommendations on such a setup. I actually thought I read a good description here in the past but... can't seem to find anything anymore. So if you guys have some links or advice to give I'm definitely up for it.

Thank you very much.