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  • 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 :)

Wifi unreliable ?

Rui Guerra

Rui Guerra

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Hi all,

I'm shooting with a Weapon 6K Mg and I need to use Foolcontrol a lot in productions so the DP can control camera settings.

The problem that I've run into more then once, is that sometimes wifi doesn't connect to the network, in spite of been able to see it.

I'm using the infrastructure mode (not ad-hoc)
As an example, yesterday, once I arrived on set, I set up everything,and it worked fine at first attempt for the first three hours (although I needed to reboot the camera once or twice, but after power up, connection was established again). After a battery change (which of course has noting to do with wifi) I never was able to set up wifi connectivity again for the rest of the day!
I've rebooted several times, introduced again the network password, redo all concoctions, reboot router and computer, but no luck! The camera detects the network but the it stays forever saying "connecting to network-name..." but never did.

Anyone else with similar wifi reliability issues? What can be done?

Thanks,
 
Try putting your phone / tablet in airplane mode.... it helps connect. you must leave it in airplane mode while your using the app.

The other option is to buy a wifi repeater / booster to help the cameras wifi. There is a great one often recommended by Mikal by TP link.
 
Not using phone nor table. I use a Mac computer.
And indeed I am already using a TP-Link router to create the network to which both computer and camera (in infrastructure mode) will connect.

As for as using a DIY exterior athena, not viable because I'm using a housing, so the sidekick must stay where it is.

Regarding to spend an adicional $500 or more to extend the range, no need for that because with my solution it is already working at the distance I need. Just to clarify, the issue is not about distance range or increasing it, but instead about been able (or not) to connect to the wifi network that the camera detects. This unreliability happens even with the computer sitting right next the camera.

If the solution of the DIY is so simple and inexpensive why doesn't RED improve the camera's Wifi? Wooden Camera also have found a way to substantially increase the range, so I'm sure it will not be difficult nor expensive to RED to solve this.

But again, my problem is not about distance in itself.
 
Hi Rui,

Can you advise if there are any connections showing on the following screen:

SETTINGS -> MAINTENANCE -> SYSTEM SETTINGS -> RCP Connections

If there is a 'Stuck' / 'Stale' connection that is not removed until you Reboot the camera,
you are likely experiencing a bug in the camera.

AJ
 
Antony Newman said:
Hi Rui,

Can you advise if there are any connections showing on the following screen:

SETTINGS -> MAINTENANCE -> SYSTEM SETTINGS -> RCP Connections

If there is a 'Stuck' / 'Stale' connection that is not removed until you Reboot the camera,
you are likely experiencing a bug in the camera.

AJ
Click to expand...

I think that Weapon (with firmware 6.3.102) doesn't have a System Settings menu. I just found a System Status, but no RCP Connections menu inside it...
 
Rui,

I am on the Beta firmware - this functionality may be not yet be out in the 'Release' version.

If you are experiencing issues I would recommend share this with your RED BS rep.

I believe the more people that help provide feedback to Red on this issue, the more likely their resources will be prioritised to fixing the issue.

AJ
 
After many tests and several firmware versions (6.3.98; 6.3.102 and BETA 6.4.23) my only conclusion is that wifi is a bit inconsistence.

No matter the firmware version, it can work very well changing between the two modes (Ad-Hoc, Infrastructure) with only a couple seconds delay changing mode. But it can also "freeze" and in this case, no matter the mode chosen it will not wake up (disabling it in the menu don't do anything either in this non responsive "freezing" status). The only solution is to reboot the camera. Not a very good option when one is in the middle of a production shooting, with the DOP and Director waiting...

I also found that if the available network is not very strong, the screen says "Connecting to..." but nothing happens.

All this make me wonder if wifi is a good option to control the camera via Foolcontrol or if one should look at a wired connection through control port. What bothers me with this option is, as far as I understood, I would need to have a PC to configure it every time I need to establish the connection...not easy for me because I only use Mac...).

Maybe other Redusers or Mikael can comment on this?
 
Just a kick update: After some more dry tests and wifi signal measurements, I think I found a good "antenna" placement for my wifi extender. So far it works very well with it laying right on top of the camera brain (above and very close to the camera's wifi antenna). Worked very well in both Ad-Hoc and Infrastructure modes.

Some more field/on set (underwater) tests needed to be done...
 
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