We’ve looked at a few different home security camera setups, and we always like when they come without needing to have a monthly subscription. One of the brands we’ve looked at is Reolink, and we were pretty impressed. The one thing you could have against them is that the recordings (for the wireless cameras) are all on the device – so if the camera is grabbed, there goes the recordings. Well, that changes with the Reolink Home Hub.
Reolink Home Hub: what it is
The Reolink Home Hub is a small box that acts as the command center for your cameras. Hook it into your network with an ethernet cable, slide a microSD card in (up to 512GB), and you’re ready to go. You add your cameras in, and then the recordings are all getting sent to the Reolink Home Hub.
Not only that, you’re also getting a reliable alarm (not your phone) that is in your house, so you can hear the alerts if something shady is happening out in the yard. Additionally, the PR states that the Reolink Home Hub sets up it’s own LAN with the cameras, so it can keep working even if the internet goes out (that’s the first we’ve seen a feature like that from these sorts of devices).
Why we like it
First and foremost, it’s putting those recordings in a separate place. Most camera mounting systems, while stable, are not terribly hard to figure out how to unmount. Which means if someone is deciding to be a porch pirate (or worse), they could grab the camera, and the evidence of their presence is gone. With this, they’re off in a totally different spot (inside) which is much more difficult to get at.
The second thing that we like about this is that the Reolink Home Hub is setting up it’s own LAN with the cameras. In theory, this means if the internet goes out, the cameras just keep recording and sending data to the hub. This is definitely something we’ll be looking to test out with our review unit of the hub (as well as another camera we got in, the Reolink Duo 3 Wifi), so keep an eye out for that review.
Wrapping things up
While you can get your order in for the stand-alone Reolink Home Hub now, the Home Security System bundles will be shipping next month. You can get it stand-alone (for $84.99), or in bundles that range from $239.99 – $469.99, depending on the specific cameras (and quantities of those cameras). And do note, those are discounted prices right now, to celebrate the launch. From what they’ve written, these should work with most of their cameras (full compatibility rundown is here). Oh, and also of note, the hub can support up to 12 cameras. If you’ve got a larger setup, there’s also going to be a Home Hub Pro, which can handle up to 24 cameras (only 12 PoE) and comes with a built-in (and expandable) 2TB HDD. Check it out, and order yours, at reolink.com
