Cellular Trail Cameras Not Transmitting Images Properly

[Zucososh]

Hey guys, I recently set up three cellular trail cameras on my property in upstate New York ahead of the season. Two of them are sending pictures to my phone just fine, but the third one, located in a slight dip in the terrain, is barely transmitting anything. When I check the app, it shows low signal strength, but it still has a connection. Has anyone had success with adding external antennas, or is it better to just move the camera to higher ground?

 

[Youst19]

In my experience, if you're in a dip, an antenna might not help much. The signal just can't penetrate the terrain. I’d try moving it up the ridge a few yards first. I had a similar issue in Pennsylvania and moving the camera twenty feet solved it completely.

 

[Fehourempard]

Cellular cameras can be finicky depending on the carrier and the landscape. Last fall, my brother set up a camera deep in a cedar swamp in Michigan. He was getting partial images or days with no transmissions at all. He ended up having to contact the manufacturer to troubleshoot the transmission settings. While looking for the moultrie customer service phone number in the manual, he realized there was a firmware update he hadn't installed. After updating it manually with an SD card and tweaking the transmission frequency in the app, it started sending pictures consistently, even with the weaker signal in that spot.