Just for fun: Stream a dashcam to BlueIris

[ruddlefruit]

This isn't really a practical setup, but just wanted to share a quick project. Grain of salt, this requires quite a bit of infrastructure so it's not for everyone, but I figured I'd share anyway. There are a lot of ways to do this, but I did it with mostly things I had lying around. Here's a screenshot:

TOPOLOGY OVERVIEW
Since BI supports RTSP streams, I assumed adding a dashcam with RTSP would work. I knew in advance BI would fail gracefully with RTSP streams cutting in/out, so I wanted to see if I could get everything working by simply building a remote transparent bridge. To do so, I decided to enable a wireguard VPN connection to my car. The dashcam would just be a remote client which the BI server at home would record whenever it came online.

PARTS USED

1. Dashcam: Viofo A119 mini2 (must be on at least firmware V2.1_20241010 to enable wifi station mode)
2. Mini Router: GL.iNet - GL-AR300M16 (to share internet to dashcam and enable VPN route)
3. Internet: Android Phone with hotspot routine

SETUP

• Car LAN configuration:
  • Create a routine on phone to turn on mobile hotspot sharing in the car. This is simple to do with android routines; I assume iOS is similar.
  • The AR300M is great since it's powered by USB, so the easiest thing to do is to get a cigarette USB adapter and just have the router turn on whenever the car's ACC is on. In my case, I just threw the router into the center console since there's a cigarette plug there.
  • Set the AR300M to repeater mode in order for it to access internet from the mobile hotspot and share its connection to the dashcam.
  • Set a static DHCP assignment (e.g. 192.168.8.10) for the dashcam in the AR300M mini router, since the dashcam's limited config doesn't allow you to set static IPs. If you don't do so, the dashcam's address may change at each boot and the BI server won't be able to route to it.
• Camera Setup:
  • I lucked out and my dashcam supports wifi station mode (with the latest firmware). This means I'm able to have it connect to the AR300M as a normal wifi client.
  • However, one major hiccup is that wifi needs to be turned on each time the dashcam starts.
• VPN tunneling from car to home network:
  • This is the meat of the project. The idea is to setup an IP tunnel which turns on whenever the car is in use. Once the car turns on, the tunnel is established. Once BI is able to see the connection, the stream will automatically start recording.
  • Create a VPN tunnel to your BI site (home server). I already run wireguard, so that's what I went with, but this would work with openVPN too.
  • The AR300M16 is perfect for this because it supports both openVPN and wireguard out of the box. Setting up VPN client tunneling on the AR300M16 is pretty trivial nowadays since it even lets you upload config files.
  • For DNS reasons, I changed my phone's car routine to disable wifi on my phone before turning on the hotspot. Otherwise, the wireguard connection would try to connect to the LAN address for the VPN server.
• BI Server Setup:
  • The final step is to ensure the BI server can see the camera through the IP tunnel. In my case, my BI server isn't normally part of the VPN. Because the dashcam is on its own subnet (192.168.8.0/24), I manually created a routing table entry on the BI server to route 192.168.8.0 traffic through the VPN gateway (192.168.3.20). In windows, the command looks something like this:
    

    route add -P 192.168.8.0 MASK 255.255.255.0 192.168.3.20

  • After verifying I can reach the camera through the VPN tunnel, I added the camera into BI as a normal RTSP camera: RTSP:/192.168.8.10

SUMMARY
This actually worked out pretty well, but it's not necessarily practical. More of just a fun thing to try out.

The friction points right now are: A) the need to manually turn on wifi on the dashcam and B) relatively low performance for high data consumption cost.

For the first problem, this can likely be resolved pretty easily. I would have to research other types of dashcams which support wifi station mode on startup.
As for the second problem, the RTSP stream is limited to 480p and data consumption is approximately 600MB/hour of driving. Of course, an unlimited data plan would be recommended for this. I haven't yet found a way to see if the RTSP stream can be tuned, but perhaps there are ways to improve here as well.

EDIT
Thanks to the awesome support from viofo, I was able to get a firmware update to start wifi station mode on boot. This resolves problem A above.

 

[Nigel]

I haven't yet found a way to see if the RTSP stream can be tuned,

I'm curious, in what way would you want it tuned?

480p and data consumption is approximately 600MB/hour of driving.

Seems a reasonable compromise to me, are you looking for lower data rate, or for better quality?

 

[Nigel]

I would have to research other types of dashcams which support wifi station mode on startup.

I guess what you really want is a dashcam with a VPN mode on startup? Then you wouldn't need to bother with the AR300, you would just need the dashcam and your phone in the car...

 

[ruddlefruit]

I'm curious, in what way would you want it tuned?


Seems a reasonable compromise to me, are you looking for lower data rate, or for better quality?

Oh yes, certainly reasonable. 600MB/hour comes out to 1.3mbps bitrate for a 480p stream, which is about what I was expecting. I'm more just sharing data for anyone who's curious what the real-world data consumption could be. I'm not sure yet how I would want to tune it for myself, I'll have to play around with the setup a bit more.

I guess what you really want is a dashcam with a VPN mode on startup? Then you wouldn't need to bother with the AR300, you would just need the dashcam and your phone in the car...

Precisely! haha, yes, that's what I was originally hoping for. I couldn't find any dashcams with a VPN client built-in, and I didn't wanna build a camera from scratch, so adding the AR300 was the best solution I could come up with. It introduces a bit more complexity with moving parts, but for me it's a workable compromise. Maybe it can inspire others with better ideas.

