207w's dropping connection, must reboot

[metafizx 0]

I really like the 207w, but running into a problem where they won't reconnect to the WLAN after awhile.

 

This system has (3) 207w cameras connected to the same Access Point and a wired Axis 221 going to a Linksys router. Access Point is an Engenious 3220, 802.11G only, 128bit WEP. Auto Channel is on (but doesnt seem to be the reason).

 

There is never a problem with the wired camera, so it seems to be a wireless issue.

 

Initially when powered on, the 207w's all connect and work well, but after a period of time some (or all) of the cameras will disconnect and not come back up until the camera is rebooted (powered off/on). Sometimes they will come reconnect but then drop off some time later.

 

The amount of time varies, they can stay connected for hours or days.

 

I have tried the Linksys Wireless Router by itself, and the same problem happens. The wireless signal reported by the 207w varies from 60% to 90% for the Linksys router, and 100% for the Engenious AP. I don't think it is the signal power.

 

I have a Panasonic BL-C30 connected to the same system, and that always stays connected. So I wonder if it is a problem with the 207w?

 

has anyone run into this issue, and have a fix or suggestion for this problem ?

[zmxtech 0]

you need to look at the error log on the AP and see what is causing it.

ie: a cisco 1231 AP would be sh diag ---- or show log etc

might have to telnet or serial cable to get there.

 

z

[metafizx 0]

you need to look at the error log on the AP and see what is causing it.

ie: a cisco 1231 AP would be sh diag ---- or show log etc

might have to telnet or serial cable to get there.

 

z

 

thanks I will check that.

[metafizx 0]

just updating with what I've done on this issue, for whomever is interested

 

1. upgraded the firmware to 4.40.1 - this is the latest release (was 4.40)

no apparent improvement, just did it

 

2. disabled UPnP which is not needed

no expected improvement

 

3. verified that the wireless mode was set to "managed" (as opposed to "auto")

 

Seems like the wireless throughput varies quite a bit, which causes the frame rate on the cameras to vary from 7-8 fps to less than 1 fps. Signal levels are 80% or greater, as the cameras are not far away from the AP.

 

The closer cameras have a more consistent framerate of 3-4 fps.

 

what I can't understand is if each frame is only 30KB, at 5fps the data rate should only be around 1.5Mbps. does anyone know what the overhead of wireless 802.11g is ?

 

my next try is a different wireless router, instead of the access point.

[user1 0]

I would suspect the access point or router, maybe some overlap with something else.

 

We use 11 207w's in one location without issue so the camera alone probably isn't the issue.

[metafizx 0]

I would suspect the access point or router, maybe some overlap with something else.

 

We use 11 207w's in one location without issue so the camera alone probably isn't the issue.

 

hi user1,

 

do you have all the 207w's on one channel ? or on multiple channels (multiple AP's) ?

 

may I ask what wireless setup you have ? that would be awesome.

 

thanks....

[user1 0]

There are two camera groups each on a channel with an AP. The AP's are wired to a Cisco PoE switch along with some other Axis 211's. All run on i-flashback software.

[metafizx 0]

I checked out the I-Flashback demo and it looked pretty nice.

 

anyway back to this issue...mysteriously some of the 207w's still drop off and go to sleep for some unknown reason.

 

I noticed the NTP time server was all zeros and the time/date was set back to some default time. It looked like it was trying to access the time server, and it gave up. Have no evidence that would cause any problem however.

 

signal is strong from the AP, as the cameras are only 15-20 feet away.

 

Frame rates are good coming in from all the cameras (3x 207w's 1x 221 wired). but then one of the 207w's frame rate will drop to nothing, and then go offline. Sometimes it comes back, but after awhile I have to reboot the camera.

 

This happens on 2 of the 207w's.

[user1 0]

You could set them to run on some local time server, or use something like time.microsoft.com (have dns in the settings).

 

Any chance they are losing power along the way? I guess not if you are watching it.

 

I would switch one of those in question with a working one in a working location, and that'll eliminate a network issue. See if the 'good' one works in the location the 'bad' one was at.

[metafizx 0]

just to follow up on this thread...

 

I bought a Wi-Spy RF analyzer and was able to track down the main interference problem to a simple analog wireless camera that was being used at the main door about 150 feet away.

