News

U.S. homeowners are proceeding like a juggernaut into the Wi-Fi/apps/Internet world, and adding DIY devices to their networks at an accelerating pace. According to surveys conducted by Parks Associates customers, the percentage of current alarm system owners with either smart cameras or video doorbells is over 30%, with most of those devices having been installed by the homeowner.

As the number and bandwidth requirements of the expanding world of Internet connected devices contine to increase, the inevitable clashes of Wi-Fi connectivity are resulting in increasing perceived problems for end users, such as “Network seems slow” or stoppages of Wi-Fi connectivity. When connecting to the clients’ existing Wi-Fi, the clashes between the electronic security devices that communicate with Wi-Fi and the end-users’ streaming video, games, etc. will grow in number.

Everybody loves technology; few know how it all works. Take the example of a person streaming a video show to their smart phone as they couch surf, and the video locks up. The connection to the video stream goes as follows: the “smart” phone (that might be four years old and doesn’t do the latest larger bandwidth Wi-Fi protocols} uses “Wi-Fi” to get to the router and Internet (again, the Wi-Fi router may well be older than the phone and limited in its Wi-Fi capabilities). The Internet connection may or may not be error-free at the time the video signal locks up, and there could well be problems with the web site that’s providing the video feed. So, there are many potential reasons for temporary or permanent Internet signal failures, and it takes a knowledgeable and patient person to properly pinpoint the source of the problem. And by the time the problem has been determined or guessed at, most likely our couch rider’s video has restarted and all is right with the world. Until the next time…

Our industry now has a plethora of Wi-Fi enabled products available for installation, with many of them being indoor and outdoor video cameras. Based on the particular devices being used, IP cameras may transmit a constant stream of video, or only ship video clips of recorded motion events. In many cases dealers are installing cameras to be connected to the clients’ existing Wi-Fi access point/router.

This type of installation most likely sets up the dealer for unwanted and unnecessary service calls. The client perceives that their network isn’t working as it should; the security company put in the cameras last month, and therefore the camera feeds are causing the network problems. While this is a logical fallacy, many customers will by default blame their alarm company for their network problems.

Telephone calls will be made, and a truck roll may well occur to get a technician onsite. According to Parks Associates, the average cost of a truck roll these days is well over $350. Once onsite the technician may find an antique Wi-Fi 802.11n router, which simply cannot provide the bandwidth for multiple data streaming simultaneously as happens in many homes. Dad’s watching TV, Mom’s looking at the Internet, and the daughter is playing a Netflix movie.

When told by the technician that the customer’s Wi-Fi needs an upgrade, there may be resistance from the customer. “Everything worked fine until you put in those cameras.” So, it’s the security company’s fault, and the client may press for a free or discounted upgrade to a newer, better Wi-Fi router.

If the client purchases the upgraded Wi-Fi device from the security dealer, the troubles for the installing company may just be starting. If a tech replaces a Wi-Fi router, his or her company now “owns” the end

users whole network. Any temporary or permanent failure of a network device is now the fault of the company that supplied the Wi-Fi equipment.

The ubiquity of Wi-Fi in our clients’ homes and buildings is an obvious and attractive pathway for the communications of IP cameras, door locks, and the like. However, sales personnel and technicians should be made knowledgeable about how Wi-Fi works, how to test for bandwidth and potential “dead” areas, and what may be needed to upgrade clients’ equipment.

But the best answer is for security systems sales people to use simple apps on their phones to quickly determine the quality and available bandwidth of a client’s Wi Fi, and logging the vendor and part number(s) of the existing Wi Fi router/access point to enable the verification of the Wi Fi capabilities of the device.

Next month we’ll look as some apps and other methods of mitigating problem Wi Fi networks, while investigating whether it makes more sense, if multiple cameras are involved, for the security company to install their own separate parallel Wi Fi just for the security devices.