 

[Nigel]

I couldn't find any dashcams with a VPN client built-in,

I've never seen one, but that doesn't mean it can't be done.
But what practical use is it? I'm not sure many people will want to stream their dashcam video to BlueIris, so there is not much reason for any dashcam manufacturer to add a VPN client, but I might be wrong?

Note that you should be able to run the Viofo App over the VPN, although I guess it may have a problem with the IP address, someone else did have that working, for remote live view and file downloads.

You can also access the camera via its http server for file download.

 

[ruddlefruit]

Agreed! Pretty much zero practical use 🙂 I acknowledge that in the first line.
I'm not holding my breath for anyone to make a dashcam with VPN built-in, which is why I decided to just roll my own for fun.

 

[jsmith]

@ruddlefruit

In essence this already exists. Instead of running a VPN Server on your router, and a router + hotspot in the vehicle for the camera, Dashcams that come with LTE Modems can be viewed remotely.

Viofo doesn't support this but their cameras obviously permit access points. So if you're planning on any model with no LTE, you'd have to setup as described in your thread.

I read somewhere that people had set scripts to pull off videos automatically.

Either way, your proof of concept shows it could be done.

 

[lufa6977]

Agreed! Pretty much zero practical use 🙂 I acknowledge that in the first line.
I'm not holding my breath for anyone to make a dashcam with VPN built-in, which is why I decided to just roll my own for fun.

There are plenty of practical uses. Off camera and off car saving of interaction with police, aggressive drivers, and what ever reason a person may need. This is similar to what the original Periscope app did, it however had issues with market costs, moderation, safety, and the such.

My personal view is that in the very near future, dash cam manufacturers will start including a VPN client.

 

[ruddlefruit]

@ruddlefruit

In essence this already exists. Instead of running a VPN Server on your router, and a router + hotspot in the vehicle for the camera, Dashcams that come with LTE Modems can be viewed remotely.

Viofo doesn't support this but their cameras obviously permit access points. So if you're planning on any model with no LTE, you'd have to setup as described in your thread.

I read somewhere that people had set scripts to pull off videos automatically.

Either way, your proof of concept shows it could be done.

Correct, good point. Not accurate to say it doesn't exist. Thank you for clarifying.
I'm sure there are a lot of great commercial or enterprise level options for remote dashcam streaming/recording.

You're right; what's different about this project is that it serves as a proof of concept to see if remote streaming could be reliably achieved using affordable consumer-grade parts. Glad to report it works!

 

[mentadent]

I've done this too #nerd

 

[Dan-UK1415]

Great setup and proof of concept.

I'm interested in this for the likes of Viofo to allow remote access for file downloads or live view.

I have a WiFi hotspot in my car that passengers use on journeys - so I don't understand dashcam manufacturers who limit their access to direct WiFi only (in 2025).

Even without a car WiFi hotspot, I can understand dashcam manufacturers having no LTE modules or built in LTE for cost saving - but if the camera has WiFi capability, why limit it to direct access and not allow hotspot connection when parked on home driveway for example.

 

[jsmith]

Great setup and proof of concept.

I'm interested in this for the likes of Viofo to allow remote access for file downloads or live view.

I have a WiFi hotspot in my car that passengers use on journeys - so I don't understand dashcam manufacturers who limit their access to direct WiFi only (in 2025).

Even without a car WiFi hotspot, I can understand dashcam manufacturers having no LTE modules or built in LTE for cost saving - but if the camera has WiFi capability, why limit it to direct access and not allow hotspot connection when parked on home driveway for example.

Viofo has station mode which lets it connect to a router. If you connected to a Wifi Hotspot without a router, you'd have no way to set the ip as static and you'd need to find the internal ip the the Viofo acquired each and every time.

 

[mentadent]

I'm interested in this for the likes of Viofo to allow remote access for file downloads or live view.

Vantrue are doing a good job of this with their LTE addon, I'm trying it out right now. I hope VIOFO make something similar soon or just add it to software.

 

[jsmith]

Vantrue are doing a good job of this with their LTE addon, I'm trying it out right now. I hope VIOFO make something similar soon or just add it to software.

What camera are you testing with Vantrue's LTE module? I am testing the N2X with the LTE. Every feature works well, except streaming via LTE from the SD card. I've given Vantrue a bug report. Camera crashes every time I try to access and play a video via LTE from SD folder.

 

[mentadent]

@jsmith I'm testing with E360. Does the app close completely or just never get around to playing?

 

[jsmith]

@jsmith I'm testing with E360. Does the app close completely or just never get around to playing?

1. Connect to the LTE Modem / Camera

2. Select to view footage and enter the SD Card Folder.

3. Double click on any file listed in the SD Card Folder

The Software now hangs. At some point the Software Generates "The Device is Offline" error.

The N2X Camera then Freezes, Does a Hard Reboot (restarts itself) and then returns online.

This happens EVERY SINGLE time you try to read a file from the SD Card Folder. I am using a Vantrue SD card and Also tested Other SD cards. It doesn't matter

Note: Streaming from SD card didn't work in beginning, then worked one day after Vantrue Servers were offline and presumably rebooted, and now doesn't work any longer.

I have submitted a trouble ticket to Vantrue and awaiting guidance from engineers. It is only this feature that doesn't work. Everything else works flawlessly.

 

[mentadent]

Thanks for the detailed description. I expect they'll fix it soon enough as that's what developers need to find the problem.

I'd like to see it being able to connect to a wifi network in station mode (perhaps from a list of saved networks) so when I'm parked outside my house it doesn't have to use LTE. not that big a deal though.