I’m a happy user of both the U200 and the G410 in my home. My clear aim is to block WAN/Internet connection (except for updates every now and then) of the G410 but still be able to access the camera stream via VPN. Since Apple Home is basically restricting mdns broadcast via VPN, the most probable way to achieve that is via Home Assistant.
The easiest way would be if Aqara could open up the backchannel stream in their firmware also for Home Assistant/RTSP. Could you guys work on such a feature? I’m willing to serve as a beta tester on this! Thank you!
Yeah, I saw the post here. However, the G410 is actually the only device I currently own that I haven’t integrated into Home Assistant yet.
From what I can tell, integrating it into HA is only possible in a few specific ways:
As a Matter Bridge: You can bring it in via Matter, but only to serve as a bridge for Zigbee devices connected to the G410 acting as a hub.
As a Matter Accessory: It cannot be added as a standalone video accessory. Even though the newer Matter standards natively support cameras and video doorbells, this functionality hasn’t been rolled out for the G410 yet. I’m not sure if that’s something Aqara has planned or if it’s even possible. But as far as I know, HA doesn’t support it yet either.
Via RTSP: You can stream the feed using RTSP, but only if the doorbell is hardwired to power. Two-way audio is not supported. As far as I know, RTSP does not define a standardized method for negotiating or managing an audio return channel, so the implementation details are left up to the manufacturer.
Via ONVIF: I don’t know if Aqara can or will ever integrate ONVIF into the G410. Specifically Profile T would be the solution, as it provides a standardized audio backchannel to send your voice over the network to the doorbell’s speaker.
Via HomeKit Controller: You can hook it up directly to HA as a HomeKit Device, but it can’t simultaneously maintain its direct connection to Apple Home. You have to unpair it from Apple Home first, connect it to HA, and then you can pass it back to Apple Home using HA’s HomeKit Bridge. I’m just not sure if two-way audio is supported through this workaround. But I would guess that two-way audio doesn’t work here either.
Thank you very much and much appreciated that you took your time to sum everything up!
In addition to your points I currently try to work myself through go2rtc to connect via homekit instead of Apple Home. It somehow proves to be rather hacky, but maybe that helps.
Do you know the best way to approach Aqara directly in order to understand if especially your valid points are being investigated or could be in the future?
Since I’m new to the Apple Home game in gerneral: Do you know if I could reach my goal to be fully local with the video stream and backchannel once I implement an Apple border router (Apple TV/HomePod)?
To answer your question about the Apple border router (Apple TV/HomePod): It depends on what you mean by “fully local”.
If you are just at home on your Wi-Fi, the Apple Hub will route the video and two-way audio strictly locally (via mDNS). However, if you want remote access from outside your network or want to record footage (HomeKit Secure Video), you cannot be 100% local. Apple strictly requires an active iCloud connection to authenticate and relay the stream when you are away from home.
So I guess it comes down to what your main goal is: Are you aiming for 100% cloud independence (zero reliance on external servers)? Or is it primarily about data security and privacy?
If your main concern is security, using an Apple Home Hub (which uses strict End-to-End Encryption for remote viewing) is arguably just as secure as using your own VPN tunnel. But if you want true cloud independence, the Apple route won’t get you there because of the mandatory iCloud connection.
I was expecting that, thank you. Since I‘m not owning any of those Apple Border Routers yet, it basically means that the money I‘d spend on one of those is more than on a Reolink derivate with proven 2-way audio capabilities in HA.
Do you know of any chance how such a feature request could be placed at Aqara with a valid feedback?
In general going the HomeKit route is acceptable however with a big grain of salt because of the additional devices needed + power consumption.