Viofo A129 Reduced Video Quality with WiFi Enabled?

jdct

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if wifi is on it records at 8mbit

Ok ... having just been out to check, WiFi may have still been on, as I noticed it was displaying the SSID and password when I checked the screen after holding down the WiFi button. A short recording in the driveway now has the bitrate back to 16Mbps.


I did not see this anywhere in the documentation that enabling WiFi would reduce video quality from 16Mbps to 8Mbps . Some of us might have bought the camera because it offered WiFi connectivity as a feature, and now it turns out that using WiFi actually reduces the quality of our videos?! And perhaps it is also causes file corruption with regard to embedded GPS data as reported in the thread quoted above?
 
Leaving wifi on will cause it to record at a lower bitrate, leaving wifi on is not something you should want to do anyway
 
Perhaps there could be an option added to automatically switch off Wi-fi once nothing has been connected to it for a few minutes.
 
Leaving wifi on will cause it to record at a lower bitrate, leaving wifi on is not something you should want to do anyway

But I do want to! And the camera is promoted with WiFi access-- without any caveats mentioned.

I run an automated archival system that operates in near real time. And I've used it with various dashcams from other manufacturers too. When I pull into my driveway, I leave my dashcams powered on for a short while and an automated system archives videos onto my storage server. And because wirelessly accessing video files stored on dashcams directly can be very slow, I have a laptop under the seat in the car that can pull videos from the dashcams as I'm driving. After a video file is closed on the dashcam, the laptop starts downloading it. And then those buffered files on the laptop can be very quickly transferred to the storage server when I arrive at home. -- All of this occurs without any input from me (except having had to build it), so why would I want any device that needs for me to press a wifi button on and off every time I enter or leave the car?
 
Perhaps there could be an option added to automatically switch off Wi-fi once nothing has been connected to it for a few minutes.

That is not a bad idea, provided that it remains an option, and not a new default behavior that cannot be disabled.
 
I run an automated archival system that operates in near real time. And I've used it with various dashcams from other manufacturers too. When I pull into my driveway, I leave my dashcams powered on for a short while and an automated system archives videos onto my storage server. And because wirelessly accessing video files stored on dashcams directly can be very slow, I have a laptop under the seat in the car that can pull videos from the dashcams as I'm driving. After a video file is closed on the dashcam, the laptop starts downloading it. And then those buffered files on the laptop can be very quickly transferred to the storage server when I arrive at home. -- All of this occurs without any input from me (except having had to build it), so why would I want any device that needs for me to press a wifi button on and off every time I enter or leave the car?

Wow ... that's commitment. I can only assume you do a lot of driving!

I just swap the memory card over, usually once a week, as I don't do a lot of driving.

One thing I will give props to Viofo for, is that I can eject and insert the card with my fat fingers!
 
......One thing I will give props to Viofo for, is that I can eject and insert the card with my fat fingers!

I'm the complete opposite I have no hope getting the memory card out without tools eg anything thats nearby.
Oddly never had a problem with the A119.
I think the A129 is perhaps a mil further in just enough that I'm stuffed. I don't have finger nails,I tend to chew them.
Protruding the memory card out a mill or two or three more for me would be so much better.
 
But I do want to! And the camera is promoted with WiFi access-- without any caveats mentioned.

I run an automated archival system that operates in near real time. And I've used it with various dashcams from other manufacturers too. When I pull into my driveway, I leave my dashcams powered on for a short while and an automated system archives videos onto my storage server. And because wirelessly accessing video files stored on dashcams directly can be very slow, I have a laptop under the seat in the car that can pull videos from the dashcams as I'm driving. After a video file is closed on the dashcam, the laptop starts downloading it. And then those buffered files on the laptop can be very quickly transferred to the storage server when I arrive at home. -- All of this occurs without any input from me (except having had to build it), so why would I want any device that needs for me to press a wifi button on and off every time I enter or leave the car?
Nice idea something similar to what I wanted to do.
I didn't know it reduced quality with wifi on but it starts to answer questions I was having about quality.

I think it has been suggested that wifi left on can increase internal temps. Can't see directly why recording should be affected.
 
I think it has been suggested that wifi left on can increase internal temps. Can't see directly why recording should be affected.
Leaving WiFi on adds heat to the hardware. High bitrates also adds heat to the hardware. Lowering the bitrate when WiFi is on is to prevent too much heat that may cause issues or early camera failure.
 
Leaving WiFi on adds heat to the hardware. High bitrates also adds heat to the hardware. Lowering the bitrate when WiFi is on is to prevent too much heat that may cause issues or early camera failure.

So does that mean those of us who chose to use the WiFi feature should only expect approximately half the video quality from a Viofo A129 as compared to those who don't use the WiFi feature? I think it is possible that many of us bought this camera because it is WiFi enabled, but were not previously informed that using it would diminish stored video quality. We probably should not have had to find out this way.
 
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