Additional Tips & Tricks

Are you using Alexa from one of the supported geographical regions and supported languages?

• If YES then continue to the next question.
• If NO then please contact us to see about adding support for your region. Please note that we can only add support for regions where Amazon supports the Alexa CameraStreamController interface and APIs.

Are you using a supported Amazon Alexa/Fire device?

• If YES then continue to the next question.
• If NO then please contact us to see about adding support for your device. Please note that we can only add support for devices where Amazon supports the Alexa CameraStreamController interface and APIs.

Does your camera support a RTSP steam?

• If YES then continue to the next question.
• If NO then sorry, you are out of luck. The Alexa devices only support RTSP streams.

Do you know the RTSP URL for your camera?

• If YES then continue to the next question.
• If NO then you will need to obtain the RTSP URL from the camera's user manual, the camera manufacturer's technical support or forum.

Have you tested and verified your RTSP URL and IP camera stream is working using a 3rd-party tool such as VLC or FFPLAY?

• If YES then continue to the next question.
• If NO then you should first test the RTSP URL and camera stream access credentials using a separate tool just to make sure you have a known working camera stream before attmepting to view the stream on your Alexa device.

Does your camera support H.264 encoded video?

• If YES then continue to the next question.
• If NO then sorry, you are out of luck. The Alexa devices only supports H.264 encoded video streams. (*Alexa does not support MJPEG or H.265 streams at this time.*)
• If UNKNOWN then you can use VLC to verify the video codecs.

Does your camera support AAC or G.711 encoded audio?

• If YES then please note that AAC is the preferred audio codec for Alexa if your camera is configured to use a different audio codec, then please consider switching to the AAC codec. Continue to the next question.
• If NO then sorry, you are out of luck. The Alexa devices only supports AAC and G.711 encoded audio streams.
• If UNKNOWN then you can use VLC to verify the audio codecs.

Are you using a FireTV Stick (non-4K), FireTV Edition or Echo Spot to try and view your camera stream?

• If YES then please be aware that these devices only support video stream up to 1080P resolution (1920x1080 pixels). You may need to check the video stream settings in your IP camera's configuration pages/utility to make sure its only streaming at 1080P or lower. (Not the stream resolution settings in the Monocle web portal)
• If NO then continue to the next question.
• If UNKNOWN then you can use VLC to verify the video streaming resolution.

Are you using a FireTV 4K, FireTV 4K Stick, FireTV Cube, Fire Tablet or FireTV Edition to try and view your camera stream?

• If YES then please be aware that these devices will no longer work directly with your local IP cameras. Amazon has implemented updates on these platforms that now enforce stricter connectivity policies. We provide an application service called Monocle Gateway that you can install and run inside your local network to satisfy the new Amazon enforced requirements. Monocle Gateway acts as a communications bridge between your Alexa devices and IP cameras inside your local network.
• If NO then continue to the next question.

Are you using an Amazon CloudCam, Google NestCam/Dropcam, Arlo or Reolink Argus camera?

• If YES then you are out of luck using Monocle. These cameras all have proprietary connection and don't support RTSP access. You may find separate and dedicated Alexa skills published by the camera manufacturer for these cameras.
• If NO then continue to the next question.

Are you using a Foscam camera?

• If YES then you must use our Monocle Gateway service to allow compatibility between the Alexa devices and Foscam cameras. Please see Foscam Compatibility for additional information.
• If NO then continue to the next question.

Are you using a Reolink camera?

• If YES then you must use our Monocle Gateway service to allow compatibility between the Alexa devices and Reolink cameras. Please see Reolink Compatibility for additional information.
• If NO then continue to the next question.

Please check our camera compatibility chart and forums section on cameras for any specific notes related to your specific camera/hardware.

• Monocle Camera Compatibility
• Hardware Forum Topics

  Please note this is a work in progress and does not cover all possible camera manufacturers and models.

Is your camera stream using G.711 encoded audio? (Sometimes displayed as mLAW or uLAW)

• If NO then continue to the next question.
• If YES then please note that the Alexa devices are very picky about `G.711` audio streams and in many cases disabling or removing the audio channel from the stream will allow the camera to start streaming video.

At this point further testing and diagnostics require using our Monocle Gateway service.

• Install the Monocle Gateway service on a computer inside your local network.
• After installing and configuring your Monocle Gateway instance, you will need to TAG your camera in the Monocle Web Portal. See: Tagging Cameras for Monocle Gateway
• Start with the @tunnel tag. This provides the most basic tunneling using the gateway service with the least modifications to the camera RTSP negotiation and stream descriptor. If we ask for the console output/log from the gateway service, we will most likely want to use only @tunnel to start with to obtain a clean and unmodified account of the RTSP communications.
• If @tunnel alone does not work, then try both @tunnel, @noaudio. This will strip any audio channel out of the camera's stream descriptor. Even cameras that may have their audio channel disabled and cameras that may not support audio hardware often have an audio channel in the descriptor which can cause issues/conflicts with Alexa' RTSP player.
• If @tunnel, @noaudio does not work, then try @proxy. This tag will instruct the gateway service to use a RTSP proxy implementation and use UDP communication with the camera opposed to the default TCP interleaved communication.
• If @proxy does not work, then try both @proxy, @noaudio. This will strip any audio channel out of the camera's stream descriptor. Even cameras that may have their audio channel disabled and cameras that may not support audio hardware often have an audio channel in the descriptor which can cause issues/conflicts with Alexa' RTSP player.