Surveillance Station is Synology’s solution for IP camera recording. If your Synology sits with us, it’s a nice extra: cameras in your home or shop stream to the NAS, the NAS records, and you check in via browser or app.
Up front: Surveillance Station isn’t for everyone. If you only have one or two cameras, a cloud solution like Reolink Cloud or UniFi Protect is often the better fit. Surveillance Station plays to its strengths with 4+ cameras, many concurrent streams, and the wish to keep everything under your own control.
License model
Synology ships the NAS with 2 camera licenses for free. Every additional camera needs a license — a one-time purchase from a Synology reseller. Current prices (as of 2026):
- 1 camera: around €60
- 4 cameras (pack): around €200
- 8 cameras (pack): around €380
Licenses are tied to the NAS and valid indefinitely — no subscription fees.
Installing Surveillance Station
- Package Center → “Surveillance Station” → Install.
- After installation: click Surveillance Station in the DSM app list.
- Set it up on first launch: pick the volume where recordings should land.
Tip: Surveillance Station needs a lot of storage. A 1080p camera in H.264 produces about 2 GB per hour — with 24/7 recording, ~50 GB per day per camera. With 4 cameras, that’s quickly 6 TB per month. Plan your volume size accordingly.
With motion detection (record only on movement), that drops to roughly 10–20% of it.
Adding a camera
In Surveillance Station: + → Add IP camera.
Surveillance Station has a database of profiles for most camera models. You select:
- Brand (Reolink, Hikvision, Axis, Dahua, Foscam, …)
- Model
- IP address of the camera
- Camera login credentials
If your model isn’t in the list: try the ONVIF profile. ONVIF is an open standard most modern IP cameras speak — it often works even with “no-name” cameras.
Camera setup quick wins
RTSP instead of HTTP: in the camera configuration (on the camera itself, not in Surveillance Station), prefer RTSP as the stream protocol. More efficient than HTTP MJPEG.
H.265 instead of H.264: if the camera supports it, use H.265 — halves the storage requirement at the same quality. Surveillance Station supports both.
Enable the sub-stream: many cameras have a main and a sub-stream. Surveillance Station uses the sub-stream for the live overview (multiple cameras at once) and the main stream for recording. Saves bandwidth and CPU.
Recording modes
Per camera, you can pick:
- Continuous: record 24/7. Maximum security, maximum storage.
- Motion detection: only on motion. Saves storage, but can miss the opening seconds of an event.
- Schedule: only at certain times (e.g. at night).
- Action-triggered: on an external trigger (doorbell, motion sensor).
Combining works too: motion detection with 5-second pre-roll during the day, continuous at night.
Streaming over the internet — bandwidth
If you want to watch live streams while you’re out, that traffic goes through the internet connection at the NAS. For a 1080p camera, typically 4–8 Mbit/s per stream.
With us, at 1 GBit symmetric, that’s no problem. If you have a second Synology at home, it comes down to your home upload — at 50 MBit upload, 4–6 parallel streams fit.
The DS Cam app on iPhone/Android adapts the resolution automatically — on mobile you’ll often see the sub-stream (480p), which is fine for a preview.
Mobile app: DS Cam
Synology has its own iOS/Android app, DS Cam, which connects to Surveillance Station. Log in with your DSM credentials, and you get:
- Live streams of your cameras
- A timeline with recordings
- Push notifications on motion events
From our experience: the most stable mobile app in the Synology universe. Works fine over cellular too.
Managing recording storage
Surveillance Station automatically deletes old recordings according to the retention rules you set per camera. Standard recommendation:
- Keep 30 days of recordings.
- When storage runs short: delete old events, don’t cut pre/post recordings.
In Surveillance Station → Recording → Settings you can set retention per camera, storage limits and auto-cleanup rules.
Frequently asked questions
Which cameras work? Practically anything that speaks ONVIF or RTSP. Concrete recommendations from our experience:
- Reolink (RLC series): good value for money, ONVIF, almost always works.
- Hikvision and Dahua: pro league, also functional, but configuration is sometimes trickier.
- Axis: premium, very stable, clearly more expensive.
- Avoid: cheap no-name cameras from Aliexpress — often unstable RTSP streams.
Do I need special hardware? For 4 cameras at 1080p with motion detection: any Plus Synology will do (DS225+, DS925+, DS1625+). For 8+ cameras or 4K streams: DS925+ with upgraded RAM or DS1625+ recommended.
How do I get from my home network to the Synology at your place? If your cameras are at home and the recording runs at xaweho, you’ll only manage that with a VPN or a site-to-site connection. The cameras have to be able to reach the Synology at our place as an RTSP target — straight over the internet is risky (RTSP is unencrypted).
A more realistic setup: VPN server on the Synology at home, the Synology with us as a client inside it, and the camera tunnels through.
Or: Synology at home as the “local Surveillance Station” + syncing the recordings to the xaweho Synology as a backup.
Can I use Surveillance Station without a Synology? Surveillance Station is Synology-specific. There are alternatives like BlueIris (Windows), Frigate (open source, with ML detection), Shinobi — those work without a Synology, but then you need a different server solution.
What about audio? If the camera sends audio (some do), Surveillance Station records it too. Mind the legal side though — audio recording in public areas is prohibited in many cases in Germany.
How secure is my camera footage? On the Synology, the files sit unencrypted (unless you use an encrypted shared folder). It works with a volume encryption setup, but recording only runs while the volume is unlocked — which has to be done manually after every NAS reboot. Hence: Surveillance Station usually goes on an unencrypted volume.
GDPR and recording in a shop? If you record customers or employees, GDPR applies. Notice signs, a record of processing activities, a retention period (typically 72 hours for pure theft protection). We are not your data-protection counsel — ask a lawyer if you record commercially.
What’s next
First login to DSM after provisioning
What to do first after ordering your Synology from us — login, language, initial security, and getting a few important defaults right from the start.
Securing the admin account on your Synology — 2FA, password, login protection
A Synology exposed to the internet is a brute-force magnet. Here's how to harden the admin account, protect against login floods and sleep better at night.
Setting up Synology Drive for file sharing and sync
Synology Drive is the Dropbox replacement on your Synology — sync client, sharing links, version history. Here's how to get it running.
Setting up Synology Photos — photo auto-upload and album management
An iCloud Photos replacement on your own hardware. How to set up Synology Photos, enable auto-upload, and use face and object recognition.