Improving Wi-Fi for Smart Cameras

You may have great Wi-Fi inside your home, but how strong is your Wi-Fi signal outside where you’re looking to have cameras installed? You can determine this by standing as close as possible to a proposed camera location and running a speed test on your smart phone. Make sure you’re connected to your Wi-Fi network, and then try a service such as www.speedtest.net or www.speedof.me to check your network’s upload and download speeds. If your upload speed is less than 1Mbps, you will likely experience problems streaming video.

Here are some tips for improving your Wi-Fi:
1.       Move your wireless router
Moving your wireless router out from inside a closet or underneath a desk may be all that’s needed. Or, you may want to move it to a room that’s closer to the location of your proposed camera(s). Then, run the Wi-Fi speed test again and see if your results have improved.
​2.       Install a Wi-Fi extender
Another option is to purchase a Wi-Fi extender, which will provide a stronger signal to a location that has a weak signal or that was out of range of the router. Ideal placement is about halfway between your router and your proposed camera location. Try different locations and compare Wi-Fi speed test results to determine the best final placement.

​The number of walls a Wi-Fi signal must travel through can significantly affect its performance.

3.       Upgrade your internet service plan
Keep in mind that all of your connected devices are sharing the same Wi-Fi signal and this can affect their performance. If you have an internet service plan that’s on the slower side, you might want to upgrade.
4.       Use your router's 2.4GHz band  
If your router supports both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, try connecting to your 2.4GHz band to increase your network speed outside your home. 2.4GHz travels through walls more easily and can potentially enable a better signal at the proposed camera location(s).

Contact AvidWorks Technology for details about the installation of smart cameras and other smart home devices. Send email to [email protected] or call (800) 701-9021 to learn more.