Questions and recommendation for indoor Reolink NVR + PoE Cameras as a backup in addition to an existing wireless security system

Sep 23, 2026
1
1
USA
Greeting IP Cam Experts,

Newbie here and I am looking to install an indoor PoE backup camera system to protect against potential Wi-Fi jamming and would appreciate your recommendations for the best setup.

Setup Details:

- Coverage Area: Room A (24' W x 30' L, with front and back access doors) and Room B (11.8' W x 11.9' L, connected via a side door on the right of Room A).
- Lighting: Well-lit from dusk to dawn.
- Budget: Around $500.
- Equipment Under Consideration:
- Reolink NVR RLN8-410 (No HDD) - $152
- Reolink FE-P (for Room A) - $136
- Reolink RLC-820A (for Room B) - $80
- Optional: Reolink OMVI 3i ($230) for Room A if the fisheye camera view quality is poor due to distortion.
(Note: All cameras have a MicroSD slot, fit within my budget, and per the manufacturer, do not use Dahua, Hikvision or Huawei/HiSilicon components.)

Questions:

1. Can these cameras continuously or loop-record to both a MicroSD card and the NVR simultaneously?
2. Can flat, oxygen-free copper Cat 6/6e Ethernet cables be used instead of standard round cables?
3. Will this configuration work properly within a VLAN setup?

Thanks in advance for your time and help!
 
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Here is the unofficial Reolink thread.

You can see all the attempts people have provided to demonstrate the quality of Reolink, and they are all a blurry mess at night or missing body parts or other messes.

We have challenged someone to provide a clean capture of someone moving at night with a Reolink and as you can see with over 20 pages, nobody has yet to provide a usable image with motion at night.

Reolink: Deconstruction of a dangerous misleading youtube review "Finding the BEST 4K Security Camera NVR Package (Reolink vs Amcrest vs Swann)"

Most will say these don't cut it.

Are these images sufficient for what your goals are for the system?
 
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Greeting IP Cam Experts,

Newbie here and I am looking to install an indoor PoE backup camera system to protect against potential Wi-Fi jamming and would appreciate your recommendations for the best setup.

Setup Details:

- Coverage Area: Room A (24' W x 30' L, with front and back access doors) and Room B (11.8' W x 11.9' L, connected via a side door on the right of Room A).
- Lighting: Well-lit from dusk to dawn.
- Budget: Around $500.
- Equipment Under Consideration:
- Reolink NVR RLN8-410 (No HDD) - $152
- Reolink FE-P (for Room A) - $136
- Reolink RLC-820A (for Room B) - $80
- Optional: Reolink OMVI 3i ($230) for Room A if the fisheye camera view quality is poor due to distortion.
(Note: All cameras have a MicroSD slot, fit within my budget, and per the manufacturer, do not use Dahua, Hikvision or Huawei/HiSilicon components.)

Questions:

1. Can these cameras continuously or loop-record to both a MicroSD card and the NVR simultaneously?
2. Can flat, oxygen-free copper Cat 6/6e Ethernet cables be used instead of standard round cables?
3. Will this configuration work properly within a VLAN setup?

Thanks in advance for your time and help!
The flat ethernet cable should never be used. Especially with POE. It's too small of gauge of wire.
At the minimum you want 24gauge wires.

Reolink cams are mostly crap, except for their POE doorbell cam.
 
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The flat ethernet cable should never be used. Especially with POE. It's too small of gauge of wire.
At the minimum you want 24gauge wires.

Reolink cams are mostly crap, except for their POE doorbell cam.
I’m still looking for an explanation why their PoE doorbell isn’t crap. I’ve owned one and thought it was crap.

Is it just that people must have video doorbells and since they’re all crap, this one just fits in?