SJCAM M20 Wifi connection

5Cowbells

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I am a WiFi dummy and I still have much to learn. I’ve been exploring existing WiFi resources including a Dell windows 10 PC laptop with Wi-Fi and a Wi-Fi hotspot, a Netgear WNDR4300 Router, a T-Mobil Alcatel Go Flip cell phone with 4G and WiFi, and a SJCAM M20 Action Cam.

It took me a while to figure out that my PC laptop and the Netgear Router were two different sources of WiFi, and that I don’t really need both unless I need to connect more devices to the network either by Ethernet or WiFi (wireless). If you want other wired or wifi computers, printers, drives, USB drives, or other devices on the network, then you might need the Router.

Finally, I tried to explore the WiFi capabilities of the SJCAM M20. SJCAM developed an App for the Android and Apple iOS software, but not the Windows 10 PC. Bummer. So I don’t have an App that will work on my PC and I don’t own and Android or Apple iOS cell phone.

I pulled an app off the Microsoft App Store for the SJCAM but couldn’t get it to do anything and there were no instructions. It did give me a clue that it used VLC to play video from the M20.

Somewhere along the line of experimentation, I found a M20 Camera URL that was rtsp://192.168.1.254. Not sure where I saw that.

I figured out how to connect the M20 Wifi to my computer Wifi. Then I opened VLC and selected Media, Network Streaming, input rtsp://192.168.1.254 as the URL, and magically the live camera image appeared on the screen. Subsequent attempts to re-establish the connection did not always work the same way. But generally opening and closing VLC, or turning the camera off and on, and then reconnecting with the PC would eventually re-establish the image on the VLC screen.

Though able to get a live image (delayed by 1-2 seconds), I’m still not happy because I’ve found no way to access and control the settings for the M20 as you should be able to do in an App.

I solicit posts that offer suggestions for improved communications between the windows 10 PC and the M20 action cam, especially a way to control the settings.

I am disappointed that the SJCAM did not provide an App for a Windows 10 PC. Some like me have workstation or Laptop PCs for many years and don’t feel the need for a miniaturized PC with a screen we can’t read that makes phone calls, called a Smart Phone (android or iOS) that cost as much as a PC. I can’t imagine that it is that difficult to make an app for a PC after doing so for an Android and Apple iPhone.
 
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