Wireless camera reception

[jester13]

I am glad that I am not the only one out there with problems. I have been fighting this for over a year and cannot get any return calls or return E-mails from X-10 at all.  I have 4 cameras, 2 of which are on the robotics, and I got all 4 to work perfectly clear for all of 30 min.  then I have been fighting it ever since,  I do understand that the clarity that all of the other reviews in this column, could be described as a blob.  I just cannot believe that I got suckered into buying this garbage.

[scorpus5]

You are so right, Jester!  I can't believe they treat customers this way as well.  Brian, u r also correct regarding the 4 hr battery option - that is just nutts!  I have been thinking of switching my cams to wired.  However, I am concerned that crap is crap. 
It was fun getting the new equipment and installing it was a blast.  However, the reliability is just not there - and I don't agree with the " u get what u pay for crap"  because the Marketing of these products tells us a completely different story.
So what do u have to say to this X10?

[HA Dave]

Hey look, I run a mixed bag of cams on my system(s). Wired & wireless, Cheap (x10) & not-so-cheap. I wish the not-so-cheap cams where as good as x10.

  The reason professionals charge so much to set-up a system, is because they can. The reason they can, is because it takes skill. You guys sound like people who complain that computers aren't user friendly enough. I actually thought people weren't computer friendly enough.

  Camera technology is at the age of advancement that it is at. Which has advanced alot of late... but is still very young. This "advanced technology" "Home automation" stuff will always remain at the cutting (sometimes called bleeding) edge. It's not supposed to be easy, it's supposed to be FUN.

  In PLANNING and setting up my system, I ran into a hundred problems. It ate up my time, thoughts and money. I had a ball doing it and now enjoy showing it off. And to be honest... I am a little disappointed it's finished.

[donttrythis]

I have a camera bag with 5 UNUSED cams, receivers, software BECAUSE they DO NOT work. My "IT" staff came to my home and were not able to get any wireless camera to work past 10 to 15 feet. For that  range I will just get up off my lazy butt and look if I hear anybody !!!

But the cameras did help one time. I put a NON WORKING camera up near my girl friends computer terminal and told her I had seen the emails she was sending to her "guy on the side" She confessed all. Guess I have gotten my monies worth !!!

[TakeTheActive]

Name:	donttrythis
Posts:	1 (N/A per day)
Position:	Newbie
Post rating:	+0/-0
Date Registered:	2006-10-28, 02:46:19
Last Active:	2006-10-28, 03:10:19

I have a camera bag with 5 UNUSED cams, receivers, software BECAUSE they DO NOT work. My "IT" staff came to my home and were not able to get any wireless camera to work past 10 to 15 feet. For that  range I will just get up off my lazy butt and look if I hear anybody !!!

So, *EXACTLY* how much time did *ANYONE* actually invest in *TROUBLESHOOTING* the problem via the SEARCH Function on the Forums?

[Puck]

I have 5 CAMS in & around my home and I don't find the range to be an issue. Getting a quality pic from all 5 (simultaneously) is another story. I can point the receiver's antenna towards some and get great picture quality, but the cams in the opposite direction have horizontal lines going through them. I have to prioritize my cameras in terms of where I need the best quality, and adjust the antennas accordingly.

Has anyone ever tried replacing the receiver antenna with one of these 2.4GHz omni-directional antennas from D-Link? Was thinking of trying it but don't want to re-invent a square wheel...

[KDR]

Puck, I don't have any wireless cams at the moment, just got 3 hardwired ones to play with then will go with a couple of wireless. BUT... I have that antenna on my wireless network and it improved it 10 fold. Since my router is in the basement as is the antenna it took a bit of playing with to position it right for the upper 2 floors but angled at a 45 deg angle gave me a connection anywhere in the house and out side. In my case it was a good investment and I think it would be worth the experimenting with wireless cams.

[Puck]

I have that antenna on my wireless network and it improved it 10 fold.

Thanks KDR, that's good to know and now makes it worth trying.

[tjdavj]

I have an X10 VT30A Wireless A/V Sender that transmits my home theater signal to multiple locations around my house, and noticed that after hooking up my wireless network, that it interfered with the A/V reception in 2 locations. After many attempts to remedy this problem, I finally went the opposite route by limiting the coverage of my WAP to 60 degrees. I did this by adding a directional reflector to the stock WAP "duckie" antenna. This effectively reduced RF interference from the WAP in areas occupied by the wireless A/V receivers, and this resolved the problem An added benefit was that increased the signal level in the covered area considerably.

I found this design on the net and it's definitely worth trying, since it's practically free.

http://www.freeantennas.com/projects/template2/index.html

Obviously, this will not resolve every situation, but it worked for me.

[Puck]

Well I picked up a D-Link antenna today (similar to the pic above) and hooked it up to one of my receivers.

It didn't have the improvement I was hoping for. 

As a matter of fact, I found it harder to get a decent signal from all my cameras. I think this one is picking up all the neighborhood cordless phones. 

For my case anyways, the little built in antenna works best. But for only $20, it was worth a try.
(Back to focusing on the jamming detector...  )