Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[just_user]

Yes. I'm writing this from Turkey. I'm stuck with this problem, so looking for Global answers.

[JavaLawyer]

Sorry I can't help you with this. The firmware is what it is, I don't see any other available versions.

[Gentleman]

I recently purchased 2 - DCS-930L's from 2 separate dealers.  Both have a maximum range of about 20' in the home; pretty sad!  However, reading the fine print, you will notice that in "G" and "N" modes, they are transmitting at 12dbm, which I think is around 16 milliwatts.  But, if you can switch it to "B" mode, it then transmits at 16 dbm, which is around 40 milliwatts.  Obviously, this is going to improve the range.  For testing, I used a Dlink N router, with power set to maximum.  Range was about 20'.  I fired up my G router and added the 500 mw Hawkings amplifer, still using the small antenna, and the range went up to 25'.  So, the problem is not the AP shouting, but the weak power output from the DCS-930L.  The firmware writers need to crank up the power in their next Firmware version.

[chucky3000]

So far I've got about 6 hours invested in getting this thing to work.  Maybe you PC users are used to this sort of hassle, but as a Mac user, I guess I'm just spoiled by having everything just work right out of the box.  (Sorry for the old Mac vs PC whine but I can't help it.  Gotta vent the frustration somehow.)

After getting it to work wired, then wirelessly in the same room as the router, I'm seeing the same problems as other posters in this thread. At first I had about a 20 foot range which is pointless. So I updated the firmware and changed to a different router, now I have about a 40 foot range but with a god awful delay and terrible frame rate.

I'm stunned when I see others posting that they have half a dozen cameras scattered around their home. What could be so different in their network?

I've tried turning off every other wireless device in the house except the iPad and the DCS 930L. Still got terrible range. Cell phones, lap top, baby monitor, Wii... all off. Ultimately, if this HAD turned out to be the problem I would have been very irritated since the whole point of this technology is to operate in a wireless home, the camera should be able to function in a home with other wireless technology.

So, my first set up was using my AT&T Uverse 2wire router. With a wired connection, I could view the camera in both my browser and using the DLink app on my iPad. Wirelessly, I could do the same but only in the same room with line of sight to the router. System Profiler reports that the 2Wire is 802.11g.

My second set up worked a little better, I used Apple's Airport Extreme Base station which is 802.11n. With that I got 40 feet with one wall in the way. This is still pretty lousy, the router is in the basement and the camera is supposed to go up on the second floor of the house. Also, as I stated above, there's about a 6 second delay and the frame rate looks to be about 1 per second.
Had to use the Airport utility to find out what the camera's IP was since the one that the set up utility had given me with the 2Wire didn't work anymore. I got a 10.0.etc... address instead of the 192.168...etc.  That's just a local versus internet IP, right?  It would be nice to use the camera to monitor the house while I'm away, but for now I would be satisfied to just get the darn thing working.
I can view the camera with my browser (the firmware update enabled Safari to find the camera using Bonjour, which saves the trouble of having to figure out the IP address. So that's nice.) I can also see the camera on my iPad using the DLink app.  But the quality of the connection is terrible.

Using the Airport utility to track signal strength
When the camera and iPad are in the same room as the router,
I get -51dBm and -40dBm respectively.
When the camera and iPad are in the next room over,
I get -84dBm and -54dBm

Honestly, I don't know what those numbers mean, only that one takes twice the hit in signal drop from being moved the same distance away.

I'm willing to try more things if anyone has any other ideas.
Maybe I need to just blow the money on an Airport Express to act as a repeater in the room where this camera will live.

Thanks for reading this long winded post.

[RDK45]

Folks....Well, for what it is worth, I have two 930L's and they are both working just fine at distances up to 80 ft and going through masonry walls (at least two for the 80 ft camera).  Frame rates as reported by the ActiveX control are about 15 fps for both cameras.....RDK

ps.....Firmware 1.03 July 2011

[chucky3000]

Folks....Well, for what it is worth, I have two 930L's and they are both working just fine at distances up to 80 ft and going through masonry walls (at least two for the 80 ft camera).  Frame rates as reported by the ActiveX control are about 15 fps for both cameras.....RDK

ps.....Firmware 1.03 July 2011

What sort of router are you using?

I'm going to keep plugging away at this since I really do like the camera and what it can do.

The utility for my Airport Extreme router seems to indicate that the 930L is connecting as an 802.11g device. The iPad shows up as .11n.  Is this camera capable of switching down to .11g?

[RDK45]

....Actually we have two and both cameras seem to work equally well with either.  Inventel Livebox and a Linksys WRT54G.  Both are 802.11 G routers.....RDK

[n7qnm]

 

I'm having the same wireless issues as others - using a Cisco SA-520 W, with the camera in the same room (less than 6' from the Cisco).   I restored the connection last nite around 9PM and was hopeful, but, it looks like it dropped off a little while ago.

So far, I've set the Cisco on a specific channel; but haven't tried any other solutions.   Any hints would be appreciated.

[lv2jm]

I recently purchased 3 DCS-930L cameras. They setup and work perfectly in my home office. Everything is fine. If I take them into the next room or anywhere else in the house, they don't work at all. The LED flashes green for a moment and then right back to red. No signal. I unplug them and bring them back into my office, and they work perfectly again. It seems as though they have an EXTREMELY short range. Other wireless devices (tablets, cell phones, my X-Box) all work just fine in these other rooms off the same router. I've tried all 3 cameras, so I know it can't be an issue with just one of them. I have a Linksys (Cisco) E3000 router and the signal is nice and strong - all the way out to the end of my backyard. Any ideas? Obviously I purchased 3 of these cameras so I could get coverage around my house. They don't do me any good if I have to keep all 3 of them in my home office. I'm a PC tech myself and am out of ideas.

I've had the same problem with one camera and a weak modem/router combo...
My fix which works so well that I can even put a camera in the garage if I wanted to....was to plug in the LAN wire that comes with every camera and use only once to "sync" the camera with the router....and use it as an "antenna" of sort to extend the range...."It Works"

[three_jeeps]

I've had the same problem with one camera and a weak modem/router combo...
My fix which works so well that I can even put a camera in the garage if I wanted to....was to plug in the LAN wire that comes with every camera and use only once to "sync" the camera with the router....and use it as an "antenna" of sort to extend the range...."It Works"

Hardly believable....There is no way an RF signal can be demodulated/modulated by an ethernet PHY.
Were you on crack when you 'observed' this?

[acellier]

As an engineer with experience in rf systems, I do not discount the possibility of coupling between the two circuits - not demodulation, just coupling ...
The test would be, measures of RSSI