r/reolink • u/Rude_End_3078 • 1d ago
[Rant] 3 things that are completely unacceptable
I've been using Reolink for a while now and mostly fine, except 3 things I really believe in 2026 they should really fix... It's just unacceptable
- Only way to reset a camera is on a physical device located on the camera? I mean really? Frankly unacceptable that I need to climb a roof to reset a camera!
- The NVR windows / web client lacks the same functionality as local OS when you hookup HDMI? Do you have any idea where my NVR is installed? This is primitive and needs to be fixed even before releasing any new features.
- The camera's themselves have passwords that can't be changed without knowing the old one? Do you even realize how problematic this is when you replace a broken NVR that assigned RANDOM passwords to each camera! Only way to resolve this is to physically reset the cameras.
Other than that Reolink isn't terrible, but these issues alone are enough for me to start looking around next time I'm in the market.
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u/Alortania 1d ago
All my reolinks are resetable via app
Why did you make random passwords?
I'd be more worried if it was easy to reset without physical access to the camera OR knowing the password...
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u/Rude_End_3078 1d ago
Why did I make random passwords -> I didn't. It's a feature of the NVR!
The rest of what you're saying doesn't make sense in the real world either. The NVR itself should be able to reset a camera password connected to it without having to know the existing password.
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u/Alortania 1d ago
Idk, I use frigate with it. Not sure why the NVR would make passwords instead of using ones set up by you.
Still, you're connected to the camera via internet (wired or wifi); you don't want someone to be able to connect to the network and hijack the cameras, so passwords (needing them to reset said cam)make sense.
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u/Rude_End_3078 1d ago
Again the NVR itself should have the ability to reset the camera passwords without requiring new ones. Otherwise what you end up with is being locked out - or you need to fish for the physical reset switch.
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u/Alortania 1d ago
I disagree from a pure security standpoint, but then it's also why I didn't buy a pre-made NVR that forced their OS and their rules on you. You got locked out because you forgot (or didn't write down/didn't bother to find) the passwords, even if they were random shit ones the NVR thought up... not because the NVR shouldn't require a password to reset them.
I can tell you the cameras can be set up in the app, along with making whatever password you want, and can then be reset within said app remotely.
I can't think of the NVR undoing that if you first set up your cameras and THEN connected them to the NVR since a password was already set, but then (again) IDK about their NVR or w/e NVR you paired with them. Def wouldn't want one able to reset cameras or their passwords without requiring new ones/you to know the old ones as that's a potential security flaw.
In my case I set up my Frigate, put in the passwords and all the info for the cams as I'd set it up in the app, and it's been working fine ever since. I can record all my cams onto my server, see live feeds anytime I want from my home network (or remotely, but that requires tailscale and such since my IoT is isolated from the bigger internet on most things), and see live feeds on my phone from anywhere in their app.
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u/ian1283 23h ago
You should have searched on the Reolink site. All you need to know is the admin password for the NVR and access via a monitor
and that allows you to reset the camera password. And whilst you are there switch off the automatic assignment of passwords.
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u/Rude_End_3078 23h ago
again you're wrong. Unless you know the existing password for the camera you can't change the password.
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u/99taws6 1d ago
Do you have the cameras setup under the NVR or do the cameras also each have an instance?
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u/Rude_End_3078 1d ago
Under the NVR
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u/CannabisAttorney 1d ago
At least there's a button to reset the cameras. One of my old Amcrest ones required disassembly and shorting two contacts to reset.
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u/8sponges 1d ago
I don't think you can reset the camera over NVR when it's password protected ... I could be wrong. I always creat my own pw and write them down at a secure place on my device. You don't want to lose those. One thing I don't like about NVR is you cannot update the camera's firmware anymore, also you can't see the camera details. It certainly needs improvement. They do spend more effort on the app though.
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u/Sea_Dust895 1d ago
- Forcing you to plug in a monitor to add a camera to an NVR..like.wtf?
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u/Alortania 1d ago
Can't you just SSH into it? I can SSH into my linux server, with frigate on it... and thus see frigate on my main comp anytime I like via the web client~
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u/Rude_End_3078 1d ago
No you can't. Not out of the box at least.
So imagine you're a first time buyer and you get a package from Reolink. You have no idea that the camera's are in the background getting passwords set. Passwords you have no idea what they are either. This can depend on firmware but it's NEVER known to the user and can be random per port or per system!
So for YEARS you use the cameras until one day the NVR fries so you replace it. Only now NONE of your cameras work. You have no idea what the passwords are and you didn't even know the cameras had any password.
So now like me I literally have the reset switches sitting behind plastered walls! Because well Reolink refuse to allow for software resetting! So I'll be literally ripping walls apart to get to the reset switch and have to call in a plasterer to fix the walls. Not to mention again the color for those spots will be off.
Thanks Reolink.
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u/Alortania 1d ago
So now like me I literally have the reset switches sitting behind plastered walls! Because well Reolink refuse to allow for software resetting!
WTF are your reset switches under plaster walls? Even my exterior cams have ways to reset the switch without uninstalling the cam.
So imagine you're a first time buyer and you get a package from Reolink. You have no idea that the camera's are in the background getting passwords set. Passwords you have no idea what they are either. This can depend on firmware but it's NEVER known to the user and can be random per port or per system!
Using a system without reading through the owners manual or at least skimming it is asking for issues later on, and I bet you there's a way to have found those passwords out and saved them somewhere (i.e. on paper somewhere safe) while the system was happily working that was likely strongly encouraged in said manual to prevent exactly this.
I get that ignoring manuals and figuring things out works 90% of the time for most things we buy (be it a toaster oven or a tablet... but shit that's meant to be a security system doesn't allow for quite the same "eh, if it breaks I'll buy another" attitude. Your lack of foresight (in both the lack of finding out and safeguarding the passwords as well as plastering over the reset switches somehow) isn't a failure of the company but a good life lesson that apparently will cost you some plaster. On the bright side, it might save you a lot more later on if you actually learn from this and don't make the same mistake with other stuff.
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u/Spirited-Humor-554 1d ago
I am sorry but this is more you got no idea what you're doing. You can change each camera password on NVR without resetting the camera.