 

I never thought a simple little camera would generate so much RF. The analog camera signal was atleast 20db higher than the 802.11G channel (-70dbm), and I was sitting right next to the DLink wireless router.

 

simple solution, unplug the wireless analog camera, and wire it in.

 

now the 802.11G setup is working well, with the 207W cameras operating as expected.

 

if anyone is interested I can post the wireless test results (jpg's) from the Wi-Spy

Edited March 13, 2008 by Guest

[RobAnsell 0]

just to follow up on this thread...

 

I bought a Wi-Spy RF analyzer and was able to track down the main interference problem to a simple analog wireless camera that was being used at the main door about 150 feet away.

 

I never thought a simple little camera would generate so much RF. The analog camera signal was atleast 10db higher than the 802.11G channel (-40dbm), and I was sitting right next to the DLink wireless router.

 

simple solution, unplug the wireless analog camera, and wire it in.

 

now the 802.11G setup is working well, with the 207W cameras operating as expected.

 

if anyone is interested I can post the wireless test results (jpg's) from the Wi-Spy

 

 

I would love to see it. This is something that a lot of people have a problem with, and I would love to hear how your experience was with the Wi-Spy.

 

-Rob

[metafizx 0]

wi-spy was awesome. I purchased the 2.4x model, which is a bit more $ than the basic one.

 

easy to understand the graphs, and it seemed to work really well.

 

pretty low noise floor, at -110dBm

 

attaching 2 of the jpg's from the testing.

you can see where the door camera was turned on and off

[Media 0]

Hey very interesting post.. Thanks for the problem and resolution

[metafizx 0]

now that I know it was interference causing the failure in the wireless system, I guess the reason for the original problem in this post is that the 207w's just never had enough free bandwidth to send data. they were essentially were "drowned" out by the beacon blasts of hell from the analog wireless cam.

 

since the analog door cam was not always transmitting (motion detector), rebooting the 207w's would get the system going again. until the next blasts occurred.

 

I'm still not exactly sure why the 207w's would stop responding after awhile, but maybe they give up after awhile if they can't "talk" back to the AP. That doesn't quite make sense to me...something to still look into.

[VST_Man 1]

there is a section in the 207MW's wireless network setup that allows you to type in the SSID of the "adapter" you want it to link up to........

[metafizx 0]

there is a section in the 207MW's wireless network setup that allows you to type in the SSID of the "adapter" you want it to link up to........

 

VST_Man...sure, but what do you mean here ?

[VST_Man 1]

go into setup, system options, network, wireless

 

once here you'll see all available wireless SSID's. You can manually enter the SSID you want the 207MW to pair up with in the space provided.

 

Reset your wireless router SSID to something unique and then enter that SSID into the 207MW's settings.

 

Also reset your wireless channel to somethin else as most people who install wireless routers don't care and the default's on most of them are channel #6. Selecting your own channel reduces the chances that someone else is on your channel, or will be

 

cool, I'm outa here..........

[metafizx 0]

so even though I found a major source of interference and got rid of it, the 207w's still go off to sleep sometimes and don't recover until you power cycle them.

 

It has been a very frustrating situation, I've been round and round with Axis, and no solution.

 

I would suggest highly that you don't put one of these cameras in for a real situation, they aren't reliable.

[metafizx 0]

I am trying to get Axis to help me solve this lockup problem with the 207w.

 

With my test case the cameras tend to lock up after about a day or two.

Difficult to pinpoint why or what causes the lockup. The camera just stops responding all of a sudden. The camera wont respond until you reboot it.

 

I have the latest firmware in, so it's not that.

 

Hopefully Axis will be responsive with this issue, it's been over a year now.

[thewireguys 3]

I am trying to get Axis to help me solve this lockup problem with the 207w.

 

With my test case the cameras tend to lock up after about a day or two.

Difficult to pinpoint why or what causes the lockup. The camera just stops responding all of a sudden. The camera wont respond until you reboot it.

 

I have the latest firmware in, so it's not that.

 

Hopefully Axis will be responsive with this issue, it's been over a year now.

 

Who are you talking to on there support team? Try resetting the camera to factory default: System Options -> Maintenace

 

And setting it up again. I haven't had any problems with any of there product except for the one I dropped and they replaced it no questions asked.

