New Viofo A139 !

[viofo]

"It defaults to off is the correct term, the camera defaults to Wi-fi off each time."

No, it is not the correct term and I have just explained why. Default implies one predetermined CHOICE out of many. That's not what we have here.

The camera REVERTS to wifi off is the correct term, because it goes back to something other than what we set it up for.

When the camera defaults, you have a say in what that choice would be.

When the camera reverts, you don't.

What we have here is a particular behavior preprogrammed from the factory which we cannot change (the behavior) even if we tried.

I am talking about the ability to change the factory predetermined behavior (ON or OFF), not what the feature actually does (activate Wi-Fi).

I need BOTH the ability to start/stop WiFi at will and ALSO the ability to choose which status should be the default when I turn on the camera. We cannot do the latter. The factory/camera has made that decision for me, and that's not OK.

There is a difference between us manually turning a function on or off at will, and having the camera constantly assuming as predetermined choice the one it thinks we should have and not the one we want and respecting that preference.

It does not respect or consider my preference and decides for me.

I don't spend my money on a device so it will dictate to me how I have to use it or which settings I have to set up. That's for me to decide!

Default : a preselected option adopted by a computer program or other mechanism when no alternative is specified by the user or programmer.

This is the incorrect term because we don't have the ability to specify the alternative. There's no true alternative. It's a single choice: OFF.

To revert (v): return to (a previous state, practice, topic, etc.).

This is exactly what the camera does: always revert to its original status despite any changes we make.

"A setting would be to change the default option to default to on."

Agreed! We don't have that setting at all. There is nothing built into the firmware to tell the camera to always turn wifi on on boot up.

"Do you genuinely have to adjust your settings or view your screen every time you start your car?"

Absolutely Yes! You cannot project your own personal way of using the product unto others who may have different needs or their own ways of using the product.

I will explain why.

When I'm doing ridesharing, I don't need to activate 3 channel recording all the time. I don't need to activate the internal camera when I'm in between rides and there is no rider in my car.

I don't need to activate 3 channels when I'm off work and I'm driving myself, family or friends around on private driving. In both of those circumstances I only need front and back channels.

Those circumstances change back and forth multiple times during a typical day.

Recording a channel constantly when it isn't truly necessary consumes more power, generates more heat, wears out the camera more and shortens the useful life of the microSD card when we record and rerecord gigabytes of useless data (internal camera videos of empty seats).

I want to make sure that the camera is only writing to that card files that are necessary and relevant.

This is even more important considering the fact that the camera is limited to 256GB cards so we are forced to manage the space and retrieve files more often.

Ideally, we would need a simple button to switch back and forth between "Driver mode" (front and back) and "Rideshare mode" (all channels on) at will without having to fiddle with WiFi and using other phones or gadgets.

It's a waste of time we don't have when we are busy and the only way around it is to leave 3 channel on permanently, a less than ideal scenario. This is us users suffering from the technical limitations of the device and us adapting to the device when it should be the device adapting to our needs instead.

"Normal operation of a dash cam is you start your car and it starts to record... "

This is your own supersimplifed opinion about "normal operation". Normal operation is a lot more than that.

Normal operation is everything that we need to do to make the product work as intended, including settings, functions and controls, to produce the results we seek.

Everything and anything that I need to do, change, press, activate, deactivate, setup or configure so I end up with a useful video file at the end of the day is normal operation.

"On the occasion settings need to be checked or changed then you just turn on Wi-fi, it’s a button press and takes a matter of seconds to do, connect and open the app."

The WiFi procedure is an authentic torture, considering the fact that wiring is incredibly finicky. Cameras are constantly disconnecting and every time a camera goes offline you have to start the whole process all over again to visually confirm if they reconnected, or which one reconnected and which one didn't!

Just hearing "recording 2 channels" without actually seeing which ones are recording is not enough. These cables are atrocious and we don't know which camera is the one disconnected. If wiring was more reliable we wouldn't need a live view, but we can't trust these wires.

If I was to switch between 2 channel and 3 channel modes (Driver mode vs rideshare mode) as I would like and as efficient camera use would dictate, I wouldn't have the time to follow that convoluted wifi process so many times in the day. I'm way too busy for that!

