IP2M-858W weak wifi signal

[huskerfan]

Hi, just picked up one of these. It's situated just outside my bedroom window about 8 feet from my nearest Eero device.

I view it through Amcrest Surveillance Pro along with 10 other Amcrest camera's. 2 of which are also wifi. Those run smooth but this one
shutters through the day. Watching it live it will go along for a few seconds, freeze up, and go along for a few seconds, freeze up, etc.

I account this to weak wifi signal. I replaced a cheap ptz camera with this one and that camera worked fine in the same spot. (I just thought the Amcrest would be a better camera)

Now I'm wondering if I made a bad decision to replace the "cheap" camera with this one?

I tried "dumbing" down the signal by lowering the video quality and stream speed--didn't seem to help.
I tried moving the angle of the antenna. Seemed to improve the signal initially. but not consistently.
My Eero router shows a strong signal most the time but lowers to no signal some times so I know it's signal related.
BTW, the router does show it's connected via 2.4 GHz as I know that's what it needs to be connected at.

Is it possible the wifi connection inside the camera is bad? Thanks for your comments.

[Revo2Maxx]

Kind of hard to say what is wrong when it comes to things like this. Here is some things I would try..

First I would try to Reboot the Router, Then I would double check the power cord to the camera that it isn't damaged or that it isn't in an area that is getting the Power supply to hot.. Another thing to try also if you have a different power supply even if by different brand as long as it is rated for the camera rated normally like 12v 2amps..

Is there a time of day this happens?
Have you done a Wifi Site Survey to see how many people are in your Traffic area?

I will admit I changed out one of my Yi 1080P Cloud cameras that was running on Pure Wifi with a Amcrest 841 and I had to adjust the camera placement to make it work on Wifi and for me that is because my house is like a big Faraday Cage to start with.

So for me I understand why. My old Yi camera was not working with much over the normal Wifi sending data to a cloud. No special Onvif, or WebUI or RTSP and all the other bells and whistles that you get with the Amcrest camera. After moving my Cameras location forward 6in the Amcrest 841 works perfect and is 95% better quality camera then the one replaced..

[Revo2Maxx]

So I thought I better update my last Message..

After looking at your Post Title again I see that you are using the 858W and sorry when I said 12v 2amp that camera is said it needs a 12v 3amp.. However to be clear it does say 13w or 22w so that is still under 2amps with IR on. Still not safe to run the power supply at close to max power so 3amp is min

So I am not sure what the age of the camera is. You can tell this info from the Cameras Setup page of the WebUI.. My 850 is powered by 24vac or POE+ where yours is a few years upgraded to mine has Tech that mine lacks so you can get that info from your camera (Wish mine had that)...

Outside of that Weak Wifi I would guess it might be a Power issue or might have been a bad wire that connects the MB to the antenna and that I am guessing would require the system to be pulled apart. While this is something I do not many people want to do such things and I don't want anyone to take apart a camera that is still under warranty..

So if it is NEW and able to get it exchanged it might be that would be the best route to take. If older and no longer under warranty and or bought from somewhere that you could exchange it then you could have someone look at repairing it.. HOWEVER I would do a few things before I sent it for Repair if that is how you would need to go. First, Connect to a Good Ethernet cable and see if it has same issues. If it does Buy a Replacement Power Supply a 12v 5amp CCTV power supply are cheap enough today that I would buy 2.. Anyway test it will wifi on new Power supply if issue then again on Ethernet with new power supply after that and only after that would I send to someone for repair if that isn't something you do..
From history of cameras of type my guess is that the Wifi Board on the cameras mother board has a small 2mm snap in connection for the wire to the antenna and maybe in shipping or just any reason might have come apart. I have seen some others that are soldered onto the board these are normally lower quality camera

[huskerfan]

Thanks Revo2Maxx!

I thought of hooking it up to ethernet and see if signal still degrades. Just hard to do that at that same location since it's outside my bedroom window.

I bought off Ebay so not likely to return it.

