IP Cameras Throttling Bandwidth

TechBill

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I am running 3 HD wireless cameras with no problem at 2.4Ghz band.

What I did was install a second wifi access point just for the cameras to connect to so it does not tied up my primary wifi access point which is use for everything else like laptops, tablets, game consoles, or media players. For those I use 5Ghz band whenever possible but older devices like tablet and smartphone, I use 2.4 Ghz band which is on a different channel and SSDI.

It works fine for me even I am streaming all 3 all the time to one of my media players so I can quickly switch and view my camera when someone is at the door.

Bill
 

Cameraguy

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First off, never never never run your cameras on the same physical ethernet switch as the rest of your network, UNLESS you are running enterprise grade equipment and can vlan off your cameras, but even then, some lower end enterprise grade equipment don't have enough bandwidth in their switching fabric to sustain full thruput with a bunch of chatty cameras on the network. What I did was get a cheap 8 port PoE switch, put all of my cameras on the PoE Ports, put my BI machine and NVR (yes I'm running both) on the non PoE ports on the switch, then uplink the switch to my main network. The camera switch goes bonkers all day long 24x7 with tons of traffic, but the rest of my network cruises along with full speeds because of the physical isolation factor.. The only time that any traffic is passed onto the main network is for remote viewing of BI or the NVR.

Secondly, WiFi and cameras are a no-no... they are too chatty to sustain any decent thruput. There are many thruput calculators on the net, that will help you figure out how much bandwidth is being used.

Hardwiring everything will be your best bet period, and will avoid things like drop outs, poor image quality, and crappy performance.
Can you post a pic of your setup?? Would be appreciated
 

Cameraguy

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Last activity for cork was Feb 2016. Small chance he'll be respond to this 3 yo post.
I have my setup as follows

1. 4 ip cameras going into gigabit switch
2. Switch plugged to pc for blue iris
3 .router plugged to switch

Maybe a dumb question
This is the only way to do this, isnt it?
 

Cameraguy

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blue iris cannot and will not cut your bandwidth. It is technically impossible. When you set it up in the way described, no data passed beyond the switch.
Ok i have 2 wifi cameras also.. im guessing those are the culprits?
 

Cameraguy

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why dont you disconnect them and see for yourself. Once again, it is impossible for "blue iris" to cause any bandwidth issue. It is simply fed a stream from your cameras.
Haha, yea i will when i get home. Just bouncing ideas, thanks for the info
 

mike s.

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For what it's worth: I started this thread. Since then, 2 years ago, I had time on my hands and wired my whole house with ethernet. As soon as I plugged just one of my Foscams in via ethernet, all bandwidth problems went away. I'm pretty sure there will never be an acceptable reason why...
I currently run 6-8 cams and about half are hard wired at any given time. I do have better bandwidth now, though, at 60-80 mbps download.
 

Cameraguy

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For what it's worth: I started this thread. Since then, 2 years ago, I had time on my hands and wired my whole house with ethernet. As soon as I plugged just one of my Foscams in via ethernet, all bandwidth problems went away. I'm pretty sure there will never be an acceptable reason why...
I currently run 6-8 cams and about half are hard wired at any given time. I do have better bandwidth now, though, at 60-80 mbps download.
What's your bandwidth with wifi cameras running and then no wifi cameras running? Ill report mine tonight with and without 2 wifi cameras
 

alastairstevenson

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Ok i have 2 wifi cameras also.. im guessing those are the culprits?
Can 2 wifi cameras really cut the bandwidth down like 70 mbps? Seem extreme
On the assumption the WiFi is provisioned from the router -

A couple of years back I replaced my ISP-provided router when, after a necessary 'static route' that had the effect of passing traffic from one wired camera via the router to the NVR, the internet bandwidth dropped by 50%
The cause was the extra work the router CPU was having to do, managing the traffic on t5he router switch ports, adversely affecting it's ability to also do the routing task.
Handling WiFi traffic could create a similar performance issue.

The replacement router had no such problem - it was a faster, more capable model.

So yes, a couple of WiFi cameras whose traffic passes through the router could have a significant impact.
 

Cameraguy

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On the assumption the WiFi is provisioned from the router -

A couple of years back I replaced my ISP-provided router when, after a necessary 'static route' that had the effect of passing traffic from one wired camera via the router to the NVR, the internet bandwidth dropped by 50%
The cause was the extra work the router CPU was having to do, managing the traffic on t5he router switch ports, adversely affecting it's ability to also do the routing task.
Handling WiFi traffic could create a similar performance issue.

The replacement router had no such problem - it was a faster, more capable model.

So yes, a couple of WiFi cameras whose traffic passes through the router could have a significant impact.
Has anyone used a wifi extender at a location where wifi camera is and plugged the camera in there or would that be the same as use the camera wifi?
 

bp2008

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A wifi extender may have a better radio and/or antenna than the camera has, so that could be an improvement, but not likely a big improvement.
 

eagerbob

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Has anyone used a wifi extender at a location where wifi camera is and plugged the camera in there or would that be the same as use the camera wifi?

A wifi extender will just re-broadcast the signal of your wireless access point. It uses the same chip for communication with both your access point and your camera, effectively halving your bandwidth.

If you want better wifi coverage, better speed and more stability you will have to look into a mesh system. A mesh point has separate chips to talk to the other mesh points and your wifi clients. But this comes at a price, and it is still wireless. Better to invest in a network cable. More reliable, faster and cheaper in the long run.
 
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