Wireless camera connection unreliable

Other Devices & Integrations Door Locks & Sensors
1

As part of the Vera Security package I purchased 2 VistaCam HD cameras. I found that when using these cameras with a wireless connection, image archive requests triggered by a door sensor or a timer were at best only 50% successful. Not very useful for a security system.

After working with Vera support for a while, at my suggestion they agreed to exchange the VistaCam HD cameras for VistaCam PT cameras. I was hoping that the PT cameras would work since they have been available for some time and I did not see any reliability complaints on the forums. However, now that I have the VistaCam PT cameras installed, I still have very poor reliability with a wireless connection. This seems unreasonable to me. Why offer a wireless connection if it can’t work. Perhaps the problem is with my wireless router.

Has anyone else experienced a similar problem? Have you found a solution or have any suggestions?

I’m using a Vera Lite running U15. I’m using a Belkin N150 wireless router.

Thanks in advance for your help.

2

Some additional information on my problem:

When I had the VistaCam HD cameras, I did find that if I requested an image archive every 5 min, the wireless connection became perfectly reliable, never missing any archive request. Increasing the interval to 10 min was no longer reliable. It’s as if the camera wireless connection times out after 5-10 min.

Also, connecting the cameras by Ethernet cable makes them perfectly reliable. Only the wireless connection is unreliable.

Also, moving the cameras closer to the router (within 15ft) had no affect.

All other wireless devices (laptops, tablets, cell phone) seem to work perfectly fine with a wireless connection, including video streaming.

3

I think I have a solution to my problem. With some help from Vera Supoprt, I found that using the “Ping Sensor” plugin to ping the camera’s IP address every 5 minutes keeps the cameras active. Now all my cameras work all the time.

Hope this helps someone else with the same problem.

4

I am having the same issues. can you explain the steps you went through to get the ping sensor to work?

5

Here are the steps to install the Ping Sensor.

  1. Click the APPS tab on your MIOS web page. Select the Install Apps tab. Locate the “Ping Sensor” app and install it.
  2. Click on the DEVICES tab and locate one of your cameras. Open the camera settings by clicking on the wrench icon. Click on the Settings tab. Note the “IP address” at the bottom of the settings page. Close the camera device.
  3. Open the “Ping Sensor” device that you just installed by clicking on it’s wrench icon. Click the settings tab. Enter the camera’s IP address in the address field. Set the Poll period to 300 seconds and the Device time out to 0 seconds. On the Control tab I have the Arm and Normal buttons selected, but for what I’m using the Ping Sensor for, these probably can be anything.
  4. For all of your remaining cameras, Click on the APPS tab, My apps, and click on Ping Sensor. Click the “Create another” button to add an additional Ping Sensor device. Repeat steps 2 & 3 to complete the Ping Sensor setup.

I hope this solves you problem. My cameras are still working correctly using this technique.