A camera proxy for Reolink cameras. It sits between your cameras and Frigate (or any NVR), pulls video over Reolink's own Baichuan protocol, and serves it as RTSP and HTTP MPEG-TS.
It does not replace Frigate. Frigate still does detection and recording; reostream only changes where Frigate gets the video from.
Reolink cameras --Baichuan--> reostream --RTSP--> go2rtc / Frigate / Blue Iris
--HTTP--> mpv / VLC / scripts
Reolink's RTSP server is broken on some models. On a Duo 3 it gave green blocks, grey frames and smearing. Same camera, same encoder, same thirty minutes, both transports:
| transport | segments | segments with bitstream errors |
|---|---|---|
| Baichuan | 184 | 0 |
| RTSP | 178 | 147 |
Reolink's own NVR looks fine because it uses Baichuan, not RTSP. A fisheye here also loses
about 21% of its frames over RTSP. Method in docs/measurements.md.
Neolink did this first and made the protocol understandable. It has had no commits since January 2025. reostream is a new implementation, not a fork.
docker run -d --name reostream --restart unless-stopped \
--network host \
-v reostream-data:/data \
ghcr.io/volttech21/reostream:latest
docker logs reostream
Host networking lets reostream see your real network: it finds cameras on its own
(battery ones too), and cameras can upload clips to it. Where you can't use it, map the
ports instead: -p 8560:8560 -p 8561:8561 -p 8562:8562 -p 2121-2131:2121-2131.
- The log prints a one-time token. Open
http://<host>:8562/claimand paste it. - Keep the password it gives you.
- Add cameras: the page searches your network and lists what it finds. Enter a password for each one you want. Port 9000 on a wired camera must be reachable; it is on by default.
Your streams are at rtsp://<host>:8561/<camera> and http://<host>:8560/<camera>.ts.
On Unraid, install reostream from Community Apps. Prefer compose, a plain binary or systemd? See docs/setup.md.
Feed go2rtc from reostream's RTSP, and point Frigate at go2rtc. One camera connection then serves detect, record and live view.
go2rtc:
streams:
driveway:
- rtsp://reostream:8561/driveway
- ffmpeg:driveway#audio=opus
driveway_sub:
- rtsp://reostream:8561/driveway_sub
cameras:
driveway:
ffmpeg:
inputs:
- path: rtsp://127.0.0.1:8554/driveway_sub
input_args: preset-rtsp-restream
roles: [detect]
- path: rtsp://127.0.0.1:8554/driveway
input_args: preset-rtsp-restream
roles: [record, audio]The #audio=opus line is optional; it gives browsers and apps audio in live view.
Without go2rtc, Frigate can read http://reostream:8560/driveway.ts directly.
| RTSP, port 8561 | HTTP, port 8560 | |
|---|---|---|
/<cam> |
/<cam>.ts |
main stream |
/<cam>_sub |
/<cam>_sub.ts |
sub stream |
/<cam>_extern |
/<cam>_extern.ts |
extern: the middle stream (about 896x512 H.264) most clients never offer |
Also on port 8560:
/<cam>.keyframe |
latest keyframe, raw |
/<cam>.frames |
raw access units with a small header, for your own decoder; see docs/setup.md |
/<cam>.still.ts |
the latest keyframe as a one-frame MPEG-TS; never touches the camera |
/api/status |
per-stream JSON: connected, fps, bitrate, clients, reconnects, last error |
/metrics |
the same for Prometheus |
- One connection per stream, held open whether anyone is watching or not.
- Timestamps from the camera's own clock, so frame rates come out right.
- A slow client is disconnected, never buffered. No client can stall a camera.
- New clients start at a keyframe. Audio is carried when the camera sends it.
- Two-way audio: on cameras with a speaker, Frigate's talk button works through it.
- The camera's own detections (motion, person, vehicle, animal) go to MQTT and to Frigate as events, so a small box can lean on the camera instead of decoding everything.
- Recordings from the camera's SD card, and a small FTP receiver that keeps a copy of each clip the camera uploads.
- Battery cameras: found by their own UDP search, woken only while someone is watching, battery level shown without waking them.
- Sessions are closed cleanly. A camera left with an open session refuses connections for minutes.
- A web page on port 8562 for status, live view, config, logs and camera settings.
No ffmpeg, GStreamer or RTSP server in the serving path.
| Model | Count | Firmware |
|---|---|---|
| RLC-810A (8 MP bullet) | 6 | v3.1.0.956_24022103 |
| FE-P (fisheye) | 1 | v3.0.0.5336_2509021915 |
| Duo 3 PoE (dual lens panorama) | 1 | v3.0.0.5049_2506302188 |
| TrackMix PoE (PTZ, auto tracking) | 1 | v3.2.0.5931_2601294931 |
| Argus PT Ultra (battery, Wi-Fi) | 1 | v3.0.0.5808_26041006 |
reostream has been the only video path for this fleet's Frigate since September: 23
streams, 69 Mbps, about 60% of one CPU core, 29-59 MB of memory. Numbers in
docs/measurements.md.
Not yet tested: other models and firmware. Reports welcome.
Each camera has a page with three tabs:
- Live: the player, stream picker, pan/tilt with presets, talk, snapshot, floodlight, and every stream URL to copy.
- Recordings: clips from the SD card on a timeline, plus clips saved by reostream.
- Settings: image, name and timestamp, encoding, lights, audio, pan/tilt (auto return, auto tracking), FTP, email and push alerts, network services, date and time, and every raw value for anything not covered. Instant settings save as you change them; ones that restart the stream or the camera ask first. A blue dot marks a setting changed from the camera's factory value, with a button to put it back. Settings can be copied to other cameras.
reocam, a separate command line tool, reads and changes camera settings over the same protocol. Streaming does not
need it.
reocam -address 192.0.2.50 -password secret probe
probe reports which messages the camera answers. See docs/control.md for reading
and writing settings and what to watch out for.
docs/setup.md: other ways to run it, the config file, the control page, RTSP, the frames feed, recordings and saved clips, alerts, battery camerasdocs/control.md: camera control withreocamdocs/protocol.md: what the Baichuan wire actually doesdocs/measurements.md: how every number above was measured
AGPL v3. Free to use, run and modify. If you distribute a modified version or run one as a service for others, you must publish your changes.
A commercial license without that obligation is available. See COPYRIGHT.