RECAM Technical Prerequisites and Setup: Network, iOS & Router Setup

1) Network Requirements

Camera works on Wi-Fi or cellular. The phone acting as the camera just needs an internet connection — home Wi-Fi, office Wi-Fi, or cellular (4G/5G). Wi-Fi is still recommended for stability and battery life, but it’s no longer required. Any iPhone 8 and later — here’s why — works as the camera device.

• On Wi-Fi, use a stable 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz SSID with good signal where the camera sits.
• Avoid guest networks that isolate clients, enterprise WPA2-Enterprise portals, or hotspots with aggressive captive portals.
• The viewer device can be on Wi-Fi or cellular too — RECAM connects them either way.

2) Internet & Reachability

It just works on any connection. RECAM keeps no cloud video storage and runs its AI on-device. To watch remotely, both phones simply need internet — and RECAM finds the best path between them automatically. Your video is end-to-end encrypted. When your network can’t make a direct connection, a blind relay forwards the encrypted stream — it can never read, store, or watch it.

RECAM tries three paths, in order:

• Same network: camera and viewer on the same Wi-Fi connect directly over your LAN.
• Direct peer-to-peer: across the internet, RECAM connects your two devices directly whenever the network allows it.
• Blind relay (fallback): on cellular, behind CGNAT, or behind a router without UPnP, the encrypted blind relay forwards your stream so remote viewing still works.

Optional optimizations (nice-to-have, never required):

• Public IP: a public IPv4 (or properly routed IPv6) helps RECAM establish a fully-direct path. Behind CGNAT? No problem — the blind relay handles it.
• UPnP/IGD or manual port forwarding: enabling UPnP, or forwarding the ports RECAM shows in-app, lets RECAM favor a direct connection. Skip it and the relay takes over automatically.
• Double NAT note: if you have a modem plus a separate router and want the direct path, ensure only one does NAT or set the modem to bridge mode.

Summary: remote viewing now works on Wi-Fi or cellular, on any router — no public IP, no UPnP, no port forwarding required. A direct path is faster when your network allows it; otherwise the encrypted blind relay forwards your stream.

3) iOS & Device Compatibility

Both devices must run iOS/iPadOS 16.3 or higher. Please check the system version on each device and update if needed.

• Check your version: Settings → General → About. Look for iOS or iPadOS version.
• Update if needed: Settings → General → Software Update.
• See compatible models: Apple’s list of supported devices for iOS 16 and iPadOS 16 is available here.

Quick Checklist

• 📱 Both devices are on iOS/iPadOS 16.3+ (update if needed).
• 📶 Each device has internet — Wi-Fi or cellular. Wi-Fi recommended for the camera (stability and battery).
• 🌐 Optional: a public IP (not CGNAT) helps RECAM use a fully-direct path. Not required — the blind relay covers CGNAT.
• 🛠️ Optional: enable UPnP/IGD or manually forward ports to favor a direct connection. Not required.
• 🔒 Optional: if you want the direct path, confirm your modem/router isn’t causing double NAT.

Good news: even if your ISP uses CGNAT or your router won’t forward ports, remote viewing still works — the encrypted blind relay forwards your stream automatically.

FAQ