You do need an account to set up in the app, after that it will work 100% local. I replaced my Ring doorbell with a ReoLink and have been extremely happy with it.
this post was submitted on 01 Nov 2025
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I haven't used Frigate specifically, but Reolink overall has been exactly what I wanted. Works out of the box no config, no signup, no login, completely local with the mobile reolink app. I never connected it to home assistant or anything, I either use a VPN into my home network or just stick to using it locally.
I did have an occasional bug with the UI/connection. The iOS app gave me some trouble, but I use android and its been plug and play with all the main features I would want.
Seamless with ha, reolink and frigate. Reolink itself works with ha natively but I like it with frigate better. It is all offline. No online set up or accounts at all.
You can simplify the process by just using the reolink doorbell directly with HA. Reolink is an integration in HA. Works completely local and I have all my cameras in a clan with no internet access. You don't need any app to setup the camera either.
If you really want to use frigate there is that option too.
I know you meant vlan, but I love the idea of a loyal tightly knit band of cameras and doorbells.
Does it connect to your WiFi, is that how you get the IP of the camera?
The Reolink cameras have a straight IP output source, so you should need any accounts or anything like that (verify with the specific model type of course). You then point Frigate to the camera as an input source feed.
The HA Add-On then just uses Frigate as a media source. It creates a few entities you can use for automations which can be seen here.
@njordomir haven't used reolink but have been running frigate on low power server with coral tpu and I'm totally impressed. Very stable, very energy efficient, sends a notification when a person or car arrives reliably and can tune out the neighbours driveway with a mask. Great software and fairly intuitive. Give it a go.
TL;DR: They're a damn good choice, and I don't know how offline they can be.
I use Proxmox, Reolink 810s, and I have AgentDVR logged into the cameras via https (443) to get info, and ONVIF (8000) for the stream. It takes a little tweaking via the camera app or web GUI if you want the onboard AI to omit large or small objects for screenshots or notifications, which I have controlled by HA. I use the AgentDVR and Reolink integrations. Here are the features I've got:
- AgentDVR logged in to the cameras' admin account (definitely no Reolink account)
- Reolink cam rolling footage based on motion, on onboard MicroSD
- AgentDVR 24/7 footage saving directly to a mounted high-capacity HDD
- Reolink cam, with detection, sends a screenshot with a configured naming format via FTP directly to Home Assistant's www folder (but this and notifications can be handled by either piece of the setup)
- Home Assistant monitors the folder with folder_watcher and an automation prepares to send my phone a notification (Fdroid - not Google) once the image has 'closed')
- I've saved my automation script in which HA does the screenshots instead of the Reolink cam. I've kept the clickAction to the Reolink app in there because it's very complicated
- My cameras are connected to my home WiFi but they can also connect to an NVR or a PC for a completely isolated link (you'll need a PoE injector, I use this for up to 4 cameras).
If you use the Reolink app, then it will use the Reolink servers via several domains. I haven't checked traffic on the cameras yet. It can be fully offline but I choose not to for a better remote experience using the app.
I set them up a long time ago, scanning a QR code on the camera using the Reolink app. I don't know if it can be handled another way.
You don't need the app to set up the wireless devices either. See https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/reolink#qr-code
I've got a wireless button with a wall-plugged speaker inside. It's all I need, as we have cameras feeding a motion-server.
I'd really want to get push notifications when the doorbell is rung, as we're not always where the bell is. And sometimes we'd like to disconnect it because the baby is sleeping and the dogs go off at the sound of the bell.
I haven't found any zigbee-replacement. I'm thinking to just put a zigbee-button and solve the chile through HA.
Not entirely on-topic, but in case you aren't aware, there is a slight functional difference between the white and black models of the Reolink doorbell camera. The video on the white has a portrait aspect ratio, whereas the black's is landscape.
I was curious about that. I settled on the black one for my space, though I haven't ordered yet and I probably would also be happy with white. There is a long straight wall to the right of my door, so I need basically no FOV to the right and the left can sweep the whole yard in the background.
What camera/doorbell did you end up ordering?
My partner had a preference for the wider FOV so I got the black one. It paired no problem and after banging my head against the wall for a while I got the stream working in Home Assistant, VLC, then Frigate. I haven't decided how I want to handle the recording. I have yet to set up notifications and I'm not certain if my doorbell circuit is providing enough power, which would explain why the Bezos Bell sucked at keeping a charge (also surveiling your customers all day takes a lot of juice). This may become a slightly bigger project if I have to rerun the wiring.
There was a lot of hype around this bell and that naturally makes me skeptical, but rarely have I had a device pair and get to a functional state that quickly, even in most proprietary apps. We'll see how it works out once I have it wired in.
Looks like there are 4 "black ones". Did you get one of these black ones?
You are correct. That wasn't the most descriptive statement on my part :D
The black Reolink WiFi doorbell one was what I purchased. I was tempted by the PoE one because it would avoid using WiFi bandwidth but there's no cable in that area.
Oh, damn! Nice! You got the WiFi doorbell! I read Frigate doesn't recommend WiFi cameras, but seems like you got it working decently enough?
I have a few Reolink POE cameras(and poe doorbell) with an old mini pc running frigate, all on a battery backup so if the power goes for a bit the cameras and recording don't. I also have a coral tpu installed in the mini pc.
All of my cameras are blocked at the firewall from leaving the network and they function fully, 100% local. When i plugged in the poe cable the cameras grabbed an ip address and you can interact with them through that.
As others have said there is also a home assistant integration for reolink that let's you import and control the cameras from within home assistant as well as a frigate integration. I prefer having frigate on it's own box so when i need to reboot home assistant my cameras are still recording.
Once it's all set up you can have live video feed for each camera accessible within home assistant, on your dashboard if you like, as well as access to clips and continuous recordings depending on frigate configuration and storage capacity.