Can anyone here share their experiences with WiFi vs PoE cameras? The ease of installation of the WiFi cameras is very attractive to me but I’m worried about the reliability. The PoE camera would definitely offer the more powerful system but it’s not something I’d be able to install myself and getting someone to install it would be expensive. Just trying to see what the options are and what’s worthwhile.
Thank you all.
The reliability of your wifi is the biggest concern of course for wifi models.
Wifi cameras are easier to implement, but recent consumer networking trends can actively make it more difficult for wifi camera reliability. It is easy to avoid, but does take some planning.
Mesh wifi networks are the biggest offender, shuffling around the band and connected access point for the cameras.
Ideally you would have a single dedicated access point with a unique 2.4 ghz network ssid.
Luckily I do not have a mesh network.
I don’t have any access points yet, but have a couple Ethernet runs where I could potentially add an access point. Any instructions or advice on setting up a separate network for the WiFi devices?
It would be recommended to have a single access point with a unique 2.4 ghz SSID. All cameras would ideally connect to that which would provide the best stability.
Unless they are absolutely necessary due to range limits, extra access points tend to only cause issues, with cameras sometimes connecting to further points or shuffling between them. If you can limit the connected devices by mac address and ensure cameras connect to the best source, then multiple access points would work well.
When installing the PoE camera do they have to be connected directly into the keypad? Or how exactly are they connected?
Cameras would not connect to the alarm panel keypad. There are no ports for such a connection.
A POE camera would connect to a POE switch or injector and then connect to the router.