400+ft Internet, WIFI, & Cameras

TractorGuy · Aug 27, 2021

The subjects of long distant wifi and wifi security cameras come up from time to time so I thought I would share my setup. It works well and is about as low budget as you can get.

My internet wifi system consists of a ZTE Velocity Hotspot Router on AT&T connected to a AR-GL300-EXT travel router. I have the travel router connected wireless to the Velocity. It can be connected wired or wireless. I have my PC connected to the travel router with a cable. Everything else on my home network connects wireless to the travel router including TV and outside cameras.

The Velocity is tie wrapped to the blinds for a better signal and the AR-GL300-EXT sits in the window sill. There are several versions of the AR-GL300 router and they don't all have external antennas.

I have added longer 9 dBi antennas to the travel router and the furthest camera. I didn’t see any real improvement with the longer antennas but I also didn’t see any degradation so I left them on. I bought the antennas off eBay for <$9 for a pair.

I have 4 Reolink wifi cameras and a Wyze cam on the network. The furthest camera is a Reolink Argus Eco at 414’ from the router window. The next closest is the Wyze cam at 198’ in the barn. The Wyze Cam has to shoot it's signal through the whole house. I also have a Argus Eco at 111’ out front. The other two cameras are Reolink RLC411WS and a Reolink RLC410W on the front and back porches.

Some weather conditions seem to hinder connection to the field cameras but I can access them 90% of the time with no problem. The Wyze cam almost always connects and it doesn’t even have an external antenna.

Sooo the signal quality depends on a combination of a good signals out and in. It is also affected by weather at times. The key ingredient to the distance in my system is the little $32 travel router.

As far as the cameras go the Reolink Argus with THEIR built in batteries and solar panel is the most practical outdoor cameras. The Argus infra red will shoot out 90'. BUT the Argus motion detection is limited to about 20' for animals. Sometimes it will capture vehicles going and coming through the gate but it's inconsistent. Both of the Argus cameras have also gotten condensation in them once. They are easy to pull the lens cover off (three little screws) and dry out and it hasn't happened but a couple of times. They offer a free cloud subscription for one camera. The cloud offer is kinda chinsey and you have to re-enroll every month.

The Wyze Cam has superior motion detection if you have power and a covered area but it's night time infra red range is limited to close range. I have the Wyze Cam plugged in to the USB output on a Solar Controller that has a group 27 battery on it so it remains powered.

kenmbz · Aug 27, 2021

Thanks for sharing and the information.
I have metalized windows so range is spotty.
Upgrading my router helped to get me about 200' to one side of the house.
On my back deck I get almost no signal, even though it's only 50; from the router, but through a block wall and metalized sliding glass doors.
i have a cheap TPLINK repeater for the pool house when I need it, but I find my phone gets stuck to it when I go back in the house.

California · Mar 27, 2022

TractorGuy said:
The subjects of long distant wifi and wifi security cameras come up from time to time so I thought I would share my setup. It works well and is about as low budget as you can get.

My internet wifi system consists of a ZTE Velocity Hotspot Router on AT&T connected to a AR-GL300-EXT travel router. I have the travel router connected wireless to the Velocity. It can be connected wired or wireless. I have my PC connected to the travel router with a cable. Everything else on my home network connects wireless to the travel router including TV and outside cameras.
...
Sooo the signal quality depends on a combination of a good signals out and in. It is also affected by weather at times. The key ingredient to the distance in my system is the little $32 travel router.
...
The Wyze Cam has superior motion detection if you have power and a covered area but it's night time infra red range is limited to close range. I have the Wyze Cam plugged in to the USB output on a Solar Controller that has a group 27 battery on it so it remains powered.

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I just bought a Wyze Cam 3 and I've learned a lot from your post. Lots of newbie questions:

Do you have the Wyze camera set up using RTSP to feed signal into the router for watching directly, or does it use the default setup where apparently it uploads to Wyze then what you see is a download from there? Apparently you can see the default Wyze cloud version from anywhere in the world but RTSP feed is limited to devices that can see your local router. Comments? Is either better?

Are you set up to record only when motion is detected, or continuous?

Would a wifi repeater at the side of your house nearest the barn improve anything? I use something similar to that, a second router in a window facing the barn. It receives signal from the primary router via Ethernet-Over-Powerline. I can be waaay out in the orchard and my phone can still see this second router.

And an experience to share - I've been playing around setting up the Wyze here at my home in town before taking it to the ranch. It would lose connection if it was just a couple of rooms away from the router so I assumed it had terrible range. I ran Wifi Analyzer and found everybody in the neighborhood including my ATT router is on wifi channel 1. I switched the router from Auto to fixed channel 11, now the Wyze doesn't lose connection. But the lag between action and view seems to increase with distance from the router.