[zmxtech 0]

For Correct operation you would do a survey [like wispy] and then put the cams on non overlapping channels away from the noise -just like any other wifi setup

 

I do many of these WIFI setups to 60 at a time -4 per floor etc.

 

Looking at your setup you would see the signal strength is down and the carrier to noise is high which would suggest a problem.

Putting diverse semi high gain antennas on your AP will improve things also [which will crank the BW /fps up]

 

z

[metafizx 0]

For Correct operation you would do a survey [like wispy] and then put the cams on non overlapping channels away from the noise -just like any other wifi setup

 

I do many of these WIFI setups to 60 at a time -4 per floor etc.

 

Looking at your setup you would see the signal strength is down and the carrier to noise is high which would suggest a problem.

Putting diverse semi high gain antennas on your AP will improve things also [which will crank the BW /fps up]

 

z

 

What's weird is my test case has the cameras within about 15 feet of the AP. If there was interference causing it, then all the cameras would choke.

 

But what happens is one of the 3 cameras will just stop working and won't respond. Once I power cycle the camera, it works fine for day(s).

 

And let's say there was intermittent inteference, the camera should still attempt to keep responding, and not lockup, right ?

 

When the cameras are up, the frame rates are high and the RF environment is pretty clean (I do have WiSpy 2.x).

 

I've tried all kinds of routers, AP's and antennas, this problem just won't go away !! ARGH!

[metafizx 0]

 

Who are you talking to on there support team? Try resetting the camera to factory default: System Options -> Maintenace

 

And setting it up again. I haven't had any problems with any of there product except for the one I dropped and they replaced it no questions asked.

 

Right now I am corresponding with "Marge". The thing that annoys me, is I have opened this case atleast 4 times now, and each time they tell me the same lame things, and then close the case.

 

"Marge" claimed she escalated it, but so far no evidence of that.

 

I originally purchased 3 of the 207w's for my customer, and after a long period of wrestling with this problem, I bought 2 more for testing.

 

Awhile ago, I did find some interference (using WiSpy) that was slowing the frame rates down, and have eliminated that problem, but have never been able to pinpoint the lockup issue. Even with the interference, the lockup should not happen IMHO.

 

Crazy that I am having this problem, seems like others would be having the same issue, but getting no reports of such (search engine pulled up 1 account of a 207w lockup but it was kinda old).

 

Another thing was that two of the test cameras had 4.40 firmware, and I did upgrade that to 4.40.1, so it is the latest. I am waiting for them to lockup again before I proceed.

 

I just wonder if it is a spike coming though the power supply ?

[metafizx 0]

ok, I am making progress with my test case.

 

posting all to Axis, hoping they can figure out what is going wrong.

 

But this is what I found out so far, for those who are interested:

 

I looked more carefully at the server report and this is what I see..

Initially the camera works for a few days, but then it gets into a WLAN connection problem. The correct ip address is 192.168.1.122, but for some reason the camera keeps trying to set the address to 169.254.34.50.

 

My SSID is "oceanbreeze" there are NO other SSIDs with that name. The encryption is WEP, not WPA. But reading the log it seems like the camera is very confused as to what AP it is connecting to, keeps losing the "real" connection and setting up a bogus connection, and it fails over and over. resulting in very low frame rates and intermittent loss of connection to the camera.

 

This is the problem, but it gets worse, and actually stops. Rebooting will bring it back to normal operation, as the other two 207w's are operating fine in this test.

 

the series of events in the Log are:

----------------------------------------

-Session timed out due to client inactivity

-Restart WLAN

-Deleted IP address "fe80::240:8cff:fe7a:9818" for eth1

-Deleted IP address "169.254.34.50" for eth1

-Deleted IP address "192.168.1.122" for eth1

-New IP address for eth1 is "fe80::240:8cff:fe7a:9818"

-failed to get eth1 IPv4 address

-sntp.c, line 148, getaddrinfo Name or service not known

-WLAN restarted

-WPA connection send failed: Connection refused

-lost WLAN link

-link changed, Cell/AP: 00:1A:70:AC:19:D4, Speed: 48000000, WPA: OK

-Deleted IP address "fe80::240:8cff:fe7a:9818" for eth1.

-New IP address for eth1 is "192.168.1.122"

[zmxtech 0]

169.254.34.50 is a made up IP

XP will give that range out if it cant find a DHCP or static address, so it sounds like your getting close !