@mm2  Hello, 

Tapo camera requires to be installed via Tapo app and it needs to connect to a 2.4Ghz WiFi signal. 

Router's WiFi should have Internet when setting up thecamera or tapo app may report some errors.

You can use the camera or watch the live view without an internet connection after set it up, but phone and the camera should be connected to and under the same wireless network.

But kindly note camera could not get connect time from Internet, and notification or any other service associated with the TP-Link Cloud will not work if there is no internet access.

@mm2  Hello, 

Initial set up should be done on Tapo app , not on other software. 

You could watch live view on Tapo app locally without Internet after camera connected to local Wi-Fi network.

The smart home API not open to terminal user or third party partners currently,  but tapo camera supports ONVIF protocol (for control camera)as well as RTSP protocol (for rtsp streaming), so it can work with third-party software that support standard onvif and rtsp protocols, but for detailed features or comparability you will need to do some search on the third party software websites. 

Here is a FAQ introducing how to use iSpy to watch live view of camera: 

https://www.tp-link.com/en/support/faq/2680/