Quality of Outdoor Camera

Hi larrycanton,

Our cameras use variable bitrate, to prioritize faster transmission. That is, the connection isn't super strong, the video quality might be decreased to make sure that the video is sent as fast as possible (think of it like how Youtube videos default to lower resolutions when your cell signal is poor).

There are ta couple of factors that can improve video quality. The biggest is the quality of the connection. You'll want to try and reduce both physical and wireless interference between your camera and your WiFi router. Of course, the closer the camera is to the router, the easier it will be for the signal to get where it needs to go.

@davey_d 

Assuming best case scenario (daylight, blazing fast low latency wifi and internet, etc.) what is the realistic max distance at which the SimpliSafe cameras can provide video with a legible license plate? Now what is that distance in the dark?

The verbiage used at https://support.simplisafe.com/hc/en-us/articles/4407853364749-Wireless-Outdoor-Security-Camera-Overview suggests the maximum distance may be 15 feet:

"The camera can zoom in up to 8x to focus on important details like license plates and faces from up to 15 feet away."

The product information page at https://simplisafe.com/outdoor-security-camera has similar verbiage:

"Plus, you can even zoom in 8x to see important details like faces and license plates from 15 feet away."

If I'm reading this incorrectly, please explain. You should probably also have the website information updated.