Review- IPC-WL46A 4MP 2.8mm Floodlight Wifi Network Camera

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If you keep this cam on the cam subnet, then you could put an access point for that subnet and not have the problem of the 24/7 video hammering your main LAN's WIFI.

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Hello, thanks for sharing this. I’m new to this forum and am considering getting this floodlight camera. Could you point me to some posts in this forum or elsewhere that explain this network topology a little more in detail for a newbie? What does NIC and BI stand for?
 
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@NoviceUser

NIC - Network Interface Card. This is the ethernet/RJ45 connection that your PC uses to connect to your home LAN or internet provided router/modem.

BI - Blue Iris. This is software run on a Windows PC that records and manages security cameras.



 

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@NoviceUser

NIC - Network Interface Card. This is the ethernet/RJ45 connection that your PC uses to connect to your home LAN or internet provided router/modem.

BI - Blue Iris. This is software run on a Windows PC that records and manages security cameras.



Thank you! Much appreciated!
 

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If you keep this cam on the cam subnet, then you could put an access point for that subnet and not have the problem of the 24/7 video hammering your main LAN's WIFI.

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That’s a good suggestion.

Couldn’t you accomplish something similar by putting the cams on a secondary SSID/Vlan like some home routers allow you to setup a guest vlan?
 

wittaj

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That’s a good suggestion.

Couldn’t you accomplish something similar by putting the cams on a secondary SSID/Vlan like some home routers allow you to setup a guest vlan?
The problem is it is all still in the same router so still competing against and using the resources in that router. Best to have a separate wifi router just for the cameras and if you need to have it go thru main router at least then it isn't taxing it as much.
 

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I have 5442's and 5231's on all sides of my house with janky 7000 lumen questionable motion activated 110vac security lights. Been meaning to replace them as neighbors have asked me to re-angle or dim the lumens. So this lower lumen floodlight camera is a valid option. I asked Andy during the tire slasher event about the flood light cameras at that time and he said buggy and would not recommend it (polar bear series?). Hence, I went with separate security light + 5' height cameras.
Any LED floodlight will do. Plenty on Amazon.

I decided to change my rear light to get the best possible picture from the 4kT even though it performs well in low light, so recently purchased a 50W flood to replace the 22W I had in whcih was a little dim. Will be motion activated as before.

As for the neighbours, 1 trick is mount them high then point them downwards. That gets the light around but doesn't dazzle. Only issue is the higher they are, the more faces will be in shadow but it depends on how well your cameras cope with lower light and how much is refelcted back by the ground. You could try moving one and see if you can get a decent picture afterwards with maybe a few tweeks to the cam if necessary. I always used to mount mine below the eaves until recently - getting old and don't like heights so went for the lower option more recently. Luckily my looks across my property and not outwards so no danger of shining into the neighbours to the back.
 
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Webfont

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Detects humans, vehicles and animals to reduce the occurrence of false alarms.
Does that mean the light also won't activate if it's not one of those things?
Like a "smart" motion detector light?
I could use one of those just for that purpose - my current motion light flashes on and off constantly in heavy wind/snow :)

Bonus question; is it flexible enough to install "upside down" under a soffit and not on a wall?
 
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TonyR

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Bonus question; is it flexible enough to install "upside down" under a soffit and not on a wall?
That's a very good question, IMO, as many existing flood light fixtures are mounted horizontally under eaves or soffits. So it got me to thinking (Uh oh):
  • Andy said here that the IPC-WL46A floodlight fits a PFA-139 box.
  • The PFA-139 specs show that it has four M4 threaded holes @ 90 degrees in a 69mm radius.
  • The PFB-204W wall bracket specs state that it also has four M4 threaded holes @ 90 degrees but they're in a 68.5mm radius.
  • If both spec sheets are correct, the wall bracket's radius is only .5mm / .019 inches smaller than the box which I think could be easily overcome.
So I'm wondering if the wall bracket could be mounted over an existing circular, flush-mounted electrical box (as many of those under the eaves are) and then the floodlight cam mounted to the wall bracket, as in the below image.

Any guinea pigs volunteers out there? :cool:

WL46A-to-PFB204-scheme.jpg
 

Sparky1

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Hi everyone,
Just got the first of two that I ordered from Amazon.
I also was curious how it might mount underneath a soffit, so I manipulated it into what I think is a workable orientation.
Here are some pics of that. I haven’t tried this outside yet, but have powered it up and initialized it.
Regards,
Sparky
 

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Sparky1

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Andy and or others,
First of all, let me say that I have only played around with this camera for a couple of hours, and yes, the initialization process was a bit wonky, especially since I didn’t want to give any more info to the cloud than barely necessary. I did manage to get it communicating with Blue Iris.
Which leads me to my question:
Does anyone know of a way between settings in the camera and in Blue Iris to control an example scenario as follows:
1) Dusk or time: Floodlights come on at for example 20% brightness.
2) PIR Detection: Floodlights switch to 100% brightness.
3) Camera IVS or Blue Iris AI: Evaluate Scene in video and Validate trigger.
4) If valid trigger (human, vehicle, etc), then do something, ie. such as toggle between warm and cold, toggle between two brightness levels, something that lets the lurker know they have been noticed.
5) Timeout after awhile and Return to original brightness when done.

Okay, having described that, here is what I have found so far:
Directly from the cameras web sight, you can set (multiple?) profiles within the camera that affects operation of the floodlights, which default to PIR control. If however, you change this to manual you can adjust brightness, toggle between warm and cold, and perhaps a couple other things I have forgotten.
I suppose Blue Iris could send direct commands to the camera from the alert boxes, if
A) The camera allows direct manipulation of settings and multiple profiles.
B) The available settings are published in documentation.

I could go on and on, but that is enough for one message, you get the drift.
Thanks in advance,
Sparky
 

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Is this camera wired to the main power grid or does it come with a 12V adapter or some such? PSU is in the base?
 

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Post #1 of Looney's review links to a spec sheet that states 100-240VAC.
Yes, but it was not clear to me if this is a wall socket power adapter that comes with the camera or if the camera is directly connected to the main grid. That is why I asked if the PSU is in the base.
 
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