There are different ways for nature lovers or bird watchers to start watching or learning birds in their backyard or some other places by building bird box with camera systems for a closer viewing with clear details. The majority of people tends to choose WiFi bird box camera due to its easier and convenient setup. However, WiFi bird box cameras actually require extra consideration before the final purchase as there are several crucial factors that potentially result in installation or connection challenges or limitation. Today, we are going to talk about the top 3 common issues that may encounter in practice and provide the solutions to deal with them for a successful application to WiFi nest box camera.
WiFi Bird Box Camera Brief Introduction
WiFi bird box camera or wireless nest box camera is an Internet Protocol camera, the so-called IP camera, which transmits and receives data(footage) over a network or the internet. And it varies from different types, some are equipped with built-in WiFi, some works with a pair of wireless transmitter and receiver for signal transmission. These cameras feature wireless connections and rely on WiFi signals to transmit data to the main connected router, then in this way, there is no network cabling run between the camera and router, saving time and money on network cabling. Certainly, it also means you or your family can be out of the risk of tripping over by the long network cable especially when if it run through your garden. WiFi bird box camera is a specially designed tiny camera, which can be mounted in almost all kinds of nest boxes, thus it is able to view the birds nesting inside birdhouses via mobile devices, such as smartphones, tablets, PC, etc.
It is revealed at the beginning that there are some issues in the use of WiFi bird box cameras, now let’s get a closer look at them.
#1 Weak WiFi Signal
Although you may be new to the WiFi bird box camera, you can just regard it as the common WiFi security camera, they work roughly the same to some extent. Referring to WiFi, it is a familiar concept to people who now live in this modern society, basically, almost every home has WiFi covered. Probably for people only use WiFi at home may not aware that WiFi signal is a thing that offers a limited range with good WiFi coverage, and it is easy to be affected by various types of obstacle like walls. Therefore, to apply WiFi bird box camera, it is necessary to make sure if the WiFi signal is strong enough to support a smooth or high-quality video stream.
Most wireless bird box cameras available on the market provide about 15 meters of WiFi range at free light of sight. Within this range, it is not a problem for video streams smoothly to the main router and to your mobile devices. The actual range depends on the connected WiFi router performance and the installation environment. You should know that a better router supplies better WiFi signal performance and if there are fewer obstacles between the router and camera, it is able to reach a great range.
Just like what mentioned above, WiFi signal has its limitation on the range, then what to do if the camera needs to be installed out of the range or if there are many obstacles that result in a weak signal? Some WiFi signal boosting or extending tools are useful to solve weak signal issues. WiFi extender, PLC adapter, or base station are some choices to help get a stronger WiFi signal so as to reach a greater range. Actually, these kinds of equipment only allow for signal booting, it is quite limited to WiFi range extension. For greater distance, some would turn to wireless network bridges to get extreme long-distance setup, maybe over kilometers.
As a matter of fact, there are specially made wireless nest box cameras that give you more possibility to realize a long distance setup or better resistance to obstacles like walls. Green Backyard long range wireless series cameras that adopt XtremeWiFi technology allowing you to place the camera at a maximum distance of 800 meters away from your home’s main router. XtremeWiFi cameras not only features long range transmission, but the cameras also grant excellent wall penetration capability because it triggers few interferences on WiFi signal strength even thru several walls.
#2 No Main Power Nearby
Power also can be the main problem in WiFi bird box camera setup. Some may feel a little surprised why wireless cameras need to consider the power issue. Actually, the WiFi camera or wireless bird box camera available in the market needs to be powered by plugging an adapter into the AC power outlet. The “wireless” only means the connection between the router and camera, or the transmitter and receiver.
If you can find an AC power outlet nearby the nest box camera mounting point, power is not an issue. In contrast, if there is no power outlet can be found nearby, extension cable can be applied to reach the further power outlet. Or if the distance between the camera and the power outlet is too far, or you just don’t want to run long power cable through your backyard, it is a fair option to take battery as the power source. Certainly, the premise is that picking up suitable WiFi cameras that accept batteries as the power source.
A motorcycle battery is recommended as it comes with better performance and usage life. The long power cable can be eliminated and only needs to recharge the battery every 4-5 days or longer time if adding a bigger battery. For ultra-convenience or for environmentally friendly, solar power is a nice power source. Installing a suitable solar panel battery power system for the camera is able to realize a non-stop continued working camera system, that being said, you don’t need to recharge the battery, and the camera can work even at cloudy and rainy days.
#3 Failed WiFi Connection
To view the WiFi camera on your smartphone, the camera needs to hook up to home WiFi, this step is not a difficult work, but sometimes WiFi connection although the last step leading to a successful viewing to the nesting birds, but it also potentially become the bigger critical strike resulting in the abandon after many times frustrating attempts on WiFi connection because of mistakes or ignorance on the basic steps.
If the router is the dual bands’ router, you probably encounter more challenges rather than people who still use the traditional router with a 2.4Ghz network. Because when hooking up the camera to WiFi, most the WiFi bird box cameras can’t automatically select the 2.4Ghz WiFi and connect to it(most of the wireless birdhouse cameras only can work with 2.4Ghz WiFi). Many users have no awareness to rename the two bandwidths for effective distinguish. Only in this way, the camera can be linked to 2.4Ghz WiFi when connect to the dual bands’ routers. Occasionally, this could be an overwhelmed or frustrating operation to bird watchers who are kind of technophobic, especially to the seniors.
To avoid such hassle, it is supposed to pick up a nest box camera with an easier setup. Fortunately, such kinds of cameras are available. Green Backyard outdoor series cameras make the connection finished more fast and handy for the reason that it supports an automatic selection on the 2.4Ghz when dealing with dual bands router, reducing hassle and time on camera setup. Moreover, the outdoor series cameras that can work with a mesh network, and the 2.4Ghz network is no longer to be a limitation to bird box camera WiFi connection.
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