How to Add Cameras and Recorders

Once a site is connected, open it from Settings → Cameras → Site Setup. Everything about its cameras is on the site's own tabs. You need Manage Camera Sites.

Find cameras automatically

1. Open the Discover tab.
2. Choose what to look for: ONVIF cameras (most network cameras), HomeKit cameras, DVRIP recorders (Dahua, XMeye), local devices such as USB cameras plugged into the connector's computer, or a camera account such as Ring or Tuya / Smart Life (these ask for the account's sign-in).
3. Click search. Finding cameras can take up to a minute.
4. For each result, Test shows what the camera sends, and Add as camera opens the camera form already filled in.

Cameras that are already added are marked, so you won't add one twice.

Add a camera by its address

On the Cameras tab, click to add a camera, then fill in:

• Camera name — what people see on the tile, such as "Front door".
• Source type and the main stream address, for example rtsp://user:password@192.168.1.20:554/stream1. Your camera's manual or its maker's website lists the address.
• An optional sub stream address — a smaller version of the same picture. Grid tiles use it, which spares the location's internet upload a great deal; if you leave it empty, tiles use the main stream.
• Audio — off unless you switch it on. Without it, nobody hears that camera.

Passwords in stream addresses are never shown again after you save; you'll see •••••• instead. Leave it as it is to keep the saved password.

Add a recorder (NVR or DVR)

If your cameras plug into a recorder, add the recorder once instead of each camera:

1. Open Camera systems and add a camera system.
2. Choose the brand (Hikvision, Dahua, Amcrest, Lorex, Reolink, Uniview, Swann, Axis, any ONVIF device, XMeye / DVRIP, or a custom address pattern). The port and the address patterns fill in for you.
3. Enter the recorder's address, user name and password, and how many channels it has.

You get one camera per channel, named with the Camera name prefix and the channel number. Rename and group them like any other camera; their addresses are managed by the camera system. Deleting the camera system removes its cameras.

Advanced settings

The Advanced tab is for the video service that runs inside the connector (go2rtc). You rarely need it, but you can add your own go2rtc settings, change how many people may watch a site at once (16 by default — each viewer uses some of the location's upload), and see every earlier version, with Restore to go back to one. The connection and security settings are always managed for you.

After you add a camera

It appears under Settings → Cameras → Cameras, where you can name it, switch it or its sound on or off, and put it in groups. Nobody can watch it yet: see Who Can Watch a Camera.