Pan V3 Freezing Up

Cameras
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Nearly all ASUS routers built in the last 2-3 years, are compatible with their AiMesh system. A few of the oldest in this range just need the latest firmware update to support it.

The RT-AX1800S is AiMesh capable (its right their in the management interface). I just got one to add to my RT-AX82U.

To set it up, you essentially set up the node as a regular wireless router plugged into a LAN port on what will be the master, then enable AiMesh in the node, and reboot, then go to the master, and add an AiMesh node, and it will list the available AiMesh nodes, pick the RT-AX1800S from the list of avallable nodes, and bingo.

I have not done it yet, because of the difficulty getting an ethernet cable from a LAN port on the RT-AX82U to the WAN port on the RT-AX1800S due to where they are positioned in the house, so that I can have a wired-backhaul on the RT-AX1800S as a mesh node with the RT-AX82U as the master - wireless backhaul introduces double the hops and latency, so it is not really an acceptable solution for me.

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After much screaming at the monitor, gnashing of teeth and confusion I finally figured it out.

Sometimes the answer is right in front of your face and you can’t see the forest for the trees.

I eventually saw the actual button you have to push to connect to the mesh router…right there at the top of the page in plain view for everyone to see…except myself it seems.

I’ve been playing with this, off and on, for a couple months!

LOL

But this started a new problem.

In the main router it shows the pancam getting full 4 bars, yet in the Wyze app it shows two.

Why would the app show only half of what the router says it’s getting?

add aimesh

23

That is weird. In the ASUS routers, if you click on the mac address of the client in the client list, it will popup a box showing the signal strength measured in dBm.

Two of my three Wyze Pan Cam V3 cameras are at the furthest reach of the router in opposite directions. They are both on 20 foot USB extension cables (plus the factory 5 foot cables, so 25 foot cables), using the factory Wyze provided 2A power supplies.

Both only have 2 bars of reception as measured in the Wyze app. But I cannot access the actual signal strength in the ASUS router client list (ASUS routers have a long standing bug of not showing all attached clients, and my two Pan Cam V3s don’t show up in the router client list).

But I’ve measured the signal strength on my phone held up to the cameras using a wifi analyzer app, and the phone gets -51 and -65 dBm at the cameras. The camera hardware is different than the phone hardware of course, so the signal strength of the cameras themselves will be different than the phone to some degree, but they should be fairly close.

Both cameras fully pan 360 degrees horizontally and 180 degrees vertically, although the panning on the one with a -65 dBm signal is choppy (-70 dBm is generally considered the minimum usable signal, but that can be iffy, so it is right on the edge).

Once the wyze app establishes a connection to your cameras, then all commands and communication between the wyze app and the camera, is over your local wifi network, so your external bandwidth is not involved at that point.

What could possibly help, is a stronger local signal from the cameras to your router(s), so if your camera has better signal strength on your new setup, then it could help. But better internet bandwidth really won’t help.

I find that the little “bars” graphic displayed in the router for the client are nearly useless. What signal strength (in dBm) does the ASUS router report for your camera?

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@SlabSlayer gave me a heads-up on a signal app for my phone. It’s too complicated and it forced up a bunch of ads that I couldn’t easily back out of.

As for signals I’m going to wait until Wednesday to see if fiber is actually installed.

In the meantime I had bought this Wye power adapter a while back.

I had to also buy a USB 2.0 A Female to Micro USB Female Adapter for it.

Will it work to ensure there’s enough power to the pan cam?

I dunno

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The specs for this power adapter on the Wyze site (Wyze Outdoor Power Adapter), indicates that it is compatible with the Pan Cam V3 (with the “L” plug adapter), and it puts out 2A, which is what the Pan Cam V3 factory adapter puts out. But note that you will need the “L” adapter in order to plug it into the camera. If bought from Wyze, it looks like the “L” adapter is included, but I’m not sure if the Wyze part sold on Amazon includes it or not. The “L” adapter was not included originally at Wyze, so the Amazon part might be an older package without the “L” adapter.

