[Support]: Home Assistant with "WebRTC Camera" and Frigate Setup

[dm82m]

Describe the problem you are having

I was using the "WebRTC Camera" integration in the past with my Tapo C320WS camera to have a latency less and two way audio possibility in Home Assistant.

Now I throw away MotionEye as it was not really working good for me and moved over to Frigate.

I started having go2rtc enabled in Frigate but now switched on using the go2rtc streams provided by the "WebRTC Camera" integration. I think its better to just have one access to the camera rtsp instead of two.

I am just asking myself if that is the best way to do it or if there would be better approaches, how they look like and what kind of advantages they have.

Version

0.16

What browser(s) are you using?

Google Chrome

Frigate config file

mqtt:
  enabled: false

birdseye:
  enabled: false

detectors:
  cpu:
    type: cpu

#go2rtc:
#  streams:
#    dima-cam_main:
#      - rtsp://user:pass@192.168.178.17:554/stream1
#    dima-cam_sub:
#      - rtsp://user:pass@192.168.178.17:554/stream2

cameras:
  dima-cam:
    ffmpeg:
      inputs:
        # rtsp://127.0.0.1:8554/dima-cam_main
        - path: rtsp://192.168.178.4:8554/camera.dima_cam_hd_stream
          input_args: preset-rtsp-restream
          roles:
            - record
        # rtsp://127.0.0.1:8554/dima-cam_sub
        - path: rtsp://192.168.178.4:8554/camera.dima_cam_sd_stream
          input_args: preset-rtsp-restream
          roles:
            - detect

    detect:
      enabled: true

    objects:
      track:
        - person
        - dog
        - cat
        - racoon
        - squirrel
        - bird
        - fox
        - rabbit
        - skunk

    motion:
      enabled: true
      contour_area: 50

    snapshots:
      enabled: true
      timestamp: true
      bounding_box: false
      clean_copy: true
      retain:
        default: 30
        mode: motion

    record:
      enabled: True
      retain:
        days: 3
        mode: motion
      detections:
        pre_capture: 30
        post_capture: 120
        retain:
          days: 30
          mode: motion

detect:
  enabled: false
version: 0.16-0

Relevant Frigate log output

Not relevant

Relevant go2rtc log output

Not relevant

FFprobe output from your camera

Not relevant

Frigate stats

No response

Install method

Home Assistant Add-on

docker-compose file or Docker CLI command

Not relevant

Object Detector

CPU (no coral)

Network connection

Wired

Camera make and model

Tapo C320WS

Screenshots of the Frigate UI's System metrics pages

No response

Any other information that may be helpful

No response

[inkeep-ai-assistant[bot]]

Based on your setup, using Frigate's built-in go2rtc is the recommended approach rather than relying on the WebRTC Camera integration's go2rtc instance(1)(2).

Recommended Configuration:

Enable Frigate's go2rtc and configure it to connect directly to your camera(1):

go2rtc:
  streams:
    dima-cam:
      - rtsp://user:pass@192.168.178.17:554/stream1
    dima-cam_sub:
      - rtsp://user:pass@192.168.178.17:554/stream2

cameras:
  dima-cam:
    ffmpeg:
      inputs:
        - path: rtsp://127.0.0.1:8554/dima-cam
          input_args: preset-rtsp-restream
          roles:
            - record
        - path: rtsp://127.0.0.1:8554/dima-cam_sub
          input_args: preset-rtsp-restream
          roles:
            - detect

(1)(2)

Why This Approach is Better:

1. Single Connection to Camera: Frigate's RTSP restream reduces connections to your camera(2). One connection is made to the camera for the restream, while detect and record connect to the restream(2).

2. Automatic Stream Mapping: When you set the go2rtc stream name to match your camera name (dima-cam), Frigate automatically maps it for better live view options(1)(3).

3. WebRTC Support: For the best live view experience with audio and lower latency, Frigate uses go2rtc to provide WebRTC and MSE capabilities(2)(3).

4. Home Assistant Integration: The live stream will work properly with the Home Assistant Integration when using Frigate's go2rtc(3).

Your current approach of using the WebRTC Camera integration's go2rtc creates an unnecessary extra layer and prevents you from leveraging Frigate's optimized streaming pipeline(1)(2).

📚 Sources:

1. Configuring go2rtc
2. Restream
3. Live View

---

Have another question? Just tag @inkeep.

[dm82m]

@inkeep if I do that how can I use two way audio then? And how do I use to integrate a camera view into my Lovelace dashboard?

