[eufy cam] The big "Range Extenders we need!" Survey ;-)

I know I have built such antennas for DAB+.
I will take a photo later.
This is a “high class design” antenna.
“single piece”

There are instructions to be found for others who dont know the matter.

To be fair, an antennae in the context of a homebase would involve finding the frequency, nullifying warranty, cracking open the homebase, finding where the Antenna is solder, desoldering, using a shielded (coax), solder it in place, then place an external antennae pointed at the camera.

If you’re not willing to do that, a non-invalidate-warranty would be to use a parabolic dish and simply focus the existing beam from omnidirectional.

The wavelength is still needed to be known, the FCC listing implies a 900Mhz signal?

image

Depending on what is the problem, could be intereference. So metallic paint between the source of intereference (but again, you’d need at least a wavelength’s diameter to block most). Faraday cage.

FCC:

image

FCC also shows 902 - 928 MHz

So optimal Homebase 2 non-Wifi to camera antenna would be 0.16cm, it looks a little too short to me?

of course you need the frequency :
DAB+ BR 4 Klassic in München is simple .

Bildschirmfoto

Monopole or dipole?

Monopole (simplest) antenna length:

299792458 metres per second / 222064000 Hz / 2 = 0.67 meters unshielded preferably outside at height, and shielded coax from it to your radio.

I built a special one.
Photo tomorrow.
The length you said is correct (as usual) :+1:

Coax. claro!

1 Like

@professor I think you have the wrong mentality when it comes to a Kickstarter product, we could only go by their false promises

I also think 1 to 1 they will fob you off where as publicly people can unify & apply more pressure on a company

As for doing something about it I did & it make a big difference

Ps it’s 2.4ghz WiFi for cameras, roughly 900mhz to wake cameras for live view & for sensors
I personally only bothered with the 2.4ghz & not had any issues

1 Like

How so? I never buy anything from kickstarter. As by definition you’re buying promises. Who does that in technology? Logic: why can’t you make it yesterday? What have you not thought of? If you can make it today then it’s trivial, if you can only make it in the future then it contains risk. Worse is to buy risk and spend $$$ on it.

So then that’s buyer beware. How is that then any other fault than the buyer? The seller has a mind’s eye vision but if you believe it, then it’s not their fault, they don’t know if they can make something, if they did know its because they already done it… so not Kickstarter.

In Anker’s case, they got enough cash to make a prototype, alpha test, beta test, launch. Why do they use Kickstarter…? Because there’s a real risk they can’t actually make it.

Issue with a 900Mhz extender is you have to make a 900Mhz receiver (from the camera) a power source and a 900Mhz transmitter. You then caused your own interference as you doubled your use of the 900Mhz spectrum, so then you make all other 900Mhz devices in the vicinity have a worse experience. So you must then add the logic of channel scanning to find least-interference. They probably picked 900Mhz as its able to travel further than 2.5Ghz.

That extender then takes engineering resources from something else, potentially something with a bigger market and, by definition on Kickstarter you don’t have the cash, means the next product competes with past products. A good logical reason to never believe any future product, because the future is uncertain including they thought of a better idea which makes more money and is looking more popular.

So you wish they hadn’t released the cameras & that many companies never have a chance to go past prototype stage?

We should all wait for the biggest companies to become bigger, release items for no one to buy until a few have managed to get them for free then tried & tested for several months?

Also as said above, there’s no need to extend the 900mhz just the 2.4ghz

Ps
Camera

Homebase

True words @Haloweenhamster !

@professor eufy cam is great and most (kickstarter) promises (not all for sure) are kept after 1,5 years now.
So your argument does not apply, because all (most) we knew and got told on kickstarter, is available and existant. But noone could know or even guess that the range of the eufy cams/homebase is so much horrible in a midtown city environment - again: i got maximum of 12-13 meters with just one wall in between!

So that is the reason why we have this thread and survey … by the way … here is the current status of the survey:

75% (!) is a stunner!

And yes, its a shame that a company like anker / eufy isn’t able to develop such a simple and easy thing like a little box which is just forwarding signals … yes … a very simple RANGE EXTENDER! (we ask for, for nearly 2 years now)

They tried it … they failed … they stoped developing it. That’s very sad.

You are correct, I was not. I edit below.

If you want to improve the radio signal between two points:

  • block interference on same frequency from other paths. This is challenging as 2.4Ghz is a popular frequency.
  • focus the radio signal between two points. This is easy. The wavelength of this 2400Mhz is 6cm, so you’d want to make a shielding around both ends (homebase, camera) with a parabolic shape and a hole in line-of-sight 6cm in side. So make a dish shape about that 12cm, in a rough parabolic shape pointed between both ends. If the camera is in an awkward place and you cannot use the parabolic focus idea then at least shield it as much as possible from other sides noting the radio needs a hole at least 6cm diameter to get to the antenna.
  • Does the Homebase original have Ethernet to the router? I know the Homebase 2 does. If so then simply move the Homebase to be nearer to the camera with the worst signal. Then use Ethernet, or Powerline (Ethernet over home electrical wiring) between router and Homebase. Radio signals are to inverse square so double of signal strength comes from only a little nearer.

image

Those are two or three useful ideas. Try them.

I’ve told you what the 900mhz is for, if you don’t want to listen that’s up to you
I’ll just leave this here (camera PCB)

Ps I’m the only one to have over 5x the range of the original system in the same environment by doing the mods above

Tbh I’m disappointed that a lv15 would criticise people for backing the company’s Kickstarter campaign & spread false facts about their products on their forum

1 Like

OK as you challenged me, I scrolled up and reviewed.

So I was wrong on the 900Mhz being to camera, but it still does represent a source of interference.

So the frequency is 2.4Ghz. I see (yours predominantly) images on antennae, soldering, which is exactly what I was suggesting later down.

So we agree the workarounds are:

  • antennae (nullifying warranty)
  • shielding

?

Any other errors on my part?

I won’t retract the view that Kickstarter funding contains risk. Any business which is as big as Anker can find funding what it has confidence in. Kickstarter is a way to bypass business plans and pushes risk onto consumers. I remain of the view you buy today what you see today and its buyer’s risk to do anything else. If that is an error then explain that, and if I learn from you, that is the nature of forums and you educated me.

Exactly! That hits the nail on the head! :+1:

1 Like

Thats the antenna I created!

Not for these cameras, its for DAB+

1 Like

I don’t think that (“real risk they can’t actually make it”) is why Anker did a Kickstarter. A lot of successful companies do Kickstarter because it helps them gauge market demand and pricing points. Of course, it is also a great sales & marketing tool. I think this is why Anker did a Kickstarter. Anker also did a Kickstarter for at least 2 of the Nebula projectors. I wouldn’t be surprised if Anker did more Kickstarters, even on power banks. Heck, they probably should have done one for the solar power bank.

Anyway, I did not read through this whole thread. I don’t care that much other than the fact that this Kickstarter led to Anker making eufyCam which in turn allowed them to make eufyCam 2 and 2C. I own both 2 & 2C, and I love them.

1 Like

I dont have these devices talked about,. (cams).
I was answering @professor.
I dont know if you followed “the whole story” from the beginning.
Please do so , you will get much more insights. :grinning:

1 Like

Looks really good. It is a dipole?

Why is not on a slightly taller stand? Ground absorbs.

Design! its wood!

Oh it’s wood. Impressed.

Enjoy your newly improved DAB reception.

I don’t have only this one. :grinning:
DAB+, WIFI and Bluetooth in the same room.
sometimes it seems to me they dont like each other. :slightly_smiling_face: