I am often asked if Reolink cameras will work with a cell phone hotspot. The answer is Yes! you can connect your Reolink WiFi cameras with your cellphone’s hotspot in the absence of a WiFi router or public. If you have a Reolink WiFi camera you may want to connect it to your cell phone to share it with your family and friends, or you may want to connect your camera to your laptop and use it as a security camera.
So, if you were wondering if it is possible to connect a Reolink WiFi camera to a cellphone hotspot? The specs say that it works: “The Reolink WiFi Security Camera is compatible with all 3G/4G/5G Mobile Networks and is compatible with cellular networks worldwide.”
To connect the camera to your phone’s hotspot, you must first enable a hotspot on your phone. If you are not sure how to enable a hotspot, please consult your phone’s support. After you enable the hotspot, you are ready to connect the cameras to the hotspot.
To connect your reolink security camera to your iPhone or iPad hotspot,
- Go to Settings > Cellular > Personal Hotspot or Settings > Personal Hotspot.
- Tap the slider next to Allow Others to Join.
If you don’t see the option for Personal Hotspot, contact your carrier to make sure that you can use Personal Hotspot with your plan.
Here are several cases where you might want to connect your reolink security camera to your mobile hotspot:
1. Your camera is already online and you need to reconnect it to the hotspot.
In this case, you can log in to your camera, then go to your camera’s Wi-Fi settings page and change your camera’s Wi-Fi setting to the hotspot’s SSID and password.
2. Connect WiFi cameras (RLC-410W, RLC-511W, RLC-422W, RLC-423WS, RLC-423W, C series camera) to the hotspot during the initial setup process.
In that case, first, connect the camera to your router. Then you can connect to the camera and go to the wifi settings page of the camera and save your hotspot SSID/password to the camera.
3. During the initial setup process, connect battery-powered, Lumus, E-series cameras to the hotspot.
And in the step where you need to enter the Wi-Fi info, manually enter your hotspot SSID/password to generate the QR code for the camera to scan, then the camera will connect to that hotspot.
How to Connect Reolink Camera to Phone’s Hotspot
There are three main ways to connect the Reolink WiFi camera to a cell phone hotspot. Refer to the following solutions for each connecting method.
Solution #1: Connecting via a wireless access point (Recommended)
A wireless access point can be connected directly with the RLC-411W Reolink WiFi camera and provided Internet connection will be shared wirelessly using Ethernet cable or Wi-Fi connection, enabling other devices in your home or office to enjoy Internet surfing, too. The wireless access point is connected to the Internet using a cable connection, and then it shares a network connection via a Wi-Fi connection. This method is the most popular way of connecting a Reolink WiFi camera.
Please consult your instruction manual on how to configure wireless access points with your Reolink WiFi cameras.
Solution #2: Connecting through Internet sharing
If you do NOT have any dedicated wireless access points, you can connect the camera via sharing an Internet connection from your computer/laptop or mobile device. This method is not recommended if you want to use multiple RLC-411W WiFi cameras at the same time.
Please turn off Internet Sharing in your computer/laptop or mobile device and then follow the setup guide in this manual to connect your RLC-411W Reolink WiFi camera.
Solution #3: Connecting through a SIM card connection
If you do NOT have any dedicated wireless access points, you can connect the camera via sharing an Internet connection from your cell phone to the camera. This method is not recommended if you want to use multiple Reolink WiFi cameras at the same time.
Please follow the setup guide above to connect your Reolink WiFi camera via a cellphone hotspot connection.
