To many 2.4GHz wireless cameras or to much traffic for router?

[Ellisz]

@Ellisz
You really can not use more than 3 routers (AP). You can only use channel 1,6,11. Overlapping channels in close proximity make thing worse. The main thing is to use a different SSID and channel(1,6,11) of each router(AP).

Three routers(ap) on the same the same SSID , will not help at all with collisions and high traffic load.

A guest network use the same channel as the main network, all a guest network is , a different login and different security. You will still have collisions.

Ok. I misunderstood. Using 3 routers I will be good with. I do have mine all set up with the same SSID so that I can fix. The Guest network is just used to limit access to the local network as I had no idea of the radio traffic issue until now. I have only been using the guest network for a short while though. Is there a negative to using a separate primary and guest on each router? I used to use port forwarding in the router to view remotely but I now use the VPN functionality to view from outside the network.

I have a lot to learn.

Thanks

 

[SouthernYankee]

I see no advantage in using a guest network for cameras. The guest network just provides a different level of security. I have never set up a guest network except to allow guest to access the internet, never any of my local systems.

As stated earlier, the primary problem with wifi cameras is that they are transmitting nearly all the time, so they get in the way of each other and other devices on the wifi network. There behavior on a wifi network is very different than most other devices.

 

[Ellisz]

Thanks again. I have a mixture of wired and wireless cams so now I just need to separate out my SSID's and divide up my wifi cameras as best as possible.

 

[cmitche]

If i where to find IP cams that are 5Ghz would it still cause the same issue?

 

[SouthernYankee]

They may. I have not tested 5HGhz. The bad thing about 5Ghz is signal loss, when going through wall. The good thing about 5 Ghz is there is not as much interference, from other devices. Also there is a lot more channels

I test I do not Guess.

 

[The_E]

Hi guys, good thread! @SouthernYankee has this wrapped up quite nicely. I’d just add a couple clarifications:

• It’s not the bandwidth that’s causing the issue. WiFi is all about available airtime.
• As @SouthernYankee alluded to, the near 100% duty cycle means there’s very little available airtime to share. A few cams can sometimes work , but more than that saturates the airtime and no device can “speak” efficiently or effectively.
• This is compounded if you have neighboring WiFi (neighbors, or even your own access points) on the same channel. Each vendor has their own thresholds, but a rule of thumb is any neighboring signal on the same channel at -84 or better causes co-channel interference
• The suggestion to use additional access points is a good one - but do not use additional routers, unless you can place them in “access point only” mode.
• Only use 1,6,11 as mentioned.

Hope this clears a bit up and helps a little. Good luck with your project!

 

[cmitche]

I ended up getting UniFi back it is pretty cool! How do i dedicate one AP for the cameras to use and nothing else?

I'll try one and see if it can handle it. I have two AP's at the moment. When i setup a SSID for only 2.4Ghz devices it ends up using two AP's.

 

[SouthernYankee]

I was not clear. Each Access point has a different SIDD and channel (1,6,11). Then configure you cameras to use one of the AP or the other. I do not know about UniFi.

 

[The_E]

I ended up getting UniFi back it is pretty cool! How do i dedicate one AP for the cameras to use and nothing else?

I'll try one and see if it can handle it. I have two AP's at the moment. When i setup a SSID for only 2.4Ghz devices it ends up using two AP's.

Feel free to ask me any questions you may have about UniFi set up.

As @SouthernYankee said, create an SSID with a unique name that you will only connect to your camera(s). This will be a 2.4GHz SSID ONLY. You can connect other devices on 5GHz, to that same AP on a separate SSID. This will not take away from the airtime usage as it’s a different radio.

What are you using as your UniFi controller -desktop, or CloudKey?

 

[cmitche]

Feel free to ask me any questions you may have about UniFi set up.

As @SouthernYankee said, create an SSID with a unique name that you will only connect to your camera(s). This will be a 2.4GHz SSID ONLY. You can connect other devices on 5GHz, to that same AP on a separate SSID. This will not take away from the airtime usage as it’s a different radio.

What are you using as your UniFi controller -desktop, or CloudKey?

I'm using a UDM Pro which has the key built in.

I created a SSID just for the IP cams but they connect two both AP's instead of the one. I'm not sure what would be better.

 

[SouthernYankee]

You have a router and two acce points is that correct
Yu need one UNIQUE SIDD on channel ( 1,6,11) fror the router.
You need two(2) different (unique) SIDDs for the access points. one SIDD per Access point. Then assign 3 cameras to the first SIDD and three other cameras to the second SIDD.
You will have three devices one on each to the three channels (1,6,11) . Each device will have a unique SIDD.

 

[LittleBrother]

You could try using some power line adapters to reduce your number of 2.4ghz wifi cameras.

I came in to say the same. The claimed speed ratings on them are absolute crap, but they definitely do work, and one is cheap enough to give it a shot. I find they are better in certain rooms, etc. but I was able to get at least 10mbps on the one I used for many years, which was enough to stream netflix all day long, and would be plenty bandwidth for a camera to relieve the network a bit.

Wifi works okay for fairly low bandwidth cams and/or the prepackaged ones (e.g. ring), but if you're putting out pretty high data and want a rock solid connection it's just not the way to go, which is why almost everyone on the forums goes with wired. Not because they are dinosaurs but because it's superior.

 

[sebastiantombs]

Power line adapters do need to be on the same phase of the 220 supply line to work. Trying a couple of different outlets, usually in another room as well, will sometimes get them working. In terms of reliability for surveillance cameras they're a tiny step above WiFi, IMHO.

 

[The_E]

I'm using a UDM Pro which has the key built in.

I created a SSID just for the IP cams but they connect two both AP's instead of the one. I'm not sure what would be better.

You can turn off an SSID on each individual access point as required.
click on the AP you want to modify, click Settings > click WiFi > swipe the toggle slider to off where it says “Enable This Wireless Network”.

This way you can enable an SSID only on the access points you wish.
If I can clarify that any better, let me know.