ip camera and loss of signal

Zorac

Getting the hang of it
Apr 17, 2015
213
26
I have two cameras that periodically drop off and give a loss of signal in BI. the cameras in questions are 12v generic cameras (like the top201) off aliexpress. i thought it might be a voltage issue (from v drop over 50' of network cable) but the voltage measured a minimum of 11.3v at the camera, not sure what else it could be, all my hikvision cameras are fine. these generic cameras then to throw off errors in batches, then be fine for a bit. though it might be heat as well, but i put vent holes in the cases and put a heatsync on the main chip that heats up, but no luck.

any ideas? is my voltage getting to low? i could put them on a 48v poe port instead with a drop down to 12v at the camera instead.
 
Seems like you might be missing the obvious - low wifi signal. On my Hikvisions, I can see signal strength and it is good. I also have a Foscam which does not nearly show as good of a signal. I had to get a wifi repeater. It is fine now. All cameras are not the same in their ability to use wifi.

I have a second BI system with all POE cameras. Solid as a rock.

Wired is superior to wifi in my opinion based on my experiences. The BI system that is based on wifi cams is that way due to not wanting to run new cables. I used the old analog camera wiring to supply 12v power and along with wifi this allowed me not to have to run new cables. The second system was a new install so running cables was required either way.
 
everything is wired and runs though a cisco switch (with separate poe injection). the power is injected into cat6 at the switch, then split out at the camera which is why i suspected voltage drop. i though it might have been my wire or my crimp, but the voltage drop is pretty much the same on the two cameras. seems to be no rhyme or reason to the drops either (ie time of day, ir coming on and introducing a further voltage drop, etc.).

one camera was worse than the other for drops, so i replaced the board in it, but the problem persists.
 
Oops! I misunderstood and thought it was wifi signal.

th
 
is my voltage getting to low? i could put them on a 48v poe port instead with a drop down to 12v at the camera instead.
11.3 is a bit low - and it may be transiently lower depending on activity.
It seems to me the active PoE change would be an easy empirical check.