Synology now stores license data in a hidden partition that survives uninstallation. Furthermore, constantly wiping your surveillance config means losing your motion detection zones, recording schedules, and event history.
Using , you can view all 4 cameras on a single interface (the main NAS). You never buy a license. The cameras are recorded locally on NAS B, but viewed through NAS A.
, the number of devices you can manage without additional cost depends on your hardware model. Default Free License Quotas synology surveillance station license free free
A common point of confusion is how Surveillance Station counts licenses against connected hardware. A single license does not always equal one physical unit. The licensing model calculates usage based on the device type and its stream configuration:
If you have landed on this page, you are likely looking for the same thing thousands of home users and small business owners search for every day: Synology now stores license data in a hidden
He chose a hybrid approach. He bought one official license for the fourth camera trained on the cash drawer, funded by a few nights of overtime and a small grant Mei offered for building security in the building. He set up an independent NVR for the alley camera and a humble old phone for a temporary front-cam backup. He layered protections: a strong admin password on the NAS, firewall rules, and unique credentials for each camera. He scheduled nightly checks and an automatic backup of crucial clips to an encrypted external disk.
If you do choose to purchase extra licenses , they are perpetual (never expire) and transferable to any other Synology NAS you own in the future. You never buy a license
Position your two free cameras at critical bottleneck entry points (e.g., front door and back driveway) rather than attempting total property coverage. The Pitfalls of "Free License Cracks" and Keygens
You can connect unlimited ONVIF cameras ? No — even ONVIF cameras require a license for recording. But you can use them for real-time viewing only via RTSP without a license. To record, you need a license per camera.
A: Yes. The first two cameras are always free (on modern NAS models).
A: Yes. Agent DVR (free for up to 5 cameras) or MotionEye (open source). But you lose Synology’s hardware-accelerated recording and DSM integration.