Hi - I have 6 Foscam cameras, 2 h.264 and 4 mpeg. I have a new powerful router and 3 of the cameras are not using wifi but are on a powerline adaptor. One mpej camera constantly disconnects from blue iris, but it is connected and I can view it on my phone with live cams pro and also online. So in reality the camera is connected but blue iris just has issues with it. My cpu usage is 40-50%. any ideas? This particular camera is on wifi and cannot be wired or on a powerline adaptor. Seems like the software has issues but the camera is definitely online.
Connection issue with one out of six cameras
- Thread starter FIN13
- Start date
What is 500 or 150?
Yes, the cams should each have a different IP address. I can't imagine how it could work otherwise. You must be mistaken about them all being the same.
Yes, the cams should each have a different IP address. I can't imagine how it could work otherwise. You must be mistaken about them all being the same.
They all work off of the same ddns site if I want them to, but for the port number being different. So I can use for example xyz.myfoscm.org if xyz is available for at least one camera and then just change the port for each cam. This has been working for several years but suddenly with blue iris I have issues.
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The 500 is the default bitrate limitation when you click on the video encoding tab, and I lowered it.
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The 500 is the default bitrate limitation when you click on the video encoding tab, and I lowered it.
Oh, it is fine for all the cams to use the same public IP address with different port numbers. It is the private IP addresses that must be different and I am sure they are.
If that bit rate is in Blue Iris's settings, it won't affect the stability of the video. That just controls the bit rate of the recordings that are saved to disk.
Is the one camera with the connection issue further away from your WiFi access point, or have more obstructions for the signal to pass through? Alas, connection problems are extremely common with WiFi cameras and usually the solution (when wiring the cameras is not an option) is to reduce bandwidth usage or to increase WiFi capacity by installing a second access point closer to the problem camera(s).
If you get a second access point, make sure it is not a wireless "repeater" as this would actually make the situation worse. The second access point must be connected by ethernet in order to help. Also, you need to be careful about which radio channels you use. Typically the channels are numbered 1 through 11 and when you pick one, the radio actually uses that channel and several of the neighboring channels. The best way to optimize WiFi usage is to only ever choose channels 1, 6, or 11. These 3 channels are far enough apart that they do not interfere with each other. If you were to choose for example channel 3, it would only leave enough open channels for one more access point. Automatic channel selection is sometimes not very smart, so you should avoid using that. Always manually assign one of 1, 6, or 11.
If that bit rate is in Blue Iris's settings, it won't affect the stability of the video. That just controls the bit rate of the recordings that are saved to disk.
Is the one camera with the connection issue further away from your WiFi access point, or have more obstructions for the signal to pass through? Alas, connection problems are extremely common with WiFi cameras and usually the solution (when wiring the cameras is not an option) is to reduce bandwidth usage or to increase WiFi capacity by installing a second access point closer to the problem camera(s).
If you get a second access point, make sure it is not a wireless "repeater" as this would actually make the situation worse. The second access point must be connected by ethernet in order to help. Also, you need to be careful about which radio channels you use. Typically the channels are numbered 1 through 11 and when you pick one, the radio actually uses that channel and several of the neighboring channels. The best way to optimize WiFi usage is to only ever choose channels 1, 6, or 11. These 3 channels are far enough apart that they do not interfere with each other. If you were to choose for example channel 3, it would only leave enough open channels for one more access point. Automatic channel selection is sometimes not very smart, so you should avoid using that. Always manually assign one of 1, 6, or 11.
Thanks for the response! Unfortunately I do have one extender and I understand that it cuts the bandwidth 50%. I think I need to get powerline adaptors for these as running ethernet to this area is impossible. They also make outdoor powerline adaptors. Then out of all of my cameras only 2 would be running from the wifi. The extender has all of the bars available so a great signal but the main router only 2 bars - maybe I would be better off using the main router even if weaker signal until I install powerline adaptors?
Here is another question - my dsl modem from my cable company is also a wireless router but not powerful. So I have connected by ethernet a netgear router with a better broadcast. All of the cams are now connected either wirelessly to the Netgear or via powerline adaptor to Netgear. Is this ok? I know I have channel 1.
Possibly. It is worth a try, anyway.
For cameras that have a bit rate option, you can reduce the bit rate in the camera's web interface to reduce the bandwidth. Most older MJPEG cameras do not have such an option, but you can reduce their bandwidth usage by enabling that frame rate limiting compatibility mode in Blue Iris, and then setting a fixed low frame rate like 5 FPS. You can use Blue Iris' statistics window to see the actual frame rate and bit rate being received.
That should be fine. I recommend turning off the WiFi in the one provided by your cable company then.
I think I resolved it - I turned off the wireless from the combined dsl/wireless router modem from the cable company. Thenn on the new router I have plugged in via ethernet, the channel was set to auto, so I changed it to channel 11. The cable company router was set to channel 1 but my new router was on auto. I have not had a camera lose connection for several hours now. Thanks for the help!
alastairstevenson
Staff member
A really handy free tool - for Android phones - is 'WiFi Analyser' from Farproc, Kevin Chou.
It will show all WiFi access points, with channel numbers and signal strengths and more, and identify if you are competing on the same channel as other access points.
It's often surprising how many access points are clustered on the same few channels in busy areas.
It will show all WiFi access points, with channel numbers and signal strengths and more, and identify if you are competing on the same channel as other access points.
It's often surprising how many access points are clustered on the same few channels in busy areas.