That functionality needs to be programmed into a one touch button.
This camera has an optional Bluetooth button. Why not program that button to choose between video recording lock or video recording channel swap?

It's perfectly doable!

"ultimately if that’s not what you want then buy a different camera."

Out of the available choices in the market to satisfy Uber drivers needs, this the product that gets the closest, but it is still falling way short of expectations and needs to mature a lot to get there.

The main request is:
1. Able to turn on wifi automatically?
2. Able to turn on/off interior cam?

 

[mrpk]

The main request is:
1. Able to turn on wifi automatically?
2. Able to turn on/off interior cam?

I like those as well. How about this :
1. Scheduled wifi mode. So you can specify at what time of day it turns on and off. Also ability to set or choose turn on at parking mode switch.
2. Ability to choose which cameras are recording in parking mode. Say you choose interior or rear or both off in parking mode.
3. Station mode auto on timed schedule as wifi. Give either or option not both. So user can choose to use wifi or use station mode not both for same scheduled time or when switching to park mode.
4. Ability to restart or power on camera when temperature threshold results in shut down. Auto power on after 30 mins to check if temps are normalized. Right now if I am not mistaken on thermal shutdown no auto power on happens.

And can someone fix the parking mode please... Please allow parking mode activation by detecting no speed change for set time. Say 3 mins or user defined time. I cannot use power bank to switch to parking mode. Annoying... Heck I can't even get parking mode working with 12volt car adapter either lol.

 

[SawMaster]

The main request is:
1. Able to turn on wifi automatically?
2. Able to turn on/off interior cam?

Yes, many want to have wifi on automatically during parking as well as during driving. A menu choice would satisfy everybody.

Phil

 

[HonestReview]

Their new firmware does have station mode working, when home turn it on manually, yes its bit of work, and you can view the dash cams rtsp feed, download files etc. Also not to mention they need to fix loss of station mode settings on power off. So, hopefully they can resolve that, maybe if they can add an option via software to enable station mode at specific time that be super duper awesome, maybe tie it with geofencing trigger. We can all give good ideas, but implementation is hard, and i do give kudos to viofo team for actually doing any firmware updates. Not to mention you are not on the cloud sending your files behind your back to who knows where with cloud enabled services and cams etc. But having a timed schedule for wifi to turn on would be awesome and even better the station mode.

The issue with station mode is it generates heat. We discussed somewhere (not sure here or which thread) a better idea for station mode. Instead of having wifi enabled 24/7. It could be more of a feature, if connection detect, connect to wifi. If connection not detected, disable and turn off wifi. Could be set to check at X intervals. Not sure if the firmware would allow, but this would be more ideal than Always on Wifi.

Remember, in a hot climate, the camera MAY overheat. So Having wifi on constantly will not make this situation any better.

 

[Peterpan783]

A quick tip if wish to configure the view of the camera using your phone, upgrade to 1.6, enable station mode, connect to the rstp stream of the camera when connected to home wifi. Note: it does not like power loss or special characters in home wifi. Power loss means reset of station mode configuration. Also note: you will not be able to plug camera to laptop and see storage, you will need to use the usb card reader to downgrade back to 1.5 firmware. With station mode and RSTP stream on your phone to dashcam it will not disconnect wifi till you disable wifi on camera.

Thank you so much for your reply. So far the only member with an interest in helping out.

Sorry didn’t reply any sooner because I’ve been super busy these last few days trying to finish the installation of this dashcam and it hasn’t been an easy or enjoyable process.

Honestly, considering the amount of issues, problems, difficulties, limitations and errors involved , the ONLY reason I have been reluctant to send this thing back is the ridiculous amount of time I’ve spent routing cables and removing trim panels all over my vehicle and I’m not too excited to do that all over again with a different camera and different cables.

Now to address your reply:

I didn’t know that with upgrading to 1.6 I’d lose the ability to use the dashcam as a card reader to plug into the computer directly. I don’t understand why to enable a feature they would have to disable another, but in any event, I can live with that.

I have already upgraded firmware to 1.6 and the station mode settings are there. However, it is now ANOTHER NIGHTMARE to try to use it. I can’t!

The camera was originally installed using the provided adapter that goes into the cigarette lighter. That was until I finished installing the Blackvue B-124X battery pack.

