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[cams930]

I've used older Dlink webcams with an external antenna with no issues.  But we have a second house and just got 3 of the 930Ls.  The most important spot is the furthest from the wireless router and has issues connecting.  It did work with one, then stopped working. 

Is there anything that can be done with their wireless reception?  Any tweaking?  I'm disappointed that I can't get them to work in this room.  Other devices, like my laptop or iphone have no issues with wifi in the same spot.

[Mackerel]

Could be interference from other sources (other Wifi-devices in the area, noisy power-lines, phones in the same frequency-range, bad power-units near the camera/router, walls, metal inside walls, and so on).

Have you tried changing to a fixed wifi-channel? What you could do is use a freeware wifi-scan-tool (like INSSIDER) on a wifi-laptop/computer and scan the area for wifi-usage, locate a free channel and go for that on both router and camera.

The 930L tries to go for wireless-n, whereas the old ones might stay on wireless-b (or maybe even g), which is easier to send through because of lower-tech-levels, with the drawback of low speed... Slow and steady vs fast and loose

Hope this helps a bit.

[disaster]

I'm currently trying to undestand a "feature" of my single DCS-920 system that is similar to yours.  The camera is only 12 feet from the router but it disconnects 3 or 4 times per day.  the video stream is mostly continuous but every so often its jittery.  I don't know how long the disconnects last (no info in logs that I can find) so I'm not sure how severe the impact is.  There is only a single interior partition between the camera & router.  No duct work, only 1 or 2 110 AC electrical wires.  Nothing that should corrupt the signal.  No uWaves, no fridges, no TV, video games, just the PC now connected directly to the router.

I changed the link between my Laptop & the router to Gigabit Ethernet.  No improvement in the signal.  I've been changing the 2.4 GHz router channels trying to change the response.  No luck so far.  Always get 3 or 4 disconnects per day.

The D-Link support guys claim the router is the problem but I'm beginning to suspect that the problem is the antenna or the power of the transmitter in the camera.  Not finsihed with my experiments yet, but it's looking more & more like the camera.   Bummer.

Currently using Netgear WNDR3700 N+ Router.  (Originally used Cisco/LinkSys E-3000 N+ Router.  Replaced due to thermal problems.)  Disabled 5 GHz radio as experiment.  Disabled SSID transmissions for 2.4 GHz radio to reduce radiated noise.  Moved the router several times before connecting with ethernet.  Reduced 2.4 GHz transmission rate to 54 MBps.  Disabled guest radios (never set them up but disabled just in case they were radiating).  No improvements.

The current camera is the CLOSEST camera in my anticipated system.  The others will be roughly 30 or 40 feet from the router if I buy more.  I'm planning on 930s for the 5 GHz operation.  I can try & centrally locate the router but I don't have an optimal central spot (uWaves, fridges, TV, electronics, etc).  Simple wood frame house, sheetrock walls, metal HVAC ducts in walls & ceilings, copper electrical wiring.  Nothing special.  Nothing that should reduce the effect of the wireless transmissions.  The PC wireless GUI shows Exellent signal strength from the router all over the house.  Including basement, attic, deck, & garage.  So I don't think the router is the problem.

Don't think I can connect the router to the camera with ethernet.  Position of camera/router require longer ethernet cable than I have.  Not willing to make my own cables.

Can't use ethernet as a network.  Not willing to remodel the house just for camera wiring.  If I can make the wireless usb work effectively & reliably this is an acceptable solution.  If the wireless isn't up to the task the game is over.

I'll post as I know more......

[Mackerel]

The loss of signal happens on a lot of 920's, when going at top-speed (640x480 @ 20 fps=roughly 4.5 Mbps) I experience a loss of signal for about 15-25 seconds every 2h15min, when going at a lower rate, or in the evening (darker), the interval lengthens. My guess is that the camera itself (all of the 920's I have show similar, but not identical behaviour), related to amount of data pumped into the connection (no difference between wired and wireless at same throughput-level).

My guess is some form of garbage-collection (sometimes slowly degrading to about one outage an hour), because when the camera's are rebooted/switched off for a short while they will start 'afresh', with similar pattern...
Currently I only 'do' about 2.6 Mbps per camera with an outage every 4-6 hours, but when it runs 4.5 Mbps per camera, it falls back to 2hr15min, slowly degrading over days to roughly every hour.

[disaster]

Good info on the 920.  I'm currently running 320x240 mode, auto rate.  No idea what the transmission rate would be in this situation.

How can I determine the length of the disconnect without having to watch the video 24/7?  The log info I've found grepping around doesn't seem to indicate how long it's disconnected or when it reconnects.  The few disconnects that have happened while watching are seconds to 10s of seconds.  I don't think they last a minute but I may never know.......

Also, since you brought it up, how do I determine the rate of the camera for the NxMxS computation for minimum CPU performance of my desired system (the end of the user's manual)?  Is it 320 x 240 x 15 fps?  (or 640x480x30 fps or whatever the display times the frame rate is?)  or is it 8 times this (bit rate vs byte rate)?  I'm so confused........

Thanks again.

