Two-channel dashcam that connects to the rear wirelessly

[Inconspicuous]

Hi everyone, I'm new here.

My wife and I just ordered a Volkswagen ID.4 and I'm looking into installing a dashcam in the front and one in the rear. I've checked out some videos, and it seems possible to wire the front camera to the fuse box (video) and then using a powerbank with pass-through to keep the dashcam powered on even when the car is parked.

For the back, there's a 12V outlet which you could either use to connect a camera to through a powerbank or switch the fuse position (video) to keep the outlet on even when the car is off. I'm weighing toward the first option to avoid the risk of draining the battery when the car is parked for a long period of time.

A key feature for me is parking surveillance to catch fender benders.

What I'm wondering is if there's a 2 channel dashcam with parking support that connects wirelessly. I'd like to avoid running wires through entire vehicle. While it's possible, it's invasive and ton of work, which I'd rather avoid Also, being able to disconnect or dismount the camera seems necessary since we're planning on driving it through Germany.

Thanks!

 

[Dashmellow]

What I'm wondering is if there's a 2 channel dashcam with parking support that connects wirelessly.

Others have asked about a wireless rear dash cam but no such product currently exists. Usually, when people inquire about such a product they don't take into account that a wireless rear cam would need to have power, which in your case is available but that doesn't help unless or until a wireless dash camera becomes available. There are many wireless CCTV cameras on the market so a wireless dash cam is certainly a possibility.

EDIT: By coincidence another new member is touting (spamming?) a new dash cam that offers a wireless rear camera! Unfortunately, it is a brand nobody has ever heard of before and so far is just a Kickstarter project.

https://www.kickstarter.com/project...ooster&utm_content=link&utm_campaign=fecbe816

 

[kamkar]

I think they have a older model out, but yeah not something that have seen much mentioning in here.
But that is true with many brands, some with good reason, others from the shear numbers of brands out there.

 

[Inconspicuous]

Thank you for your suggestions. As I wrote, I'd just like to avoid running a connecting cable through the entire vehicle just to connect the two. I'm surprised wireless rear cameras aren't more common since more and more vehicles have 12V outlets in the back.

So plan B would then be to get a second dash cam to use in the rear. Ideally one that doesn't incur a monthly cost or can be used in the same plan as the one in the front. I'd prefer one that runs on USB power and has Wi-Fi and cloud storage, so I can hook it up to the onboard Wi-Fi router that I plan on bringing.

 

[Dashmellow]

If you are asking for a specific camera recommendation for your purposes you might be better served by posting in the What Should I Buy? sub-forum.

 

[Skylar132]

Thank you for your suggestions. As I wrote, I'd just like to avoid running a connecting cable through the entire vehicle just to connect the two. I'm surprised wireless rear cameras aren't more common since more and more vehicles have 12V outlets in the back.

So plan B would then be to get a second dash cam to use in the rear. Ideally one that doesn't incur a monthly cost or can be used in the same plan as the one in the front. I'd prefer one that runs on USB power and has Wi-Fi and cloud storage, so I can hook it up to the onboard Wi-Fi router that I plan on bringing.

if you arent looking an all in one dual channel you could buy two front cameras and connect one to the front 12v and one to rear 12v

 

[kamkar]

Running two single cameras is always a option, many of us have done that for many years, some of the addicts have even run 4 single cameras.
The only downside is you have more memory cards to retrieve / more cameras to inspect is they are performing well and record what they should, and finally if the cameras are not the same the boot times will be different and so you will have to work the footage in post production to be in sync.

So i think the most of us when we got the chance we jumped on the dual channel systems, at least for the primary front and rear cameras.

At least with dual cameras you just have to run that one wire to power and do data transfer over.

The smart cameras, well i dont think they are as smart as some people would like and are used to from other gadgets, in dashcams that seem to be lacking some and are bound in some ways.
Ideally if i was to go there i would prefer to be able to offload to a home NAS for cloud storage, even if in the greater perspective that might be a less secure solution VS a established cloud service.

This far i do not use any form of cloud, the pictures i take with my phone do not get backed up to google pictures or WTH it is called, they sit on my phone for a few months and then get deleted in 99% of cases and a few might find their way to a hard drive on my computer.

Also so far the wifi in dashcams have been horrible slow, but i do not know if that is due to the wifi radio in the cameras being poor or the makers put in poor wifi radios, but speeds have been very limited so far.

 

[Dashmellow]

I've been running two A119 V3 cams front and rear for about a year or so now with excellent results. Personally, I don't have an issue checking memory cards on both cameras. In fact, there are benefits to having two identical cameras in my vehicle. If one were to fail unexpectedly while away from home I always have a spare to insure that I have at least front coverage. With a dual channel camera base unit fails, you're screwed.

With two identical cameras front and rear the boot times are synchronized.

 

[TonyM]

I'm surprised wireless rear cameras aren't more common since more and more vehicles have 12V outlets in the back.

To my limited knowledge, dashcams generally run at a higher bitrate than you can transmit over WiFi with a stable connection. My wireless CCTV broadcasts a relatively low bitrate live stream, and saves higher bitrate video locally to a microSD card.

 

[Inconspicuous]

Thank you for the suggestions!

I imagine it working a bit like the Arlo. Stores footage to an SD card and uploads to the cloud over Wifi. You can browse footage using an app or browser. It seems Garmin's cameras do what I have in mind. I'm planning on mounting the 67w in the front and the Mini2 in the rear and connect both to my onboard Wifi hotspot. It's not the cheapest option but these cameras have received great reviews, as far as I can tell.

Garmin Dash Cam™ 67W | Dash Cam | In-Car Camera

Dash Cam 67W is an in-car camera with 1440p recording, an extra-wide 180 field of view, voice control and automatically saves video of incidents.

www.garmin.com

Garmin Dash Cam™ Mini 2 | Dash Cam

Dash Cam Mini 2 is a tiny in-car camera with voice control, 1080p recording, automatic incident video saving & monitoring options when away from your parked car.

www.garmin.com

 

[Skylar132]

I'd probably recommend the 57 over the 67 because the 67w's wide FOV makes license plates harder to read

 

[Inconspicuous]

I'd probably recommend the 57 over the 67 because the 67w's wide FOV makes license plates harder to read

I didn't think of that. Excellent advice. Thank you!

 

[Inconspicuous]

I did some research and realized that powerbanks are not ideal due to being Li-Ion polymer-based and tend to expand when hot. I looked into using dashcam batteries instead and found this one which isn't so expensive and has USB ports which can be used to power a USB-powered dashcam such as the Garmin 57.

I tried searching the forum for posts on this battery but didn't find anything. Has any of you tried hardwiring this battery into the fusebox to power a USB device?

Power Magic Battery Pack (B-112) - BlackVue Dash Cameras

Battery Pack for Parking Mode 1-hour charge/12-hour operation Capacity 3000mA/12.8V Input 12V-24V Cigarette Lighter Output 12V/1A, 2 USB

blackvue.com