The ACC status ON in my vehicle is activated with an ignition button. The car starts by pushing the brake pedal and pushing the START button. If no brake pedal is pressed, Ignition is set to ON, the instruments in the panel light up, radio turns on, power goes to the cigarette lighter, everything plugged to that turns on, but the engine hasn’t started yet.

Ignition shuts itself OFF automatically after 10 minutes.

I completed all the installation without having the engine running and it worked perfectly fine. Dashcam turns on automatically, dashcam starts recording (or giving errors if cameras are disconnected) until power goes off.

I can turn Wi-Fi on. I can access and change settings. I can do live view on all cameras. Everything seems to be working normally, UNTIL I OPEN THE DOOR!

As soon as I open the car door, Wi-Fi turns itself OFF! The rest of the camera continues to operate normally, it continues to record, but “kicks me out!” No Wi-Fi, no connectivity with the camera, no control of the camera, no access to settings, no access to live view.

I can't turn the ignition ON from outside of the car with the window up. If I roll it down, push the button, I cannot roll it back up from the outside or without opening the door. This is ridiculous!

The only way I can operate this Wi-Fi properly and do everything that requires that connection (100% of settings and live view) implies that I have to stay locked up inside the car. Really?

Am I really asking too much now when I expect not to be held hostage in my car if I want to use the Wi-Fi of this camera? It doesn't really matter if the engine is running or not when I open the door. Wi-Fi goes down.

The Wi-Fi mode is irrelevant here. If I turn it on as an AP, as soon as I open the door Wi-Fi goes off. It I try using the combination RECORD+WIFI to activate Station Mode, it “seems to work”. I haven’t been able to confirm it because the second I open the door and try to get out of the car Wi-Fi goes down again.

Opening the door doesn’t turn off the ignition and doesn’t turn off anything but the Wi-Fi of the dashcam, if it was on.

It is a complete mystery to me what opening a door would have to do with the camera’s Wi-Fi. The camera remains powered on because there is still power running through it. The console is working, music is playing.

The dashcam is now using the battery pack, hardwired to the fuse box with all the proper cabling and the problem remains.

I can’t open the door without killing Wi-Fi, while the rest of the camera is still ON.

To the other members who thought I have high expectations, I already have to live with the fact that there is no way for me to set this product up so that Wi-Fi turns on upon boot up.

Is it too much to ask that if I have to manually turn it on each time, it actually STAYS ON until it powers off?

For a camera that has no screen and whose settings cannot be operated without connecting via Wi-Fi, it is absolutely essential that Wi-Fi is reliable and remains fully operational for as long as the dashcam is turned on.

This type of issue is simply unacceptable.

 

[Peterpan783]

My smart TV doesn't support Plex. It is, by your determination therefore an incomplete product from the factory too.

No, it isn't, because Plex is not essential for you you to be able to operate your TV normally.

Following your logic, you would be happy buying a TV that doesn't come with the remote control and the power cable.

Do you think it would be enough if I just told you "in order to get this product working you need to buy your own cable and buy a universal remote from somewhere else", that would make your TV a complete product? It obviously isn't!

Telling me all the extra things that I will need to get by myself to be able to use and operate the product doesn't make your product complete. I cannot use your words to plug it in or to change the channel.

If you sell me product A, that requires additional software and a product B that you do not provide and I have to go get myself and spend money on, product A is undeniably incomplete.

 

[Peterpan783]

Wow it must have taken you a long time to type all of that.

Ultimately the point you're missing is that the actual time taken to turn on and pair to wi=fi is seconds.

At no point have Viofo advertised or suggested the wifi being set to always on so you havent been missold anything, how can you say it falls short of expectations on that basis? I fail to see how you can demand they spend time making the changes to the FW and possibly also the app, potentially then also opening up to other issues that would bring complaints.

Question, If they replied and said they will do you a custom FW to add that setting but wanted say 50$ to cover their time and testing costs, maybe also with a caveat of no warranty comeback for any related issues. Would you accept the offer?

Ultimately the point you're missing is that the actual time taken to turn on and pair to wi=fi is seconds.

The point you are missing is that I ordinarily shouldn’t need to waste ANY TIME on that if I had the ability to set it up the way I want and not the way that has been imposed on me.

