WiFi Cameras
More and more people are considering using the camera in their apartment, house, close neighborhood or plot or summer house. This is due to the desire to strengthen the sense of security, the need to secure property, and finally also a kind of "fashion", because the availability and prices of cameras on the Polish market are much higher than a few years ago. When planning to buy a camera, it is worth considering what kind of camera to buy, and you should also plan in advance where you would like to place it, what it would "look at" and what technical infrastructure we have in this place (power sockets, Internet network sockets). In the vast majority of cases, the choice falls on wireless cameras working in a WiFi network, so it is worth following the tips below so that the final choice of the camera and its place of work turns out to be "bull's eye".
CHECK THE RANGE OF YOUR WIFI NETWORK AT THE PLANNED PLACE OF CAMERA MOUNTING
The key aspect is to verify whether the place where we plan to mount the camera, in addition to the existence of a power socket, is "well" covered by the WiFi network of our home router. The most reliable way to test the "strength" of the signal is to use a smartphone - we connect it to our WiFi network of the home router and go to the place of the planned installation of the camera. If it is, for example, an attic, then we stand exactly under this place; if it is, for example, a pole - we stand next to it. Then we start the WiFi network test in this place - we launch the web browser on the smartphone and enter the link to the video from the Zintronic P5 Light camera with a resolution of 5 Megapixels: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIxzMiXhomM (this is how we will simulate the situation as if the camera was hanging in this place, and we are watching the live view from it on the smartphone). It is important that the played file is in a resolution as close as possible to the resolution of our camera, so you should start the resolution as in the images below:
After setting the correct resolution, we check: if the video plays smoothly, without any jams, stops, buffering, it means that the WiFi network conditions of the home router will be sufficient for stable operation of the camera, i.e. live preview and playback of recordings using the phone and a dedicated application.
However, if the video playback stutters and the smoothness of the video is strongly disturbed, it will mean that the WiFi signal is too "weak" and it should be improved. range. What? We write about it later in the article.
A very important element that will determine the correct and smooth operation of our camera is the speed of the Internet connection at home. In order to ensure the possibility of obtaining a live preview or playback of recorded video files, our Internet connection should enable data sending (upload) with a speed of min. 2 Mb/s - not to be confused with download, i.e. receiving data, which is usually higher than upload. To do this, check the parameters of the Internet connection using a popular testing website - www.speedtest.pl:
If the multiple test shows a value above 3 Mbps, the camera should work stably in our system and properly provide live view and recorded events.
ROUTER, AMPLIFIER OR ANTENNA?
Warto zacząć od sprawdzenia parametrów posiadanego przez nas routera. Na co szczególnie zwrócić uwagę? Częstotliwość pracy powinna być na 2,4 GHz (router może obsługiwać także dodatkową częstotliwość 5 GHz, jednak na rynku ogromna większość kamer pracuje na zakresie 2,4 GHz), a zalecana przepustowość łącza powinna być przynajmniej na poziomie min. 150 Mb/s. Jeśli nasz router nie posiada takich parametrów, warto roważyć zakup nowego sprzętu. Polecamy sprawdzone i niezbyt drogie urządzenia TP-LINK modele ARCHER C6 oraz TL-WR940N:
In a situation where our router meets these minimum requirements, we must consider using an additional device called a repeater, i.e. a WiFi amplifier. We can use them both inside apartments, rooms or outside (mounting on a pole, wall, etc.). While there will be no problem with providing power inside, if we want to place our amplifier more or less halfway between the router and the camera, we must immediately think about providing power in this place, because without it the device will be useless. For indoor use, we recommend a well-functioning TP-LINK AC1750 device, for outdoor use - TP-LINK CPE210:
We can also use an antenna, e.g. a panel one, which we connect in place of the antenna screwed to the camera, and which allows installation in a place higher than the camera or shifted to the side relative to it, because we have a 3-meter cable connecting the antenna with the camera. An example of an outdoor antenna is the ATK-P1 panel antenna.
I HAVE A CAMERA, HOW CAN I CHECK THE SIGNAL STRENGTH?
Once we made the purchase, we installed the app for our camera, suspended and configured the camera to work on our home WiFi network, but recently we have noticed that during live view and when playing back recordings through the application, the image is noticeably stuttering. Then it is worth transferring the recording to a computer or laptop and starting the recording using a multimedia player. If the recording plays smoothly, it will prove that the problem lies in the way of wireless communication, i.e. between the camera and the router we probably have a decrease in the WiFi signal strength. How to quickly check it then?
In the case of A and P series cameras, i.e. A5 WiFi, P5 Light, P5 or P5 Pro, we use the CamHiPro application and it is with its help that we can check the signal strength with which our devices are connected. In the general settings, select "WiFi settings", click on the banner "Available WiFi networks" and a list of networks will be displayed:
If our network, as in the attached example, shows a signal strength below 70% (in this case, a network with a signal strength of 50% was selected), then it definitely needs to be strengthened. Then we need to consider one of the options described above to make the camera's communication with the router smooth and free of jams.
When using none of the proposed solutions proves impossible, the only option will be to consider distributing the Internet cable from the router to the camera.
