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[Gymrat]

I have been trying to get my wireles cameras to work now for quite some time. All I can tell you is that unless you get lucky, They are garbage! Don't buy them. I have tried every suggestion written under trouble shooting and still cannot get good reception on more than one camera at the same time. And even then it has to be within 10 feet of the reciever. Everything interferes with them. If you have 2.4Ghz phones, a wireless router, the receiver too close to your computer or even have noise on the power lines just forget it. The list goes on and on. If you have one camera within 6 or 10 feet of the receiver and they both remain motionless it may work. Oh yeah, I read something just yesterday that stated if your house has the kind of insulation with foil on it, it may interfere also. It's a joke.Gimme a break. Who has the time to go through all of this nonsense. They don't tell you this before you buy them however. You can't get some one to send you an example of good picture quality is because it's like Bigfoot, even though you want to believe, it just doesn't exist.

[bogie]

I have 3 cams and it is very trying to get them all working off of one receiver, and they are very touchy. Mine work best with the flat antenna pointing up towards the ceiling and back towards the receiver. The pitcure is grainy at best and at times I get a line that rolls, like a 60 Hz noise.I also have 2.4 Ghz phones, they only interfear when in use. I guess I am lucky because I have a 802.11a/b/g/ wireless that does not interfear with the cams. Overall for the low cost I have been pleased with the results, they are not the quality of a high end wired system but neither is the cost. The photo below is from my patio cam, hope it helps.

[nfm1]

You get what you pay for folks.. You want a $29 camera and wireless,, you get it.. and quit yer bitchin..

I tried it, saw the quality sucked and said OK...  buy the wired cams...  use a multiplexer and I-Witness and it works better..

NOT Great.. I said better, but then again, I did not pay $500 a cam and $5000 to have a professional install.

I did buy -$100 cams with 480 lines and tose look good ...

The pictures are acceptable for "still" quality and viewing is OK.

Try it, buy it.  and then at least X-10 gives you 30 days.. Not so bad in today's "instant" society.

[Guru]

These questions are directed to bogie:  What channel is your wireless camera set to? (A,B,C,D)  What channel is your wireless router utilizing? (1..11)

I have tried many permutations and my wireless network always produces horizontal lines on my camera monitor,  I'm hoping you found the lucky numbers!  Thanks in advance,..

[Gymrat]

To nfm1, So I guess what that means is if you buy a $10,000.00 car, it should break down all the time or not work at all and some jackass at the dealer should tell you " if you wanted a car that worked, you should have bought a more expensive one so  don't bitch. Are you kidding with that comment? Then maybe x10 should tell everyone "if you want cameras that work, go buy more expensive ones because all you can expect from us at that price is crap". No matter what you think, no matter how cheap, they should work reasonably well. And, they should disclose any potential concerns at the point of sale, not let you find out the hard way.

[ZZ]

I'm with you Gymrat. You hit the nail on the head. I don't have the expectation that a .99 cent beer tastes like champangne. I just expect it to work. IT DOESN'T. X10 support people don't seem to give a crap either. I spend $500 bucks on a pile of worthless crap! I made the mistake of buying them new on Ebay where they can't be returned. I will put them up on Ebay and gladly pay more for a real system that works.

[Gymrat]

Thanks for your support ZZ. I feel exactly the same about it. You gave me a great idea when you said you are going to sell yours on e-bay. I still can't believe that jackass said that. You know that x10 is reading this stuff and you still don't get any response from them because they know that they are selling stuff that does'nt work. Well, I guess I just continue to trash their crap every chance I get until they do something about it.

[tom j]

Ditto! I actually like the little cameras (especially the floodcam) now get this when I got a new tv the picture improved ten fold! my old Sony was I thought pretty good but I guess it had something to do with the inputs because the picture on these tiny cameras are really excellent considering the price. I agree though the receiver is the Achilles heal. I also have found it almost impossible to get the cameras in the front of the house and the back to work off of one receiver. Once I get one to come in really good the other one goes out. Haven't you guys heard of a omni directional antenna the ones you supply are way to directional. And support stinks told this x10 support guy Eric Boyd about some problems I was having with some of their products he decides to shot the messenger!  Think I'm going to bring his to Mr. Peder attention if he knew he was losing customers hand over fist because of the poor customer support I'm sure he would take some kind of action.

Tcj

[RichardJopson]

I have owned my two wireless cameras on a robotic mount and I'm pleased to say that it keeps the neighbors and would be crooks away! I can also go threw it very easy and set it up with less time than I thought it would take just by "READING" the instruction's!
I have owned my two cameras for about a year inside and outside and they work all the time.. So I'd have to say for what I have paid for them I'm more than satisfied with what I got.
I also have my cameras going threw my PC and it is awesome. I haven't used the controllers in a year. All you have to do is pull up your fiecracker and your camera will display all and you can make it go from one place to another with a touch of a buttone across the inter_net and decide wheather you want to take the picture or record or not! It really is that simple. I have not requested much help since I bought my kit over 2yrs ago. I have followed X-10 for more than 8yrs and I have sent them a lot of customers for the price. You get more than what you pay for as a customer I fully do believe that you get more than what you pay for. Try it out and if your not happy with it try and get an estimate from another company and compare the price with the workmenship..

[bolover]

I found the reception on the wireless cameras very touchy - the slightest shift and the reception goes to crap. Usually the best reception is when the receiver antenna is pointed away from all the cameras. This actually reduced the 'wrong camera in window' problem for me. I also had to move the cameras to a different monitored house code for camera's only and then all other security and household modules on a 2nd housecode.

[cattleman]

Wow! I am scared now! I just ordered my X10 system yesterday. As I usually do, I read the forum "today". Sure is scary. I am excited to see what I kind of reception I get, although for the price I'm not expecting academy award cinematography. I just hope it works.
The pictures of the yard posted on the forum look good to me.

[redrover]

So I guess its best to not have a wireless phone, wifi router, bluetooth, and a steel plate in your head.

IF you have any of those things would that explain the white horizontal lines in the camera picture???

[scorpus5]

I Gotta tell ya that you guys are right on wiith your review on the low-light wireless cams !   I purchased the package that wasn't chump change by any means.  I had to screw around with channels and placements for quite a while.  AT least I was thinking ahead when I decided to lay out the cameras (4) before mounting them outside - NOT a easy task since they FAILED to tell you that even though they were wireless - U had to power the freakin things.  (oh nice - let's drill holes all over our home exterier - and to heck with the battery options.
Ya ever feel like they are getting rid of their crap units that are wee close to being discontinued?
Anyway, to add to the fustration - the pan and tilt unit power pack BLEW out within 1 week of installation, which caused ALL other 3 cams to blank out.  I unplugged it and the other cams kicked in.
IN addition, 2 frequencies C3 and C4 are SO close in tolerance in that they interfere with each other - and YES i placed them in different locations throughout my home., as well as all the freakin house codes.
I am about ready to gather up all the ____ i ordered and have a bonfire in the back yard.  Care to join me!

[Brian H]

You can get a battery pack for the cameras, but I don't thin you would like a 4 hour typical on time for the batteries. Also not controlled always on if the on/off switch is on.

[Tuicemen]

Usually the best reception is when the receiver antenna is pointed away from all the cameras. This actually reduced the 'wrong camera in window' problem for me.

Interesting! I just added a cam off in my macros for the defending cam. I'll try your receiver trick.