Raspberry Pi WebRTC Streaming
Offline-capable camera streaming with mobile access
Tech Stack
1080p
Resolution
<300ms
Latency
50m
Range
Problem Statement
Remote surveillance locations often lack internet connectivity, making cloud-based streaming solutions impractical and expensive.
Overview
A portable streaming solution using Raspberry Pi that creates its own Wi-Fi hotspot and serves WebRTC video streams accessible from mobile devices. Designed for surveillance in areas without internet connectivity.
My Role & Contributions
Systems Developer - Configured UV4L, built the WebRTC server, implemented hotspot networking, created mobile-friendly viewing interface.
Tech Stack
Challenges & Solutions
Challenge
Maintaining stable P2P WebRTC connections through mobile NAT with frequent reconnections and packet loss >5%
Solution
Implemented STUN/TURN server with coturn, ICE candidate gathering with exponential backoff, and WebRTC data channel for heartbeat monitoring
Challenge
Balancing H.264 encoding quality vs CPU usage on Pi's limited VideoCore IV GPU while hitting 1080p@25fps target
Solution
Tuned v4l2 H.264 encoder params: bitrate 2-6Mbps adaptive, GOP size 25, profile high, leveraging hardware OMX codec with zero-copy DMA buffers
Challenge
Creating production-grade hotspot with DHCP, DNS resolution, and automatic failover between Ethernet/Wi-Fi uplinks
Solution
Built NetworkManager dispatcher scripts for interface priority, dnsmasq for DHCP/DNS, and iptables NAT rules with connection tracking