The connection and the change in settings may take seconds, but the fact that you have to do the whole process is a distraction in itself. Distractions cost time and money. If you were an Uber driver, I shouldn’t need to explain this to you. It would be obvious!

When we are out there working, we have little time to tinker with gadgets.

At no point have Viofo advertised or suggested the wifi being set to always on so you havent been missold anything, how can you say it falls short of expectations on that basis?

It falls short of expectations because it is a perfectly reasonable expectation for any consumer who purchases a device with Wi-Fi capabilities to be able to turn Wi-Fi ON or OFF at will, and if there is a default choice, to be able to change it. And for a lot more reasons explained above.

Nobody buys a Wi-Fi device under the assumption that it will always be ON or OFF, or that they won’t be able to change it, or that if they indeed change it that it will not STAY THAT WAY!

I fail to see how you can demand they spend time making the changes to the FW and possibly also the app, potentially then also opening up to other issues that would bring complaints.

This is something that should have been like that from the start. It falls on the USER to decide whether they want to have the Wi-Fi turned on or off on boot up, not the manufacturer of the device. That needed to be configurable from day one. If it had been done correctly from the start, it wouldn't be an issue now, and a reason why many people have downrated or returned this product.

So the potential issues with Wi-Fi would be presumably overheating? Why would that be the consumer’s fault?

If the manufacturer decided to change the design, remove the screen and use an app and a Wi-Fi connection instead and it turns out to be counterproductive, whose fault is it?

If the product cannot be operated reliably with the Wi-Fi on at all times, then it should have not been designed like that. That’s for the manufacturer to investigate. It is not consumer’s responsibility to figure out if a design change will be successful or not.

Companies constantly get things right and get things wrong, make costly mistakes and learn from them.

If you sell me a product with Wi-Fi, I expect it to work with Wi-Fi on at any time. If it doesn’t or cannot tolerate it, it is defective or the design is flawed.
Imagine a laptop user who is told that they can only be connected for 3h or the chip breaks.

Question, If they replied and said they will do you a custom FW to add that setting but wanted say 50$ to cover their time and testing costs, maybe also with a caveat of no warranty comeback for any related issues. Would you accept the offer?

Obviously not, because it would be a manipulative and misleading offer.

It is not my responsibility as a consumer to subsidize product design, research or development. That’s for investors, CEOs and shareholders to worry about.
When I have my own company and I sell my own products, it will be my problem to make sure they are well made and that I get sufficient money to get the design right from the start.

Don’t sell me a product that is supposed to be controlled 100% via Wi-Fi by design and then tell me I have to keep the Wi-Fi off because it causes “issues”. If it causes issues, affects quality or performance, or prevents me from fully using the product, you designed it wrong! Why is that my problem?

You cannot legally void a warranty when I am using the product as intended. If you sell me a product with Wi-Fi, you can’t void the warranty if the product malfunctions or underperforms precisely for using Wi-Fi.

Calculating temperature tolerances is a manufacturer’s job. If the circuits can’t handle the heat, then they should NOT put a Wi-Fi chip there.

If you tell me the device works with 5V and I connect it to 20V and it fries, it’s my fault.
If you tell me the device max temp is 70C and I leave it above that temp and it melts, it’s my fault.

If you tell me the device has Wi-Fi, I turn it on and the device breaks, that’s your fault!

 

[SawMaster]

@Peterpan783
I think you may be right in principle regards expectations of wifi settings being available and remembered, but dashcams are generally not built that way These devices have never really followed mainstream expectations for functionality. In fact these tend to be so bad that were they a more mainstream product most people would not tolerate these shortcomings the way we seem to do with dashcams Phones, PC's, or tablets which have these quirks would fail in the market immediately because better is common and price-competitive, but with dashcams we don't have that. If you want better connectivity you have to spend more and in that process you might not get the level of features this cam has

Dashcams have always been a compromise where you can't get what you want in totality, so you have to get what you can that best suits your most important needs and live with whatever else it brings.

Phil

 

[mrpk]

What i can think is that you have too much of intereferance and when door opens it lets them all i as its acting as faraday cage and letting wifi through somehow ? I dunno why a devices wifi will turn off if door opens, that's definately a defect, you can report it to the viofo folks and they might send you a new defect free device .. for me wifi is not critical as much as getting it into parking mode with powerbank connection. I am not going to risk the camera being on in parking mode during middle of winter when temps are low enough to freeze the currents even... i do have the hardwire kit and tomorrow plan to install camera, though i am going to just leave cables dangling or visible for now till i get some peace of mind or the 30 day return amazon window closes lol.

