I have Aqara G5 PoE and WiFi, Which one should I use?
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Hey
POE every day of the week mainly for connection stability
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Go for the PoE (wired) version. Cable is always better because:
- Immune to Wireless Interference: Unlike Wi-Fi, which constantly competes with your microwave, Bluetooth, Zigbee/Thread devices, and your neighbors’ routers, a wired connection is shielded. It provides a dedicated lane for your data.
- Lower Latency: Instant notifications and faster response times for two-way talk and video streams.
- No Wi-Fi Backhaul: By avoiding an extra Wi-Fi radio link after the Thread mesh, a wired connection delivers more consistent performance and lower latency.
- Maximum Security: Wired connections are immune to wireless jamming. Some intruders use portable signal jammers to knock WiFi cameras offline before a break-in so they don’t record or send alerts. With a cable, your camera stays online and keeps recording.
- Superior Security: A physical cable is much harder to “sniff” or hack than a WiFi signal. Hackers can’t exploit a weak WiFi password if the data never leaves the wire.
- One-Cable Simplicity: A single Ethernet cable provides both power and high-speed data. You don’t have to worry about being near a power outlet or dealing with signal-blocking walls.
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Hi, your choice depends on the conditions of use of the G5. Functionally it will be the same, only the power supply and data transfer will be different
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I have four Aqara cameras that support PoE. To avoid overloading my Wi-Fi network, I chose cameras with PoE-enabled Ethernet connections. However, it would be great if Aqara could design devices that support both options, allowing users to switch between them when needed.
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So, the Doorbell Camera G400 without a doorbell 
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Yes, actually, products that offer both options can be much more practical.
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My vote is POE wired version if you have or purchase POE network switch
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I have both versions currently in use. My clear recommendation is to go with the POE version. It’s much more stable and reliable.
Although I have my WiFi version G5 bound in a mesh WiFi network where it should be able to connect to 3 different available access points (for redundancy reasons) it chooses not always the AP with the strongest available signal and sometimes it switches between 2,4 and 5 GHz network for no clear reason. When I reboot the cam it instantly chooses the right AP with the strongest signal and the highest available bandwidth. But for that, you need to reboot it periodically.
You avoid all that with the POE version.
Hope that helps you to decide. 
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Would setting different SSIDs and passwords for your 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz networks, and configuring the device to connect only to the 5 GHz network, solve your issue?
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Hi! Quick question first: What exactly do you mean by “redundancy” in your setup? In practice, three heavily overlapping APs often interfere with each other (Co-Channel Interference) rather than protecting against failures.
With the Aqara G5 Pro, this issue becomes even more complex in the 2.4 GHz band: You have 3 Wi-Fi networks, a Thread network (via the Border Router), and a Zigbee router all broadcasting here. All these protocols share the same frequency range, can interfere with each other, and severely reduce the available airtime.
My tip: You should definitely optimize your AP channels and transmit power manually.
• 2.4 GHz: Exclusively use the non-overlapping channels 1, 6, or 11 for your APs. Keep them as far away from your Zigbee/Thread frequencies as possible, and keep your neighbors’ Wi-Fi networks in mind. It often helps to slightly reduce the transmit power (TX power) of your APs. Since the camera apparently doesn’t support seamless roaming, this prevents it from “sticking” to a weak AP forever.
• 5 GHz (in Germany): There are important regulatory differences here. On the lower channels (36–48), the maximum allowed transmit power is lower, but they are radar-free and extremely stable. On the higher channels (e.g., 100+), a significantly higher transmit power is legally permitted (up to 1000 mW instead of 200 mW). This often provides more usable power, which practically feels like better range – even though the signal is physically attenuated slightly more by walls at this higher frequency. The catch: These high-power channels are subject to Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS). If the AP detects radar (e.g., air traffic control or weather radar), it has to shut down the channel temporarily, which often leads to connection drops and aimless roaming for cameras.
Test out what works best for your specific environment: maximum stability on the lower channels or higher transmit power on the DFS channels.
Feel free to send me a private message (happy to chat in German, too!).
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No, because that would mean to give up all the advantages of WiFi 7 and MLO I like to use with my other devices.
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Redundancy means here, that the WiFi cam is potentially able to connect to each one of the 3 APs, in case one fails or has a hiccup. All are in a Mesh setup and in reachable distance for the camera (signal strength). The single point of failure is of course the router to the internet for the whole home network, because I think only a very small minority of home users has a second connection with a secondary router as fallback link to the internet.
For the 2,4 GHz network I’m using the auto channel setting, which normally choose channel 13. This one is the less crowded in my neighbourhood, because most people left their routers in the factory setting and do not expand their network to channels 12 and 13. This also partially avoid some interferences with other devices or networks like you mentioned or e.g. Microwave ovens etc.
For the 5 GHz network I manually choose the channel and use channel 104 for the reasons you already mentioned (higher transmit power). The DFS problematic solves my Router with Zero Wait DFS and Band steering and seamless roaming, the G5 is able to use 802.11k/v/r, therefore this shouldn’t be a problem. In case a radar is detected in these upper channels it should redirect all connected devices to an other channel instantly without waiting time or disconnect.
