Subscriber Discussion

Can Security Cameras Cause An Internet Connection Failure?

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SAMMY GORDON
•Jan 21, 2019

I'm fairly new at inner workings of security video systems. 2 years ago I installed three NEST cameras my home connected to my rather paltry 5Mbps download 1Mbps upload dsl connection thru a dlink 4100 router. My connection required many router reboots so I installed a google wifi system (rebooted itself)

My home network goes completely off line about 10 times a day where the internet connection light go out on the modem.

Now I assume I'm using all the bandwidth on my network but had no idea that this would shut my network down for a period of time.

I have reduced the resolution quite a bit which helps.

Is there a router or other device I can install that caches the data transfer that might ease my congestion failure?

 

thanks

Sam Gordon  

U
Undisclosed #1
•Jan 21, 2019

"I have reduced the resolution quite a bit which helps"

are you saying that a reduction in resolution causes the routing device to fail less often?

what 'period of time' does your network go down for - high and low resolution?

 

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Undisclosed #1
•Jan 22, 2019
In reply to Undisclosed #1

further, to answer your OP question, "Can Security Cameras Cause An Internet Connection Failure?

No - as described.  Maybe your ISP has a kill switch when you exceed the bandwidth allotment of your current plan?  I don't know.

but a camera itself I have never seen knock down an internet connection.

there are DDoS concerns maybe - as in, the camera is broadcasting data to targeted (primarily DNS) servers and the ISP might have flags for this and shut down your internet connection - but I have never seen this happen ITRL.

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SAMMY GORDON
•Jan 22, 2019
In reply to Undisclosed #1

Yes, if I lower the resolution very low the my internet doesn't go down but the video wouldn't be very useful.

 

I know its a strange issue and its been happening for a long time. I've had ISP repair folks there. Repeated the issue with them present and still have not resolved the problem. 

 

thanks

 

 

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SAMMY GORDON
•Jan 22, 2019
In reply to Undisclosed #1

My internet shuts off for 10 minutes almost exactly each time it goes down. The internet light goes off and I get a notification from google wifi that my network went off line. 

 

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Undisclosed #2
•Jan 21, 2019
IPVMU Certified

are you using Nest Aware? do you need it?

if you can do without it, then it only uploads on motion.

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JH
John Honovich
•Jan 22, 2019
IPVM

1Mbps upload dsl connection 

With a 1Mbps upload max and multiple cameras streaming to the cloud, you may have periodic connection issues, as an overloaded link may cause dropped connections or time outs for certain request. 

However, "the internet connection light go out on the modem" may be a sign of a different issue because the light should not typically 'go out' in this case. Have you spoke with your DSL provider to troubleshoot / check?

Is there a router or other device I can install that caches the data transfer that might ease my congestion failure?

Not with Nest cameras but many VSaaS systems have edge appliances (typically called 'gateways') that do this.

Have you checked if there are other options serving your home? Those DSL speeds are bad for 2019 overall standards though you may just be in an area that has limited options.

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Undisclosed #1
•Jan 22, 2019
In reply to John Honovich

"However, "the internet connection light go out on the modem" may be a sign of a different issue because the light should not typically 'go out' in this case. "

this is exactly right

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U
Undisclosed #2
•Jan 22, 2019
IPVMU Certified

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U
Undisclosed #1
•Jan 22, 2019
In reply to Undisclosed #2

that chart appears to show that you are limited to 500Kbps upload speed at 720 resolution - unless you are not in possession of the original Dropcam or Dropcam HD.

This is Fred Flintstone territory. anything limiting connections speeds to sub 500Kbps is junk.

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JH
Jay Hobdy
•Jan 22, 2019
IPVMU Certified

Find someone with a good connection and install some Ubiquiti devices !:)  Seems to be a popular use for their devices.

 

You could always get a local recorder and new cameras but that is going to cost you quite a bit more than you paid for those nest cameras.

 

The other question is what are these cameras for? How important are they? For most of us on this board, loosing recordings even once a day would be unacceptable. If your internet is going down, and the cameras stream to the net, then you are loosing recordings, and may actually miss something important.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Undisclosed Integrator #3
•Jan 22, 2019

How about an IP conflict? I doubt a DIY device would have that issue but if one of the cameras somehow got conflicted it could make a network go crazy. Maybe every time it goes offline is when a camera detects motion the same time something else is transmitting as well?

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U
Undisclosed #1
•Jan 22, 2019
In reply to Undisclosed Integrator #3

"How about an IP conflict?"

While this would certainly cause routing issues - as internal IP conflicts are known to do, I don't know how this could cause the modem to lose its internet connection.

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Undisclosed #1
•Jan 22, 2019
In reply to Undisclosed Integrator #3

even if the router and modem are the same device (which we do not really know, but could be the case), conflicts of internal IP address devices (i.e. 192.168.0.X where X is assigned to more than one internal device) should have no bearing on external IP address connections to the ISP network.

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Undisclosed #2
•Jan 22, 2019
IPVMU Certified

My home network goes completely off line about 10 times a day where the internet connection light go out on the modem.

check the log of the modem, it should have something about the cause of the outage.

if you don’t know how, tell us the make/model of the modem.

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SAMMY GORDON
•Jan 22, 2019
In reply to Undisclosed #2

I currently switched out to a google wifi mesh network. I was running three mesh points, I felt my disconnects grew worse when I did this and have since gone back and removed two mesh devices from the system. 

I contacted the google team out of desperation. In the end google had me reconfigure my home network twice. I went back and took everything in my house off line and reconfigured it piece by piece. It hasn't improved anything.

I suspect an ISP kill switch, that makes sense to me but the ISP tells me that they do not have anything like this in place. (if I take cameras offline my internet will not go down. If I turn all cameras on at the same time and sync my phone or laptop it will go down every time.)

thanks everyone for the thoughts and ideas, living out in a rural area gives me few choices in internet. My options are cell based, sat based which cost out of my internet budget.

 

UM
Undisclosed Manufacturer #4
•Jan 22, 2019

If this were a pro IP camera, I would recommend turning off any UPnP type protocols.  I had a few years ago when I connected a camera, which had UPnP automatically enabled, my modem would reboot.  This was going THROUGH my router.  Every few minutes the modem would reboot.

I disabled UPnP, bonjour, etc.  The camera wasn't using UPnP for remote access, rather for discovery of icons in Windows/Mac network browser.

 

Once disabled on all cameras, no problem.  This was a few years ago, a few modems ago.  I replaced my conventional home router with a Linux-based router distribution and haven't had these problems ever again.

The cameras obviously have had numerous firmware upgrades.  UPnP used to be enabled by default, now it is not....

Just my experience...

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