I might try 1.6 beta, i just got send 1.1 beta hehe... to see if that will fix parking mode with powerbank issue. But nopee... I am too worried about glitches on 1.6 right now so gonaa stick to 1.5, no plans to use wifi. Maybe when i come home, i turn it on and quickly download files if something fun happened. that's about it ..but i have not tried wifi in the car yet to be honest, so going to try that tomorrow, maybe i got same issue, no wifi with door open lol

 

[vvs49]

It is a pity that the CPL is not provided for the second camera from A119V3, some 1.5 mm, so that the CPL is included in the body of separate cameras !!
I had to redo it, now my CPL can be twisted in place and watch its work.

 

[SawMaster]

What i can think is that you have too much of intereferance and when door opens it lets them all i as its acting as faraday cage and letting wifi through somehow ? I dunno why a devices wifi will turn off if door opens, that's definately a defect, you can report it to the viofo folks and they might send you a new defect free device

The cam is only half of the problem- the car is the other half. Being that I've never seen anyone else having this problem an argument could easily be made that the car is the problem and not the cam Good luck returning your "defective" car

The problem here is that there are no specific standards on either side; each car maker does things differently (and sometimes differently with different models) and each cam manufacturer does things their own way too So you're almost certain to find some incompatibility with the myriad possible combinations. If either one changes things it may solve the problem for you but give it to a lot of other people instead So there's no solution possible until everyone is on the same page- unfortunately there's little effort being made in that direction by anyone so these kinds of problems are only going to get worse

So until the world is more perfect all that any of us can do is to see if someone else has the same car/cam combination we're considering then see if they're having any issues that might affect us. Not easy and sometimes not even possible, but it's all that can be done. If you do encounter issues maybe the cam manufacturer can help, maybe not. They're under no obligation to change their product when it works well for most folks. And historically almost no dashcam does everything it's advertised to do well- sometimes things don't even work at all. It shouldn't be that way but it is, and it's always up to the customer to decide whether a product will meet their needs or not. I can certainly understand the frustration here but when you see the whole picture you begin to understand that there's blame enough to go around for everyone, and nobody is completely and solely at fault

Phil

 

[Mtrev]

If you sell me a product with Wi-Fi, I expect it to work with Wi-Fi on at any time. If it doesn’t or cannot tolerate it, it is defective or the design is flawed.
Imagine a laptop user who is told that they can only be connected for 3h or the chip breaks.

You didn't buy a laptop, that would be a device you could reasonably expect to hold a wifi connection because its fundamental operation expects it. The fundamental operation of a dash camera is a camera.

Don’t sell me a product that is supposed to be controlled 100% via Wi-Fi by design and then tell me I have to keep the Wi-Fi off because it causes “issues”. If it causes issues, affects quality or performance, or prevents me from fully using the product, you designed it wrong! Why is that my problem?

It's not controlled 100% by wifi, it is controlled by the buttons. Wifi is for amending settings and setting the views.

It falls short of expectations because it is a perfectly reasonable expectation for any consumer who purchases a device with Wi-Fi capabilities to be able to turn Wi-Fi ON or OFF at will, and if there is a default choice, to be able to change it. And for a lot more reasons explained above.

I do agree with this and the camera does this for you. You turn wifi on and off at will using the button. You expect if there is a default choice, to be able to change it. There isn't a choice so you can't change it, that therefore meets your expectations as stated by you.


A lot of users request features from the dash cam manufacturers on here, sometimes the manufacturers do look into this and try to add the features but they are certainly under no obligation to do so. You demand that Viofo supply you an update to the camera to add a feature that was never advertised just because you think it should have it. Realistically they would of course not ask you to cover this cost as I suggested but the point remains and in many other markets you would of course be charged for updated software to add new features.
You take your car to a dealership to have the software updated or a retrofit coding software you would pay a lot for the privilege. A new version of Office comes out, Microsoft want your money.

