Monocle Gateway

Allgemeines / Talkroom
1

Hello Instar members,

I apologize for using English here, but I don’t speak German and am using Google Translate to read this forum.

Monocle enables you to view RTSP/RTP camera streams from cameras (such as Instar) on your private network cameras with Alexa video-enabled devices such as the Amazon Echo Show, Echo Spot, Fire TV and Fire Tablets.

We are officially still in BETA, but welcome you to register today and try it out.

LINKS:

SUPPORTED CAMERAS:
Amazon Alexa camera support is currently limited to IP cameras that support a RTSP stream with H.264 encoded video and AAC/G711 encoded audio.

I also wanted to clear up a few details. If you are only accessing your Instar cameras from your Alexa devices on your local/private network, then you do not have to forward any ports on your router or setup a dynamic DNS hostname. You can put the local private IP address of your Instar camera in the Monocle configuration page for your camera. This type of setup keeps all your video and audio traffic local to your network and not exposed or traversing the Internet.

https://monoclecam.com/support/faq/how-does-monocle-work

Also just a couple of tips to help reader avoid some common pitfalls.

TIP #1
Any Alexa device running FireTV OS 6.x or later must additionally run our Monocle Gateway software service to act as a communications bridge between the Alexa devices and the IP cameras. This is because Amazon has enforced tighter security restrictions on how Alexa devices can communicate with IP cameras. These restrictions make a lot of sense for cloud connected cameras but not for locally connected cameras running in your private network. Nevertheless, the Monocle Gateway can help overcome this hurdle by implementing all the Amazon enforced requirements.
These devices currently include:

You can find the latest information about Monocle’s support for Amazon devices here:

Additional information about Monocle Gateway can be found here:

TIP #2
Some cameras/NVRs including but not limited to Foscam, ReoLink, D-Link, TrendNET, TPLink, SV3C are not directly compatible with Alexa’s RTSP player.
Many of these cameras can be made to work by using the Monocle Gateway service to overcome some of the incompatibilities.
Additional information about Monocle Gateway can be found here:

TIP #3
Some Alexa devices are limited to playing camera streams with a maximum resolution of 1080P.
These devices currently include:

You can find the latest information about the maximum supported video resolutions for Amazon devices here:

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Thank You,
Monocle Support