Only certain types of home security recorders called IP cameras require a wireless connection to the internet. Still, Wi-Fi enabled cameras are becoming the norm in the industry because of the convenience and useful features that they provide, such as sending snapshots directly to your phone or streaming footage to the cloud. But to make the most out of your high-end IP cameras you will need to have a high-speed broadband internet connection, otherwise the quality of the film will suffer tremendously, compromising the whole purpose of the device.
Fast connection is necessary
The biggest downside of having Wi-Fi-reliant cameras is that they are constantly sapping your bandwidth, which is especially problematic in larger households where someone is always using the internet. Whether or not the effect on the network consumption is noticeable will depend on the settings and the number of devices that are connected to the network. Obviously, the more IP cameras that you install, the slower your connection speed will be, and if you already have a slow service by default then you might need to dial back some of the features.
Minimalizing bandwidth use
There are a few tricks to reduce a camera’s bandwidth consumption. One of the major bugbears is compression, which is responsible for eliminating unnecessary frames to reduce the final file size. MPEG4 is the oldest and least effective way of doing so, so it’s worth switching to the newer H.264 compression type instead. Should the bandwidth usage still be through the roof, then also consider lowering the resolution or the FPS. But be warned, this will affect the overall quality of the footage.
Trying to accommodate the IP cameras into a slow Wi-Fi connection ultimately compromises the effectiveness of your security system, since the footage will appear blurry and janky and therefore harder to make anyone out. Purchasing a dual-band wireless security recorder is one solution to this problem because the higher frequency increases the transmission speed and in turn lowers the time that cameras need to broadcast the video. You can also maintain a suitable network speed by opting for motion-activated IP cameras, therefore only straining the Wi-Fi when it is triggered.