Connect a Reolink camera to SiteWatch

Reolink's wired cameras (the RLC series — 510A, 520A, 810A and friends) are the sweet spot for jobsite documentation: about $50–$120, 5MP or better, on-camera person and vehicle detection, and they speak FTP natively. This guide covers connecting one to SiteWatch. Most of it applies to Amcrest, Hikvision, and Dahua cameras too — only the menu names change.

Before you start

• PoE cameras need a PoE source.The RLC-520A and most RLC models draw power over the Ethernet cable. If your router or switch isn't PoE, add an 802.3af injector (~$15). Reolink usually doesn't include one.
• A SiteWatch project.Create one, then keep the project page open — you'll need its ingest token.

Step 1 — Find the camera on your network

Plug it in and give it a minute. The Reolink desktop client will usually auto-discover it on the same LAN. If it doesn't, find the IP yourself: cameras announce themselves by MAC address, and Reolink's addresses start with EC:71:DB.

On macOS or Linux, ping your subnet and read the ARP table:

# adjust 10.0.0 to match your network
for i in $(seq 1 254); do ping -c1 -W120 10.0.0.$i >/dev/null 2>&1 & done; wait
arp -an | grep -i "ec:71:db"

That prints the camera's IP. Your router's DHCP client list works too — look for a device named Reolink or Camera.

Step 2 — Enable the web interface (the first gotcha)

Type the camera's IP into a browser and you'll likely get nothing at all. That's not a broken camera: recent Reolink firmware ships with HTTP, HTTPS, RTSP, and ONVIF all switched off for security. Only Reolink's own port 9000 is open, which is why their app works but your browser doesn't.

1. Install the Reolink desktop client (easier than mobile for this) from reolink.com and add the camera — auto-discovered on the LAN, or manually by IP. You'll set an admin password on first connect.
2. Go to Settings → Network → Advanced → Port Settings and switch on HTTP. Turn on RTSP and ONVIF too if you want them later; SiteWatch doesn't need either.
3. Now http://your-camera-ip loads the web UI in a browser.

If a port toggle is greyed out, update the firmware first (Settings → System → Firmware) — very old builds handle this differently.

Step 3 — Point FTP uploads at SiteWatch

This is the whole integration. In the client or web UI, open Settings → Network → FTP (labelled Surveillance → FTP on some firmware) and enter:

• Server: ftp.sitewatch.com — exactly that, with no ftp://prefix. The prefix breaks the camera's hostname lookup and every attempt fails with a generic "450: Unknown error."
• Port: 21
• Username: your project's ingest token (copy it from the project page)
• Password: anything — the token is the credential
• Upload type: Picture. This is the second gotcha — cameras often default to video, and SiteWatch ingests images. If you only see "Video," look for a separate Picture or Snapshot toggle.

Then choose when it uploads:

• On motion — powers after-hours theft alerts and catches deliveries and crew activity.
• On a timer/schedule — one photo every 15–60 minutes builds a clean time-lapse. Both can run at once.

Hit Testif the firmware offers it — Reolink's test uploads a tiny text file, which SiteWatch accepts and quietly discards, so a passing test proves the whole path. Then wave at the camera: a photo should appear on your project timeline within a minute.

Step 4 — Cut the false alarms

On "A" models (RLC-520A, 510A, 810A), open Settings → Alarm → Motion and restrict detection to Person and Vehicle. The camera does this classification onboard, so headlights, rain, and raccoons stop triggering uploads — which matters most if you've enabled SiteWatch's after-hours alerts.

Step 5 — Turn on Jobsite Watch

In SiteWatch, open project settings → Jobsite watch, enable it, and set your crew's working hours. Any photo captured outside those hours emails you immediately with the image attached — timestamped and content-hashed, so it's usable evidence if it turns out to be a break-in.

No network at the site?

A PoE camera needs power and a network drop, which many jobsites don't have on day one. Options, cheapest first:

• Email-in instead of FTP— if there's any connectivity at all, most cameras can email a snapshot to your project's ingest address. Same result.
• Solar + LTE camera (Reolink Go/Duo series, ~$300–$900 plus a data SIM) for sites with no power or WiFi.
• Start with your phone. Email photos to the project address from day one and let the camera catch up later — the timeline and the evidence trail begin immediately either way.

Troubleshooting

• Browser can't reach the camera— HTTP is still disabled (Step 2), or you're on a different subnet/VLAN.
• FTP test fails — check the username is the ingest token exactly, with no trailing space, and the port is 21.
• Uploads succeed but nothing appears in SiteWatch — the camera is probably uploading video. Switch it to picture/snapshot.
• It worked, then went quiet — SiteWatch emails you after 24 silent hours, which usually means power, signal, or a settings change on the camera.

Menu paths vary between Reolink firmware versions and models; the names above match builds current in mid-2026. Stuck on a specific model? Email support@sitewatch.com with the model number and we'll walk through it.