WiFi SSID not broadcasting - unable to connect.

CmdrBond

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As per the title.

I bought the unit through TTW Distribution Ltd of Nottingham (blackvuehd.com).

It arrived today, and I set about fitting and testing when I got home from work this evening.

No matter what I do, I cannot get it to broadcast it's SSID.

So far, I have done the following:

  1. Tried alternative devices - Both a windows 10 laptop and my trusty Samsung Galaxy S Edge (Android 7.0)
  2. Powercycled the WiFi on both devices, and then the entire devices
  3. Using the Windows viewer app, I changed the SSID and password directly, then tried the above again.
  4. I have even downloaded the latest firmware - 1.001 (which it the same as the factory distribution)
I have phone BlackVue in the states, but no satisfactory response,

I cannot speak to TTW now until Monday, when I have a 4 hour drive to Birmingham for a funeral.

To say I'm miffed would be an understatement,

Any suggestions>.
 
Why you calling to the States?? you are aware of that BlueVue / Pitasoft is from an other country right? so is there support.but you really should only be looking at TTW from where you actually bought it for service. Try to do a hard reset on your device.also make sure your car can properly power your device.
 
Why?

Because it was 11 pm in the UK on a Friday evening and TTW closed at 5 and are not open again until 9am Monday.

The manufacturer was available to talk to, so I did.


How do you do a hard reset!?
 
I don't really see what that's got to do with anything...

I called a blackvue company helpline that i knew would be open and that spoke the same language as me.

The country is irrelevant, it's their product, and I told the guy on the end of the phone I was in the UK, and HE had no issue with that.

The sole reason I called them, the same reason I'm posting here, because the company I purchased from isn't open until 9 am Monday.

If I can get it working before then, great.

Otherwise I'll RMA through my supplier.

I came here for help, not to be told off for phoning the wrong people.

And as for resetting, the only reset I can find is that which resets the WiFi SSID.

And that makes no difference.
 
In your original list, you say you changed WiFi settings using the Windows Viewer app. Was that via the Cloud connection? If so, how do you have your camera set up to connect to the cloud.

If you're not using the Cloud stuff, do you have Enable Cloud Service set to On or Off? I've found that when set to On, the SSID broadcast isn't constant (seems to alternate between attempting a Cloud connection and then an SSID broadcast).

On my 650S, and I'd presume the later models, there's a WiFi indicator light on the end of the front camera. On when WiFi is enabled, flashing when connected to the Cloud.

How far away from the camera are you when trying to connect? If outside the car, is it possible you have one of the "shielded" windshields that blocks RF?

I assume you're aware that the camera won't do 5Gig WiFi, only 2.4Gig. But I wouldn't expect that to be a factor in what you're seeing unless you somehow have both your Win10 box and phone set to disable 2.4Gig (if that's even possible).

Did you try with the "stock" SSID? Or are you only trying with your custom one? If the latter, is it possible you're using a character that the BV firmware doesn't like? Same with the password. I've heard cases where some devices are picky about characters used in SSID/username/password strings.

If all the above is of no value, my bet is you'll be sending yours back for a replacement. :-(
 
Thank you for a constructive reply!

In your original list, you say you changed WiFi settings using the Windows Viewer app. Was that via the Cloud connection? If so, how do you have your camera set up to connect to the cloud.
I took the micro SD card or of the camera, and using the card reader, plugged it into my laptop.

Then through the windows viewer application, I went through the settings to configure the WiFi.

This writes the configuration back to the micro SD card and is copied to the dashcam the next time it is initialised. Similar to a firmware update, which I also did despite it being the same version.

I might try the Russian firmware, but I don't hold out any hopes.

If you're not using the Cloud stuff, do you have Enable Cloud Service set to On or Off? I've found that when set to On, the SSID broadcast isn't constant (seems to alternate between attempting a Cloud connection and then an SSID broadcast).

i have provisionally set up the cloud to attempt to connect to my home WiFi, but haven't actually connected through it yet, however direct WiFi is far more useful for me as it will hopefully allow me to use the rear camera as a reversing camera.

Good tip with regards to the cloud settings, I'll double check those.

On my 650S, and I'd presume the later models, there's a WiFi indicator light on the end of the front camera. On when WiFi is enabled, flashing when connected to the Cloud.

It flashes for a short period after being turned on, then goes solid. Completely off, so far, when turned off, but as I said above, I haven't tried connecting to the cloud yet.

How far away from the camera are you when trying to connect? If outside the car, is it possible you have one of the "shielded" windshields that blocks RF?

Right next to it, inside the vehicle.

I assume you're aware that the camera won't do 5Gig WiFi, only 2.4Gig. But I wouldn't expect that to be a factor in what you're seeing unless you somehow have both your Win10 box and phone set to disable 2.4Gig (if that's even possible).

I was under the impression it was dual band, but as you say, this isn't really an issue as both my phone and laptop are dual band and can see both 2.4GJz and 5.0GHz networks.

Did you try with the "stock" SSID? Or are you only trying with your custom one? If the latter, is it possible you're using a character that the BV firmware doesn't like? Same with the password. I've heard cases where some devices are picky about characters used in SSID/username/password strings.
Both stock and custom.

when going custom I'm only using lower case and numerals for precisely that reason. No joy with either.

If all the above is of no value, my bet is you'll be sending yours back for a replacement. :-(

it's looking likely. I'll definitely try playing with turning the cloud off first though...
 
With regards to the WiFi frequencies...

Blackvue said:
link to source

Seoul – April 13, 2018 – BlackVue is delighted to announce the availability for pre-order on www.blackvue.com of its highly anticipated 4K UHD dashcam, the DR900S Series, in single-channel and dual-channel —front 4K UHD, rear Full HD—versions. Along with 4K recording, the new models feature HEVC compression, dual-band 2.4-5GHz Wi-Fi and BlackVue Over the Cloud connectivity, making it the ultimate car camera for protection when driving or parked.
 
