The Wi-Fi bird box camera can be hooked up to the Wi-Fi network to stream the video online. We will be able to access the video through different devices including mobile phone, tablet, PC computer or Mac. As the Wi-Fi bird box camera has a tiny case that is required to be as small as possible, the high power antenna is not able to equip the camera, thus the Wi-Fi is usually weaker than other Wi-Fi products. How can we set up the long distance wireless connection to stream the video back? We will need a wireless bridge that can send the video back at a maximum of 1 kilometer far from your bird box.
The wireless bridge usually works in pairs. One unit will be deployed next to the camera, the other unit will be set up in your house. It is better to have a clear sight between these two units. Both wireless bridges still require power. It should be easy to power up the bridge close to the house. If the power is not present at the camera, the solar panel power system is a possible solution. The total power consumption is around 350mA for one bridge plus bird box camera. The 40AH battery and 75W solar panel should be good enough to provide 24/7 continuous power.
After the wireless tunnel is formed by the other wireless bridge, we can hook up the camera to the edge bridge. In this case, we don’t need the Wi-Fi bird box camera, we choose the wire IP bird box camera. The camera is able to be connected to the edge bridge through cat5e patch cord. The video will go through the wireless tunnel to reach the other end. At the house, we will use another patch cord to connect that bridge to the main network. Basically the system setup is complete. The wireless bridge is transparent to your IP camera. As long as the bridge forms the wireless tunnel, there is no configuration needed for the bridge. The wireless bridge uses a different IP address subnet from your IP camera. Once the IP camera works with your main network, you can move the camera to the edge bridge and the whole system should work exactly the same. It is good practice to test the camera with the main network before you move it to the edge bridge in the birdhouse.
It is the primary challenge is getting the wireless tunnel between these two bridges. There is a signal indicator at the side of the bridge. The indicator will be always full at the house which is sending out the full power. The edge bridge’s indicator will show how good the connection is. You can simply adjust the angle of the bridge to see the wireless connection. Full range will be best, but two range is enough to carry video signals from the IP bird box camera.
The edge bridge has two RJ45 ports allowing it to connect two IP bird box cameras. If you have multiple birdhouse camera systems, you may need another equipment——outdoor switch to gather all the data together before sending it back to the house.
