So I have 3 exterior cameras, and 1 interior camera. The exterior cameras monitor my front, back and side. I live in an apartment so I only need to monitor 3 exit/entrances from the outside. My kitchen is a central location in the apartment, meaning all rooms lead here, so I have an interior monitor set to view the kitchen.
The problem is the resolution is just terrible. Can't recognize faces, and so I want to upgrade them to at least be able to see a person's face. I don't need something fancy enough to read a license plate across the drive-way, but maybe something good enough to be able to tell "Hey, that guy has a mustache," or maybe catch a clothing logo. Just enough clarity to give a clear description to a patrol.
What I want to do is upgrade to IP Cameras. 720p is adequate resolution. Recently I bought a very cheap $30 WiFi IP Cam from Besder, and while it works okay as a camera, I'm having trouble with the WiFi. I'm still waiting for them to ship me another antenna to see if that was the problem, but basically it has no signal strength even 15 ft from the router. I'm running it via ethernet now, but I really want to use the WiFi functionality of these because I already have 12 VDC lines wired to the locations where I'll install the cameras. All I'll need to do is replace the camera and set it up in ZoneMinder.
I really can't afford much more expensive cameras than that, and so I wonder if I should just instead opt to use their ethernet functionality? I don't want to have to lay more cable around, but I'm not sure if it's a trend for these to have poor wifi connecitivity at this pricepoint.
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IP Cameras: Ethernet vs WiFi
IP Cameras: Ethernet vs WiFi
Last edited by Haynie on Tue Feb 04, 2020 5:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: IP Cameras: Ethernet vs WiFi
Does it affect to camera's wifi strength, is the antenna connected to camera or not? I'm just wonderind, could antenna wires be unconnected inside the camera itself. Or do other devices see strong wifi signal in your environment? I've several wifi cameras in my system and usually those are working good enough for me, futhermost cameras in my system are outside about 30 meters away from the router which is in the building. Of course the system can be more stable with cables but wired connection just isn't very realistic option in my case.
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CountyLine
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- Location: USA
Re: IP Cameras: Ethernet vs WiFi
If you are going to use Besder cameras, please read about the company that actually makes them. https://krebsonsecurity.com/tag/besder/
WiFi range can be drastically affected by network congestion, which tends to be high in apartment buildings and crowded cities. It has gotten significantly worse of late with the proliferation of IoT devices (smart speakers, connected appliances, and such).
I assume you are using the 2.4 gig band. The 2.4 gig band tends to be far more congested than 5 gig. If your equipment supports the 5 gig band, it might help if can switch to that instead of 2.4 gig. Otherwise, search for articles on optimizing WiFi networks. You will find a lot of resources out there.
WiFi range can be drastically affected by network congestion, which tends to be high in apartment buildings and crowded cities. It has gotten significantly worse of late with the proliferation of IoT devices (smart speakers, connected appliances, and such).
I assume you are using the 2.4 gig band. The 2.4 gig band tends to be far more congested than 5 gig. If your equipment supports the 5 gig band, it might help if can switch to that instead of 2.4 gig. Otherwise, search for articles on optimizing WiFi networks. You will find a lot of resources out there.