Smart Doorbell

 I keep my Home Assistant instance up to date by ensuring I install the latest release once the second or third patch has been published. I have just updated to 2023.4.2  By  delaying updates I avoid the bugs that sometimes crop up in the initial release each month as new features are added. I only install the initial release if there is a fix I am waiting for or a new integration/feature I am really excited for. 

A new integration that was added in the 2023.1 release that peaked my interest was the integration with Reolink.  I already had a Reolink  camera setup as an RTSP camera, so testing out the new integration was easy. The only problem I had with it was that motion sensors integrated into Home Assistant was not consistently functioning. Home Assistant clearly informed me of the issue with basic steps to resolve the issue, but those steps didn't work.  This was due to my instance of Home Assistant using port 8123 with https and Lets Encrypt to use my own domain. 

I thought I was just stuck, but someone else posted the same issue to the Home Assistant sub-Reddit. Someone there suggested setting up a reverse proxy to get around the issue, in this post. Following a basic tutorial for that setup, restarting Home Assistant, and adding some additional firewall rules to re-direct 8123 externally to 443 internally resolved the issue. 

With my existing camera working I was able to see what all the fuss was about.  The motion, person, vehicle, and pet detection was simply awesome. All of that worked on the device without having to run processing on my raspberry pi or involve another server or service. 

I was so impressed with how it handled things I decided to start the process of converting my remaining cameras to Reolink, but saw their new doorbell that several youtubers have given glowing reviews recently was on sale. I purchased the wifi version to avoid having to run an additional POE run or replace my POE switch that is already at capacity with my current cameras. 

This device was almost as easy as installing a simple replacement button. The only additional step was to add a jumper in the chime. All told it took about 25 minutes to get physically installed and connected to the Reolink app. Adding it to Home Assistant and fine tuning the motion alert area and recording settings took a bit longer but I am very happy with the edge storage, batch FTP backup, and ability to control alerting from inside Home Assistant.  

Given how simple this was to setup I will probably be ordering the remaining cameras to tackle that project next week end so that I can get it done before the summer heat makes it a less appealing chore.