I’m serious about that-when it comes to this I’m just a curious person who likes to experiment. So, that said: I was just walking with the cam and my phone, reading the signal strength from the Device Info on the cams. No test meters of any kind. Your guess is as good (probably better given your background) as mine what units of measure the numbers provided by the cams Info are in.
I really wasn’t aiming for achieving any kind of’ standard’ - just wanted to see how far out I could or couldn’t get a pic between a stock and modified cam. Agree on the lack of clarity on what the signal strength provided is supposed to actually mean.
Antenna was selected because I saw someone else had used one and I really didn’t have any other ideas. Pretty picky selection criteria.
Interesting about the router. I fought for a year using my ISP provided box and finally gave up and added a mesh system. Don’t know numbers but the distance I could receive any Wifi Signal jumped. I’m assuming the router, in addition to mesh, has a more powerful signal. Did not know that about the 2.4Ghz Signal. Clarifies a lot of past questions.
At any rate, thanks for the response and the time you put in. Gives me a lot to dig into!
Thank you for the follow up info. I did want to mention that I meant no disrespect in your findings. Experimenting is how you learn things. So Kudos to you for even trying what you did. In my day job I am a test engineer, so I have a tendency to question any data that is presented with an eye towards objective evidence. Enjoy the product!
Absolutely no offense taken! I appreciate the feedback from someone with more technical knowledge and experience. Again, thanks for your time and feel free to make any other comments.
FYI, here is a handy article on free space path loss, for anyone interested in that kind of stuff. He does a good job of putting it in laymen terms. He refers to APs, but you can substitute that for your home router. The theory is basically the same. Notice how sharply the signal drops off in the graphs. 40dBi in just 1 meter. In a perfect world, with no obstacles (line of sight) between your Tx and Rx radios, your little camera would probably have much longer range and signal propagation.
Many thanks. The math is interesting, although it don’t pretend to understand it. I was briefly a math major in college (long story) so I still have an interest.
I had no idea the rate of signal drop was so sharp. Knew that walls would obstruct but not how sharp the drop was there either… I live in an old house with a mix of full dimension framing and plaster/lathe plus new sheetrock & framing so the signal drop thru walls was obvious as well as the differences between the different types of construction within the house. Be interesting to get an actual meter to put more accuracy on this than the little cam % numbers.
I’ve used Wifi SweetSpots and Fing but not either of these two. I’ll check them out. Although, since I switched to a mesh system my worries over wifi signal have disappeared. Although, as I said, I’m curious by nature I guess.