Any tips for maximizing 2.4 ghz range on an AX88U Pro to connect to outdoor surveillance camera?

[aunsafe2015]

I have an outdoor surveillance camera (Ring Spotlight Cam) that stretches the range of wifi routers that I've tried. Adding a mesh node closer to the camera is possible, but it would have to be wireless backhaul. I will consider it if necessary, but I want to exhaust all other options first as I prefer to stay with a single wifi broadcasting device for cost and simplicity reasons.

Google Wifi pucks would not connect to the camera at all.

I replaced Google wifi with an AX86U Pro and the camera gets a connection that is decent about 75% of the time (so a massive improvement over Google wifi). Average signal strength reported by the device is RSSI-69. But it completely drops the connection for at least an hour or two per day.

I'm currently testing an AX88U Pro and signal strength is about the same as the AX86U Pro (average RSSI-69 or so). It seems like the camera drops the connection less, so it might be a little more stable, but overall still not as reliable as I'd like.

Attached are screenshots of my 2.4ghz wifi settings. Any recommended changes to try to maximize range? Should I turn on either of the "beamforming" options? These current settings are based on various things I've read on this forum. I have tried manually setting the control channel to 1, 6, and 11 and that did not seem to improve anything. USB is set to 2.0 and nothing is connected to the USB port.

Also, is there any reason to think that the GT-AX6000 might be an improvement over the AX88U Pro for 2.4 ghz range purposes? I'm still within return period and could try out an AX6000 if there's a chance it would be better.

Edit: I'm currently running the 3.0.0.4.388.23110 firmware.

Many thanks for any input!

 

[JEofMPK]

How far is the cam from the router. I have used a the basic TMO Home Internet modem/ router in the middle of a decent sized rental unit to connect to a seperate garage and got no signal drop. Plaster walls everywhere and obstructions.
I really think you need to to the mesh route. OR if you got coaxial cable can use MOCA adaptors to run the backhaul but also maybe to run a LAN cable there with access point.

Frankly I am looking into dumping all WIFI cams in favor of POE. I prefer 24/7 recording and not paying a sub fee. Plus the connectiviy issues that do pop up are a risk.

 

[aunsafe2015]

How far is the cam from the router. I have used a the basic TMO Home Internet modem/ router in the middle of a decent sized rental unit to connect to a seperate garage and got no signal drop. Plaster walls everywhere and obstructions.
I really think you need to to the mesh route. OR if you got coaxial cable can use MOCA adaptors to run the backhaul but also maybe to run a LAN cable there with access point.

Frankly I am looking into dumping all WIFI cams in favor of POE. I prefer 24/7 recording and not paying a sub fee. Plus the connectiviy issues that do pop up are a risk.

It's really not that far. It's probably about 40 feet, but it is through a couple of walls. I'm a little surprised it's not more reliable, but having tried 3 different wifi routers, I guess there's something about the distance that makes it challenging for wifi.

If folks think my settings look OK to maximize 2.4 ghz range, and if an AX6000 would not be an improvement, then I probably will end up having to find a mesh node solution or try to do POE. But I want to exhaust my other options first.

 

[drabisan]

Unlikely you'll get significant better signal with a even newer router. No matter the vendor.
RSSI 69 is not really bad. Bordeline. But you have to keep in mind you're measuring that signal with a different device (phone or laptop) than Ring Spotlight Cam.
Nobody can tell how good radio and antenna are on that particular Ring. It may see a too low signal and send a similar or lower signal.

So reposition your router if that's an option.
Or add a node closer that that Ring camera.

I'm using a fairly random rule of thumb - if my Lenovo X1 Carbon doesn't see anything better than -65...that's not good enough. But I know there may be devices that can't work properly even at my randomly chosen -65.

 

[JEofMPK]

It's really not that far. It's probably about 40 feet, but it is through a couple of walls. I'm a little surprised it's not more reliable, but having tried 3 different wifi routers, I guess there's something about the distance that makes it challenging for wifi.

If folks think my settings look OK to maximize 2.4 ghz range, and if an AX6000 would not be an improvement, then I probably will end up having to find a mesh node solution or try to do POE. But I want to exhaust my other options first.

You might want to swap the camera rather than the router. If I recall correctly, the Ring Spotlight I used from the TMO modem/router traveled through 6 walls then out the bulilding. The distance from the exterior of the exterior of the building was well more than 40 feet.

 

[bbunge]

Your best bet is to use the WIFI defaults. Even Dual Band SmartConnect. Use just WPA2-Personal, Auto Channel and leave the professional settings alone! Leave the AX enabled. The router is smarter than you are and will settle into the settings it and the clients need in a few hours. Sounds contrary to conventional WIFI wisdom but at least try it. Just might work for you as it works for me. Also may be best to factory reset and reconfigure the router from scratch as you may have forgotten which settings you have changed.

 

[JEofMPK]

Your best bet is to use the WIFI defaults. Even Dual Band SmartConnect. Use just WPA2-Personal, Auto Channel and leave the professional settings alone! Leave the AX enabled. The router is smarter than you are and will settle into the settings it and the clients need in a few hours. Sounds contrary to conventional WIFI wisdom but at least try it. Just might work for you as it works for me. Also may be best to factory reset and reconfigure the router from scratch as you may have forgotten which settings you have changed.