[Mackerel]

If you would be using D-ViewCam it would show up in the system-log, otherwise you might need some pinger-tool and find the timeout-entries. In UN*X (or any of its flavours) this is quite simple to accomplish, using ping -t and grep, but on Windows you might want to write some batch-script (or use C, C++, C#, Java, or any other real programming language)...

[pykr]

just got the DCS-930L and wanted to share my experience regarding wifi. 

short story: the 930L has a very weak wifi antenna. 

long story: i use a linksys wrt610n dual-band wifi router.  DCS-930L sits on a window sill about 25ft from the router, looking out a window at my front door.  iphone/ipod/macbook all work fine with on the 2.4Ghz 802.11n band in the same vicinity of the 930L and even further away.  macbook reports RSSI of -62 which is strong, and iphone/ipod hover between 50-60% signal strength (which is also good) according to a wifi analyzer app.  the 930L, according to http://192.168.1.1/aplist.htm reports 10% signal strength.  if i move it 1-2ft further away, the signal drops completely and the connection times out.  if i move it 2ft towards the router from the original position, it jumps to 20%. i spent several hours experimenting, and have come to the conclusion that the antenna in the 930L is underpowered.

[p2kart]

Yes, I'd like to voice my frustrations at the poor reception too.

I have a Netgear 3700, one of the most highly rated routers on the market. I can use all my wifi devices almost a block away. This 930L at a distance of 7ft, has a signal quality of 60%, at about 18ft its down to 24%.

At 60% it can stream ok still, but at 24% it can barely hold its IP.

This thing is a piece of junk, its going back to the store. Just wanted to note this in the forum, so others dont make the same mistake.

[p2kart]

EDIT: APPARENTLY THE 2ND DCS-930L IS NOT A2 OF THE 930L, IT SEEMS TO BE THE MISLABELLED DCS-932L. I DECIDED TO GET A 2ND 930L TO TRY OUT, AND IT WORKS WAY BETTER. WITH THE CAMERAS SIDE BY SIDE(Preloaded F/W1.02 VS upgraded F/W1.00 to 1.02) PRE GETS 34% UP GETS 100%, SO THERE SEEMS TO BE SOME QUALITY CONTROL ISSUES.

----------------------------------------------------------
For your information:

Apparently there are 2 hardware revisions of the 930L

DCS-930L
RSS210    7.0    2.422 G    2.452 G    36M2D7D    73 mW    88 mW       
RSS210    7.0    2.412 G    2.462 G    16M8D7D    91 mW    110 mW       
RSS210    7.0    2.412 G    2.462 G    15M2G7D    62 mW    73 mW    

AND

DCS-930L_A2
RSS210    8.0    2.412 G    2.462 G    14M8D7D    164.1 mW    314.8 mW       
RSS210    8.0    2.412 G    2.462 G    17M6G9W    132.4 mW    364.8 mW       
RSS210    8.0    2.422 G    2.452 G    36M2G9W    231.7 mW    373.3 mW    

DLink seems to always name their reviews A1 A2 B1 B2 C1 C2 etc... so I can assume A2 is the new one.
A2 seems to have significantly more power.

[JavaLawyer]

DLink seems to always name their reviews A1 A2 B1 B2 C1 C2 etc... so I can assume A2 is the new one.
A2 seems to have significantly more power.

You are correct. D-Link adopted a universal naming convention to reference the hardware revisions for each of their products: A1, A2, B1, B2. . . etc. (as you pointed out). The greater the number and letter, the more recent the hardware revision.

As an example (from my experience with other D-Link products), more recent hardware revisions may include improved components, increased power, slightly improved design/engineering, more compact power supplies/bricks, etc. These changes are typically improvements to the product line that aren't significant enough to merit a new model number.

[Gentleman]

I too was having poor range on the 930l's,   Here is what I did:  switched my router from "N" mode to "B" mode and the site survey signal went from 20 to 44 percent    If you read the fine print, power output is 16 db in B mode and less in G and N mode   Also, if you have the camera facing toward the router, your signal will be at its weakest.  if possible, try and get your camera to face away from the router.  This made a huge difference in the signal    We took my 930's outside, including the access point.  Using 2 extension cords (150') hooked to the camera's power lead, we were able to go the entire 150' and still maintain signal and the green light.  Still, in the end, these units have ppor range.  Maybe the A2 hardware series someone mentioned in this post, will solve the problem.

[n7qnm]

So how do I  tell which model (A2 or...) I have; and how do I get a newer one in exchange for mine (which isn't reliable; even 6' from my Access Point)?

[JavaLawyer]

So how do I  tell which model (A2 or...) I have; and how do I get a newer one in exchange for mine (which isn't reliable; even 6' from my Access Point)?

The serial number sticker on the rear of the DCS-930L contains the hardware version.

[n7qnm]

Yeah - mine's an A1.  According to the site survey; I'm getting 100% strength, so I don't think that's the problem; but, I'm willing to try an A2 if I can get DLink to send me one.  I'm on the phone with support right now and have just asked to speak to a supervisor (after a 20 minute hold).

[wolverineks]

i dont know much about electronics, but ive opened up my 930 (A1) and noticed a small connector with threads on the board. is this for an antenna attachment? could adding something here increase signal? I have a bunch of pictures but i didnt know how to attach them to this post.

thanks.

-wolv