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I have also installed the “analiti” app mentioned by slabslayer, but also found it to be super complex. I use the app called “Net Analyzer” (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.techet.netanalyzerlite.an&hl=en_US&gl=US), and it is quite a bit simpler (less capable too), but provides good functionality to detect and measure signal strengths. I walk around to my camera locations, run the app and hold the phone up by the camera, and let it refresh and display the signal strengths 5 times, then average the results (to eliminate any faulty readings).

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Unfortunately, these readings are measuring the signal received by the phone’s antaenna, not the cam. This method will vary by phone manufacturer and model and still not give you any indication of the effectiveness of the cam antaenna in receiving the WiFi signal, only the relative strength of the WiFi at that location in relation to the phone’s receiver, which may be massive compared to the cam.

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Unfortunately, these readings are measuring the signal received by the phone’s antenna, not the cam.

Correct. But it does give you an idea of the relative strength of the wifi signal at one location compared to other locations,

The only way to know what the camera receives, is what it reports back to the Device Info in the Wyze app, but that is only reported using the “1, 2 or 3 bars out of 3” indicator. The 802.11 protocol does contain a received channel power indicator, from which I expect the signal strength reported by your router is derived, so it is probably a good measurement of the actual signal strength received by each client - assuming your router displays this information rather than just a “so many bars” type of icon.

But if your phone shows -51 dBm at one location, and -65 dBm at another location, that indicates that the signal strength is weaker at the -65 dBm location, and a pretty good indicator that your camera would also receive a weaker signal at that same location.

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I do not find that very useful either.

It does. This is the farthest of my PanV3 cams. Coincidentally, I am currently having an issue of this cam having an unbreakable affinity for the root node rather than a closer satellite node. But it hasn’t given me issues yet, even at -71 and on a 20ft USB extension.

Screenshot_20230905-134006-540
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Wow. At -71 dBm on a 20 foot USB extension, it is still performing! That’s great.

I find pretty much the same on my furthest Pan Cam V3, that it still streams and fully rotates, even though the signal strength is somewhat weak (as measured on my phone). Due to the ASUS bug, my router doesn’t list it in the client list, but I know it is connected to the router because it is assigned an IP in the xxx.xxx.101.* subnet, which is only available on the 2.4 GHz SSID of this router. I have a different subnet on the wired and 5 GHz wireless SSID of that router. But it isn’t often that I need to know, and if I really had to know the clients, I could scrape this from the logs being sent from the router to my syslog server.

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We got our 1gig fiber all set up Wednesday and the connection is strong.

The pan camera still did not work, left and right.

This morning I took it down from its perch and deleted it and reinstalled it.

The camera still will not go left and right.

I used the power adapter, that’s a separate purchase, but didn’t come with the short 90 degree elbow connector.

The camera was only two months old and it doesn’t work.

It was replacing another camera that blew out, but that was from an electrical storm that took out a couple other cameras too.

I love Wyze products but I’m hesitant to buy another Pan Cam

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I have 4 Wyze Pan Cams (one V2 Pan Cam, and three V3 Pan Cams), and they all pan in all directions, so there is something wrong with yours. Mine are all mounted upside-down, with the base end up, and the image inverted 180 degrees in the settings, but I have not heard that this affects any functionality.

No need to “buy” another one. Since yours is only 2 months old, then it is still under warranty, so ask for a warranty replacement. It is covered by a 1-year warranty (see “Tech Specs” at Wyze Cam Pan v3 | Remotely Spins 360°, Tilts 180° to view Security Cam, Baby Monitor, Pet Camera – Wyze Labs, Inc).

Don’t accept the “discount coupon on your next purchase” offer, but insist on a warranty replacement.

Warranty Process: https://support.wyze.com/hc/en-us/articles/360032425711-How-to-file-a-warranty-claim-with-Wyze-

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