Help - poor Wifi camera performance

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TimG
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Re: Help - poor Wifi camera performance

Post by TimG »

Where is the other end of this long ethernet cable plugged in ? the router, or are you now using the ethernet switch.

I would guess it is a network issue, but that can be anything from:

A damaged ethernet cable,
Plugging it directly into the router instead of an ethernet switch,
An ethernet cable that isn't using twisted pair cores,
Running the cable alongside other cables, rather than only crossing them at 90 degrees,
and many more !

Is it possible that you had previously restricted the camera bit rate with it being wi-fi ? Is it Constant Bit Rate (CBR) or Variable Bit Rate (VBR) ? What happens if you increase the bit rate ? Logic = I'm thinking the bit rate required would be maximum in bright daylight with a lot of movement.

Time for some experimentation !
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kayfersmum
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Re: Help - poor Wifi camera performance

Post by kayfersmum »

Thank you, again!

It was plugged directly into the router and bit rate set to 2048kpbs, Frame rate 25 and stream control Variable Bit Rate. It looks like those are the highest settings I can select for this camera. If my memory is correct, some of the newer ones have the option to go higher.

The switch arrived this afternoon so time to start playing :D

Before we commit to rewiring the whole front and rear garden we're going to plug cameras into an available ethernet port to see if this resolves the problem. We've got some cameras linked via the switch and some via power adapters. Not got enough long ethernet cables handy so may have to wait to get someone to bring the remaining cameras into our home to attach to the switch directly.

So many things we hadn't thought about so thank you sharing your expertise with us. That and your patience is very much appreciated 8-)
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TimG
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Re: Help - poor Wifi camera performance

Post by TimG »

Just to be clear, I would plug an ethernet cable in from the router to the ethernet switch. Plug the BI5 pc into the switch. Plug all of the cameras into the switch. That stops the cameras being fed through the router to BI5. It may not be the issue, but do let us know.

Any other (non cctv) internet devices can either be plugged into the switch or the router.

Is there any reason the fps is so high ? (I remember you do wild life video with BI5). I use 2048kbps for a 1080 camera at 12fps. I've got no idea if it is too high, but it works, and it is using VBR. Does that mean that your camera will struggle with the same bitrate at 25fps ? Does this camera have an I-frame setting ? Is it set to the same number as the frame rate ? Does the video have the same problem if you temporarily reduce the fps ? (Unless it was already fixed by plugging everything in to the new ethernet switch).

Over to the experts. I'm a hardware guy with a big hammer :lol:
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kayfersmum
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Re: Help - poor Wifi camera performance

Post by kayfersmum »

OK, so I plug Switch into the router and then the BI PC into the switch along with the cameras. Where do I plug the power adaptors into, the Router (as they currently are) or the switch?

Going to have to think carefully where to position the switch as there’s going to be a lot of cables going into it 🤔

I have tried playing around with the FPS in the past, but it didn’t appear to fix the connection issues, hence the switch. 🤞 we are on the right track 😊
Raccoontodd
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Re: Help - poor Wifi camera performance

Post by Raccoontodd »

Poor wifi? I stuck one of these on my roof attached to the chimney. I have about an acre of 10/10 coverage on my 12 outdoor wifi cameras. I think the guy 3 blocks away can pick up the signal :)
https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-Wireless ... ics&sr=1-3
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kayfersmum
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Re: Help - poor Wifi camera performance

Post by kayfersmum »

Thank you. We’ve had some recommendations that the WiFi isn’t the problem so we are now testing hard wiring them in 😬
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TimG
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Re: Help - poor Wifi camera performance

Post by TimG »

OK, so I plug Switch into the router and then the BI PC into the switch along with the cameras. Where do I plug the power adaptors into, the Router (as they currently are) or the switch?
When you say "Where do I plug the power adaptors into", do you mean the powerline ethernet sockets ? If so, they would connect to the new ethernet switch - but you only plug one of them in at the BI5 end, it can have many remote sockets connected to it.

My present system is similar to what you are doing, although my BI5 camera network is connected to a second NIC. I have a TPLink powerline ethernet adaptor plugged in to my ethernet switch, and three remote powerline ethernet sockets. One is TPLink, and the other two are Devolo (See separate thread). As I mentioned earlier, I believe this keeps the camera traffic out of the router, and lets the router get on with routing.
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kayfersmum
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Re: Help - poor Wifi camera performance

Post by kayfersmum »

Thanks, that's clear and setup does sound similar. I think the hardest part of this is going to be to find a someone to do the installation of the cables for us. Unfortunately ill health means that we are unable to do this ourselves this year :cry: I'm OK with the setup stuff and mapping it all out, now need to find a handy person that can put our vision in place, without breaking the bank.

Does anyone have any advice on how to 'hide' ethernet cables around the garden? Do you lay them in trunking to get from one side of the garden to the other? If so, what do you place them in? What do you use to protect the connections? I'm sure I'll have loads more questions!
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