WiFi speed

bpmod

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Hamilton ON
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Canada
Hello all

Brand new member here. I have been reading through these threads since picking up my BlackVue DR750S-2CH about ten days ago.

Mostly pleased with this unit, but having to take the card out every few hours to copy the video to my computer is annoying to say the least. I have been able to connect the camera to my home wifi spot, as well as connecting my newly implemented hotspot to the camera. Either way, I can get a maximum transfer rate of 130kbps. Yes, kilobits, not megabits. This is simply a non-starter and I am wondering if anybody has any suggestions.

The hotspot is in the front window of the house about 30ft or so from where I usually park the car (the closest I can get it to the house). When connecting other devices to the hotspot, I regularly get up to about 8mbps transfer rate from that distance.

Thanks

Brian
 
The reality is, 30ft is too far for the camera's WiFi. It's a combination of a weak antenna in the camera, inside a metal tube, behind a windshield that's probably coated, all of which combine to make the WiFi range super-low.
I'm lucky in my current place that where I park my Jeep and where my WiFi AP is in my office, I'm 10-15ft, and I get pretty decent transfer rates to my downloader software. But if my wife parks in my spot and I need to park next to her, that extra 10'ish feet puts me out of range for decent transfer speeds.
 
Well that's a bummer. :(

I will do some experimentation with a wifi repeater inside the car and report my findings.

Brian
 
At the frequencies used for wifi any hard smooth surface will reflect the RF rather than allow it to pass much the same as metal does at any frequency. Even glass does this even though it's transparent to RF at lower frequencies. The only reason these frequencies are usable is that after 'bouncing around' enough the signal usually finds a way around whatever is blocking it ;) Inside a closed metal-bodied car, there's very little way for the signal to leave (or enter) the interior as almost every signal path encounters a signal-reflective surface. Even the smooth surface of a fiberglass car body will attenuate that signal to a smaller degree. Using a wifi repeater inside the car will give the same problem unless it's antenna is mounted externally. It may help if it has a stronger transmitter which it probably does. Parking in an exact spot might also enhance the signal to you, but only experimentation will show if that can help.

In theory with a clear low-humidity atmosphere, even a low-power wifi signal like dashcams have should be readable and usable at several hundred meters, but dashcams don't use that level of wifi equipment due to cost and size. Experimenters have made wifi work at mile plus distances in remote deserts where the conditions are perfect :cool: Wifi is by it's very nature low power, for if it were stronger many people's signals would be fighting for the same frequency and only the strongest signal would be usable. Everyone wants wifi convenience but few realize that within a decade or so it's range and usefulness will be extremely limited due to it's over-use. There is only so much usable radio spectrum- a natural limitation which no technology can overcome- so the only solution is to limit wifi to only those things which cannot be hardwired, and that ain't gonna happen. We humans are good at being self-defeating sometimes :whistle:

Phil
 
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