Wireless security camera issues. Help!!

[Musicinabottle]

I bought a new 4 camera wireless security system back in November of 2016, and it has worked well until the last few weeks. Essentially 3 of the camera's to varying degrees keep cutting out constantly, one of which quit transmitting all together. The forth camera does not miss a lick, hasn't cut out once. I tried pairing and re pairing..... NO!. Rebooted several times... NO! A few days ago we lost power for a second or two, and now the one camera that quit all together keeps transmitting for a second but the image locks up and doesn't change, the clock is stopped in that screen and it is doing this even sitting here on my desk, and the image is inches from the antenna. The manufacturer is absolutely useless. Called them and they were supposed to call me back in about 8 minutes, never did. Emailed them, no response. What do I do? About ready to throw it in the garbage and buy some other camera set up.

 

[2CWG]

Brand? Could be quite a few potential causes. Anything from a power surge that damaged hardware to any of the hundreds of camera hacks out there right now (especially if cameras are published/accessible from outside your home network).

If it is camera hardware...no real choice but to replace. May want to try on a different wireless access point just to make certain there isn't something wrong with the WAP (unlikely).

If it isn't hardware-related, sometimes there's a "factory reset" option that may be worth a shot. Firmware update is another option, but that's a bit of a dice roll. ipcamtalk guys (https://ipcamtalk.com/) may have some thoughts, if you can endure the abuse that'll inevitably come from mentioning "wireless" and "security" in the same paragraph

 

[Musicinabottle]

It's a Lorex. I don't have it hooked to the internet at all. Beginning to think about going hard wired because this thing is total ******** when you can't even count on it when you need it most.

 

[Paycheck]

Only time I've had issues with mine is when the wireless channel is weak. Changed channels and was back in business.

 

[Captain Spaulding]

Neighbors with new routers? Any new alarm systems or anything close by?

 

[My Old Tools]

Most likely a network issue rather than a camera issue.

 

[rburke65]

Rookie here....so a wired systemic "more better"?

 

[Eslader]

The first thing I'd be looking at is the wifi signal strength. That's exactly what my wifi cameras did before I stopped being cheap and bought a good router.

Rookie here....so a wired systemic "more better"?

It's more reliable, but the downside is that you have to run the wires and unless you're doing it in a house that's still under construction, that can be a royal pain.

 

[rlitman]

Neighbors with new routers? Any new alarm systems or anything close by?

Or a new WiFi router or new cordless phones?

The first thing I'd be looking at is the wifi signal strength. That's exactly what my wifi cameras did before I stopped being cheap and bought a good router...

The Lorex cameras are probably not WiFi, though they operate in the same band, they use a proprietary wireless signal. WiFi will interfere with them though.

 

[CoogarXR]

For the few posters that alluded to some wifi issue, Lorex doesn't use wifi for its wireless cameras. It has a proprietary usb "hub" that connects to the DVR and the cameras connect to that hub wirelessly via a pairing procedure similar to a Wii remote. You set the DVR to "pair" and you press a button on the camera and it links up. That's really all the more configuring there is.

That being said, I have only set up one Lorex wireless system, and it seemed kinda chintzy, and one camera acted up right out of the box.

 

[Falcon67]

Rookie here....so a wired systemic "more better"?

If you want to push any decent video quality, wired is going to be a better solution. It's more reliable - wifi has a ton of things that can get in the way or distort the signal. Works well in general. Depends on your router, the camera, the environment.

I use Ubiquity PoE cameras, wired back to a switch. Looked at Lorex, passed on that.

 

[Musicinabottle]

I'm centered on 30 acres and I don't have these cameras tied to the internet at all. There is a hook up to run it to the computer or router, but I don't physically have it hooked up. These cameras are a maximum of 55 feet from the receiver and one is just outside our bedroom door nearly within sight of the receiver / camera, and it often goes dead. Often times all four cameras go dead at the same time, then come back on seconds later. Advice to wireless camera buyers..... don't do it! I'm looking at buying a different "Wired" set up.

 

[bjl95mustang]

What model lorex wireless cameras are they? My lorex wireless cameras run on 2.4.

 

[Captain Spaulding]

I'm centered on 30 acres and I don't have these cameras tied to the internet at all. There is a hook up to run it to the computer or router, but I don't physically have it hooked up. These cameras are a maximum of 55 feet from the receiver and one is just outside our bedroom door nearly within sight of the receiver / camera, and it often goes dead. Often times all four cameras go dead at the same time, then come back on seconds later. Advice to wireless camera buyers..... don't do it! I'm looking at buying a different "Wired" set up.

Try turning your wireless router off and see if the cameras work then.

 

[tthornto]

Check the manufacturers website to see if there are any firmware updates available for the cameras. When/if you do get to talk to one of their support people they will most likely want to update to the latest firmware before they will even start troubleshooting any further.

 

[rayra]

Neighbors with new routers? Any new alarm systems or anything close by?

Yep, very likely frequency interference from something / someone else.

Reset them all, temporarily move them very close to your own router and watch them magically work.
And then figure out how to change their set frequency.

 

[Musicinabottle]

Yep, very likely frequency interference from something / someone else.

Reset them all, temporarily move them very close to your own router and watch them magically work.
And then figure out how to change their set frequency.

I'm certain that I'm missing something but I actually put the one camera that was furthest away and stopped working all together....... says "out of range........ brought it in and plugged it in right next to the receiver antenna and re booted the system and it doesn't work. Tried pairing it right there next to the antenna and still nothing. The model I have is Lorex LH 070400.

 

[Musicinabottle]

What model lorex wireless cameras are they? My lorex wireless cameras run on 2.4.

Mine are LH 070400. Can the frequency be adjusted do you know?

 

[youwish2bme]

Mine are LH 070400. Can the frequency be adjusted do you know?

Not likely. Wireless cameras have not yet become reliable. Wired either coax or cat5/cat etc.. are still the preferred method...

HITCH

 

[Musicinabottle]

Not likely. Wireless cameras have not yet become reliable. Wired either coax or cat5/cat etc.. are still the preferred method...

HITCH

After researching.........and apparently in the wrong places, I got the impression that wireless was the way to go, and that Lorex was tops. Boy! Was I duped. After reading this, if you go out and buy a wireless set up, be sure to go down to the lumber yard and select a nice VG fir 2X4 stud, you know, without any knots, cut that thing down about 4 feet, fashion a handle on one end that fits your hand real nice and give it 3 coats of water based polycrylic and as soon as the clear coat dries, promptly palm that stick and beat the **** out of your head until you pass out. You'll thank me in the morning!

 

[jimgood]

Can the cameras be hard wired and do they work correctly if they are hard wired?

 

[bjl95mustang]

I've been using lorex for a few years now.

I have a couple older lorex wireless cameras on my system. They are probably 4-5 years old. The only issue I've ever had was with 3 of them running and their 2.4 band channel hopping killed my Wi-Fi. I just run all my stuff on my 5ghz band and I'm good.

And I just installed a 720p wireless camera on my parents system. Been working good so fart.

Not likely. Wireless cameras have not yet become reliable. Wired either coax or cat5/cat etc.. are still the preferred method...

HITCH

 

[bjl95mustang]

After pairing have you tried holding down the pairing button on the camera until the image appears on the screen?

Have you registered it on the lorex web site? There is also a support ticket center on there. Your still under warranty. Once you register the product you can select returns then click replace under warranty. Or try the support tickets.

 

[Musicinabottle]

After pairing have you tried holding down the pairing button on the camera until the image appears on the screen?

Have you registered it on the lorex web site? There is also a support ticket center on there. Your still under warranty. Once you register the product you can select returns then click replace under warranty. Or try the support tickets.

I did actually, and they recommended unplugging all the cameras, restarting the system, then re plugging in all the cameras one by one. I'll be trying that this weekend even though I'm pretty sure it's not going to work, but if I just believe in myself, hell who knows what'll happen! .........

 

[Musicinabottle]

I've been using lorex for a few years now.

I have a couple older lorex wireless cameras on my system. They are probably 4-5 years old. The only issue I've ever had was with 3 of them running and their 2.4 band channel hopping killed my Wi-Fi. I just run all my stuff on my 5ghz band and I'm good.

And I just installed a 720p wireless camera on my parents system. Been working good so fart.

My puter which operates on a jet pack, quits often. Might this be an issue? Could there be some cross firing? Cameras still act up with the jet pack off though.

 

[bjl95mustang]

You can try running a wifi speed test with the cameras on and then off. Do the test 30-40' from your wifi setup. say you get 10mb with the cameras off and 2mb with them on then your getting wifi interference from the cameras. that's what i had going on.

The cameras are in fact using the 2.4ghz spectrum. Lorex also uses a channel hopping.

After running the speed test and seeing if your wifi is affected.

Try turning the jetpack off and re pairing all of the cameras one at a time with the others powered off. i would say after all of this has been tried you should request a exchange under warranty through lorex.

 

[Musicinabottle]

You can try running a wifi speed test with the cameras on and then off. Do the test 30-40' from your wifi setup. say you get 10mb with the cameras off and 2mb with them on then your getting wifi interference from the cameras. that's what i had going on.

The cameras are in fact using the 2.4ghz spectrum. Lorex also uses a channel hopping.

After running the speed test and seeing if your wifi is affected.

Try turning the jetpack off and re pairing all of the cameras one at a time with the others powered off. i would say after all of this has been tried you should request a exchange under warranty through lorex.

Thank you! I'll give this sequence a shot.

 

[Musicinabottle]

So here's the latest........... One by one each camera has been going off line until all that worked was one. The last one started going in and out, then just died so I called Lorex and nearly an hour of testing, they discovered that the unit is defective and are sending me a new receiver in the mail. So we'll see if that resolves the issue. I sure hope so!

 

[Trey T]

Security must be reliable and from my experience, wifi has been unreliable for me. I used to ride the Foscam bandwagon for about a year and it's down when I need it.

I went w/ prosumer stuff (kinda commercial setup) w/ all high-end dome cameras (Sony IPELA and Samsung SNV lines) and a Linksys NVR (a mediocre NVR). I've had the system for near 2yrs and only one camera stop recording once (likely the NVR).