wifi range

[Caspy]

is their any way to boost the wifi on ip cameras.. i would like to put a camera on the house across the street and get it on my home network... about 100 ft in range i would think... tia

 

[Kawboy12R]

Improve the location of your home router? Add a YAGI or other high-gain wifi antenna to one of the removable antenna spots? Ubiquiti Nanostations?

 

[SSNapier]

Yeah, the best bet is a point to point bridge with 100% unobstructed line of sight. That means mounting them at LEAST 12 feet high to avoid trucks and what not.

 

[Del Boy]

What camera is it? A better antenna would help, both ends.

 

[LittleBrother]

At that range I think, particularly with the external walls, you're almost certainly going to have a hellacious time ensuring a good signal. Even within a house, maintaining an acceptable wifi signal everywhere is often challenging.

 

[Del Boy]

Decent router and decent antenna you won't have problems. The issue is cheap router and cheap antennas.

 

[tomw]

Depends. Boosting the output is like yelling..but not listening. WiFi is two way so you'd also need to boost the transmit power of the cams.

I'd start by mapping the site and using an app (the are lots about like WIFI Analyser) to understand the signal power. You'll also want to check for signal interference. Obviously, use 2.4GHz as this has a longer range than 5GHz or AC - but can be more congested.


AP's like Ubiquity have this capability built in. I personally really love Ubiquiti gear and if you have the opportunity, it's worth a look at their AP's.


PS, wifi for cams sux.

 

[Del Boy]

Depends. Boosting the output is like yelling..but not listening. WiFi is two way so you'd also need to boost the transmit power of the cams.

I'd start by mapping the site and using an app (the are lots about like WIFI Analyser) to understand the signal power. You'll also want to check for signal interference. Obviously, use 2.4GHz as this has a longer range than 5GHz or AC - but can be more congested.
View attachment 7789

AP's like Ubiquity have this capability built in. I personally really love Ubiquiti gear and if you have the opportunity, it's worth a look at their AP's.


PS, wifi for cams sux.

Sorry tomw, but you are 75% correct on this. "WiFi is two way so you'd also need to boost the transmit power of the cams." - no you don't. You don't need to boost the transmit power of either and doing that in some areas is actually illegal. Antennas are not boosting any power, they are helping you direct it. It's possible for 2.4GHz to make a 10 mile link with the right antennas. And the right antennas you don't need to worry about signal interference. Imagine you have a 5W LED light bulb and want to light up a tree in your garden, it will probably be ok just. But I will use the same bulb in my torch... boom... much much much much better. Same applies here.

Our cameras need 10MBps max and Wifi can do that easily. The issue is people not setting it up properly. It's easy to setup PoE, it either works or it doesn't. With the right setup Wifi it fine. What you are showing is omnidirectional to omnidirectional which you will still get 30m or a few brick walls distance and do 10MBps.

Also many IP wifi cameras use cheap rubbish boards and are at most 720p, these suck I agree.

 

[tomw]

75% agree.

My point was that you need to uplift both the send and recieve sides power not just the router side. I was talking power output not about antennas. Power output is usually dynamically adjusted on AP's so you do not annoy the neighbours It can also be set manually on many AP's (ie. using DD-WRT) or by setting it to a country setting that has a higher limit than where you live. Sure, it may be illegal and poor form, but the ethics were not the topic.

Also agree with focusing the signal improving range and can be done relatively easily.

In reality, any well positioned AP should be able to cover 30' without breaking a sweat.

 

[Del Boy]

75% agree.

My point was that you need to uplift both the send and recieve sides power not just the router side. I was talking power output not about antennas. Power output is usually dynamically adjusted on AP's so you do not annoy the neighbours It can also be set manually on many AP's (ie. using DD-WRT) or by setting it to a country setting that has a higher limit than where you live. Sure, it may be illegal and poor form, but the ethics were not the topic.

Also agree with focusing the signal improving range and can be done relatively easily.

In reality, any well positioned AP should be able to cover 30' without breaking a sweat.

100% agree! Great explanation.