Camera Setup

Superhome reads any RTSP stream. The source can be an IP camera, an NVR sub-stream, or a USB webcam exposed over RTSP.

Supported sources

Source	Guide
TP-Link Tapo cameras	Tapo setup
Reolink, Hikvision, Dahua, ONVIF	Other IP cameras
USB webcam	USB webcam

Recommendations

• Resolution: 2K recommended. Try not to go below 1080p, as lower resolutions noticeably reduce the maximum working distance.
• Night vision: use a camera with built-in IR LEDs. Superhome's models work also in complete darkness.
• Frame rate: 10 to 15 FPS is sufficient.
• Static IP: give the camera a fixed IP address (a DHCP reservation on your router, or a static IP set in the camera). If the camera's IP changes, the RTSP URL breaks and Superhome stops working until you update it.

Tested camera

All of our testing was done with the TP-Link Tapo C210 (2K), which the system officially supports. The Tapo's built-in denoising and image cleanup help Superhome reach the stated scores at the stated ranges. Other cameras may perform better or worse depending on their image quality.

Troubleshooting

If Superhome cannot connect to the camera, it does not stop: it keeps running and retries the connection automatically (about every minute), reconnecting on its own as soon as the stream becomes reachable. While disconnected, the logs show a warning pointing to this page.

First step — test the URL in VLC. On a computer in the same network, open VLC → Media → Open Network Stream and paste the exact same RTSP URL you configured in Superhome. If VLC cannot play it, the problem is in the URL or the camera, not in Superhome.

Common causes:

• 404 Stream Not Found — the stream path is wrong (e.g. /stream1 vs /stream1000), or RTSP is not enabled on the camera. Check the guide for your camera model: Tapo, other IP cameras.
• Authentication errors — wrong username/password. On Tapo cameras you must use the dedicated Camera Account credentials, not your TP-Link cloud account.
• No route / timeout — wrong IP address or the camera is on a different network/VLAN. Remember the IP can change after a reboot: set a static IP or DHCP reservation.
• Special characters in the password — characters like @, : or / in the password must be URL-encoded in the RTSP URL.

Once VLC plays the stream, copy that exact URL into the Superhome configuration: the connection recovers automatically, no restart needed.