Best range base station or wifi extender

[TUKhS5Ays4Ez]

I have a long-distance whole house wifi router, wifi extender for outdoor coverage (which I connect most base stations to), and multiple base stations (VMB5000r6 and VMB4540r3) that came in bundles with Arlo Ultra 2 and Arlo Pro 4 XL cameras for outdoor coverage.  

Which base station has longer range (potentially through trees), VMB5000r6 or VMB4540r3?  What is their ranges in feet?  I am wondering if I am better off connecting to a wifi extender or to what model base station connected to the wifi extender.

I am planning on opening a case to resolve inability to sync a Ultra 2 camera.  I removed it a from a base station connected to my wifi router and have repeated failed (dozens of times) trying to add it a base station connected to the wifi extender.  I also have been unable to add it back.  I also have since renamed the base stations.

[TUKhS5Ays4Ez]

I am also interested in whether the Ultra 2 or Pro 4 have different ranges if they are connected to the same base station.  Is the range mostly related to the camera or the base station?

[jguerdat]

The general ranges should be the same (Arlo doesn't publish specs other than the generic 300 feet which is what any WiFi vendor will say). One thing to know is the 5000 supports both 2.4GHz and 5GHz while the 4540 only supports 2.4GHz. If an Ultra, which also supports both bands, decides to connect to the 5GHz band, range will be reduced just as it is for phones, etc. WHat it likely boils down to is a combination of distance, walls and things on/in them, wireless interference, etc. that you would just have to slog through to get the best connections possible.

[TUKhS5Ays4Ez]

There is definitely a difference based on either the base station or camera with no terrain difference.  I have swapped out cameras on a universal mount and not had any connectivity.  The related base stations are within a foot of each other on the same window sill.

[StephenB]

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@TUKhS5Ays4Ez wrote:

There is definitely a difference based on either the base station or camera with no terrain difference. 

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I don't understand what you are trying to say here.

Arlo bases all create a closed wifi network, so power limits are all regulated (and should be pretty much the same for all bases).  The VMB5000 has 5 ghz, which can make a difference with the Ultra 2s.  But 5 ghz has shorter range than 2.4 ghz, so it's usually not a plus.

Different camera models do perform somewhat differently - one reason is that 2K and 4K require more bandwidth than 720p or 1080p.

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@TUKhS5Ays4Ez wrote:

 The related base stations are within a foot of each other on the same window sill.

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Again, not sure what you are saying.  Do you mean that a camera will connect to one base but not the other?

FWIW, the bases could be too close to each other (creating wifi interference).  General advice is to put more distance between bases and also bases and the router.

How far are your cameras from the base?

[TUKhS5Ays4Ez]

I am on acreage, and have some cameras 200+ feet away and possibly 300+ feet away from base stations.

[StephenB]

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@TUKhS5Ays4Ez wrote:

I am on acreage, and have some cameras 200+ feet away and possibly 300+ feet away from base stations.

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And they all work reliably for you?

Are there any nearby neighbors who would be running their own routers?

[TUKhS5Ays4Ez]

When you use the app, it's hit or miss that the play button will immediately work for those > 250 ft away.  I've been alerted to trespassers by the cameras, and received a number of false alerts from spanish moss or its shadows moving on cameras 200-250 ft away before activity zone management.  One camera really far away drains its battery to zero despite having a solar charger, but still sends an alert here and there. 

[StephenB]

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@TUKhS5Ays4Ez wrote:

When you use the app, it's hit or miss that the play button will immediately work for those > 250 ft away.  One camera really far away drains its battery to zero despite having a solar charger, but still sends an alert here and there. 

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Sounds like the connection isn't very solid.  If the router is nearby the base stations, you can check that using your phone - just disable mobile data, and run the ookla speedtest app when connected to your home wifi.  The upload speed is more important than the download speed.

Note when the connection drops, the camera starts actively looking to reconnect.  That uses quite a bit a power, and I think explains the issue with the "really far away" camera.  The solar panel can trickle-charge the battery, but isn't providing enough charging to keep up.

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@TUKhS5Ays4Ez wrote:

 received a number of false alerts from spanish moss or its shadows moving on cameras 200-250 ft away before activity zone management.  

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Not directly related.  But hopefully you know that activity zones don't help battery life.  The camera still streams whenever it detects motion (either in or out of zone).  The arlo cloud then analyzes the video, and supresses recordings and notifications if it is out of zone.  So the camera behaves exactly the same way, whether zones are configured or not.

FWIW, moving tree branches (and their shadows) are an issue for some of my cameras during some seasons.  Changing the camera position is often possible for the branches (or moss in your case), but not as easy for the shadows.  You could try using the motion detection test, and see if you can use a lower threshold for those cameras.