Your new issue of wifi turning off when opening the door makes very little sense to me but maybe someone can enlighten more, I wonder if the ignition feed to the battery pack is being reduced by the car or something causing the battery to turn off the feed or similar. Have you monitored the voltages into and out of the battery pack when the issue happens? What fuses did you use and what car do you have?

 

[Peterpan783]

You didn't buy a laptop, that would be a device you could reasonably expect to hold a wifi connection because its fundamental operation expects it. The fundamental operation of a dash camera is a camera.


It's not controlled 100% by wifi, it is controlled by the buttons. Wifi is for amending settings and setting the views.


I do agree with this and the camera does this for you. You turn wifi on and off at will using the button. You expect if there is a default choice, to be able to change it. There isn't a choice so you can't change it, that therefore meets your expectations as stated by you.


A lot of users request features from the dash cam manufacturers on here, sometimes the manufacturers do look into this and try to add the features but they are certainly under no obligation to do so. You demand that Viofo supply you an update to the camera to add a feature that was never advertised just because you think it should have it. Realistically they would of course not ask you to cover this cost as I suggested but the point remains and in many other markets you would of course be charged for updated software to add new features.
You take your car to a dealership to have the software updated or a retrofit coding software you would pay a lot for the privilege. A new version of Office comes out, Microsoft want your money.

Your new issue of wifi turning off when opening the door makes very little sense to me but maybe someone can enlighten more, I wonder if the ignition feed to the battery pack is being reduced by the car or something causing the battery to turn off the feed or similar. Have you monitored the voltages into and out of the battery pack when the issue happens? What fuses did you use and what car do you have?

Ok my friend, here we go...

“You didn't buy a laptop, that would be a device you could reasonably expect to hold a wifi connection because its fundamental operation expects it. The fundamental operation of a dash camera is a camera.”

I have a background in IT and Network Administration. Please, don’t try to lecture me on what Wi-Fi is or how it is supposed to work. If the product comes with Wi-Fi, is advertised with Wi-Fi, and Wi-Fi is designed as the only method to configure the device, then Wi-Fi HAS TO WORK!

This is not random, or best of luck, or a maybe.

This device is designed to record video, but it is also designed to be configured via wireless. If the wireless doesn’t work, the device cannot be configured and it would be defective.

Your logic is completely flawed. Your position is that if a product comes with a feature or functionality that is not its main purpose and such feature or functionality in reality DOES NOT work as intended, then that should be acceptable because that is not the main purpose.
This is simply wrong.

We are not talking here about misuse of the product, or using the product in ways other than originally intended by the manufacturer. I’m not asking to use the camera as a hotspot and connect 10 devices to it. It was designed to be connected to ONE device. Well, I expect that single connection to work, and to work reliably.

You can buy a coffee maker with Wi-Fi monitoring. Its main purpose is to make coffee, but it is also equipped with Wi-Fi. That has to work, too!

If the feature is useful to me to the extent that it can sway my decision into buying it as opposed to some other product, then the feature is material to my decision to purchase. For someone else who doesn’t want or need Wi-Fi, it wouldn’t be material, but for me it is.

I could have also purchased the Vantrue N4 instead which is even 4K (this one is not) but that one didn’t have Wi-Fi.

Whoever sold it to me, sold it with that feature, I paid for that feature, and since it comes with the product, I expect the Wi-Fi to just work, with same efficiency and same reliability as the product makes coffee. Not being the main function is no excuse for the feature not to work as intended.

If it doesn’t work, it’s defective! It doesn’t get any simpler than that.

“Realistically they would of course not ask you to cover this cost as I suggested but the point remains and in many other markets you would of course be charged for updated software to add new features.”

I'm not asking for a "new" feature. I'm asking for a missing feature. One that should have been there from the start but wasn't.
I will never pay a manufacturer to add a “feature” that is “missing” due to their own lack of vision. Not my job to pay for their short-sightedness.

The Vantrue N4 allows flexibility to choose between 3 different recording modes: 1) recording 3 channels, 2) 2 channels (front and back), or 3) 2 channels (front and inside).
All three options are perfectly and easily configurable. This is what makes sense!

What was Viofo’s A139 flawed logic? We decide everything for the user, whether they like it or not. We decide that Wi-Fi will be off on boot up. We decide to record all cameras at all times if they are online. We decide individual cams cannot be disabled. We decide!

There will be no configuration. If a camera is detected as online, it WILL be recorded.

