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[Suzibingo]

I installed my camera a week ago and have since noticed every 15 minutes (only while the camera is plugged in) or so I would lose my internet connection.  A message comes up at the bottom of my screen that says 'local area connection. A network cable is unplugged'.  It takes 15-20 seconds for the connection to be re-established.

I called my ISP and asked if there were any settings on my router I needed to change since the camera install but they told me 'no' and I should contact tech support for the camera. 

Has anyone else had this problem when they first installed the camera???

[JavaLawyer]

Please describe how the DCS-930L is connected to your network.

[Suzibingo]

Have patience with me....I'm a programmer but new to all this and have no networking background!   

I have a DSL connection and I installed the camera to be wireless, although when I do have a wired connection for the camera, I still lose my internet connection.

Is the live video too much bandwidth for the DSL to handle?

[JavaLawyer]

The DCS-930L does consume a good amount of bandwidth. If one PC on your LAN is accessing the camera video stream, a second PC on the LAN trying to access the Internet at the same time may cause the browser to timeout.

Does your Internet connection die when you view the camera on your LAN or when accessed by a PC offsite?

There are remediative measures you can take to reduce the bandwidth impact:
(1) Log into the web interface and throttle down the image size and FPS.
(2) If you are only experiencing this issue when other PCs on the network are accessing the camera, you can place the PC accessing the camera and camera itself on a separate switch, effectively isolating the Internet traffic from the camera traffic.
(3) If too many devices are competing for wireless bandwidth, consider using a wired connection for the problematic PCs.

[Suzibingo]

I only have one PC and my iPad hooked up to my LAN.  The PC is wired, the iPad is not. 

I don't even have to be viewing my camera on my LAN for the internet connection to die; I just have to be using my computer at the same time.  I just tried changing my iPad settings so it's not using WiFi at the same time as the camera and my PC, but that didn't work either. 

One of the problems I'm having with this camera is that I can't access the camera offsite.  My workplace has tight reigns on security so I can't view the camera via IE.  I took my iPad to work with me (using the D-Link app) and am still not able to view the camera.  So my options are dwindling.  I scheduled emails to be sent to me during the day, and while I received the first email today, the timing must have been just perfect for my internet connection to drop because I never received any other emails.   

I'll try your suggestions about reducing the image size and FPS and see what happens.  If this doesn't work, I"m afraid the camera will be sent back; it's no use to me.

Thanks for your help, JavaLawyer!

[JavaLawyer]

The DCS-930L will not use any bandwidth unless you are actively viewing video. Simply having the camera active on your network will not consume bandwidth.

A few questions:
(1) When you login to mydlink, is your camera listed in the device list?
(2) Is your iPad using a carrier independent from your work network?

[Suzibingo]

Yes, when I login to mydlink, my camera is listed.

No, it's the same carrier as my work network.

I've rebooted my computer several different times, deleted and reinstalled the camera software 3 times, called my ISP twice and D-link tech support once for this problem.  TS says this is an unusual problem :-) but the camera is fine, the problem lies with the router IP address.  He was not able to tell me what the router IP address should be.  Should the router address be within the DHCP address range?  For example, my range is from 192.168.1.15 - 192.168.1.47 and my router IP address is not within that range.

I called my ISP last night and they are monitoring my line for 8 hours for problems.  Even before we hung up, he was able to see the connection drop.  I'll follow up with them today to see if they have any answers.

[JavaLawyer]

As far as your work network is concerned: if your employer has stringent policies and firewalls in place, there is a good chance you will not be able to use your camera at work. Unfortunately there is no way around this short of asking your employer's IT department to make an exception in the policy for your account.

On the connectivity issue: your router should contain the ability to define a custom range. You can experiment with a new range to either validate or exclude the IP address as the issue.

[Suzibingo]

Yes, I've given up taking my iPad to work to see the live video, that's when I started experimenting with creating an email schedule for snapshots.

But should the router IP address and all components be within the same range setting?

[acellier]

"should the router IP address and all components be within the same range setting?"

Yes, it is necessary that all devices that want to communicate be on the same subnet (typically 255.255.255.0) and in the router's designated address range. What kind of router is it?

Most routers act as DHCP address servers, by default. Other commenters on these forums seem to have best luck with setting the router to give the camera a static address, and setting the camera to accept a DHCP-given address, so the camera will always get the same address. Most routers have a control panel for entering the MAC address (looks like f0:7d:nn:nn:nn:nn), see it on the camera status page if you are connected.

[Suzibingo]

I'm returning the camera, but thanks for taking the time to try and help me!

[JavaLawyer]

We're more than happy to help. Sorry things didn't work out for your with the DCS-930L.

[Suzibingo]

I ended up buying a new camera, different brand and have not lost my internet connection once.  Had to have been the D-Link camera.

[JavaLawyer]

What brand/model did you end up purchasing?

[Suzibingo]

I bought a Loftek CXS 2200.  I'm very happy with it so far, especially since I set up port forwarding.  :-)