Posted: 1/8/2014 12:30:22 PM EDT
|
I just got a Foscam FI9805w cam and am trying to put it outside near my shop. The distance between router and placement is maybe 90 feet through 2 walls, a car and a garage door. My call phone barely gets signal out there and the cam just can't seem to pick up the signal. Running a Netgear wndr3400v2 router and need to extend the signal so the cam will work. Does anyone know of any solutions outside of buying a better router. I need the solution to work reliably and I am at a loss. Amazon has WiFi range extenders but the reviews are VERY hit or miss and I have no experience with these. Here is one that is on sale today: http://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-N300-Wi-Fi-Range-Extender/dp/B004YAYM06/ref=br_lf_m_8263068011_1_2_ttl?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&s=electronics&pf_rd_p=1711632982&pf_rd_s=center-3&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_i=8263068011&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0PXEHZ7F8MNYCE2QZH74 Any help would be greatly appreciated. |
|
you can put in a second Wireless Access Point and use the same SSID and WPA/whatever Pre-Shared Key.
Or you can look at getting a Wireless Bridge to extend the range. I have a 1900sq house and I have 3 WAPs so that everywhere I am I have 100% signal strength...but I'm a Network Engineer...so ya, weird. Edit: Netgear link: http://kb.netgear.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/960 |
|
Is the garage door metal? You probably aren't getting through that at all if it is. Move the router to avoid metal objects. Metal wall studs count. 90 feet is pushing it, even with line of sight over open air. One thing you can do is make sure the antenna on the router are perpendicular to the camera location. If there are two antenna, position them like the colon and the dash below: : - The dash is your camera. That will maximize the ability for the router and camera to talk.
|
|
Quoted:
Yep. I did that prior to trying it out by the shop. Quoted:
Quoted:
you have to connect foscams to the router via a cable first in order to set up the wireless on it..... doesnt look like that router can have dd-wrt or tomato installed on it. nor does it have SMB connectors for a simple and cheap antenna upgrade. honestly your router is a pretty crappy one  it might be most beneficial just to upgrade to something much better like an Asus RT-N66U or Asus RT-AC66U. Really any of the Asus RT- series would be a great upgrade. My Asus RT-N66U passes through one wall, but I get signal all the way out to the front of my property which is 700 ft away, and I haven't upgraded the antenna's yet. if that's not enough, you can upgrade the antennas if that somehow isn't cutting it, install tomato on the Asus and you can just up the transmit power. But honestly, the stock router should be more than sufficient. Sell your old one of craigslist to reduce the cost of a new router.
you could use a repeater, wireless extender, etc...but i wouldn't trust a security camera on that kind of setup. |
|
I had a spare wireless router hanging around and did some digging on how to convert a wireless router into a bridge/extender. It can be done, however my model was followed by the letter m and wasn't on the list of modifiable routers.
You may keep your eyes peeled on Craigslist/eBay for an older router and try to convert it. I can't find the exact site, but I was following directions something along these lines: http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-basics/30338-how-to-convert-a-wireless-router-into-an-access-point |
|
The more I have read the more it does appear my router is a POS. A new one is on the list. I also wonder if the cam has issues with WiFi reception as well. I got it up and running in a different location and it has been constantly resetting itself. This one is going back for a refund and I am going to get a cam from a different manufacturer. I have read where people are using network extenders with success on wifi cams so we will see what happens when I get a new cam. |
|
Ya, not sure how to validate your equipment. I try and do it same room line of sight, no interference. If the laptop works fine but the camera doesn't kind of deal.
I have a Cisco 871w router with a Cisco Aironet 1200 behind an ASA 5505 so I have a lot more diagnostics available... |
|
Quoted:
Ubiquity unifi This. Keep your router and turn the wifi off on it. Connect a unifi ap (possibly the long range model or the pro ac model for future proofing) to the router. I was amazed at how much better the standard unifi ap did compared to my wrt54g and tplink wrt4300n. I am now convinced that it is better to by a purpose specific unit (wifi ap only) than to have a router perform the wireless connectivity. The unifi will also allow you to easily install additional units where needed and handle the wireless hand off of client devices. We have also started using some of the airmax products for short range (500-1000m) ethernet extensions for camera installations. The only drawback with these products is that they are not natively 802.3af compliant. If you want to use them with an existing 802.3af PoE device you must purchase an additional adapter. |