I have a Comcast router/modem in a concrete block home. Camera is at the other side of the home.
I only can get one bar of signal strength on the hub. Connectivity is very poor.
Suggestions on changing router/modem or using a repeater?
Moving the existing router/modem not an option.
If you have an available electrical outlet near the camera you might consider purchasing a 2.4 gigahertz Wi-Fi extender, preferably with a ethernet port which you might need, or want, to plug the base station into.
No, nothing like that will help at all.
You need to run CAT-5 cable to some place where you can stick the basestation at, then the basestation should have line of site to the cam. That is the ONLY thing that will help.
The basestation is NOT a hub, it is custom accesspoint to the cam that is running its own 2.4GHz WiFi Signal. You CAN’T boost that. A repeater will NOT help at all.
I was surprised to see that the -40dBm signal strength of the base station compares favorably to the -48dBm signal strength of my router, as measured on the rear deck of my condo. The router and base station are in the center of my condo, about 30 feet from the wco. They approximately sit side by side. They are blasting through three interior walls and an exterior wall with a brick veneer. However the camera is a fail because when you mount it at a height of 4 feet above the deck, on a railing, you must walk within 6 or 8 feet of it in order to generate motion detection. A disappointing product overall when compared with the V2.
I connected the camera in the same room as the base station. Within a few feet of the router and base station. Motion detection did not improve.
I have 1 bar and a similar setup to what you are describing but mine works fine. What is the issue when you say poor connectivity? If it is a lack of motion events that is a separate issue that quite a few are having that doesn’t seem related to the signal strength (no one really has an answer to that problem) If you are getting fuzzy video or melting screens and 0kb/s feed etc then you’ll need to move them closer together. Extenders often have a network port you can use to plug the base into. It doesn’t boost the signal but allows you to move it closer to the cam which should help. Comcast sells xfi pods which should also work as they have ethernet ports too.
Poor Conductivity in my case is my image is very clear the problem is it takes a while to see the live image, The camera goes through several cycles to connect. Most times, motion is not detected, rarely at most…
I too have seen this behaviour. My regular router WiFi has a further reach than the base station. I ran an Ethernet cable to the base so I could (temporarily since it goes through a bedroom - who runs a cable on the floor of a bedroom?) put the base in a window at the back of my house. This way it is almost a direct line-of-site to where I put the WOC outdoors. I have a regular V2 WYZE camera in the same vicinity (inside a shed) that works on plain 2.4GHz WiFi with no issues and get a pretty steady video stream - considering it goes through 2-rooms before reaching outside and then into the shed. I am starting to think the WOC isn’t worth it!
How far away is the camera from the base station when you have the base station in the window? Can you share a picture of the base station in the window and indicate where the camera is in relation to the base station?
Here are 2-shots. Through the window where the base is - pointing to the back of the shed where the camera is. The 2nd is from where the camera is looking at the windows with the base.
First thing I would try is to angle the antennas a bit so that signal coming out of the antenna is more directly pointed towards the camera’s location. Right now the strongest signal location looks to be high above and shooting over your shed if that makes sense. Other than that mounting to a more line of sight location like on top of the roof or on the side of that structure would be the only other thing I would suggest. It looks like remounting just a few inches to the side would put the camera in line of sight with the window.
While I appreciate your suggestions, No, I am not going to go through all of this. As I mentioned, I had to run an Ethernet cable across the bedroom floor (from another room) to temporarily try this out and that was to test getting it closer to the WOC via the window, since the room with the Ethernet switch/router in it is even farther away and it wasn’t reaching the WOC at all (eventhough the WiFi signal itself reaches with no issue). Sounds like this process wasn’t thought out very thoroughly and certainly doesn’t have the range needed to really get “out in the woods” of someones home/property…
One option that may work for some people is to use a Powerline AV adapter to provide wired ethernet to other parts of your home through regular power outlets. I use a Powerline AV500 pair to get wired ethernet from my house to my shed since it’s already wired for power. Ideally I would run ethernet cables directly, but I didn’t feel like digging a trench and conduit just to run an ethernet cable across my yard. In the shed I have my second Wyze base station that connects to one of my WCOs beyond the shed out of sight of the house.
I wouldn’t trust Powerline AV as the backbone of my home network, but performance is generally very stable (if a little slow) so it works well for low-bandwidth cases where running a physical ethernet cable isn’t practical.
Thanks for the suggestion. I too thought of that since I have some unused Ethernet-Over-Powerline adapters (removed from a client since they had better router/WiFi installed). But this is a lot to go through for one IoT device - especially since the 20+ other devices I have (Wemo and Wyze) all work via existing WiFi (and about to get better with a Mesh network I am installing). Also, E-O-P most likely won’t work if your outlets are filtered/surge protected (like most good power-strips and UPS’s do).
Mine work on a surge-protected outlet but the bandwidth is severely reduced. I get about 40-50Mbps to the shed which is plenty for the base station. Again, not saying it’s an ideal setup, but if you have the adapters lying around it’s worth a test.
I’m in IT so I enjoy a bit of tinkering, but I understand how the wired base station is problematic for a lot of users.
I too have been in the “computing business” for over 40-years and tinker a lot. I guess it depends on the PowerLine device/make/model. I may tinker with it…as time permits.
On your question about Outdoor Cam signal strength, I had same issue so IF you have an electrical outlet outside in an area protected from rain (mine is) you could possibly buy the flat CAT6 Ethernet extension wire say from Amazon as I did, or wherever (I needed 20 feet) but they come longer and shorter, and run the extension from your router "extra ethernet outlet out a window (any window really because the range once outside is truelly great) and the window can carefully pinch closed on the cable and not hurt signal. Plug it into the wyze router that’s protected and plugged in to 110vac outlet.
Worked for me. I just don’t get motion alerts…
