Guide in buying/setting up D-Link IP Cameras, Routers, APs

[delta37]

This forum has its potential but apparently we have not much "pros" here that could help. So far in the troubleshoot forums, I found alot of unsolved problems.

anyways, I spent the last few months trying to help people set up their ip cams especially over the internet with dlink cameras.

I decided I'll just put this post so that people in the future can refer to this when setting up D-LINK ip cameras.

To start with, I have the following hardwares:

4 D-Link DCS-5220 ip camera [I'm currently using 2]
1 D-Link DI-624 router
2 D-Link DWL-2100AP

How I got these products/Why I bought them


The situation at my house:
My computer, DSL modem and router are located at the second floor and somewhat already close to the back of our house.
The place where I want to put my cameras are in front of the house to view our gate and on the first floor in one of the rooms.

The problems:

1. It will be impossible to wire an ethernet cable from my router all the way to front gate and first floor
2. with wireless, the camera in the front gate is out of ranged
3. with wireless, the camera on the first floor has very low signal strength

Solution:
I bought 2 DWL-2100AP after reading through alot of post in the net and a proof that the DWL-2100AP will 100% work with my router either on AP mode, Repeater mode, or any other mode!

So this is basically how I got all the network hardware I have now.

My current set up:
I wired one of the AP to my router and configured it to "WDS with AP"
I then placed the other AP(configured to "WDS with AP" also) on the first floor so that it can reach both of my cameras.

What the WDS with AP basically does is to allow me to connect all of my cameras including the 2nd AP on the first floor wirelessly.

Known/Experienced Issues:

1. merely setting up the APs as repeater won't help because APs in repeater mode can't communicate and pass data to a router
2. some AP do not support multiple WLAN client as such I had problems initially with 2 cameras, only 1 would always work. An updated firmware solved this problem
3. Cameras that will have a signal strength of low will lag often and disconnect every now and then. Cameras with very low signal wouldn't connect at all
4. The computer used to record the feeds must be hardwired to a router. Wifi will make it disconnect often even if your computer is just 1 feet away
5. APs that do not have the same firmware will not communicate
6. wi-fi signals have a hard time curving around through concrete walls. Signals can go up (e.g. from first to second floor), but will have a hard time going down.
7. My camera on the front gate sometimes disconnects, but it reconnects itself. (this happens sometimes only if its rainy outside, dunno why)

With these settings, I have successfully connect 2 cameras for over months now and I have not had any problems so far. It is important for people to note that it will always be best to buy a single brand to attain maximum compatibility, BUT even so, not all products of the same brand will work without problems. Some products are not meant to be compatible even if they are of the same brand. So my suggestion? make sure first products are compatible before buying them, ask the tech support or with d-link they have this "Compatible with..." on their products on the net.

*This post is to make people aware that connecting ip cameras wirelessly is possible and to help people understand the issues with network hardware. I will not be responsible for any damage you will cause your device.

[delta37]

This space is reserved for "How to setup remote viewing of D-LINK IP cameras" or "How to view D-LINK IP cameras over the Internet"

will post soon...