Any comments?

newbury · Mar 28, 2022

California said:
Any comments?

Wyze Cam V3's have shown to have a wide range of performance in antenna quality. I suspect it's due to poor quality controls at the factory. I've at least a dozen I'm using on 3 properties and I've had a couple that would only get a signal through one interior 2x4 wall. While one "early" V3 would get a signal through my exterior brick/2x4 wall at a sharp angle and about 100 feet of air. I had tried the same path with a V2 and it failed.
IIRC I've also seen reports in the Beta forum of dissected V3's where the antenna was not even connected.
I suspect that the company let their quality control lapse during the time of the virus that cannot be mentioned with the attitude of "if it don't work, send it back, we'll replace it".

trueg50 · Mar 28, 2022

All the Wyze cameras operate in the 2.4ghz spectrum, so while its great for punching through walls, there is a lot of gear on the 2.4 ghz spectrum like phones, microwaves, baby monitors etc.. Depending on your phone manufacturer; you might be able to tell the strength "at the camera" with an app, but if its interference all you'll see is a hit-or-miss connection. Android has Wifiman that can tell signal strength and some other numbers that can help (it won't tell radio interference) and is my go-to; I think there is an iphone version but its very dumbed down. If you have a laptop INSSIDER would be your best bet for a site survey.

I have a Wyse outdoor cam and was really impressed with their range, I've gone out to 300 ft and it worked fine (that's ~260 ft of air plus 40ft "through' the house). The battery life for the outdoor cam is also pretty good; lasting a few months or so.

TheMan419 · Mar 30, 2022

I got a nighthawk router that works with AT&T cell plan. It can handle an external antenna so we get better speed that having the router in the house. It does something called carrier aggregation so the speed is even a bit faster, but more importantly much more stable. Makes streaming TV better and just an overall better internet connection.

Also get an out door wifi extender. The one we have is connected by hardwire to the nighthawk but it then gives a really good wifi signal outside the house. It would connect all those cameras easily.

Bill Guenthner · Mar 30, 2022

TractorGuy said:
The subjects of long distant wifi and wifi security cameras come up from time to time so I thought I would share my setup. It works well and is about as low budget as you can get.

My internet wifi system consists of a ZTE Velocity Hotspot Router on AT&T connected to a AR-GL300-EXT travel router. I have the travel router connected wireless to the Velocity. It can be connected wired or wireless. I have my PC connected to the travel router with a cable. Everything else on my home network connects wireless to the travel router including TV and outside cameras.

The Velocity is tie wrapped to the blinds for a better signal and the AR-GL300-EXT sits in the window sill. There are several versions of the AR-GL300 router and they don't all have external antennas.

I have added longer 9 dBi antennas to the travel router and the furthest camera. I didn’t see any real improvement with the longer antennas but I also didn’t see any degradation so I left them on. I bought the antennas off eBay for <$9 for a pair.

I have 4 Reolink wifi cameras and a Wyze cam on the network. The furthest camera is a Reolink Argus Eco at 414’ from the router window. The next closest is the Wyze cam at 198’ in the barn. The Wyze Cam has to shoot it's signal through the whole house. I also have a Argus Eco at 111’ out front. The other two cameras are Reolink RLC411WS and a Reolink RLC410W on the front and back porches.

Some weather conditions seem to hinder connection to the field cameras but I can access them 90% of the time with no problem. The Wyze cam almost always connects and it doesn’t even have an external antenna.

Sooo the signal quality depends on a combination of a good signals out and in. It is also affected by weather at times. The key ingredient to the distance in my system is the little $32 travel router.

As far as the cameras go the Reolink Argus with THEIR built in batteries and solar panel is the most practical outdoor cameras. The Argus infra red will shoot out 90'. BUT the Argus motion detection is limited to about 20' for animals. Sometimes it will capture vehicles going and coming through the gate but it's inconsistent. Both of the Argus cameras have also gotten condensation in them once. They are easy to pull the lens cover off (three little screws) and dry out and it hasn't happened but a couple of times. They offer a free cloud subscription for one camera. The cloud offer is kinda chinsey and you have to re-enroll every month.

The Wyze Cam has superior motion detection if you have power and a covered area but it's night time infra red range is limited to close range. I have the Wyze Cam plugged in to the USB output on a Solar Controller that has a group 27 battery on it so it remains powered.

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Good setup!

I have cameras everywhere. The gate cameras are solar powered. Even if they were stolen or disabled the video is already in the cloud. Ounce of prevention. I have video of every car that passes on the street or enters a gate.