I'm not afraid to look at schematics and perform a quick solder job if need be.
Like I said, I had an inferior camera at that same spot and it had great wifi to it so I don't believe it's my wifi's performance (or lack thereof)

If I purchase another 858 is it possible the wifi could perform better?
My question is, can wifi devices "wear out"? Meaning can the wifi degrade over time?

Thank you again and Happy 4th!
Gary

[Revo2Maxx]

Well I don't want to say that it can't Degrade over time as almost anything electronics can. Main issue is that the system normally would just be bad as a total.. I do have a VERY old Wifi PTZ that I have and Don't like. I will have to find the Antenna for it and test out.. I know I don't like Wifi in General on High Power Cameras. For me I look at 12v 3Amps as High Power

So what can happen over time and is more likely to happen then a Wifi Circuit Degrading would be the Power supply going bad.. A couple of things.

First, Cables from power supply to camera can be to small and is reducing the current going to the camera, This could also be the case with using cables that are CCA even with the change of heat in a day or heat from use of the device... If using the cameras normal power supply with the normal cables and nothing extended and no damage on the cable it self the next and most common issue is bad Caps in the power supply.. Again depending on how they are bad it could be Complete failure or could be that now a power supply that is rated 12v 3amps might only be able to supply 12v 2.2amps do to the degrading of the Caps in the power supply. Most times this can be cured buy replacing the caps within the Power supply.. However today seeing there is not many stores around anymore to buy 1 or 2 or a few of the ones needed and the cost of power supplies to be honest it is best to just buy a new larger power supply.. 5amp is good to help keep it cool and again as I said before seeing it only really draws a max of 22watts by the Datasheet it don't really use much power...

About following a Schematics for something like this, all my Repairs to any CCTV camera so far I have had to do my own Troubleshooting and repairs because there don't seem to be any source of Schematics for repairs on any of them I can find anywhere.. I have one Camera that has a Bad Voltage Regulator that is a Sot-23-5 or Sot-25 and there are so many with different outputs and ranges and all that I don't know where to start lol... So that leaves me to find another camera with same package that I can do some test with to get the info I need so I can buy the replacement. I don't want to buy a 3.3 to find out it was a 1.8 or that it needed to be a 5v regulator.. That is why a Schematic is so handy.. Also don't help that the cameras are using circuits that are numbered differently where one can't find a datasheet for the device from a local supplier that most times will have the info needed to make the repairs.. For instants, say I needed a Sot25-5 1.8v 1.2amp Regulator and I had on the Chip in Question XC6220 however the chip was burnt and couldn't make out another digit or something but knew the type of chip needed.. I could look at the Circuit and see lets say that it needed the chip with Auto discharge and pull down resistor then i would know I needed the XC6220D if no pull down resistor was in the circuit I was working with then I would need B.. So there are so many different things that can be the issue when it comes to trying to find a part..

[jack7]

@huskerfan
You wrote:
"BTW, the router does show it's connected via 2.4 GHz as I know that's what it needs to be connected at."

The IP2M-858 has Dual-Band WIFI. You could try 5 Ghz to see if it works better, assuming the Eero device 8ft away supports it.

[huskerfan]

Follow up: Hardwired directly to ethernet and get nice smooth picture.

So, narrowed it down to wifi connectivity issue. Don't know how I could get it much closer to my Eero unit. I get over 500Mps with my Iphone at that location so I know the signal is strong there.

Is there a stronger antenna I can attach to it perhaps? If I can't fix it, I guess I'll move onto a different PTZ camera. Any recommendations?
(I realize this is an Amcrest Forum so don't flame me for asking)

[huskerfan]

p.s. It works about 75% capacity on the sub-stream. Still a little choppy video but of course the picture quality is horrible.

[huskerfan]

Follow up #2:
I found a longer antenna laying around from a different camera. Attached it, works pretty good now.

At 1080 resolution not getting very much stutter now. Still not perfect but WAY better. Thank you for your answers.
Gary

[jack7]

If problems come back, you could try using a powerline adapter kit for an ethernet connection.  Perhaps something like this.
https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-AV600-Po ... 5610&psc=1
Run camera ethernet cable over to wherever 12V power supply is plugged in and add a powerline adapter.  At router with ethernet port, run cable to 2nd powerline adapter plugged into nearby power.