The Sync Module 2 coordinates between your camera system with its devices, and the Blink servers.
When you set up a Sync Module 2, it connects through your Wi-Fi to establish communications. Then, when you add up to ten devices to the system it manages, each is given access to your Wi-Fi to send clips and alerts.
The Sync Module 2 has an active Type A USB 2.0 port. With it, you can connect a drive of up to 256 GB and store clips from Blink Outdoor, Indoor (gen 2), and Mini cameras. These cameras are considered "eligible" for advanced features because they contain updated hardware and firmware. Some newest features are only available to an Outdoor or Indoor (gen 2) camera with a subscription plan.
The Sync Module 2 operates slightly differently when you have different primary storage. When you have Cloud Storage, the USB drive will receive a once-daily Cloud Backup. When you are using the Sync Module 2 without a Cloud Storage subscription, Motion Clips from eligible cameras are saved directly to the USB drive.
All Blink cameras and devices are compatible with the Sync Module 2.
The Blink Outdoor, Indoor (gen 2), and Mini cameras can store clips directly to a USB drive inserted into the Sync Module 2. This is called Local Storage, click to learn more.
When you set up older cameras on a Sync Module 2, they permanently receive 7200 seconds of Basic Cloud storage. Clips in Basic Cloud storage appear under the Cloud icon in the Clip List, and the Storage Bar shows how much storage has been used already.
With a Blink Plus Plan subscription, all cameras save clips to Cloud Storage. The clips are visible in the Blink app. If a compatible USB drive is inserted in the Sync Module 2, a once-daily cloud backup will occur.
The Blink Basic Plan subscription is for a single camera saving clips to the Cloud. If a compatible USB drive is inserted in the Sync Module 2, a once-daily cloud backup will be saved for that camera. When a Blink Basic Plan is active on your account, all other Sync Module 2 use Local Storage.
The Sync Module 2 supports cloud storage subscriptions. Click here to learn about Blink Subscription Plans.
Only Blink Outdoor, Indoor (gen 2), and Mini cameras are compatible with the Local Storage functionality, but all Blink cameras may be part of a Sync Module 2 system.
Blink Indoor (gen 1), XT, and XT2 cameras only use their provided free cloud storage and do not have access to the Local Storage options available to Blink Indoor (gen 2), Outdoor, and Mini cameras. Click here to learn more about Sync Module 2 storage options.
Yes, the Sync Module 2 works as a traditional sync module and will be compatible with all generations of Blink cameras, from our original Indoor (gen 1), XT, and XT2 - to the new Blink Indoor (gen 2), Outdoor, and Mini. When an older camera is set up on the Sync Module 2, it is recognized by the Blink servers and 7200 seconds of Basic Cloud storage are provided.
There are no subscription fees to use the Sync Module 2.
The Sync Module 2 has improved hardware and firmware that allow special features when used with a Blink Subscription Plan, however. Click here to learn about Blink Subscription Plan features.
It is possible to use an inserted USB drive with the Sync Module 2 to store clips directly from a camera system. This is called Local Storage.
The Sync Module 2 can use a USB drive to store clips directly from Outdoor, Indoor (gen 2), and Mini cameras. It does not ship with a USB drive, which must be purchased separately.
USB drives larger than 256 GB or smaller than 1 GB are not recognized.
The drive is considered "Full" when it has less than 375MB of free space remaining.
If this happens, you are alerted, and nothing more is written to the drive.
When a flash drive is inserted, the sync module will check to see if the device has size of 1 GB to 256 GB and more than 375 MB of free space available.
The Format is checked, and if necessary, you are asked to allow reformatting of the drive. This procedure removes ALL information from the drive permanently and reformats the drive as exFAT.
When complete, the Local Storage section of the app is updated to show you have an active USB drive attached.
A Clip Backup occurs when a Sync Module 2 with a recognized USB drive is on an account with an active subscription. The Clip Backup occurs once in a 24 hour time period. Due to the length of time to download each backup, and the variable number of clips being backed up, there is no set time when the backup takes place.
To be sure that a particular clip is in the backup, you need to check the time of the last backup to make sure the file you seek is on the USB drive. To view Clip Backups, the USB drive must be removed from the Sync Module 2 and moved to a computer or similar device.
Never remove the USB drive without first using the "Safe Eject" button in the Sync Module settings page.
Yes, the cameras will still show imagery in Live View but the videos can not be saved to Local Storage until a USB drive is inserted and recognized.
When the USB drive is safely ejected and removed, an alert notification is shown: “USB storage device removed from SM2.” and a “No Clips” message appears in the Local Storage folder
Yes, setting up the Sync Module 2 follows the same steps as our original Sync Module.
You scan a barcode and connect to Wi-Fi from the Blink app.
For Local Storage features, a USB drive can be inserted to store up to 256 GB of clips.
Clip Backup files are visible on the USB drive when it is safely ejected and moved to a computer.
A copy of any new clip gets downloaded to the USB drive once every 24 hours if the sync module is online.
Clips that are shown in the app and clips on the USB drive are independent of each other; therefore, clips could be deleted from the storage drive on a PC without clips in the app being effected. Likewise, clips that were backed up to the USB drive, then deleted from the clip list, will not be removed from the USB drive.
Local Storage files are shown in the Blink app Clip List and can be deleted from there, or by moving the USB drive to your computer. In the clip list, only the first 1000 clips are displayed from the past 30 days of activity. To see additional clips, you must move the drive to your computer.
Yes, customers can use both forms of storage.
This situation may occur when a subscription starts or stops and the primary storage location for a system is changed. If you change to Local Storage, and have clips in Cloud Storage, they will stay there until the Auto-delete age is reached. By default the Auto-delete is set to the maximum of 60 days (30 days in the EU, UK).
If you have one device on a Blink Basic Plan, any other Sync Module 2 systems that are set up, will be configured for Local Storage if they have a USB drive inserted. The Cloud Storage and Local Storage are easy to tell apart in the Blink app's Clip List by the icon shown at the top of the screen.
If you have a system using Local Storage on a Sync Module 2, then add an older camera (XT2, XT, or Indoor (gen1)) the Sync Module is provided 7200 seconds of cloud storage for any older cameras and clips from those cameras are shown in the Cloud Storage portion of the Clip List. This is true even if the other cameras on that system are saving to Local Storage on the USB drive.
No, only the Sync Module 2 has the firmware or hardware required to support USB drives for local storage.
If a Cloud Backup is interrupted and does not complete, the incomplete file is not marked as 'stored' and another attempt is made to download at the next scheduled time.
If Local Storage is saving a clip when it is interrupted, the clip is lost.
Yes, all clips will be stored in MP4 format and can be viewed using Windows Media Player (or other applications) when the USB drive is inserted into computer or similar device.
Currently clips are not encrypted on the USB drive, as this would interfere with ease of access for viewing the clips on a computer.
If your Wi-Fi or power goes out while a clip is being saved, it is lost.
If you were saving a clip backup, then the download will be attempted again at the next scheduled time.
If you were using Local Storage, the clip is lost permanently.
File size can vary depending on the quality setting and the length of your clip. We use H.264 compression to provide consistent quality for the smallest file size. A high quality setting uses more data per second of video, so you should adjust the settings to provide a quality of video you desire for the file size you want to store.
Live View sessions are up to 5 minutes long and can be large. If you have limited storage space, keep this in mind.
No, every clip that is successfully backed up is marked, and is not downloaded again.
Your clips can be copied from the USB drive, using a computer.
Yes, Local Storage Clips (where camera clips save directly to the USB drive) are visible in the Blink app if you have a Sync Module 2 with a compatible USB drive and the camera is not attached to a subscription. When you open the clip List, your USB drive provides a list of the most recent 1,000 clips created in the past 30 days of activity.
The clips that are stored on your USB drive as part of a Clip Backup are not visible in the Blink app, but the date and time of the last backup is shown, so you can tell which of the clips in your Cloud media have been backed up already. To view the clips in your clip backup, you must safely eject the USB drive and move it to your computer.
The Sync Module 2 has a USB 2.0 Type A port. The USB standard is backwards compatible, meaning all USB drives can be used with the Sync Module 2, so long as the size is between 1GB and 256 GB.
The Device Serial Number (DSN) is located on a sticker on the back of your Sync Module 2.
The DSN is also represented as a QR code that your mobile device can recognize with its camera.
Devices are normally added to a system by scanning the QR code when the Blink app asks.
The Sync Module 2 DSN is 16 characters long. When you are not physically near, you can still perform account functions with the Sync Module 2 by entering the DSN manually.
Click here to learn about adding a sync module to create a system.