A questionable spy tool…
July 18th, 2006 | Author: Pro Shopper | Category: Electronics, Shopping Guides | |Linksys WVC11B Wireless-B Video Camera
The camera itself is a swiveling camera/lens assembly on a back panel. The lens (if you’d call it that) isn’t much, maybe 3mm wide and possibly plastic. Focus is done by rotating the plastic around the lens, which often would cause the camera to reboot without rationale. The panel has a WiFi antenna attached near the top, and connections for 10/100 Ethernet and Power on the bottom. The back has screw holes for mounting directly to the wall. A weighted stand is integrated to place it on a flat surface, which feels pretty stable. The package also provides a power adapter, software CD and an Ethernet cable.
Configuration is done via the Web interface or through the ‘quick start’ software on the CD. Most frustratingly, out of the box it does NOT use DHCP, but instead has a static 192.168.x.x IP address. Some may find this useful. Nevertheless, the quick start software can trace the camera despite the IP and permit you to set DHCP or a static IP, as well as configure WiFi settings. The CD also provides a rather basic software app that allows you to see or record a number of cameras. The app doesn’t seem to be available from the Linksys website, so don’t misplace the CD!
Once the camera is setup, you can look at the image by going to the IP and choosing view at the top of the Web page. The camera loads an ActiveX control if you don’t already have it, and you can view the video. You can also construct the camera.
Viewing the camera or recording with the software is just about all it’s good for. Motion detection is a joke- all that will do is email (NOT ftp) you up to 5 seconds of video at a minimum of 2 minute intervals. Yes that’s right, 5 seconds every two minutes. It doesn’t link with the recorder software.
Picture value is even worse. Its webcam sized- 320×240 or so resolution, with a blurry figure. The compression applied to the stream makes it almost ineffective- at ‘normal’ resolution, even the title it prints on the top of the frame is hardly legible. Full quality compression tops out at ‘barely acceptable’ quality. I believe it uses some sort of Windows Media coding, but doesn’t rely on any handy 3rd party tools.
One, of many, irritating problems this camera has is that all the LEDs are on the front and are very bright. This includes network activity. So anyone can tell just by looking at the camera if anyone’s watching it or not, which defeats the whole purpose of having the thing.
Item: Linksys WVC11B Wireless-B Video Camera
Price: $89.98
Rating: 2 out of 5
Pros: Cheap(er), easy setup, good Wifi range, it does work
Cons: Horrible picture quality, activity lights flash when camera is viewed, no FTP, no WPA
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