Too far to work?

Power & Lighting
1

Hello everyone!

Love the cameras, just ordered my 7th one. I have 3 inside and 3 outside currently, with the outside ones tucked away under the eaves of the roof. No problems with any of them.

There is only one side of the house outside that has no camera coverage, so I ordered the 7th one for that spot. The only problem is that while the other cameras are generally pretty close to our modem/router and get great signal, the last spot is further away and is not connecting to the home network. The 6 cameras I have working now are all no further than 15 ft from the modem/router.

The last camera location is about 30 ft from the modem/router, and it is outdoors. I ordered a high-quality 15 ft usb-micro extension cable to connect it, which was rated specifically for these cameras. I also needed to use one of the 5 ft cables that come in the mounting kit. I daisy-chained the last camera from the closest one, one of the outdoor cameras. I am getting a solid yellow light but no blue light.

I tested the signal strength of the camera just inside the house from where the camera needs to go outside, and I am getting 60%. However, when I go to the outside spot, on the other side of that wall but only a foot or two away, I get no signal.

My question is this: Will a wifi-extender solve this problem? I was surprised that one wall can kill the signal so quickly. Also, after reading up on wifi extenders, I noticed that they require you to connect to an additional network that is created from your main network, only with an added EXT name addition. If Iā€™m not mistaken, we can only connect the cameras to one network?

If anyone has any suggestions or advice, this Wyze user would be greatly appreciative! Thank you for reading.

2

Brick, house? I have cameras in the attic (2 floors up), outside the garage (1 floor down, but far opposite end of the house), upstairs office (1 floor, multiple walls) and front porch and they all work fine. If I stand on the outside of my house on the solid wall side (brick) I have no signal. So it really depends on what kind of wall and whatā€™s in the wall, I think.

I think the same network issue is if youā€™re trying to pull a time lapse video, the phone and cam need to be on the same network. Someone else may pop in with more details.

3

I put a camera in the garage which is about 120 ft from the router and wasnā€™t getting a signal. I purchased a refurb Netgear wifi extender on Amazon for $20 and it works awesome. The wifi extender is about 35 ft from the camera and is going through a bedroom and garage wall. Donā€™t worry about the EXT name addition. You will connect to that from your phone only to set up the camera and after that it works on the same network. I was surprised how easy it was and I was over thinking it before I set it up. I was ready to buy a mesh router but it was solved with no issues for $20!! Good luck!!

Paul

2 Likes
4

Thanks for the suggestions and for the quick replies!

My house is not brick, just plain old wood and drywall. My distance estimates may have been a bit off thoughā€¦ my existing cameras are about 20 ft away from the router/modem and the new one Iā€™m trying to install is more like 50 ft away. Itā€™s just so weird because the other cameras I have outdoors donā€™t seem to have hardly any signal loss.

I will try the wifi extender. I wasnā€™t sure how it would work with the addl EXT network as I have never used a wifi extender before, but your explanation helped soothe my concerns. Thanks again!

Iā€™ll report back with my results. :+1:

1 Like
5

Quick update: Installed the wifi extender 2/3 of the way from the router to the camera in question. Got the wifi extender on the same network (as instructed) no EXT additional network required. I tested the connection in the far bedroom, the room directly adjacent to the trouble camera. Much better connection on the laptop, getting 400Mb/sec. The camera, when connected inside the house in this bedroom, now gets 100% signal. Everything looking great. So I take it outside and hook it up to the outside cable described above aaaaaandā€¦

Nothing. Flashing yellow light, no blue. I really donā€™t understand what Iā€™m doing wrong. Everything checks out, but clearly Iā€™m missing something. In addition to the camera itself, Iā€™ve now spent $20 on the 15ft cable and $40 on the wifi extender, making my total cost for this one camera $80. And it still doesnā€™t work.

Iā€™m about to throw in the towel on this one, Iā€™m just not willing to keep throwing money at it if it doesnā€™t work. Can anyone offer a guess as to what Iā€™m doing wrong? I would be eternally grateful to get this figured outā€¦ itā€™s like an itch I canā€™t scratch. Please let me know if I can provide any additional info.

Thanks for reading!

6

Have you tried using a WiFi analyzer app near the point where youā€™re trying to install a camera?

