Wireless security cameras are commonly used closed-circuit cameras which are used for security and purposes. There are mainly two types of the wireless security camera.
They are cameras that have a wire connected to them, and there are cameras that have no wire connection at all. So, do wireless security cameras slow down the internet?
The cameras that have no battery connected to them are run by rechargeable batteries. Both of these wireless security cameras use the local Wi-Fi connection to keep connected with their receiver and transmit video and audio signals. Thus, the bandwidth of the Wi-Fi is used in this process.
Suppose you are looking for the answer to the question that is your wireless security camera is slowing down your Wi-Fi. In that case, the simple straight answer is Yes, your wireless security camera might be slowing down your Wi-Fi! But it’s not all that simple.
Generally, your wireless security camera is using a portion of bandwidth from your Wi-Fi connection. Now is the amount of bandwidth used by the security camera affecting your Wi-Fi speed?
This is the question you want to be answered. It can be difficult to figure out exactly how much bandwidth your wireless camera uses just by yourself. But don’t worry as we will be discussing this very topic today. So, stick with us and finish the whole article.
Wired vs. Wireless Security Cameras
Going to the market, you will find both wired and wireless cameras being sold in hundreds of units. But if you look into the statistics, you will see that wireless camera is outselling wired cameras most of the time.
Here the wireless camera indicates that the video footage and audio signal which is being recorded by the camera is being sent to the receiver device over Wi-Fi or another signal. Here, the wireless device might or might not have a cable attached to it for getting power from a power source.
Now, why are customers more prone to buying a wireless security camera rather than a wired security camera? Because the wireless cameras come with many updated perks.
The world is moving forward to a wireless era, and more companies are adopting wireless technology in their products.
As a result, closed-circuit television camera manufacturers are currently doing more research and development on wireless cameras, making them more developed and less expensive day by day.
Why Use Wireless Security Cameras?
There are so many reasons why wireless security camera is helpful. It’s a very useful device and requires almost no maintenance. Here are some of the useful ways you can use wireless security cameras:
- can help you monitor places when you are not available there
- They can be used for monitoring outside territories while staying inside the house.
- Police and law enforcement agencies can use them to identify crimes such as theft. It greatly helps to prevent common crimes.
- The footage recorded with a wireless camera in a crime scene can be used as evidence against that crime.
- Some intelligent wireless security cameras equipped with image recognition and processing can identify criminals in the middle of committing a crime. This way, the criminal can be stopped before committing the crime.
- Wireless cameras can be very small and modular. They can be put in remote places where it is hard to keep looking out for.
- Government and police forces can use wireless security cameras in public areas such as open parks, alleys, footpaths etc. This way, the public will feel safe to be in these public areas.
- Wireless security cameras can be used by parents to monitor their young children left at home with a nanny or an elderly.
Advantages Of Wireless Security Cameras
- Video footage and audio clips can be sent wirelessly.
- Can be used in remote places.
- Price is cheaper than other available options.
- Wireless cameras can be accessed using mobile devices.
- Alerts can be integrated with the cameras.
- Footages can be securely saved on a hard drive.
- Many wireless cameras support batteries, so no external power source is needed.
- Different types of receiver devices can be used to view live video footage.
Disadvantages of Wireless Security Cameras
- Wireless security cameras can only be used in a small range.
- Battery needs to be recharged regularly.
- The cameras and the receiver device need to be aligned properly for the perfect connection. Otherwise, video footage might be blurry.
- The small range signal used by the wireless cameras can get disrupted by other strong signals.
How Wireless Do Cameras Affect Your Internet?
To really understand how your wireless security camera is dependent on your Wi-Fi or internet network, you first have to understand the bandwidth of your wireless camera and what it means.
A wireless camera does make your internet slow a little bit, but it doesn’t make any major impact on the overall performance of your Wi-Fi internet.
The impact of wireless security cameras on your internet is very negligible, and you absolutely should not worry about it at all.
Though wireless cameras have to constantly upload the video footage, they are recording, and they use a very small amount of the internet bandwidth that is available in your Wi-Fi or internet service.
There are some factors that are accounted for having an effect on these parameters. We will discuss these factors, which are directly connected with the camera bandwidth down below.
Wireless Security Camera’s Bandwidth Consumption Factors
- The resolution of the camera is a major factor that might affect the bandwidth of your internet network. It is very obvious that if your camera features a higher resolution for video recording, then it will need more bandwidth to transmit that high-res video. For example, a 2 megapixels camera will take less bandwidth than an 8 megapixels camera.
- Just like the resolution of a camera, the FPS (frames per second) of a camera also affects the bandwidth. A higher frame per second will cost more bandwidth, whereas a lower frame per second will consume less bandwidth comparatively.
- The number of security cameras used heavily influences the bandwidth of the Wi-Fi network that they are connected to. Suppose more cameras are connected to one Wi-Fi network. In that case, it might significantly lower the speed of the internet connection as several cameras will try to transmit videos in a parallel format.
- The compression codecs used in a security camera may affect the speed of your internet. If a security camera has a good video compression system, then it will be able to compress and lower the size of the video. Then it will take less bandwidth to send that particular video. More bandwidth will be consumed if the size of the video is bigger.
- Strategies should be maintained while installing security cameras. Different cameras should be connected through different networks so that no particular internet network has to run all the cameras and become slow in the process.
Wireless Security Cameras Required Speed
Wireless security cameras are widespread on the internet. Wireless security cameras do require an uplink speed for access of at least 2mbps.
Wireless routers that generally don’t support this kind of speed can cause your IP camera’s video stream to be choppy and unusable.
Tips To Reduce Data Usage
Reduce and monitor data usage for wireless security cameras by:
- Make sure data monitoring is enabled on the camera and data plan. The data plan should be set at a level that will not go over data allowances. Usually, this means reducing quality or avoiding the use of other high-bandwidth activities such as video streaming apps. If possible, data monitoring should be off, but data plan limits checked regularly.
- Setting data usage alerts on a smartphone or data monitor is a good idea to ensure the data is being used as expected and alert users to any data overages.
For specific data usage questions about wireless security cameras, contact the manufacturer of the device. In some cases, data usage will be negligible, especially if data monitoring is enabled and data plans are adjusted accordingly.
Frequently Asked Question :
1.Do Security Cameras Make You Safer?
Ans: A home security camera is one of the most popular and low-cost ways to make a home safer. A wireless camera gives you peace of mind by allowing you to monitor your home from any computer or smartphone, inside or outside your house.
2.Do Wireless Security Cameras Use a Lot Of Data?
Ans: Yes, wireless security cameras use a lot of data relative to other types of Internet-connected home devices because they need to be connected to the cloud in order to stream and record video.
3.Do Wireless Cameras Affect WiFi?
Ans: Many wireless cameras are built to send video back without a wire, but that can cause some problems with your wireless connection. How much they affect WiFi depends on the camera and how far it is away from your router.
Conclusion
So, we can come to the conclusion that even though wireless security cameras use some portion of your internet network, it doesn’t necessarily make the network slow.
If you are aware of the bandwidth of the cameras and use them strategically, you can easily avoid any effect that wireless security cameras may have put on your network. I hope now you know do wireless security cameras slow down the internet or not.
