Welcome to our community

Be a part of something great, join today!

Log in
  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Epic-W Wifi Dropping out

Peter,

I get this issue at least once an hour.

My understanding at the present is that:

+) Within the Firmware there is the ability to determine that 'something is not working' with the Wifi that it creates.
+) The Firmware only calls this Wifi-Healthcheck code when you are in the Comms menu.


My View is that:

+) RED could create a work around until this problem (with could be Hardware or Software) is resolved.
+) The workaround could add a 'Healthcheck Wifi' every 5 seconds - and then reset the Wifi when the Glitch occurs.
+) It would be useful to know from RED if they believe this to be Hardware or Software.

AJ
 
I've started a ticket with red, will let you know what I find out there.

I've also tried more and now the issue is more severe, after a few dropouts the camera won't reconnect to the wifi-network but the wifi-indicator is still green, it's also impossible to change wifi-settings, well I can change it but nothing happens, and when I try to restart the camera or save a log the camera gets stuck.
 
Petter Brandt said:
I've started a ticket with red, will let you know what I find out there.

I've also tried more and now the issue is more severe, after a few dropouts the camera won't reconnect to the wifi-network but the wifi-indicator is still green, it's also impossible to change wifi-settings, well I can change it but nothing happens, and when I try to restart the camera or save a log the camera gets stuck.
Click to expand...

This is the issue I'm having and while RED didn't find an issue the first time they concede there must be a problem somewhere. I have sent the camera back again today.

Antony Newman said:
Ross,

If you are having wifi dropouts on a Camera created (Adhoc) network there are TWO scenarios that can help zero in on the route cause:

1) The cameras transmission of its own networks fails (as can be seen in other people's videos when the wifi symbol in camera briefly turns Yellow during the 'glitch'), or
2) The external device / local intererance is causing a problem.

If you are also getting (1) - I would ask the following questions :
1a) Is there any camera log that shows that the camera self created Wifi failed.
1b) if 1a includes a log : Does the log indicate why the failure occurred?
1c) if 1b does not have the necessary information : are there diagnostics that be enabled in the next beta build that can be enabled in order that this issue can be tracked down?

AJ
Click to expand...

Thanks Antony, however this sounds like a different issue to mine, the wifi is green all the time, even when it's impossible to connect.

I've tested the same iPhone/iPad with multiple dsmc2 bodies in the exact shooting environment and despite the odd expected drop out they never hang on restart.

Same as Petter, I can't send a log as the camera hangs when I try to save it. This only happens when the wifi stops working. I've sent video of me replicating the issue to RED. The camera works fine in every other way.
 
Just wondering, if you're connecting using an iPhone or iPad, have you guys tried using Airplane Mode, and then enabling Wi-Fi?

I was also having random dropout issues with my Epic-W with the latest firmware. But then I used Airplane mode and the connection was super stable, up to about 30 feet.
 
I have started trying to use a wifi 'sniffer' to try and trace what is going wrong in the camera.

In my last test

+) Mac Pro : (running a 'sniffer') Listens to all Wifi traffic on the wifi channel : Distance : 2 ft from Camera

+) iPad : Connected to Camera wirelessly - sending 'discovery' messages (very small messages at the camera then broadcasts a response) : Distance 1 ft from Camera

+) iPhone : Connected to camera : Running Reds demo App : Distance : 1 foot.

What goes wrong?

+) At some point the camera has some sort of glitch (Software or Hardware?)
+) The sniffer can see the wifi traffic the IPhone and iPad are sending the Camera
+) The camera no longer sends any wifi data out

What happens when I go into the Comms Red menu

+) The Red firmware realises that its Adhoc Wifi has had a glitch and resets itself.
+) 1-2 seconds later, the iPhone & iPad receive messages from the camera and are able to connect to it
+) At exactly the same time, the sniffer also sees Wifi traffic emanating from the Camera.

Conclusion

+) When the glitch happens : The low level signals that keep the wifi channel alive stay up (is the wifi network is visible to any device wanting to connect to it).
+) The camera brain no longer transmits data packets out over its self created Adhoc wifi.
+) Something must be going wrong either at Hardware level in the camera - Or there is some sort of Software error within the camera firmware.
+) In order for the firmware to 'realise' a Fault when in the Comms menu -> there must be at some level, diagnostic information available to Red (that might need adding to the save log) that could help pinpoint this problem.

AJ
 
Last edited:
Here is a update in my investigation to the Weapon adhoc Wifi dropping out every hour.

+) I have started use a more robust Wifi Packet Sniffer called 'Packet Peeper'

+) What I can now see is : When the camera has a Glitch - it STOPS sending out (responding) at a low level to new
clients that wish to join its adhoc (ie camera created) wifi Network.

+) When the camera is in this wifi-Glitch-state - the green 'WIFI' symbol still shows on the Camera monitor.

+) Using 'promiscuous packet inspection' - for any device (iPhone, Ipad, MacPro) that was Previously connected to the wifi network the Camera 802.11G wifi channel - I can see the requests they send to the camera. Unfortunately, the camera does not respond.

+) When the camera is in this wifi-Glitch-state - Wifi devices are able to 'see' the Wifi Network, but get an iOS or MacOS error "Unable to join the network : WEAPON_NNN-NNN-AAN" (serial number replaced)

AJ
 
Update:

+) 1 x Recurrence of Wifi drop out on Beta 6.4.21 about 3 minutes after Bootup.

I have shared logs with RED.

Prior to this Beta, the Wifi was locking up every 5-20 mins. This is the first lockup in 1 week.
Which is a huge step forward in terms of usability.

AJ
 
I did send my Scarlet-W to Red UK, they had it for a month, no word from them about finding or fixing anything but then I got it back a few days ago starting to test it now and it seems like the problem is still there but in a kind of different way.
Now the wifi-symbol stays green and I have to go into settings, change channel and then I'm able to reconnect to the camera. Haven't tried in infrastructure mode yet though but this is seriously anoying.
 
Peter,

With RED actively working on this issue, we need to share logs with each Dropout issues - as each occurrence may be caused at a different place in their code base (ie brian Firmware).

+) Before the Beta, I was hit by the Wifi-Lockout (if Cam not longer responding) after 5-60 mins of use.

+) In Beta 6.4.21, many of lockouts I have reported have been fixed. Now I am getting lockouts about 0-2 times a day (which is an incredible improvement!)

AJ
 
Well one of my problems is that often after the wifi locks up so do also a few key features such as the ability to save logs and restarting the camera without force..
Tried the new beta and got lockouts kind of immediately, so I switched back to the latest "stable" firmware since I'm not really into being a beta tester with tools bought for use in production..
I've rented a lot of other dsmc2-brains and never had this much issues with the wifi so I can't really accept that it is something that should be fixed by firmware updates, or am I wrong?
 
My Epic-W's wifi in adhock mode shows up on my iPhone and Macbook but when I try to connect to it I get a message "Unable to connect to Network"
Running the latest firmware no different. Tried with and without security key with no luck and tried all the different wifi channels. Also cant connect via a router with infrastructure mode.
Is it time to send a support ticket.
Question: Wifi is a well understood and relatively easy to implement protocol. Why are so many of us having problems with our cameras wifi? ?????
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top