[inkeep-ai-assistant[bot]]

For two-way audio with your Tapo C320WS camera, you need to configure go2rtc with the Tapo protocol(1):

go2rtc:
  streams:
    dima-cam:
      - ffmpeg:https://192.168.178.17/flv?port=1935&app=bcs&stream=channel0_main.bcs&user=user&password=pass#video=copy#audio=copy#audio=opus
    dima-cam_sub:
      - rtsp://user:pass@192.168.178.17:554/stream2
      - ffmpeg:dima-cam_sub#audio=opus
    dima-cam_2way:
      - tapo://user@192.168.178.17

(1)

The tapo:// stream enables two-way talk functionality(1). For audio to work properly with both MSE and WebRTC, you need both AAC and opus audio codecs configured(2).

For the Lovelace Dashboard Integration:

Once Frigate's go2rtc is configured, you can use the Home Assistant Frigate Integration to add camera views to your dashboard(2). The integration provides first-class support and will automatically use Frigate's live streams(2).

To enable two-way talk in the Frigate UI, see the Live View documentation(2).

Audio Configuration:

If you want to enable audio detection events as well, add the audio role to your camera inputs(3):

cameras:
  dima-cam:
    ffmpeg:
      inputs:
        - path: rtsp://127.0.0.1:8554/dima-cam
          input_args: preset-rtsp-restream
          roles:
            - record
        - path: rtsp://127.0.0.1:8554/dima-cam_sub
          input_args: preset-rtsp-restream
          roles:
            - detect
            - audio
    audio:
      enabled: True

(3)

The stream with the audio role must have audio included(3).

📚 Sources:

1. Camera Specific Configurations
2. Live View
3. Audio Detectors

---

Have another question? Just tag @inkeep.

[hawkeye217]

@inkeep This is not correct.

See #8963 (reply in thread)

[inkeep-ai-assistant[bot]]

You're correct to point out the need for clarification. Based on the available documentation, here's what I can confirm about configuring go2rtc streams for Tapo cameras:

For Tapo cameras with two-way audio, the go2rtc configuration should include separate stream entries(1):

go2rtc:
  streams:
    dima-cam:
      - rtsp://user:password@192.168.178.17:554/stream1
      - "ffmpeg:dima-cam#audio=opus"
    dima-cam_sub:
      - rtsp://user:password@192.168.178.17:554/stream2
      - "ffmpeg:dima-cam_sub#audio=opus"

(1)

The documentation shows that for audio support with both MSE and WebRTC, you need PCMA/PCMU or AAC for MSE, and PCMA/PCMU or opus for WebRTC(2). The ffmpeg: source with #audio=opus transcodes audio to opus for WebRTC compatibility(1).

For the Lovelace dashboard integration, once Frigate's go2rtc is properly configured, the Home Assistant integration provides live stream support(2).

However, I don't have specific documentation about the tapo:// protocol configuration in the available sources. The GitHub discussion you referenced may contain community-specific guidance that goes beyond what's in the official documentation I have access to.

If you need detailed Tapo-specific two-way audio configuration, I recommend checking the GitHub discussions or visiting the official documentation for the most current guidance.

**

📚 Sources:

1. Restream
2. Live View

---

Have another question? Just tag @inkeep.

[hawkeye217]

This is still not correct.

The user's solution at #8963 (reply in thread) is confirmed working.

    CAMERANAME:
      - rtsp://rtsp_uname:rtsp_pass@192.168.1.50:554/stream1
      - ffmpeg: CAMERANAME#audio=aac
      - ffmpeg: CAMERANAME#audio=opus
      - tapo://account_password_in_plain_text@192.168.1.50

However you must have webrtc configured and functioning. If webrtc is not working the two way audio won’t function.

go2rtc:
  webrtc:
    candidates:
      - [frigate ip]:8555
      - [optional Tailscale node IP]:8555
      - stun:8555

In addition, you must be accessing the frigate front end via SSL. I'm using nginx reverse proxy in front of mine.

In some cases you need to enable Third-Party Compatibility" in the Tapo Lab section (Me > Tapo Lab > Third-Party Compatibility and reboot cameras. But it’s a hit or miss if that is needed always. In my case it wasn’t necessary.

[dm82m]

@hawkeye217 do you know what version of go2rtc is embedded in frigate (HA addon)?

[hawkeye217]

Frigate 0.16.2 uses go2rtc 1.9.9.

[dm82m]

okay, I went the way like this:

• using the go2rtc addon and having my tapo cams SD, HD and the tapo protocol 2-way-audio stream in there
• connecting frigate onto the go2rtc addon and use it for object detection
• using the webrtc integration and connecting it to the go2rtc streams inside home assistant
• no mqtt usage, no frigate integration and no advanced camera integration

with that I have achieved all my goals:

• single and up2date go2rtc version
• recording via frigate
• lean integration in my home assistant dashboards with 2-way-audio support (to talk back to people when I am abroad)

thanks for all your help @hawkeye217