Terrible Latency

[dmtml]

I've got 3 AmCrest cams (2 IP2M-841 and 1 IP3M-956B), all connected with WiFi to the same router, and roughly the same distance away. I use similar resolution and bitrate settings on all of them, so they all use about the same bandwidth. I'm usually running 720p, and only like 480 kbps.

One of them works great. Video feed always pops up instantly, and keeps up just fine.
The 2nd one (the 956B) is....ok. Video pops up sometimes quickly, sometimes takes a bit longer. There is some lag in the video, but it usually fairly decent.
The 3rd camera (another 841) is awful. It takes forever for the video to pop up at all (in the Amcrest View App, Surveillance Pro, TinyCam etc.). From the web, it often says "resources limited" and won't play the video at all.

The problem just appears to be straight up latency. When I ping the "good" camera, I get response times of roughly 50-100ms. With the "ok" outdoor camera, I get a response time of anywhere from 500-2000ms. When I ping the new camera, I often get response times of 2,000-3,000, or it just times out altogether.

When I connect the camera up directly to ethernet it is fine. However, if it's on wifi, it doesn't matter how close to the router it is, I get terrible performance. If I reset the camera, I will sometimes get better performance for an hour or so, but then it goes right back to terrible.

I don't know what else I can even try. Did I just get a bunk camera with a terrible WiFi receiver?

I have about 8 other wireless devices on the network, and have zero issues, and roughly 15ms response times. Why are these cameras giving me so much trouble??? I'm about to switch to another brand..

[Melvin]

Hello dmtml ,

Since the cameras are wireless the wireless reception at the places where the cameras are mounted matters. It appears the problem camera is not receiving adequate signal.

If the camera does not work even closer to the router it could be a camera defect as well since the other cams work better. You can try changing the wireless channel of the router to 11 or 6 to see if it works better for you.

If the unit is defective, you can do warranty replacement.

[dmtml]

Hello dmtml ,

Since the cameras are wireless the wireless reception at the places where the cameras are mounted matters. It appears the problem camera is not receiving adequate signal.

If the camera does not work even closer to the router it could be a camera defect as well since the other cams work better. You can try changing the wireless channel of the router to 11 or 6 to see if it works better for you.

If the unit is defective, you can do warranty replacement.

Thank you Melvin, and I apologize for not answering sooner.

Occassionally I will ping the camera and will react as expected, with 2-5ms response time/latency. Then I can try it again 10 minutes later and it will be anywhere from 500ms to above 3000ms. Even when it is "good" I get inconsistent response times. A normal ping sends 4 packets, and the I will have like 1 go through at 2ms, then one at 125, then another at 4ms etc. All my other cameras will be consistently either <1ms or 1-2ms.

When the response time is bad, I obviously can barely watch the video, and can't properly control the PTZ.

I am on wireless channel 9 which is the least congested in my area, but I tried 1, 6, and 11 with similiar results. What all would a replacement under warranty take?

[Melvin]

Hello dmtml ,

For replacement, please fill the form here http://www.amcrest.com/rma

[StealthyOptics]

Don't know if the OP resolved their issues with an exchange, and here's why.

I have the exact same setup, I can test camera's locally or via wifi, and the 3rd camera has extremely high latency.

How do I know that this is the same issue, but not something that replacing the camera would resolve? I'll tell you, as I've swapped out the camera that had high latency and put the middle camera in it's place.

GUESS WHAT HAPPENS?!

3rd Camera has extremely high latency, now camera #2, which WAS #3, is right in the middle, if not just as fast as the 1st.

So camera #2, moved to camera #3's location and same issues.

I thought it might be line of site, but the camera is literally 25 feet away, albeit through a closet and an outside wall.

I can configure the camera via the app, either in the room where the camera is on the opposite wall, or outside, and still get the same performance (obviously the app still talks to the connection via wifi and not directly to the camera P2P as lead to believe.)

Maybe I'm missing something, I've been trying to get this 1 camera to flip and move to a usable position, thought it was the cold, but the established camera works like a charm (can here the cars drive by and scare the cats with the microphone.)

So what's really the problem? Is it line of site or obstructions? Camera #1 and router are literally on opposing sides of the wall, and #2 is only 5 feet closer than #3 if that; Camera #3 does have 1 extra wall to go through, but #2 is inside until it makes it to it's new resting place once power has been installed (which will make it then the furthest of the 3, and I'll update you on how latency looks as it will also go through more walls.

My primary complaint is that I can't seem to change settings for the camera en mass maybe so that I can move the camera and position it before it starts not responding lol.

[StealthyOptics]

Soo, the app restarted because my phone timed out, when I unlocked it camera #1 and 2 were not responding, but since I had been trying to access #3, it was default and I noticed the neighbors dog moving fluidly.

Camera #3 became camera #1 (I was singularly focused on the amcrest app,) and I could suddenly flip and move the camera into position, noted about 80KB/s on the feed (was faster than #1 and 2 earlier they were getting 60.)

Now that #3 is set, but in the #3 position, (as 1 and 2 started up and became 1 and 2,) now it's acting the same.

THIS ISSUE IS DUE TO THE APP, or DEVICE FIRMWARE, some type of limit on how much bandwidth 3 of the same models can have or take up, I'm sure the developers could go into way more detail if they want to fix this.

I hope they do, this camera while older gen is better than the last one I had, and I was planning on getting more from here are you have some really good deals (at least the hardware at this point.) Software configuration, or a code balance of some sort I Think would make a lot of customers happy (not just me, scroll up).

Thanks!

[amcrest168]

hi @StealthyOptics and welcome to the forum. i also have personally experienced some cameras must have weaker antennas because once i have them rma-ed, their replacements work without problem. i suggest you raise a support ticket and get them replaced.

https://amcrest.com/rma