Will do. I'll need a multi-port USB charger for future needs. What type of USB charger would you recommend? I'll be using Beach Auto Sound.
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Will do. I'll need a multi-port USB charger for future needs. What type of USB charger would you recommend? I'll be using Beach Auto Sound.
K-MTG
Sunshade Captain of TMC
Any USB charger would work, just make sure it is high amperage (2.1 AMPS). Mine is from anker on Amazon just make sure it is hard wired into the car so the mifi remains on when you are not driving
Just bought the Anker 5-port 40W/8A USB charger. Which DC conversion adapter should I get for this hookup?
K-MTG
Sunshade Captain of TMC
Just get a standard cigaret lighter 12V USB charger, such as the anker power drive 2. No need of a DC converter and simply run a cigarette lighter female connector from the battery
Thanks. I have not noticed any cigarette lighter sockets in my Model X. Thought I could use something like one these: Amazon.com: SINOLLC DC 12V 24V to 5V 3A Converter Step Down Regulator 5V Regulated Power Supplies Transformer Converter: Electronics
K-MTG
Sunshade Captain of TMC
That is an interesting solution, I think it will work. Just make sure the dash cam and mifi are both hard wired for constant power (OBD Port/Battery). Please post pictures of your install. How much is beach auto sound charging you for the install?
f-stop
Active Member
I have a new 650GW-2CH and I'm trying to set up Cloud for this same use-case. I have no problem using Wifi mode (direct connection to smartphone), but I can't get the dashcam to connect to my garage access point when I turn on Cloud mode. I have the AP's SSID and password configured in the cam settings but it just won't connect no matter what I try. I even updated the cam to firmware v2.003 that didn't solve it (it came with v2.002)
Is there some trick to getting it to connect to an AP the first time? The documentation seemed pretty sparse so perhaps I'm missing something.
Also, I see some mention in this thread and in a dashcam forum elsewhere some suggestions that the number of characters in the AP's SSID matters for successful AP connection - is there something to that?
K-MTG
Sunshade Captain of TMC
That is weird, I haven't had any issues
with it. Try configuring it on the SD card using the desktop application
To answer my own question...
Emailed customer support. They said it's currently not possible, but a software upgrade is coming in the next few weeks which will allow connecting to open networks.
f-stop
Active Member
thanks for the suggestion. I did already try that - unfortunately can't connect whether I configure viea desktop app/SD card, or use the mobile app.
btw I turned on the dashcam voice alerts to see if there's any hint - with v2.002 firmware, I would get a repeating message every 30sec or so that wifi failed. Meanwhile I confirm from my wifi router side and I never see the cam connect to the network. Now with v2.003 firmware, I instead get a single voice error message "wireless access point device limit reached" - this may be because I also tried connecting a 2nd guest network on my wifi router, with a different SSID (in case #characters actually matters). I read somewhere that this dashcam can only connect to a single hotspot, maybe with all these attempts to connect to more than one AP it is getting confused...
I will try emailing blackvue support to see if they have any suggestions
Brand new cloud enabled 650GW-2 firmware 2.004 and newest version of Blackvue C. I hate to be dense, but the user's guide appears to be strictly for firmware 1.x I cannot get to the wifi settings. I'm supposed to be able to choose, from C, Blackvue wifi, then choose the camera, the settings "gear wheel" on the left of the screen, then choose camera options. But, the camera options menu is essentially empty. Anyone else in similar boat? Set it up from the desktop?
K-MTG
Sunshade Captain of TMC
f-stop
Active Member
just to followup my own report of problems earlier in this thread.... today I finally solved my cloud connection.
Blackvue customer support was basically useless - and extremely slow to respond on top of that. But I stumbled upon the answer on my own and thought I'd post the info here in case it's of use to someone in future.
IGNORE the rest of this post if you're NOT using a hotspot/router with MAC address filtering, or trying to connect to an open wifi hotspot that does so (like some ISPs have with their free hotspots around town e.g. as described in this article)
My problem connecting the dashcam in cloud mode to my home router was due to the fact that I have MAC address filtering enabled on the router (which I knew at the start) but more importantly, the dashcam has 2 different MAC addresses, one for direct connection to smartphone and different one for the cloud connection. And it's not at all obvious what the cloud wifi's MAC address is.
to make things more confusing, the documation is really bad - 1) firstly it says the dashcam's MAC address can be found in the default SSID name, but that only gives you the last 3 hex digits (a proper MAC address contains 6 hex digits,) for example let's say the dashcam came with default SSID: DR650GW-50A060. Well it's true that the MAC address for the direct connection is xx:yy:zz:50:A0:60 but you're still missing the first 3 hex digits! but I used some wifi network scanning app to figure out those digits. 2) there's no mention anywhere that the cloud interface has a different address, although early on I suspected this might be my problem.
For all other devices with multiple wifi interfaces, they usually have addresses separated by +1, so in my example above, if direct connection wifi is xx:yy:zz:50:A0:60, the logical choice for address for the 2nd interface would be xx:yy:zz:50:A0:61. I set up my router for this,, as well as ...:60 and :59 just to be safe - but still no dice.
