Recommendations for Reasonable Priced non-subscription Wifi Cams to test?

[LTek]

I'm looking to test cams in my most problematic locations in my home where signals drop frequently. I think the issue is the cams (see below for the details).

Many people have Wyse Cams... anyone ever compare Wyse v2 to Samsung's most recent cams?

What about other 'reasonable priced' (e.g. not more than approx $100 each) cams?

Please...
ONLY recommend Wifi cams that DO NOT require a subscription and they must be usable on Blue Iris!
Do NOT recommend wired cams unless you are willing to come wire them all for free. I have 3 level home and it would cost thousands of $ (literally) to put wire in the needed locations.

thx for the help!

<situation details>
I've been using Samsung Smartcams, aka Wisenet, for a few years now. Cycled through multiple versions and overall been pretty OK with them. But as I increased #s from a few, to 10 across 3 floors, it seems that they dont hold a signal well. All will loose connection at times (and come back on) and a few, loose connection multiple times a day - and yes, usually restore minutes or an hour later.

I recently changed from using 2 separate ASUS AC routers (1 Router/AP + 1 AP) to Unifi AC-LR (top floor - most coverage areas) + ASUS Router/AP (basement, only 2 cams)... this has really not changed things much even though the Unifi has a much stronger signal at the main and top floor cams - and even reaches to the basement.

I've very well versed at setting up Wifi networks and understand how to select channels, bandwitdh settings ,etc... my 5ghz bands have little to no interference and no overlap with other radios. Most cams are on 5Ghz. 2.4Ghz has very little interference. The cams can self-select as the SSID is the same on both 2G & 5G.

So, I'm wanting to test if the issue is the Cams have weak antennas / wifi chips and the maybe the Wifi signal is fine?

</situation details>

 

[sebastiantombs]

Bandwidth and mutual interference is the problem. Trying other brands probably won't help. Wired cameras rarely drop out unless they totally crap out.

 

[looney2ns]

Your problem will continue until you hard wire the cams.

see this: Cliff Notes.

 

[LTek]

@sebastiantombs & @looney2ns
... guys, thanks for volunteering your time to come wire my entire house! ;0

OK, more testing has led me to see the issue IS Blue Iris... NOT the Cams or the Wifi!

As I mentioned, I have ALL Samsung Wisenet cams... which, all use the Android Samsung Smartcam+ app... and all connect over the internet proxy to that app.
Well as it turns out, they ALL work perfectly fine, connecting to the app BUT several bounce back-forth on BI showing 'no signal'. I'm wondering if there is a setting in the Unifi config that might fix this?

I'm going to start another thread now that I've identified the real problem

 

[sebastiantombs]

In the app are you viewing one at a time or all at once? That will effect bandwidth utilization significantly. Given that many people run more than ten wired cameras simultaneously, I'm running 11 at the moment, with no drop out problems, blaming it on BI is a little bit of a stretch. I assume, and we know what that can do, that at least the PC is connected by wire to your wireless network. If it isn't the bandwidth load on your network if way more than a wireless network can handle. I'd suggest finding a local low voltage certified installer and get some cables run if you can't do it yourself.

 

[LTek]

It might not be a BI problem - maybe Unifi setting or some interaction between Unifi & BI. This is why I posted a new thread in the BI forum. Hoping someone is using Unifi and seen the same issue. Considering that the cams all work 100% rock solid with the Samsung Android App, which ALWAYS connects via Internet... its def not a camera problem.

you guys gotta get off the "you must wire everything" .. it would cost thousands of $ to do it in an existing built house like mine.

 

[wtimothyholman]

@sebastiantombs & @looney2ns
... guys, thanks for volunteering your time to come wire my entire house! ;0

OK, more testing has led me to see the issue IS Blue Iris... NOT the Cams or the Wifi!

As I mentioned, I have ALL Samsung Wisenet cams... which, all use the Android Samsung Smartcam+ app... and all connect over the internet proxy to that app.
Well as it turns out, they ALL work perfectly fine, connecting to the app BUT several bounce back-forth on BI showing 'no signal'. I'm wondering if there is a setting in the Unifi config that might fix this?

I'm going to start another thread now that I've identified the real problem

I will only say from my experience in my own house that SecuritySpy running on a fairly modern iMac has no problems at all with a combination of 19 wired and wireless cameras recording video 24/7 onto a couple of 4 TB hard drives. The flip side is that SecuritySpy is a lot more expensive than Blue Iris, but it is a well-supported piece of software. And of course, you also need a fairly recent Mac that has hardware support for processing H.264 video streams.

So I'm very happy with SecuritySpy, but I am also paying more for that happiness.

 

[wtimothyholman]

you guys gotta get off the "you must wire everything" .. it would cost thousands of $ to do it in an existing built house like mine.

But wired is what works. And you don't necessarily need to run Ethernet cable everywhere. There are coax-to-Ethernet interfaces that you can buy to let you use your existing TV coax as an Ethernet backbone. I use a couple of them, and they provide about 70 Mbps without interfering with the cable signal. Combine those with PoE injectors and flat Ethernet cables that can be run under window sills, and you can mount cameras outside your home without spending a fortune in installation costs.

If you are truly serious about building a dedicated reliable high-performance camera system, then wired PoE is the only way to go.

 

[mikeynags]

You can try looking at the Amcrest IP3M-941B which is about $50'ish dollars on Amazon.com - I tend to agree with @looney2ns and @sebastiantombs that wired is the way to go if you can. If you have a decent wifi setup, sure you can run wifi cams. There is no doubt however that wired will out perform in the long run. People think wifi and Ethernet are the same but they are totally different animals. That Amcrest cam I list above does work on my 5GHz band of wifi and only because I am too lazy to run the ethernet cable to its location. All of my cams used to be wifi. Now that 941B is the ONLY non-wired cam I have. Good luck with your troubleshooting.

