How to Fix Annoying Two-Way Audio Delay on Hikvision Cameras
The two-way audio feature on your Hikvision camera is a powerful tool, allowing you to communicate with visitors, delivery drivers, or even pets. However, this feature can become incredibly frustrating when there's a significant delay or lag, leading to disjointed and confusing conversations.
If you're experiencing a noticeable gap between speaking and being heard, you're not alone. This is a common issue known as latency. This guide will explain why it happens and provide you with clear, step-by-step instructions to minimise the delay and restore clear, real-time communication.
Why Audio Delay Happens: Understanding Latency
Audio delay is rarely a fault of the camera's microphone or speaker. Instead, it's almost always a network issue.
Think of the journey your voice has to take:
- Your phone sends your voice over the internet to the Hikvision servers.
- The servers route the audio back to your camera.
- The camera plays the audio through its speaker.
The process repeats in reverse when the person at the camera speaks. Any bottleneck or slowdown on this round trip will result in a delay. The most common culprits are:
- Weak Wi-Fi Signal: If your camera has a poor connection to your router, data packets (both audio and video) can be delayed or lost.
- Low Upload Speed: Your home internet's upload speed is critical for sending audio from your camera. Many internet plans have much slower upload speeds than download speeds.
- Network Congestion: If many other devices in your home are using the internet (streaming 4K TV, online gaming, large downloads), it can slow down the connection for your camera.
Troubleshooting Steps to Reduce Audio Lag
Work through these solutions to improve the speed and reliability of your camera's connection.
1. Strengthen Your Camera's Network Connection
This is the most critical area to focus on.
- Switch to a Wired Connection (Recommended): If your camera model has an Ethernet port, this is the best possible solution. A wired Ethernet connection is significantly more stable and faster than Wi-Fi. If you can run a cable from your camera to your router, it will likely resolve the majority of your latency issues.
- Improve Your Wi-Fi Signal: If you must use Wi-Fi, ensure the camera has a strong signal.
- Check the signal strength in your camera's network settings.
- Move your Wi-Fi router closer to the camera if possible.
- Consider installing a Wi-Fi extender or a mesh Wi-Fi system to provide a stronger, more reliable signal to the camera's location.
- Ensure the camera is connected to your router's 2.4 GHz band, which generally offers better range and wall penetration than the 5 GHz band.
2. Optimise Camera and App Settings
Adjusting some settings can free up bandwidth and reduce the delay.
- Lower the Video Bitrate: In your camera's settings (usually under 'Video' or 'Stream' settings), try lowering the bitrate. A lower video bitrate requires less bandwidth, which leaves more capacity for the audio data to travel quickly. This can have a very positive effect on audio sync.
- Use the 'Fluent' or 'SD' Substream: When you're using two-way talk, try switching the video feed from 'HD' to 'Fluent' or 'SD' (Standard Definition) in the app. This reduces the overall data load, prioritising a responsive connection over maximum video quality for the duration of the conversation.
3. Check Your Mobile Device's Connection
The delay can also be on your end.
- Use a Strong Connection: Ensure your smartphone is connected to a strong Wi-Fi network or has a solid 4G/5G signal. If your phone's connection is poor, it will struggle to send and receive the audio data in real-time.
- Close Background Apps: Other apps on your phone could be using bandwidth. Close any unnecessary apps before using the two-way talk feature.
By systematically improving your network conditions and optimising a few key settings, you can dramatically reduce audio delay and make your Hikvision's two-way talk feature a useful and reliable communication tool.