Well it turns out that the cloud wifi interface's address was this: xx:yy:zz:40:A0:60 - the digit that differed from the other interface wasn't the one I expected. And as I said, there's no clue in the documentation nor did customer support give any sort of hint
Anyhow I now have cloud successfully connecting. My intended use is only when I arrive home and park in my garage, then I can access the dashcam via the cloud from anywhere in my house, instead of having to try to connect by the one window where the signal is strongest (it's a detached garage).
Blackvue customer support was basically useless - and extremely slow to respond on top of that. But I stumbled upon the answer on my own and thought I'd post the info here in case it's of use to someone in future.
IGNORE the rest of this post if you're NOT using a hotspot/router with MAC address filtering, or trying to connect to an open wifi hotspot that does so (like some ISPs have with their free hotspots around town e.g. as described in this article)
My problem connecting the dashcam in cloud mode to my home router was due to the fact that I have MAC address filtering enabled on the router (which I knew at the start) but more importantly, the dashcam has 2 different MAC addresses, one for direct connection to smartphone and different one for the cloud connection. And it's not at all obvious what the cloud wifi's MAC address is.
to make things more confusing, the documation is really bad - 1) firstly it says the dashcam's MAC address can be found in the default SSID name, but that only gives you the last 3 hex digits (a proper MAC address contains 6 hex digits,) for example let's say the dashcam came with default SSID: DR650GW-50A060. Well it's true that the MAC address for the direct connection is xx:yy:zz:50:A0:60 but you're still missing the first 3 hex digits! but I used some wifi network scanning app to figure out those digits. 2) there's no mention anywhere that the cloud interface has a different address, although early on I suspected this might be my problem.
For all other devices with multiple wifi interfaces, they usually have addresses separated by +1, so in my example above, if direct connection wifi is xx:yy:zz:50:A0:60, the logical choice for address for the 2nd interface would be xx:yy:zz:50:A0:61. I set up my router for this,, as well as ...:60 and :59 just to be safe - but still no dice.
Well it turns out that the cloud wifi interface's address was this: xx:yy:zz:40:A0:60 - the digit that differed from the other interface wasn't the one I expected. And as I said, there's no clue in the documentation nor did customer support give any sort of hint
Anyhow I now have cloud successfully connecting. My intended use is only when I arrive home and park in my garage, then I can access the dashcam via the cloud from anywhere in my house, instead of having to try to connect by the one window where the signal is strongest (it's a detached garage).
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K-MTG
Sunshade Captain of TMC
Isn't perfect but it works, you can disable specifically the disconnect and connect notifications
SteveW25561
Member
@Gizmo17 the metallized windshield blocks the GPS. The part where you have your EZ pass mounted does allow some to get a gps signal but even that seems hit & miss sometimes.
On another topic, people should be aware that using Blackvue cloud firmwares sets it to record at a significantly lower bitrate, thus image quality (eg ability to read license plates, especially at night) is degraded. For me, this trade off wasn't worth it but you should be aware of this issue if you do use the cloud version.
On another topic, people should be aware that using Blackvue cloud firmwares sets it to record at a significantly lower bitrate, thus image quality (eg ability to read license plates, especially at night) is degraded. For me, this trade off wasn't worth it but you should be aware of this issue if you do use the cloud version.
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Thanks for the reply. Maybe I'll try moving it up closer to the Ezpass tag area.
Where I have my EZ pass has worked fine so far, if you need a spot for Ezpass, put it where I have it in the photo, (upside down - didn't work right side up). I've crossed NJ turnpike, Garden state parkway, NY/NJ crossings and NY bridges with no problems.
f-stop
Active Member
@Gizmo17 I have mine mounted pretty well same as where your is, perhaps a fraction of an inch higher. I find the dashcam's GPS sometimes works and other times doesn't, it's unpredictable.
@SteveW25561 re: lower bitrate for cloud - is the lower bitrate simply a function of having the cloud-version of firmware installed whether it's turned on or not, or if you turn off that feature in settings does bitrate improve?
edit:
I just noticed this on the Blackvue firmware download page, it compares features of v1.x non-cloud firmware with v2.x cloud firmware, in part it shows:
Video Quality - v1.010 (Highest/High/Normal) | v2.000 and up (Fixed 6Mbps front, 2Mpbs rear)
Recording unit/segment - v1.010 (1min/2min/3min) | v2.000 and up (1 min)
...
My interesting observation: I'm using a slightly older version of the desktop Blackvue viewer app. When I change the camera's settings on the SD card using the desktop app, even though I'm using firmware v2.003 in the dashcam, I notice in the viewer app settings I can choose Highest/High/Normal video quality, and also 1,2,3 min video segments. So I have it set it to Highest, and 3 min length. When I put the SD Card back into the dashcam, I do get 3 minute video segments, so at least that setting works even though supposedly v2.x firmware only allows 1min segments. I wonder if I'm getting the Highest bitrate setting? (not sure...)
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