I didnt know the age of the AI router has arrived. Seriously. Leaving it be did not work for me. The "AI" built into the firmware only knew how to randomly disconnect. Take it as levity not questioning what worked for you nor your knowledge of networking and ASUS.

 

[drinkingbird]

I have an outdoor surveillance camera (Ring Spotlight Cam) that stretches the range of wifi routers that I've tried. Adding a mesh node closer to the camera is possible, but it would have to be wireless backhaul. I will consider it if necessary, but I want to exhaust all other options first as I prefer to stay with a single wifi broadcasting device for cost and simplicity reasons.

Google Wifi pucks would not connect to the camera at all.

I replaced Google wifi with an AX86U Pro and the camera gets a connection that is decent about 75% of the time (so a massive improvement over Google wifi). Average signal strength reported by the device is RSSI-69. But it completely drops the connection for at least an hour or two per day.

I'm currently testing an AX88U Pro and signal strength is about the same as the AX86U Pro (average RSSI-69 or so). It seems like the camera drops the connection less, so it might be a little more stable, but overall still not as reliable as I'd like.

Attached are screenshots of my 2.4ghz wifi settings. Any recommended changes to try to maximize range? Should I turn on either of the "beamforming" options? These current settings are based on various things I've read on this forum. I have tried manually setting the control channel to 1, 6, and 11 and that did not seem to improve anything. USB is set to 2.0 and nothing is connected to the USB port.

Also, is there any reason to think that the GT-AX6000 might be an improvement over the AX88U Pro for 2.4 ghz range purposes? I'm still within return period and could try out an AX6000 if there's a chance it would be better.

Edit: I'm currently running the 3.0.0.4.388.23110 firmware.

Many thanks for any input!

Exterior walls can be a big challenge especially if you have aluminum siding, stucco or plaster with metal screen in it, etc. 2.4Ghz is very tough, it is saturated in most areas and it will fluctuate throughout the day.

I've gone through this with a few friends/neighbors, in some cases moving the AP more central and moving it higher up (ceiling mounted in one case) made a huge difference. In other cases, there was no option but to use a repeater (or a node with wireless backhaul, same thing). The repeater setup isn't as good but works the majority of the time.

In all cases, mounting the cameras where a glass window provided a straight line to the AP (not necessarily line of sight, just not passing through exterior walls) was probably the biggest difference for signal. So moving your AP to the ceiling, somewhere near a window that gives it line of sight to the camera (or is at least near the camera) and adjusting some 2 your antennas to be opposing 45 degree angles may be enough. Barring that, you probably need to go for the repeater (or mesh with wireless backhaul, same thing basically).

Tweaking the wireless settings isn't going to make a huge difference, a channel that is less congested today will be more congested tomorrow etc.

You could toy with the beamforming settings. Normally the recommendation is to disable universal beamforming, so try that. Or if you have it disabled, try turning it on, maybe this is one case where it will actually help, may hurt your other 2.4 devices but may get some more signal focused toward that camera. But most likely physical changes are the only ones that are going to get you a big difference.

 

[drinkingbird]

I didnt know the age of the AI router has arrived. Seriously. Leaving it be did not work for me. The "AI" built into the firmware only knew how to randomly disconnect. Take it as levity not questioning what worked for you nor your knowledge of networking and ASUS.

There are a couple settings that can be tweaked to help, but generally leaving the defaults is best. Obviously it differs with every environment and situation. Something that improves things today may hurt them tomorrow, that's one of the challenges of having neighbors.

In my case all I do is disable legacy (b/g) and disable universal beamforming. Everything else is at auto and works well that way. I do also have roaming assistant set since I want my phone to switch to the outdoor AP when I'm out there, but not everyone needs that. The days of hardcoding channels or using 1/6/11 on 2.4 are mostly gone. With everyone else channel hopping, you have to play musical chairs with them. Having the router reboot every day at like 3AM lets it rescan and pick the current best channel.

 

[drinkingbird]

It's really not that far. It's probably about 40 feet, but it is through a couple of walls. I'm a little surprised it's not more reliable, but having tried 3 different wifi routers, I guess there's something about the distance that makes it challenging for wifi.

If folks think my settings look OK to maximize 2.4 ghz range, and if an AX6000 would not be an improvement, then I probably will end up having to find a mesh node solution or try to do POE. But I want to exhaust my other options first.

At that distance it is unlikely a distance issue, it is material of the walls.

Upgrading to the 6000 isn't going to make any difference most likely. 2.4ghz has the same limitations across all the routers and wifi technologies. Some radio chipsets are a bit better than others, but if you've already tried multiple routers, you've ruled that out as a solution.

Another thing I've seen is that the AP can actually be too close - you're trying to get from inside to outside and likely the usable signal is going through a window. If the AP is right near the window and that's the same wall the camera is mounted on, the signal may be bypassing the camera completely and bouncing off another house, which will give you a very lousy connection. I had a very similar case where moving the router further away toward the middle of the house allowed the front cameras (which were on the same wall the router was previously located at) to connect much better.

 

[PunchCardBoss]

Average signal strength reported by the device is RSSI-69

Try lowering your Roaming assistant RSSI threshold a bit.

Reboot all devices after this change.

 

[drinkingbird]

Try lowering your Roaming assistant RSSI threshold a bit.

Reboot all devices after this change.

Their roaming assistant is disabled as per the screenshot.