Regarding the overlapping APs, since the APs are all in a Mesh, the devices are free to roam and become steered by the Mesh Master to their best available AP.
To give you a better idea, I’ve drawn a small sketch of my home setup here.
Weiter auch gerne auf Deutsch per PM.
If the camera were to use roaming correctly, that would contradict your other statement:
The fact that a reboot resolves the issue is a very strong indication of a sticky client: during boot, the camera performs a full scan and selects the best AP, but during normal operation it does not actively roam because the signal conditions never cross its internal roaming threshold.
Even with 802.11k/v/r active, roaming is always a client decision. The Mesh Master can only send suggestions (BSS Transition Requests). If the G5 considers its current connection to AP2 “good enough” (because it sits in an overlapping coverage area with similar signal levels), it will simply ignore the steering request.
Potentially, yes. But having that potential doesn’t prevent the APs from physically interfering with each other (Co-Channel Interference) while they are all active at the same time.
I would honestly consider the redundancy aspect to be secondary here. It shouldn’t be viewed purely as an advantage, because in a dense overlapping setup, it actually acts as a permanent disadvantage.
I use a Keenetic Titan 7200 modem. This modem allows you to use seven 2.4 GHz and seven 5 GHz Wi-Fi networks simultaneously. If your modem has a similar feature, this might be a solution.
Sadly my router isn’t flexible as yours. It supports WiFi 2,4 GHz, 5 GHz and 6 GHz and only two separate VLANs, the main network and a guest network. Theoretically I could cut it in pieces with different SSIDs and passwords, but this would mean to lose the WiFi 7 and MLO functionality. And it has one other silly restriction more, theoretically it would also be enough to set MAC ID filters on the different APs in the Mesh to force the cam to connect only with a certain AP, but if I do that, the router also loses its ability to provide Multi Link Operation. 
@JohnD es geht ja nicht nur ums Band Steering, die Fritte macht ja auch aktives Mesh Steering, mit seinen 3 Komponenten Performance Steering, Overload Steering und Traceroute. Letzteres grätscht halt immer wieder dazwischen. Boote ich die Cam neu, verbindet sie sich ganz richtig mit dem AP mit dem stärksten lokalen Signal. Da die Signalstärke und der Durchsatz aber bei allen Dreien nicht wirklich viel voneinander abweichen, lenkt das Mesh Steering aber nach einiger Zeit die Cam auf den Router um, weil sie da einen Hopp weniger hat. Problematisch wird es dann wenn die Geräte, die im Haus ausgerechnet auf dem Weg dazwischen stehen, wie Mikrowelle und ein paar IOT-Geräte, anfangen zu „senden“. Dann passiert es, dass ich Ruckler und Aussetzer im Stream habe, was ich nicht habe, wenn er bei dem AP mit dem stärksten Signal bleiben würde.
Ich hoffe, das war jetzt halbwegs verständlich erklärt. 
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Ich denke, ich verstehe, was du meinst: Die FritzBox zieht die Kamera zum Hauptrouter, um den Hop zu sparen, weil dessen Signal an der Kamera noch einen bestimmten Schwellenwert erreicht. Wenn du die Sendeleistung des Routers reduzierst, könnte das Signal an der Kamera unter diesen Schwellenwert fallen. Dadurch müsste das Mesh Steering eigentlich aufhören einzugreifen, und die Kamera könnte endlich dauerhaft beim AP mit dem stärksten Signal bleiben. Da deine APs laut Skizze per Kabel (Ethernet-Backhaul) vernetzt sind, dürften sie deine Wi-Fi 7 Endgeräte ohnehin weiterhin mit voller Leistung abfangen. Eine leichte Drosselung am Hauptrouter sollte dein restliches Setup also eventuell gar nicht spürbar negativ beeinflussen.
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Dem gebe ich mal einen Versuch, Schaden kann es ja nicht und wenn’s das Problem löst, warum nicht…
Ich bin mir nur nicht sicher, ob man die Sendeleistung für jeden AP individuell regeln kann, oder ob das nicht doch dann automatisch auch von der FRITZ!Box auf die anderen Mesh-Knoten übernommen wird. Ich probiere mal etwas herum…
Danke!
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Howdy.
A lot of people suggesting POE for less interference etc. I run two 4K POE cameras (another brand) and I have the G5 running Wifi - its cnxn has been rock solid. (and it has a stunning image!)
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A potential user who stands before the choice of buying either POE or WiFi version (which of course means he has the opportunity to connect a device via Ethernet cable at the location he is planning to install the device and his router/switch/hub is capable of delivering sufficient POE) should also keep in mind, that if he is intending to use the camera for burglary, theft or robbery protection, the bad people are aware how to disable/interrupt a WiFi connected camera by using a WiFi jammer which you sadly can order by Aliexpress, Temu or Shein for really small money.
POE connected cameras are a bit more reliable and protected against such DOS attacks.
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