Homebase 2 and Camera setup

#1

I want to make sure I understand how eufy cameras connect to the homebase 2. Based on my research, it looks like you connect homebase 2 via ethernet and to wifi. The ethernet connection is for internet access for the eufy app to work and the wifi is to communicate with the cameras. When you sync the homebase and camera they “find” each other via the wireless connection you setup on the homebase 2. The homebase 2 doesn’t setup a complete separate wireless network correct? Am I understanding the setup correctly?

Assuming I understand everything correctly above. I have a great wireless system already in my house using Unifi with great connectivity even outside, can you permanently disable the wifi repeater on the homebase 2?

My overall plan is to put the homebase 2 on my IOT network via ethernet and my IOT Wifi network to connect to the cameras. The homebase 2 Wifi repeater will be disabled. Basically my eufy camera setup will only use my IOT network without the homebase 2 or anything else adding an additional wifi signal or boosting my IOT wifi signal Anything I am missing? Thanks.

Jeremy

1 Like
#2

No.

The ethernet wired connection is to setup WiFi between the homebase and your WiFi router.

The homebase to cameras do not use your WiFi, they use their own 2.4Ghz WiFi network private. It’s not strictly WiFi but similar.

To improve camera to homebase you can do all of these

  • move the base to nearer the camera. If your WiFi is good then fine, but if you need to move it further then use Ethernet or Powerline (Ethernet over power cables).
  • keep the base away from metal, and seek to keep the cameras away from metal. Metal pointed straight up/down are the worst.
  • seek to minimise the total thickness of walls between base and camera. Concrete and bricks are worse than wood. Water is bad. Air and straight line of site is best.
  • reduce total overall congestion, so the camera has more frequencies to choose from, via moving as much of your devices to 5Ghz possible. Most routers have by default the same SSID for 2.4 and 5 GHz, if so then move 5Ghz to different new SSID (say by adding a -5 to existing SSID), then every device in the house which can see the 5GHz SSID, forget the 2.4Ghz SSID and connect to the 5Ghz SSID.
  • the camera is usually outside where it can get air line of site of other network, there are only 3 non-overlapping 2.4Ghz frequency ranges so it only takes you and one other router to then fill the spectrum, so if there’s a 2nd neighborhood router also in site then you’ll have issues.
  • WiFi repeaters and extenders usually make the issues worse, they are just cause more interference gobbling up even more spectrum, use only what I said above. If you have to then disable 2.4Ghz on router to free up spectrum for a WiFi repeater.
  • resist the temptations to increase signal strength on router, it just causes an arms race in the neighbourhood, if everyone moved to 5Ghz we’d all see the benefits, 5Ghz is absorbed more by walls so it doesn’t leak outside your home as bad as 2.4Ghz.
#3

Gotcha, well then the eufy setup won’t work for me. I have nice coverage with my current wifi setup, will probably go with Arlo even though I don’t want to pay for the subscription. I want something that integrates with my existing wifi

#4

That’s fair.

Just be aware spectrum is spectrum no matter which device is using it. If you integrated with your existing WiFi you’d be pretty much causing the same or worse use of spectrum than the homebase method. The radio signals are pretty much the same, and if you didn’t do the tricks above then your issues will be worse.

There are still only so many WiFi channels and if you don’t do the tricks (base nearer camera, Powerline etc) then the camera has to boost its output to match so drain battery faster.

The adding of cameras using WiFi will worsen the performance of everything else existing so your good WiFi will worsen.

Radio signals drop to the square of distance, so double the distance need four times the battery drain. So if you did Arlo then you’d still want to do all tricks anyway.

So you’d still want to move as much as possible to 5Ghz as that interferes less with cameras, you’d still want ideally to talk to the camera as near as possible to reduce battery drain.