Best go2rtc stream config for Reolink Doorbell, RLC-1224A and E1 Outdoor Pro

[Adrien40]

Describe the problem you are having

I am running Frigate 0.17.2 with three Reolink cameras. Recently, I have been getting stream drops on the Video Doorbell WiFi leading to 404 errors in go2rtc and FFmpeg capture thread crashes.

I would like feedback and recommended practices for setting up go2rtc and cameras with these models:

Which stream source works best for the main feed (HTTP-FLV vs direct RTSP vs RTMP)?

How do you cleanly handle 4K / H.265 on RLC-1224A and E1 Outdoor Pro between recording and detection sub-streams?

Recommended FFmpeg flags (audio/video copy) and whether to keep RTSP solely for two-way audio on the Doorbell.

Version

0.17.2

What browser(s) are you using?

Google Chrome

Frigate config file

go2rtc:
  api:
    origins: '*'
  webrtc:
    listen: :8555
    filters:
      networks: [udp4, tcp4]
    candidates:
      - 192.168.1.102:8555
      - stun:8555
      - stun:stun.l.google.com:19302
  streams:
    terrasse:
      - ffmpeg:rtsp://xxx:yyy@192.168.1.70:554/h265Preview_01_main#video=copy#audio=copy#input_args=-rtsp_transport
        tcp -fflags +genpts+igndts
    terrasse_sub:
      - ffmpeg:rtsp://xxx:yyy@192.168.1.70:554/h264Preview_01_sub#video=copy#audio=copy#input_args=-rtsp_transport
        tcp -fflags +genpts+igndts
    entree:
      - ffmpeg:rtsp://xxx:yyy@192.168.1.71:554/h265Preview_01_main#video=copy#audio=copy#input_args=-rtsp_transport
        tcp -fflags +genpts+igndts
    entree_sub:
      - ffmpeg:rtsp://xxx:yyy@192.168.1.71:554/h264Preview_01_sub#video=copy#audio=copy#input_args=-rtsp_transport
        tcp -fflags +genpts+igndts
    visiophone:
      - ffmpeg:rtsp://xxx:yyy@192.168.1.75:554/Preview_01_main#video=copy#audio=copy#input_args=-rtsp_transport
        tcp -fflags +genpts+igndts
    visiophone_sub:
      - ffmpeg:rtsp://xxx:yyy@192.168.1.75:554/Preview_01_sub#video=copy#audio=copy#input_args=-rtsp_transport
        tcp -fflags +genpts+igndts

Relevant Frigate log output

[2026-08-19 14:17:24] ffmpeg.visiophone.audio_record ERROR   : [in#0/rtsp @ 0x59e7e0149d00] Error during demuxing: Connection timed out
[2026-08-19 14:17:29] frigate.video                   ERROR   : visiophone: Unable to read frames from ffmpeg process.
[2026-08-19 14:17:34] ffmpeg.visiophone.detect        ERROR   : [rtsp @ 0x62ccc9105100] method DESCRIBE failed: 404 Not Found
[2026-08-19 14:17:34] ffmpeg.visiophone.detect        ERROR   : Error opening input file rtsp://127.0.0.1:8554/visiophone_sub.

Relevant go2rtc log output

14:17:24.544 [WARN] [rtsp] read tcp 192.168.1.102:xxxx->192.168.1.75:554: i/o timeout
14:17:24.545 [INFO] [streams] disconnect producer=visiophone
14:17:34.545 [WARN] [rtsp] 404 Not Found on DESCRIBE /visiophone_sub

FFprobe output from your camera

Input #0, rtsp, from 'rtsp://admin:******@192.168.1.75:554/h264Preview_01_main':
  Metadata:
    title           : Stream
  Duration: N/A, start: 0.000000, bitrate: N/A
  Stream #0:0: Video: h264 (Main), yuv420p(progressive), 2560x1920, 20 fps, 20 tbr, 90k tbn
  Stream #0:1: Audio: aac (LC), 16000 Hz, mono, fltp

Frigate stats

No response

Operating system

Proxmox

Install method

Proxmox via installation script

Object Detector

Coral

Network connection

Mixed

Camera make and model

Reolink Video Doorbell WiFi, Reolink RLC-1224A, Reolink E1 Outdoor Pro

Screenshots of the Frigate UI's System metrics pages

Any other information that may be helpful

[inkeep-ai-assistant[bot]]

Reolink has many camera models with inconsistently supported features, and the recommended stream type depends on resolution and generation: for 5MP or lower (all generations) use http-flv (the stream is h264); for 6MP or higher on the latest generation (ex: Duo3, CX-8##) use http-flv with ffmpeg 8.0 or rtsp — this uses the new http-flv-enhanced over H265 which requires ffmpeg 8.0; for 6MP or higher on older generations (ex: RLC-8##) use rtsp.
(1)

The http video streams are generally the most reliable for Reolink.
(1)

Camera-side settings that work best: On, fluency first to set CBR, and Interframe Space 1x to set the iframe interval to the same as the frame rate. Ensure HTTP is enabled in the camera's advanced network settings.
(1)

For the doorbell with two way talk, keep http-flv for stability and add a secondary rtsp stream used only for two way audio. That RTSP stream must not be prefixed with ffmpeg:, since go2rtc needs to handle the stream to support two way audio.
(1)

go2rtc:
 streams:
 ///# example for connecting to a standard Reolink camera
 your_reolink_camera:
 - "ffmpeg:http://reolink_ip/flv?port=1935&app=bcs&stream=channel0_main.bcs&user=username&password=password#video=copy#audio=copy#audio=opus"
 your_reolink_camera_sub:
 - "ffmpeg:http://reolink_ip/flv?port=1935&app=bcs&stream=channel0_ext.bcs&user=username&password=password"
 ///# example for connectin to a Reolink camera that supports two way talk
 your_reolink_camera_twt:
- "ffmpeg:http://reolink_ip/flv?port=1935&app=bcs&stream=channel0_main.bcs&user=username&password=password#video=copy#audio=copy#audio=opus"
 - "rtsp://username:password@reolink_ip/Preview_01_sub"
 your_reolink_camera_twt_sub:
 - "ffmpeg:http://reolink_ip/flv?port=1935&app=bcs&stream=channel0_ext.bcs&user=username&password=password"
 - "rtsp://username:password@reolink_ip/Preview_01_sub"

cameras:
 your_reolink_camera:
 ffmpeg:
 inputs:
 - path: rtsp://127.0.0.1:8554/your_reolink_camera
 input_args: preset-rtsp-restream
 roles:
 - record
 - path: rtsp://127.0.0.1:8554/your_reolink_camera_sub
 input_args: preset-rtsp-restream
 roles:
 - detect

(1)

On the 404 DESCRIBE errors: rtsp://127.0.0.1:8554/visiophone_sub must exactly match the go2rtc stream name — in the pattern above, the path name must match the name of the camera_sub in restream. Case mismatches produce method DESCRIBE failed: 404 Not Found / Server returned 404 Not Found.
(1), (2)

Split roles so the main (H.265) stream carries record and the h264 sub stream carries detect, as in the config above.
(1)

For H.265 playback on MacOS/iPhone, use apple_compatibility:

cameras:
 h265_cam: ///# <------ Doesn't matter what the camera is called
 ffmpeg:
 apple_compatibility: true ///# <- Adds compatibility with MacOS and iPhone

(1)

For live view, H.264 video with AAC audio is the most compatible; avoid "smart codec" or "+" codecs like H.264+/H.265+ because they remove keyframes, and set the i-frame interval to match the frame rate (1x on Reolink). Note some browsers may not support H.265.
(3)

For two-way talk specifically, set up go2rtc with WebRTC and access Frigate via https. Also, go2rtc automatically establishes an audio backchannel on RTSP streams which blocks two-way talk, so configure two separate stream instances — one with ///#backchannel=0 for viewing/recording/detection, and one without it for two-way talk:

go2rtc:
 streams:
 front_door:
 - rtsp://user:password@10.0.10.10:554/cam/realmonitor?channel=1&subtype=2///#backchannel=0
 front_door_twoway:
 - rtsp://user:password@10.0.10.10:554/cam/realmonitor?channel=1&subtype=2

(3), (4)

Since your doorbell has an audio_record/audio role connection, note the audio ffmpeg process is a separate connection to the camera, so using the go2rtc restream for it is recommended.
(5)

On H.265 over http-flv: HTTP-FLV+ is supported in ffmpeg8 and the go2rtc release included in 0.18 with support for H.265, for Reolink cameras that support it. You can update go2rtc now to use it via custom go2rtc version; go2rtc handles it fully as long as ffmpeg is not used in go2rtc for that camera. The sub stream is not h265, so it can be run however works best.
(6)

To reduce camera connections, you can also use the single-connection restream pattern where record, detect, and audio all pull from the restream.
(4)

📚 Sources:

1. Camera Specific Configurations
2. [Camera Support]: Reolink Duo Floodlight PoE
3. Live View
4. Restream
5. Audio Detectors
6. Reolink's Baichuan integration

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Have another question? Just tag @inkeep.

[hawkeye217]

The AI is correct here (though the YAML configs it has listed are not indented correctly), the most stable stream depends on the camera's resolution.

See the official docs: https://docs.frigate.video/configuration/camera_specific/#reolink-cameras