7

I didnā€™t even consider that since the cursory test I did showed increased signal, but Iā€™ll try anything. Thanks for the suggestion.

Is there a particular app you would suggest? I have Xfinity and the xFi app, but Iā€™ve never really had the need to use it before. Is there anything I should be looking at other than signal strength?

Thanks for your help!!

8

I have been using WiFi Analytics from Netgear. Thereā€™s a section in the app where you can save results by room, or area. It gives you signal strength and Mbps.

9

So, how does their signal strength compare to the signal strength number in the appā€™s device info section?

10

Sorry for my delayed replyā€¦ I just gave up for a while because I was getting nowhere. But, due to the recent version update difficulties, I found myself back on the forums.

So, I downloaded the Netgear wifi app and tested all of my rooms. Went outside and tested my signal where I need the cam to connect, and got 70% signal.

I just donā€™t know what to say. All signs point to no issue, yet the issue persists. The wifi extender broadcasts to the same network ID, all my other cameras can connect to the network, I get 70% signal where the camera needs to be, and yet I still canā€™t connect it.

Thank you all for the help. If by some chance, a solution exists out there that one of you are aware of, or if I am missing something obvious, please shoot me a reply. Other than that, I really have nothing left to try and will just throw in the towel.

11

Sorry, @OverWatch. Iā€™m not sure how I missed your question here. I have never tried to correlate the two. The Wyze app only shows signal strength, and to me isnā€™t enough information. I like using the Netgear app so I can also see signal quality.

1 Like
12

@jayson.hickie, how many Mbps was the Netgear app getting at that location? Signal quality is probably more important than strength. Also, if it helps, my old trusty router was getting long in the tooth and I was in denial about it not working as well as it did when I first installed it. I replaced it with an excellent mesh system, and everything works SO much better than it used to. I can PM you the brand if you wish. :slight_smile:

13

Thanks for the ongoing help, I really appreciate it. Apologies, I neglected to post both numbers before.

Kitchen (near router)
100% signal
350 Mbps

Sunroom (halfway to problem spot)
88% signal
234 Mbps

Problem Spot
77% signal
117 Mbps

These numbers seem to fluctuate pretty wildly at times as well, so I donā€™t know how accurate they are. However, based on what Iā€™m averaging, it seems like I have plenty of signal to work with.

My router is fairly new, but I have been thinking about upgrading it. The mesh router system looks pretty sweet, and Iā€™ve had a look at a few. The reasons I went with the wifi extender were 1) our house gets good signal with the exception of one just end of the house, and 2) it was cheaper than a mesh system by a factor of 10.

Itā€™s just a shame we canā€™t get network connection through the power cable. My camera is hard wired but Iā€™m still having to get wifi signal to it, which seems a bit redundant.

Iā€™m just not sure what else I can try. I really need a camera at the far side of the yard, and I would love it to be my extra Wyze Cam, but I may just have to get a one-off outdoor camera from some other brand to get this done. I have a fairly technical job, and although I can build computers and code, this apparently seems to be beyond my capabilities.

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14

If the signal fluctuates a lot at the problem spot, then that probably is the issue. Even with my new mesh system, I unexpectedly had to re-setup my range extender last night for two of the cameras mounted outside, even though the mesh should have given a strong enough signal. The range extender gave the signal enough of a boost in that area to bring those cameras back online. I REALLY like my mesh system, and for me, it was worth the investment. :slight_smile:

15

Iā€™m not willing to accept that fluctuations in the signal can be causing the problems that Iā€™m having. If that was so, logic would dictate that I would be able to get it setup at least during one of the upsides in the fluctuation. I have been averaging right about 100-150 mbps, as high as 200 and as low as 70. While a lower than optimal signal may result in poor video, and I may have to drop down to SD from HD, this range has not been an issue for my other cameras.

This explanation was not conclusive for me, so I decided to do a little deep testing last night. Giving up with no conclusion is just not how I work. So, it seems to me that there are 3 variables in this equation. The camera, the wifi signal, and the power cable. I tested all three to make sure I wasnā€™t missing anything.

