Ubiquity AirCAM Hardware/Software Problems

[CorvairShaggy 0]

Hello. I got a call today and went to check out a new customer's system. I mostly support/install analog systems, and a few Geovisions. The person said that they had a guy that supposedly installs camera systems put in a AirCam system for him. The original installer after getting everything installed walked off the job. The customer has had 2 other people come out and look at the system, and have had no luck, so I decided to take a stab at it.

 

First thing I found was the AirCam software (NVR and Viewer) were corrupted, on a new Dell i5 system. I restored the system to factory, and loaded the 1.1.3 software from the website. I was able to get the NVR back up and going, but the cameras say unmanaged. There are 6 Wired IP cameras connected to the system, but the NVR software will keep dropping/adding cameras. If I try to log directly into the camera, it will timeout. If I tell it to manage and put in the username/password, it will try to connect for about 30 seconds, then it will say it cannot find camera. The customer said that this was part of his problem. He said that he did see it work originally, but he was not happy with the coverage, then the original installer had a crazy setup going to his TV and the customer was not happy with that, then he said it started dropping/adding cameras and that is when the original installer quit. The customer also said when it did work the Night vision was terrible, but I have yet to see it working so I can't comment either way on that.

 

From what I have read so far, this system does not get stellar reviews. Problem is the customer has invested $2,000 in just the hardware, not including the labor he paid to install plus to have 2 other techs come and look at it. I tried reading around here on the forums and it seems the NVR software is buggy, but I am not a Unix/Linux guy, and the customer is not very computer savvy at all, so I would like to stick to something easy to use. Is this an issue with the AirCAM NVR software or a configuration issue? Would it be best to so with another NVR software like Blue Iris, or is there any other Windows based software that would work for standard motion record/WEbview/I-phone view, etc.?

 

Or, after doing some more reading, should I hand the customer a box of Kleenex, Prep. H to soothe his past problems, and give him a quote for a new system?

 

Thanks for any input!

[vin2install 0]

Well nightvision should be terrible, its not a day/night camera.

[buellwinkle 0]

Ubiquiti, from what I understand uses Zoneminder, an open source project and has their own skin that makes it look better. The hard part will be finding software that works with those camera. You can download BI for a two week trial and see if you can get it to work. Their community forum is cam-it.org. You can also try commercial grade product like Milestone Xprotect, ExaqVision, NUUO, Luxriot and maybe one of those work. Also, check out the forum that Ubiquiti has, I believe their website is ubnt.com and the forum should be on there and ask there to see what other people have used that works well.

[marley1 0]

If you search the UBNt forum you will the software blows. You will also find a guide for Milestone.

 

I would install Milestone and configure and he the cameras stable. If he doesn't like quality start upgrading some cameras as his budget allows

 

Wifi gear from UBNT is great

 

I hear the air cams are not up to speed yet

[lgRich 0]

Hello CorvairShaggy,

 

Sorry for my English.

 

I have 4 AirCam installed outside my home until 18 months now and everything work very well. The temperature range here vary between + 35C to - 30C.

 

My PC is based on Windows XP 3Mo memory and a CPU AMD Phenom II X6 and the cameras run at 4096 Kbit/s and 30 Fps. The CPU usage is around 40%.

 

I never use the UBNT software. I use BlueIris 3 ($50,00) and Milestone XProtect Go 2 (free) simultaneous.

 

I manage my AirCam with the Web Browser and I repeat I never installed nothing from UBNT.

 

So I suggest you:

 

1) Remove all UBNT software.

2) Upgrade the the firware 1.1.3 it’s not stable, the 1.1.5 is very stable.

3) Setup the AirCam with your Web Browser.

4) If everything is stable go with BlueIris 15 days trial version.

 

Last thing:

I have very good result during the day and also during the night with a simply 50 watts halogen spot and the street light.

 

Personally I don’t like greenish picture with IR.

 

I hope this can help-you.

 

lgRich

[jeromephone 6]

I tried the aircam out and found the cameras to be pretty low quality. seemed like a mid range analog camera quality pic.

[lgRich 0]

Original size (1280 X 720 524 Ko) Reduced at 75% to respect the limit.

[buellwinkle 0]

Not bad for a $99 camera.

[brianmc 0]

Here is my 2¢ from my dealings with ubiquiti cameras.

 

Their Airvision software is basically junk, the nvr seemed to work well, but with it needing to be paired to the software its useless. The beta release for their airvision software is more stable than their full release, but it still has many bugs; dropping cameras, not recording motion properly, playback problems to clarify, when playing back video you can not jump forward then back or the video breaks causing the program to basically crash and the only way to fix is to restart it. The list really goes on and on.... quite sad really..

 

For a solution I have tried quite a few, zoneminder, blue cherry, luxriot, and blue iris. Blue Iris by far has been the most stable and most user friendly one i have used. I highly recommend at least downloading the 15 day trial.

 

For the ubiquity cameras, I like others recommend up dating its firmware. It enhances the web interface for the camera and has seemed to increase its stability. The firmware I am currently using is the beta version, but it has done very well for over a month or so now.

[mobbarley 0]

When cameras drop off I find it's always a good idea to pull a couple and test them at the switch with fresh patch leads - you could be dealing with poor cabling.

 

Firmware is also a consideration.