Right.

I've got it working - ish!

The cloud was turned off in the settings, BTW, and I still couldn't connect.

So I turned it on and plugged in some details for a hotspot.

Turned my phone's hotspot on with the same details, and got the message "cloud connected".

Having managed to get a live view via the cloud,
I managed to finish installing it and adjusting the camera angles.

I also managed to reach the limit of time I'm allowed to watch live over the cloud - I got disconnected! I had the rest of the cloud services, just no more live view, and I still had to angle the rear camera.

Great I thought, so I went and had a quick look at the WiFi and all of a sudden it was showing.

Connecting to the WiFi disabled the cloud. And bam, I got live view back.

I lost WiFi the moment I powered down the camera though :(

It seems for my camera at least, the ONLY way I can get the live view over WiFi to work is to first connect to the cloud service to a hotspot!

This must be a bug!

It's a pain, but at least I can get the live view!
 
Sample night footage (with CPL filter)...

 
I have created a video showing the issue and my current workaround...

 
When I turned on my vehicle, listening to the announcement and finally going into my Wi-Fi settings, I had to wait at times approximately a minute before my blackvue 900S SSID Wi-Fi name to appear so I could click on it. Did you wait long enough? This may not work or you may have done this already, but I just had to ask.
 
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By default, DR900S's Wi-Fi module broadcasts 5 GHz frequency band only and apparently your smartphone doesn't support 5 GHz Wi-Fi networks which is why it can't show the dashcam's SSID.

When connected to Cloud via your Mobile hotspot which I believe is 2.4GHz, the dashcam starts to broadcast 2.4GHz band and you can see its SSID in the Wi-Fi list of your phone.

If you use a smartphone that can support 5 GHz Wi-Fi networks, you can see the dashcam's SSID even when Cloud service is disabled.
 
When I turned on my vehicle, listening to the announcement and finally going into my Wi-Fi settings, I had to wait at times approximately a minute before my blackvue 900S SSID Wi-Fi name to appear so I could click on it. Did you wait long enough? This may not work or you may have done this already, but I just had to ask.

I have driven for 30 minutes and then tried to connect and not seen the SSID, so waiting is not the issue.

By default, DR900S's Wi-Fi module broadcasts 5 GHz frequency band only and apparently your smartphone doesn't support 5 GHz Wi-Fi networks which is why it can't show the dashcam's SSID.

When connected to Cloud via your Mobile hotspot which I believe is 2.4GHz, the dashcam starts to broadcast 2.4GHz band and you can see its SSID in the Wi-Fi list of your phone.

If you use a smartphone that can support 5 GHz Wi-Fi networks, you can see the dashcam's SSID even when Cloud service is disabled.

Interesting theory, let down by the fact that the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge

A.) Supports both 2.4 and 5.0 GHz.

B.) Can see both my 2.4 and 5.0 GHz home networks simultaneously.

However, it does sound like this could possibly be part of the problem and it may be a faulty WiFi chip.
 
Try following to see if you can access dashcam's Wi-Fi without connecting to Cloud:

1. Got to Firmware settings and Disable Cloud service.
2. Enable "Wi-Fi Auto turn on"
3. Disable "Wi-Fi Auto-turn off"

When dashcam boots up and says "Starting normal recording", wait for 30~60 secs and then go to Wi-Fi settings of your smartphone.
 
I have done this, unfortunately it didn't work.

I have set WiFi to auto on and not turn off.

However, without the cloud service turned on AND a hotspot to connect to, the SSID will not show.

I'm beginning to think you have hit on something though...
By default, DR900S's Wi-Fi module broadcasts 5 GHz frequency band only and apparently your smartphone doesn't support 5 GHz Wi-Fi networks which is why it can't show the dashcam's SSID.

When connected to Cloud via your Mobile hotspot which I believe is 2.4GHz, the dashcam starts to broadcast 2.4GHz band and you can see its SSID in the Wi-Fi list of your phone.

I'm wondering if the 5.0 GHz chip or antenna is faulty.


if the 2.4 doesn't transmit until connecting to the cloud, that would make sense.

I'll try and run a WiFi analyser on it.

However, I find it strange it wouldn't broadcast on both.
 
Ok...

So with the hotspot turned off, after being powered up and WiFi on for 5 minutes, there was no SSID being broadcast.

Checking the analyser, it wasn't appearing in either frequency.

After turning on the hotspot, the SSID appears.

But only on the 2.4 GHz frequency.

If your right about the dashcam only broadcasting on 2.4 when the cloud had initialised, it would seem it is a dodgy 5.0 connection.

 
Seems that you have done a great deal so far to fix it to no avail. Why don’t you call and have this unit replaced?
 
Seems that you have done a great deal so far to fix it to no avail. Why don’t you call and have this unit replaced?
I have emailed the retailer.

But I also like to try and either good, or get to the bottom of things to help others.

I'll try with a 5.0 only hotspot and see how that goes...
 
Ok...

So whilst my phone can see and connect to both 2.4GHz and 5.0GHz networks, it appears it can only broadcast a hotspot on 2.4GHz.

My home access point broadcasts on both, and (more importantly) I have configured both bands to have different SSID'S.

So I reconfigured the dashcam for the 5.0GHz hotspot...

Interestingly the cloud connected, and almost immediately, the dashcam's SSID (bv900 in my case" was available to be connected to.

This time, only available on the 5.0GHz band and not the 2.4GHz band!


So, to summarise, the dashcam works on both frequencies. But will only allow a WiFi connection once connected to the cloud!

 
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