Just to recap my setup: I have two outside cameras, and this is the third Iā€™m trying to connect. They are all daisy-chained from the same input. I have a camera in the sunroom (where the plug is), this is connected to the backyard camera, and this is connected to the cable going to where I want the 3rd camera. The cable is a third-party 15 ft cable I bought from Amazon, and was rated specifically for these type of cameras. The 15 ft cable wasnā€™t long enough, so I needed to add one of the 5 ft cables that come in the mounting kit.

(router) ___ [plug]-----[cam1]-----[cam2]--------------------[cam3 desired location]

Camera: I was starting to suspect that the camera may be the issue, so I swapped it out where the other backyard camera is. It worked just fine and connected with no issues. Not the camera.

Wifi signal: As discussed, I get 70% signal where I need it. I really donā€™t think this is the issue. I can connect the camera when adding it inside, right on the other side of the wall from where it needs to be.

Cable: Not sure why I never thought of this before, but to test the cable I plugged it into the camera and attempted to connect it right where the backyard camera is. This should obviously connect since the other camera is right there and connects/operates with no issues. Well, surprise! Canā€™t get the camera connected.

So to summarize, I connected the camera just fine when I used the Wyze cable being used for a different location, but when I attempted to connect it at the same location using this 15 ft cable, it wouldnā€™t connect. My conclusion is this cable has to be the point of failure.

My 3rd-party 15 ft cable from Amazon clearly doesnā€™t work well. How many 5 ft Wyze cables can I attach in sequence without connectivity issues? Can I make up this difference with 3 Wyze cables from the mounting kits? Can you daisy chain cameras infinitely, and if not what is the limit?

Thanks for your continued assistance.
Jayson

1 Like
16

Some great troubleshooting there. Which cable did you buy? I have two 25ā€™ cables I bought from Amazon that work just fine. Iā€™ll try to find a link for you.

EDIT: Here ya go! :slight_smile:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077HPJJFF

17

Iā€™m wondering if itā€™s the cable length and possibly a voltage drop issue.

Can you plug the camera in using the OEM cable (that came with the camera) and running an extension cord to test it out? If you still have issues, that will at least eliminate the voltage drop theory.

18

Thatā€™s exactly the same one I bought, only shorter.

https://www.amazon.com/Power-Extension-Playstation-Classic-Camera/dp/B07GD8CWN4/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_3?keywords=15ft+Power+Extension+Cable+for+Wyze+Camera&qid=1552673322&s=gateway&sr=8-3-fkmrnull

It was listed as ā€œAmazonā€™s Choiceā€ and highly rated so I thought it would be a good buy. Although Iā€™ve identified the cable as the point of failure, Iā€™m not sure itā€™s because the cable is bad. I was starting to wonder how long you can ā€˜daisy-chainā€™ these cameras before you start having some kind of issue. Again, my setup is OEM cable > sunroom camera > OEM cable > backyard camera > OEM cable > OEM cable > non-OEM 15 ft cable > problem location. It may be that I have too many cables or the cable distance is too great to carry proper voltage.

I will continue testing. This is like a puzzle that I canā€™t walk away from and absolutely must solve. Itā€™s driving me crazy. Iā€™m getting closer though, I can feel it!

19

Great suggestion, and I was thinking exactly the same thing. After I figured out the cable was the issue, I got my longest extension cord and strung it from the bedroom window at the back of our house out to where the problem spot is. I then plugged the OEM cable into the extension cord and camera, and ran through the setup. Bingo! Everything worked fine, no problems.

So, as you suggested, the issue seems to be distance and voltage loss. If I was an electrical engineer, I would test it with some fancy gadget to determine overall current and where the loss occurs. However, I am but a simple software developer and barely remember Ohmā€™s Law, so thatā€™s out of the question.

I remember when I bought these cameras originally seeing somewhere that you could daisy-chain indefinitely, which seems dubious at best. In all fairness, I canā€™t remember if I read that on the Wyze website or on the forums. Logically though, there has to be some definable limit. But, is it based on the number of cameras, the number of cables involved, the distance between cameras, or the total distance from the plug? I have no idea.

If anyone wiser that I in these matters can offer a suggestion, I would greatly appreciate it. Otherwise, Iā€™m going to test out the order of these cables to see if it makes any difference. Thanks for the help!

20

Well, that long run from the 2nd to the 3rd camera does sound like the issue to me. Is there no other way to get power to it than the method youā€™re attempting?