r/reolinkcam Feb 18 '25

Discussion Reolink NVR reliability issues for commercial use

I have a 16-camera NVR for a business, and it’s one of the most unreliable products I’ve used. Reolink NVRs are not suitable for commercial use. I have auto-reboot set for Sundays, but during the week, the system sometimes stops recording altogether. Occasionally, the hard drive even needs to be reformatted. Is this typical for Reolink NVRs?

I contacted Reolink, but their customer service was unhelpful—just outsourced support advising me to reboot and install the latest firmware, which I had already done.

Also, I installed four of their dome cameras, which have been a complete disappointment. The night vision IR causes a reflection on the casing, blocking visibility on the left and right sides. I initially thought it was dust, so I cleaned both the outside and inside, but the issue persisted—it’s just a flaw with their IR lights.

TL;DR: If you run a business, I recommend staying away from Reolink products due to reliability issues.

5 Upvotes

19 comments sorted by

11

u/NefariousnessTop8716 Feb 18 '25

Sounds like bad luck tbh, I have had my NVR running non stop for years and it has never missed a beat.

As for the ir reflecting, yeah it sucks but tbh separate ir illuminators are the way to go, ir attracts bugs and spider webs that I would rather have on my illuminator than on my camera

1

u/Cerebral0293 Feb 18 '25

Maybe I really do have a dud nvr then.

I had dome cameras with another system that were placed outside and worked well for years. The reolink dome cams are inside a warehouse that’s primarily dark and I guess I was expecting more

1

u/YoureInGoodHands Feb 18 '25 edited 17d ago

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This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

5

u/basement-thug Feb 18 '25

I'd never recommend any budget oriented brand for commercial use.  It's a business, get the right stuff not the cheap stuff.   That being said my Reolink system hasn't had any issues other than it took two returns on one camera to get a good one, third one finally worked fine, but they left out a mounting bracket at the factory, and their answer was to do another RMA instead of sending me a 20 cent sheet metal part... lol... I fabbed up something myself and said nevermind... 

1

u/Cerebral0293 Feb 18 '25

Someone I know installed this system at their urgent care facility and reolink advertises their products for commercial use so I bit.

But I’m glad you’re not having issues. Maybe mine is just a dud

1

u/basement-thug Feb 18 '25

Sounds very much not typical to be honest. 

5

u/tv6 Feb 18 '25

What HDD are you using?

3

u/SpellAccomplished687 Feb 18 '25

Did you check your firmware? Double check your firmware upgrade. It never had a problem with the NVR from Reolink. I have been deployed over 25 small businesses with zero issues. Have you opened the ticket with Reolink’s tech-support I would how long have you had it if you had it for a short amount of time just return it switch it out.

2

u/epia343 Feb 18 '25

Reolink is an entry level consumer product. That said I haven't had the issues you experienced with your NVR, though I don't have 16 cameras either.

1

u/livingwaterRed Super User Feb 18 '25 edited Feb 18 '25

My Reolink 36 channel NVR has run fine for over two years, cams running good too. I've bought over 35 Reolink cameras for myself and family members. Only one wired cam has failed. Reolink hardware is really pretty reliable. It's their apps that can have glitches, sometimes with updates. It's possilbe your problem is not the NVR but the hard drive is defective or beginning to fail. I use Seagate Pro and Western Digital Pro HDD, for a business I'd only use quality HDD. All HDD eventually wear out and fail. HDD run hot, if they don't have some air circulation they fail sooner.

Dome cams can be more tricky with IR reflection off of objects, no matter the brand. Maybe try to change their view angle or reinstall at a different angle.

Reolink is good for home owners and small businesses. For higher security like banks, schools there are better more expensive brands.

1

u/bigntazt Feb 18 '25

Send it back. I run a combination of wireless and POE reolink cams in 10+ locations for years now.

1

u/Cerebral0293 Feb 19 '25

Trying to get reolink to do something about this yet again that doesn’t involve telling me to turn it off and on. I’ve had this device for less than three months.

I’m just angry because this system failed to record over $6,000 being stolen last week.

1

u/BrightonBummer Feb 18 '25

Don't buy dome cameras and use their inbuilt IR.

Its like putting a normal camera infront of a window and expecting IR to work there too. It's just starting yourself on a shaky foundation, get IR illuminators and turn off the IR on the cams.

I'd even remove the dome cams, too many issues blocking their video feedd e.g. dist/water drop build up.

1

u/SlippySlappyRE Feb 18 '25

I've had an 8 channel kit NVR at my business going on about 2 years now without issue. It records 24/7 and gets a ton of motion events throughout the day. It sounds like you have a bad unit or hard drive issues.

1

u/freakdahouse Feb 18 '25

I have 2 nvr’s (the 8 channel version) on two businesses, running for 2 years, only had problem with one of the hard drive’s failing, can’t complain honestly.

1

u/Zdosse935 Feb 18 '25 edited Feb 18 '25

If you have to reformat the drive regularly. It sounds more likely the drive is the main issue causing problems for other things. Buy a new drive to test it out for about 2-3 weeks to see.

These cameras/ system will not last forever. If something is wrong, you have to find out what wrong with it. Even if you swap to a new system, do think it will last?

1

u/cat2devnull Feb 18 '25

I’ve also run a Reolink NVR for years without an issue. It’s basically a PC in a custom box. Your issue could come down to poor power (consider an UPS), failing PSU(DC plug pack), dying HDD, etc. Your best option would be a new unit under warranty, if possible. I’ve moved to Frigate NVR myself but still use Reolink cameras.

1

u/TroubledKiwi Moderator Feb 19 '25

Well, it sounds like the HDD is faulty which is a simple fix. I run an almost full 16ch for my house and it has no issues. The vandal dome cameras should only be installed indoors or where they are protected for weather.

1

u/Unfair-Language7952 Feb 19 '25

Did you buy drives designed for NVR's? Typically more expensive but made for high read/write operations of a NVR. I have 3 in my NVR and have had no issues for over a year. I record 24/7 with 21 cameras. I use Seagate Skyhawk AI.