In Wi-Fi networking, bridge mode allows two or more wireless access points to communicate and join their respective local networks. These APs, by default, connect to an Ethernet LAN. Point-to-multipoint AP models support wireless clients while operating in bridge mode, but others can function only point-to-point and disallow any clients from.

Our 2.4GHz wireless access point radio is a great product to use for long range wireless video transmission, especially in cases where your camera's built-in wireless radio or wireless router are just not strong enough to provide a stable video signal. If you currently have a wireless IP camera and noticed your camera is frequently dropping frames or is getting disconnected, then a wireless access point at either the camera or router, or both, may resolve the issue.

Let's say you don't even have ip cameras, and you would like to send your internet signal from one building on your property to another, then the setup described in this article will help you achieve that task. You will be able to tie in a powerful high gain wireless radio at each end to send a stable and robust WiFi signal. We show in this guide how to setup a Point to Point WiFi connection.

NETGEAR - AC1200 Dual-Band Wi-Fi Access Point. Model: WAC104100NAS. Here is a quick overview of what you should do to extend your home network with a second access point: To extend your home network: Connect two access points to the same network. Make sure that there is only 1 DHCP server. Use the same wireless network name (SSID) for both AP’s. Use the same password and encryption settings for both AP’s.

2.4GHz Wireless Access Point

To broadcast the WiFi signal we need a 2.4GHz Access Point for our wireless security camera setup. For solid performance and reliability, we recommend using one of the following Ubiquiti access points or something similar like a Cisco AP.

2.4GHz Wireless Outdoor Access Point

Item NB24
Strong integrated 11dbi antenna
Weather Proof construction for outdoor applications
Also great for indoor industrial applications where there are obstructions
Up to 1km range (clear line of sight) when used with WiFi cameras with integrated radio

2.4GHz Wireless WiFi Bullet Access Point

Item IPB24
Small Size Wireless AP
Great for indoor applications where space is limited
Up to 600ft Range (clear line of sight) when used with WiFi cameras with integrated radio
Requires wireless antenna

How Wireless Access Points Work

It is important to understand how all this works. We will use two wireless access points to connect to each other to create a point-to-point WiFi connection. Although in our case we are using 2.4GHz models, this setup can be done with 5.8GHz models as well. Each of these units has a WiFi radio and a high gain antenna which makes these units powerful enough for a mile or more of line of sight wireless transmission.

One radio is configured as the Access Point, which sends the WiFi signal that is discoverable as a SSID or available wireless network. The other radio is configured as a Station AP that acts as a receiver station or client on the wireless network. Once the two radios are talking to each other, you have a PTP (Point to Point) wireless link.

Connecting a IP Camera System to Access Points

At the Access Point Side, our setup is geared toward making it possible for the NVR recorder to communicate wirelessly to the cameras located on the Station AP. We connect the Access Point to our router or switch to which the NVR is also connected.

At the Station AP, we can connect one camera directly to the radio, or mutliple cameras to the radio by using a switch in between. We don't recommend using more than 4 cameras per AP, otherwise you will clog your wireless connection with more data than it can handle.

Connecting to multiple cameras using a switch

Directly connecting without a switch

Let's break it down in to layman terms how the signal gets from the camera to the NVR

The camera sends data over a network cable (through a switch if there are multiple cameras attached) to the Station AP
The Station AP transfers that data in to a WiFi signal and beams it to the AP at the NVR location
The AP (Access Point) converts the data received over WiFi in to a wired network signal and sends it to your router
The router then routes the data to your NVR (also supplies internet to the NVR)
The NVR records the IP camera streams it is receiving to a hard drive inside, and makes the cameras accessible for viewing from remote users

Using IP cameras makes it easy to make any type of camera wireless and tie it back to the same recorder where other wired or wireless ip cameras are connected. If you use our Tribrid DVR you can even connect other types of cameras that use coax cabling and use wired IP cameras, wireless IP cameras, analog CCTV cameras, and HDCVI HD over coax cameras.

Once you have your cameras streaming back to your security video recorder, you can even do port forwarding and make your camera or NVR accessible for remote viewing from the outside world.

Let's begin with the setup of configuring one IP Security Camera to wire into the Station and send the signal back to the 2.4GHz Wireless Outdoor Access Point.

Step 1: Determine your computer IP address

1) Open up the command prompt:

Click on the Start button on your windows computer
Type cmd, and press enter

A command prompt like the following will appear. Type ipconfig in the windows command prompt and press Enter.

2) Locate your computer IP address and router IP address in the output from the ipconfig command.

The IP address of the computer you are using will be listed under IPv4 Address, and the Router IP will be listed as the Default Gateway. In our network, the router address is 192.168.1.1 and our computer IP address is 192.168.1.4.

It is important to note that the default IP address for the AP and our ip cameras are as noted below.:

NVR: 192.168.1.108
IP Camera: 192.168.1.108
Wireless Ubiquiti AP: 192.168.1.20

The AP and the Station radios both have the same default IP address before being configured, and will have to have a different IP address to be connected to the network at the same time. For a router with IP address of 192.168.1.1, you only have to change the fourth octet in the default ip address, that is 192.168.1.XXX where XXX is the set of numbers that need to be changed and must be unique for each device on the network. For example, you can configure one camera and two radios as follows:

NVR: 192.168.1.108
IP Camera: 192.168.1.107
Access Point: 192.168.1.95
Station AP: 192.168.1.96

You may need to change the IP addresses of either one or both AP if there is an IP address conflict or they don't fit your network. You can follow instructions provided in How to view IP Cameras from a web browser on how to change the camera's IP address. You can also find instructions on how to change the IP address of the access point here.

Step 2: Connect the AP to your network

To configure the AP you need to first connect it to your network so you can access it's internal web-based settings page. Each access point comes with a PoE injector. Connect the AP to the power injector using the MAIN (PoE) port, and the power injector to your switch or router using the SECONDARY (LAN) port as pictured below.

Here is a close-up view of the PoE injector:

Access Points Wireless

Step 3: Login to the AP

The default IP address of Ubiquiti radios is 192.168.1.20. Be sure you are using a compatible network, and enter this IP address into the address bar of your web browser. If you do not see the login page and get a security error message, follow the instructions provided in the image below. We are using Chrome as the browser in this case.

The login page should look like the one below. The default username and password are ubnt and click on the checkbox on the bottom of the page before pressing login.

Step 4: Change default password

After you log in for the first time you will be prompted to change the default password. On the bottom right side, there will be an orange colored dialo

Connect To Wireless Access Points