Attempting to make G3 camera hub work on Home Assistant

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I’m unsuccessfully trying to make my G3 hub work on Home Assistant. Nothing has worked so far.
These are the things I tried:

  • Removed it from Apple Home, leaving it free to be paired by HA
  • HA discovered it as a HomeKit device and I added it
  • I installed Go2rtc and paired it there

I cannot stream: HLS gives a black screen, Webrtc and Mse both keep on loading state until it times out. Only Mjpeg works, but obviously video is very choppy in that stream protocol.

I also tried pairing it to go2rtc without adding it as a HomeKit device, and same result.

Did anyone around have success making the camera work on Home assistant?

Thanks!

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Enable the RTSP Lan options in the Aqara app and then try in Home Assistant Settings-Devices & services-Add Integration, search for Generic Camera and see if that works.

I’ve never used a G3 camera but it works very well for the G350 and G5 Pro cameras. No lag and has never failed to show a Live View.

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Unfortunately, RTSP is not available on the G3…

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Hello @srl77411
The G3 camera does not support RTSP streaming. This is supported on newer cameras.

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Hello @brachetta, in go2rtc provides setting you must find the HomeKit link, which is a very big, long link. That’s your RTSP link for your config page.

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I do have a broadcasting URL, but it’s not RTSP. The G3 isn’t capable of RTSPeing (!).
I get MJPEG only at the moment, terrible, choppy, like a slow collection of low-res stills. Webrtc or mse both only load and eventually timeout.

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@brachetta

Perhaps this guide will help you.

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Thanks, @Raman.V, yes I followed that (left a comment there earlier as well) but I end up with the same result: only Mjpeg stream, which is very low res and super choppy. This method uses as well go2rtc (provided by the webrtc camera add-on under the hood). I don’t get any usable stream for mse or webrtc.
Feeling frustrated. I thought that adding something as ubiquitous as a camera would be more straightforward.

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You must create a RTSP broadcast in config settings page.
I have same setting.

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The hub G3 doesn’t support RTSP broadcasts

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Official RTSP is not supported, but webRTC
camera yes.

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I hope that can help you. I have this step-by-step list writer.

Complete Guide: Aqara Camera Hub G3 Setup in Home Assistant via go2rtc (WebRTC)

Phase 1: Preparation and Pairing Reset

  1. Remove from Apple Home (Crucial):
    If the camera was previously added to the Apple Home app on iOS, open the Home app, select the camera, go to its settings, and tap “Remove Accessory”.
    Note: The HomeKit protocol allows only one active controller at a time. If the G3 remains paired with Apple Home, it will reject pairing attempts from go2rtc.

  2. Initial Setup in Aqara Home App:

    • Open the Aqara Home app on your phone.
    • Add the camera and connect it to your local Wi-Fi network (it must be on the exact same network/VLAN as Home Assistant).
    • Update the Aqara G3 firmware to the latest available version.

  3. Locate the HomeKit Setup Code:

    • Look underneath the base of the camera or on the printed card inside the original box.
    • Find the 8-digit setup code next to the house icon (formatted as XXX-XX-XXX or XXXXXXXX). Write it down.

Phase 2: Discover and Pair the Camera in go2rtc

  1. Ensure a File Editing Add-on is Installed:
    In Home Assistant, make sure you have the File Editor or VS Code add-on installed (Settings > Add-ons > Add-on Store).

  2. Access the go2rtc Web UI:

    • Open a new browser tab and navigate to your Home Assistant IP address followed by port 1984 (e.g., http://192.xxx.x.xxx:1984).
    • Or click “go2rtc” in the Home Assistant left sidebar if enabled.

  3. Pairing via the Web UI:

    • On the main go2rtc Web UI dashboard, click the “Add” button at the top.
    • Scroll down to the HomeKit section (or click on mDNS/Devices).
    • Locate your Aqara Camera Hub G3 (e.g., Aqara-G3-XXXX) under local network devices.
    • Click on the camera, enter the 8-digit HomeKit code, and click “Pair”.

  4. Copy the Generated Stream String:

    • Once paired, go2rtc will display an automatically generated URL string starting with homekit://.
    • Example: homekit://127.0.0.1:XXXXX?device_id=XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX&pin=XXX-XX-XXX
    • Copy the entire string to your clipboard.

Phase 3: Write Configuration in go2rtc.yaml

  1. Open the Configuration File:
    Open the file named go2rtc.yaml in the /config/ directory using File Editor. (If it doesn’t exist, create it).

  2. Add the Stream Definition:
    Paste the following code block, replacing the homekit://... line with your exact copied string:

streams:
aqara_g3:
- homekit://127.0.0.1:XXXXX?device_id=XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX&pin=XXX-XX-XXX

  1. Save and Restart:
    Save the file, then go to Settings > Add-ons > go2rtc (or WebRTC Camera) and click Restart.

Phase 4: Create a Native Home Assistant Camera Entity (Optional)

  1. Open configuration.yaml using File Editor.
  2. Add the following code block at the bottom:

camera:

  • platform: ffmpeg
    name: Aqara G3 WebRTC
    input: rtsp://127.0.0.1:8554/aqara_g3
  1. Save the file.
  2. Go to Developer Tools > YAML > Check Configuration.
  3. If valid, restart Home Assistant (Settings > System > Restart).

Phase 5: Add the Zero-Latency WebRTC Card to Dashboard

  1. Open your Lovelace Dashboard, click the three dots in the top right > Edit Dashboard.
  2. Click “+ Add Card” at the bottom right > select “Manual”.
  3. Paste this YAML configuration:

type: custom:webrtc-camera
url: aqara_g3
mode: webrtc
ui: true

  1. Click Save and then Done.
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Thank you so much!

See my response here

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