Who said that because a camera is detected it has to necessarily be recorded?

Who said that the user shouldn’t be allowed to specify WHICH cameras HE wants to record and which ones he wants to keep off at any given time?

Viofo doesn’t leave any options. It’s an all or nothing, my way or the highway approach. Same happens with audio notifications. You either get 100% annoyed, or you go 100% silent.
You cannot choose which audio notifications you want to hear, and which ones you want to turn off. The camera makes no distinction between constantly beeping errors because of a camera disconnection and the same annoying beeps IF I WILLINGLY CHOOSE TO STOP RECORDING at some point.

Another case of doing what is easy and convenient for them and not what will be convenient for the user.

This is not me asking for something they don’t offer. This is me pointing out a deficiency in the way they conceived and implemented this product that makes it inferior to the competition in that aspect. It is in their own best interest to listen to feedback!

“You take your car to a dealership to have the software updated or a retrofit coding software you would pay a lot for the privilege. A new version of Office comes out, Microsoft want your money.”

I bet you anything that if my car comes with a Wi-Fi hotspot and for some reason it would be turning off whenever I opened a door, THEY would be paying for the fix. What did they sell me? A car with a broken or non-operational hotspot.

End of rant.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now to the actual technical question…

“Your new issue of wifi turning off when opening the door makes very little sense to me”

It doesn’t make any sense to me either, but that’s what is happening.

“I wonder if the ignition feed to the battery pack is being reduced by the car”

That may be happening, but I have no idea why the car manufacturer would mess like that with the cigarette lighter circuit when ignition is ON.

I cannot blame the battery because on original installation, plugged with the original cigarette lighter adapter, it was doing exactly the same thing.

“or something causing the battery to turn off the feed or similar.”

This is certainly not happening because as long as the ignition is set to ON, power passes through the battery. When Wi-Fi goes off, the rest of the camera continues to operate normally. It doesn’t lose power and keeps recording. It’s only the Wi-Fi that turns off!

“Have you monitored the voltages into and out of the battery pack when the issue happens?”

Not yet, but I will try that asap and see if there is an issue of voltage drops upon opening doors. Again, the voltage into and out of the battery should in theory be exactly the same, because with ignition ON the battery pack is in “pass-through mode”. The battery passes its own power when it detects that the ignition power is gone. Someone correct me on this one if I’m wrong.

“What fuses did you use and what car do you have?”

Chevrolet Equinox 2019. I used fuse F37 which is an ACC fuse that protects the cigarette lighter circuit.

This has nothing to do with fuses. Fuses do not consume power, drop or regulate current. If the fuse works, current will flow. If it is broken, there will be no power and nothing will turn on.

I was super careful on installation and made sure the hardwiring cables were plugged in the fuse box with the correct orientation and measured the live pin with a tester, precisely not to blow any fuses.

I don’t think this is battery related, since the problem also happens using the original cigarette lighter adapter. The behavior is identical. They feed off the same circuit from different entry points.

I will send a couple of emails to Viofo support and give them an opportunity to contribute, but if this doesn’t get resolved soon enough, this camera is going back! I could live with all the other annoyances, but non-functioning Wi-Fi is a deal breaker.

I bought this camera with Wi-Fi because I didn’t want to fiddle with microSD cards every day to move footage around. It is neither practical nor realistic to move more than 50GB of video footage daily only to a phone, be held hostage inside my car until the copy completes, to then have to transfer yet again same 50GB of data onto a computer. Way too much work!

If I can’t retrieve all this data wirelessly, this thing is going back!

 

[Paul Iddon]

Take it back then, cos it ain't gonna happen.

BTW, the niceties of forums, especially this one is to say hello before ripping a camera to shreds in your first second and third posts etc.

Just saying for a friend.

 

[Peterpan783]

Take it back then, cos it ain't gonna happen.

BTW, the niceties of forums, especially this one is to say hello before ripping a camera to shreds in your first second and third posts etc.

Just saying for a friend.

Hello,


I wish I had nicer things to say about this camera.
Quoting you: "ain't gonna happen".

I'll refer back to my original post. This is an immature product.

The list of issues is a few pages long.

Don't worry. I haven't submitted my official review yet. They are going to hear about it.

