Linksys Compact Wireless-G Internet Video Camera

Linksys Compact Wireless-G Internet Video Camera
by Linksys

Linksys Compact Wireless-G Internet Video Camera
Our Price: $169.00
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: CE
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Customers in the UK, Buy this product at amazon.co.uk for British Pounds

Digital Photo Product Details

Manufacturer: Linksys
Audio: English (Original Language)
Model: WVC54GC
Product features:
  • Sends high-quality live video to your network wirelessly -- viewable from Windows PCs anywhere
  • Built-in stand-alone web server, no PC necessary
  • Security Mode automatically sends email alerts with video clips upon motion detection
  • Supports up to four simultaneous remote users
  • Compact design
Accessories:

Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Linksys Compact Wireless-G Internet Video Camera

Customer Review: Decent Wireless Setup, WORTHLESS Software
Summary: 2 Stars

Compared to just about every other Linksys product I've ever purchased, getting this thing to play nice with my 802.11n network was a breeze. I simply plugged it directly into my Mac Airport Extreme router with the supplied Cat5 Ethernet cable and ran the install from a networked PC running Windows XP. After about two minutes of basic configuration following the clear instructions onscreen, the camera was online and streaming nice, crisp, 640 x 480 video into my LAN.

Would that the supplied software behaved as intuitively.

Where to begin? First off, the claims of this device being viewable ONLY via Active-X capable browsers appears to be resolved, because I was able to view the video feed in Firefox, Safari, and IE. There *ARE* a few minor features that require Active-X (like digital zoom), but they were hardly value adds anyway and won't be missed if all you want is a simple, remote monitoring device with an uncomplicated web interface. The included monitoring software, on the other hand, is where the wheels pretty much fall off completely.

You're supposed to be able to monitor up to nine cameras from one PC (the box claims you'll need at least a dual-core 3GHz CPU for this), and set each up with motion detection recording. Great concept. I'm sure it must've looked good on paper to the Linksys execs who decided not to offer any such functionality for OS X or Linux users. The interface was buggy and full of anomalous glitches (all the buttons look ghosted out, even when fully functional, and there is very little by way of user feedback to let you know anything is happening when you click on something), and the preferences dialogue frequently crashed the entire application when I tried to apply changes to the camera configuration. I managed to get motion detection to work, but even with over 60GB of free hard drive space, and ample bandwidth, 9 out of 10 tests failed to record anything at all. When I did manage to get it recording, the onboard microphone feed was abysmally low -no pickup to speak of. The "export to AVI" feature (again, accessible only via the crashy Windows-exclusive monitoring app) failed to export any of the clips I captured. That pretty much renders anything you capture with this camera useless as evidence in a court proceeding, unless you plan to haul your whole monitoring platform in should the need arise. Remote recording is pointless if the files are proprietary and non-portable.

Finally, the lens angle is far too narrow for a security camera. I quickly learned that it would take TWO cameras just to cover my modest-sized apartment living room.

Linksys is going to need to try a little harder with the software development before I make this mistake again.

Description of Linksys Compact Wireless-G Internet Video Camera

The Linksys Compact Wireless-G Internet Video Camera sends live video through the Internet to a web browser anywhere in the world! This compact, self-contained unit lets you keep track of your home, your kids, your workplace -- whatever's important to you. Unlike standard "web cams" that require an attached PC, the Internet Video Camera contains its own web server, so it can connect directly to a network, either over Wireless-G (802.11g) networking, or over 10/100 Ethernet cable. The advanced MPEG-4 video compression produces a high-quality, high-frame rate, up to 320x240 video stream. The Compact Internet Video Camera's unique form-factor and wireless connectivity allows you to mount it on a wall nearly anywhere, or slip it into its included stand for desktop use. Once it's connected to your home network, you can "see what it sees" from any Windows-based PC in the house, while the video stream is secured from the outside world, hidden behind your Router. If you want the video to be visible from outside your home network, you can open an appropriate port on the Router, and then create password protected accounts to manage access to the camera, or leave it wide open for the world to see. The SoloLink domain service (trial sign-up included) lets you access your camera using an easy-to-remember "name", even if your home Internet connection uses a dynamic IP address.

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