 

[sebastiantombs]

Typically, an installer charges between $100 and $200 per cable run. Installing cable isn't rocket science and if I can do it, at 71 years old, anyone can do it IF they really want to. I again ask when you view in your app if you're viewing all cameras at once, as in BI, or one at a time? Another thing to look at is the actual throughput from each camera in BI on the information tab.

BI is well supported with updates happening more than most other software and those updates usually include added features as well as tweaks. If you pay for support, which isn't all that expensive, you can get help from the developer as well. Just remember that he is, basically, a one man band and it can take time to get a response.

 

[Tokens]

I run 1x temporary wifi cam YI outdoor 1080p in BI with hacked firmware and it has max WiFi signal and shows no signal often in BI but never in its app from YI.

I think BI is more sensitive than the phone app and the timeout in app could be much longer that's why you think it's rock solid using the Samsung app.

I don't have industrial grade wifi access points yet (will be buying soon) like you and don't belive it's ubiquity fault etc.

Don't have high expectations when you run wifi cams as it's not reliable for constant streaming/recording.

Sent from my CLT-L29 using Tapatalk

 

[mikeynags]

Is the Samsung app connecting to the camera directly when viewing or are you viewing the video from their "cloud" that the video is streaming to?

 

[mat200]

It might not be a BI problem - maybe Unifi setting or some interaction between Unifi & BI. This is why I posted a new thread in the BI forum. Hoping someone is using Unifi and seen the same issue. Considering that the cams all work 100% rock solid with the Samsung Android App, which ALWAYS connects via Internet... its def not a camera problem.

you guys gotta get off the "you must wire everything" .. it would cost thousands of $ to do it in an existing built house like mine.

Hi @LTek

"...you guys gotta get off the "you must wire everything" .. it would cost thousands of $ to do it in an existing built house like mine."

"Installing cable isn't rocket science and if I can do it, at 71 years old, anyone can do it IF they really want to." - sebastiantombs

Honestly, having attempted to get results the non-wired way.. and finally giving in, do take the advice and recommendations of those who have attempted to build a reliable setup only with non-wired cameras and finally accepted what others here have to say.

Ask yourself:
How much does it cost to build a reliable wifi camera setup??? Once you add up those costs - you may find that going wired is more cost effective. Especially if you are willing / able to DIY like sebastiantombs and many of the rest of us.

 

[LTek]

I'm glad everyone knows my house better than I do. I know what things cost, I have ran about 500ft CAT5e (in the past) and 300ft CAT6 (recently) in this house using my own 2 hands. Even with all the right tools and a helper (or two) it was not easy. I live in a 3 level house and much of it has zero access without opening a ton of walls, and then there are structural impediments. I just did a remodel and even then running CAT wires to the basement was a total nightmare in a few places.

 

[mat200]

I'm glad everyone knows my house better than I do. I know what things cost, I have ran about 500ft CAT5e (in the past) and 300ft CAT6 (recently) in this house using my own 2 hands. Even with all the right tools and a helper (or two) it was not easy. I live in a 3 level house and much of it has zero access without opening a ton of walls, and then there are structural impediments. I just did a remodel and even then running CAT wires to the basement was a total nightmare in a few places.

Hi LTek

I don't think any of us have ever said we know your house better than you do.

We have said, and I will happily state it again:

WiFi security cameras are problematic, and often the cost to setup a reliable WiFi security camera setup will be significantly more costly than just wiring up cameras.

And this is from someone who has had a significantly challening wired setup job to do, and attempted to avoid that job.. only to find out that wifi != reliable.

 

[Sybertiger]

There is no magic bullet as much as you and everyone wishes. Those with WiFi cam experience are trying to help you out by telling you not to waste your time and money. You can choose to ignore them but at your own peril. Opening up walls to run cable is sometimes a necessity. I just opened up the walls in a few places this weekend running Cat 6 to a couple difficult locations. It is what it is and I'll be patching those walls soon...drywall, paper tape, plaster, texture, paint, repeat.

 

[sebastiantombs]

Sometimes you've just gotta bite the bullet and do what needs to be done.

 

[R L]

I enjoy my landline wired phone and wired cable. But, my wireless cellphone, over the air TV and radio stations work just fine without be hardwired. Hell, my amateur radio station work real well with wires...Sure wires are preferred, but so is a landline...

You can try looking at the Amcrest IP3M-941B which is about $50'ish dollars on Amazon.com - I tend to agree with @looney2ns and @sebastiantombs that wired is the way to go if you can. If you have a decent wifi setup, sure you can run wifi cams. There is no doubt however that wired will out perform in the long run. People think wifi and Ethernet are the same but they are totally different animals. That Amcrest cam I list above does work on my 5GHz band of wifi and only because I am too lazy to run the ethernet cable to its location. All of my cams used to be wifi. Now that 941B is the ONLY non-wired cam I have. Good luck with your troubleshooting.

 

[sebastiantombs]

Those example don't really illustrate the shared bandwidth that WiFi is using nor does WiFi do any time scheduling for access. Everybody on it yammers at the same time. Remember what channel 19 sounded like when the band opened up? How about trying to copy a new DX contact when the guy a mile away is hammering away with an electronic keyer at 30WPM, 5kc up or down, from your frequency. Those are a lot closer to WiFi conditions

 

[Sybertiger]

Uh, your wireless cellphone doesn't use WiFI (801.11) and neither does your OTA TV. I sure someone on here can provide some recommendations on WiFi cams that may or may not work reliably. May or may not work isn't where I want to sink my time and money but it sounds like it'll be adequate for your situation.