 

[Paul Iddon]

You have mentioned that the Vantrue N4 allows flexibility to choose between 3 different recording modes: 1) recording 3 channels, 2) 2 channels (front and back), or 3) 2 channels (front and inside).
All three options are perfectly and easily configurable. This is what makes sense!


But if you buy a dashcam set up with 3 cameras - why would you want to not record on 3? Surely the point of buying it is to record on all 3. If you want to record on 2, just buy a dashcam that has 2 cameras. Or if you only want to record the front of your vehicle, a dashcam with 1 camera is what you would buy. I don't see the logic in buying something that records 3 if you don't want to it too use all 3. That's like installing 6 CCTV cameras around your property at home and just filming the alleyway? Yes?

If a 3ch costs you $300, and a 2ch $200 then there is no point in spending $300 on the former if you only want use 2 channels, so you may as well buy the latter.

 

[mentadent]

Calm down ladies

 

[SawMaster]

Calm down ladies

That needn't be plural

Phil

 

[mrpk]

Peter where in Canada you are brother. I am also in the IT field, this camera is just a camera, i was getting tired of putting my phone on dash to record daily commute. Hopefully it will work when needed but again too worried it wont, so will be doing weekend checks with turning wi-fi on and copying some random files to view. Got it exactly why you did, cause it has wifi most other cameras dont, to be able to transfer files once in a while using wifi to keep tabs on camera if its working or not.

Video quality is not the best, but still hopefully just enough to cover my bacon when it comes to that, hopefully never...

Here is what I was thinking, what if you buy a wifi dongle, if you do not own a laptop. Get 1.6 firmware - it's glitchy i am telling you ahead of time. Use station mode. When home, turn on station mode before exiting vehicle - provided you can figure out wifi issue with door open - have you tried using the camera with wifi on on your desk with a powerbank ? See if wifi works or not ?

What i would do is use a laptop or wifi dongle on desktop, turn on wifi-station mode - exit vehicle leave that on - it does not turn off ever.. i tested it.. so this be the safer bet, firmware 1.6 and station mode. Go to the http feed of the camera and download to your pc the files you want, daily or weekly. But first things first, try to use camera with powerbank and see if wifi stays on for 10 mins. atleast. Station mode with 1.6 firmware stays on forever !

 

[viofo]

You have mentioned that the Vantrue N4 allows flexibility to choose between 3 different recording modes: 1) recording 3 channels, 2) 2 channels (front and back), or 3) 2 channels (front and inside).
All three options are perfectly and easily configurable. This is what makes sense!


But if you buy a dashcam set up with 3 cameras - why would you want to not record on 3? Surely the point of buying it is to record on all 3. If you want to record on 2, just buy a dashcam that has 2 cameras. Or if you only want to record the front of your vehicle, a dashcam with 1 camera is what you would buy. I don't see the logic in buying something that records 3 if you don't want to it too use all 3. That's like installing 6 CCTV cameras around your property at home and just filming the alleyway? Yes?

If a 3ch costs you $300, and a 2ch $200 then there is no point in spending $300 on the former if you only want use 2 channels, so you may as well buy the latter.

Turning off / on interior cam is not difficult to implement. We heard some users request these features, so finally we plan to implement this.
The Vantrue N4 doesn't support WiFi, I thought they may have less issues or requests. Maybe wifi is not so important for most of users?
I have talked with their supplier 2 years ago, why no WiFi built-in, they told me with WiFi, it cannot pass the temperature testing even in the testing lab.

After we released the 1.6 beta version for testing, we got more requests on WiFi features, so we are still doing more testing and holding release the final 1.6 version. Maybe we will release some testing firmware to some professional users who have special requirements for WiFi.

This firmware support turns off the interior cam by holding the lock button, based on V1.6 beta version.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gtTSNTsoWhxweSFrqNs7XH1VPMujV_hZ/view?usp=sharing

WiFi always uses more power and produces extra heating, keeping it on may cause the camera not to work reliably.

This summer, I moved my iPhone 12 Pro MAX from the car air conditioner area to the dashboard using a big phone mount. Only after 20min WeChat video talking, the iPhone switched to standby mode, and showed a warning "overheating, need to cool down". It is always a challenge for using electronics in the car if it is directly to the sunshine, especially if no air conditioner like parking recording.