Cisco-Linksys Wireless-N Internet Home Monitoring Camera

5 Responses to “Cisco-Linksys Wireless-N Internet Home Monitoring Camera”

1. Sean Webb says:

   July 18, 2010 at 10:11 am

   Review by Sean Webb
   Rating:
   Here’s the scoop: I was rather concerned about reading the wide range of ratings on this camera, seeing that there were some one star reviews coming in, so I was fully ready to return this puppy if it didn’t live up to my pretty high standards.

   That said, here is my experience:

   I have a Linksys Dual Band Wireless N Router running in a single level ranch about 50 yards from some pretty serious power lines. On the network is a Power Mac connected via ethernet cable, and 3 laptops (a PC, an older Macbook, and a newer Macbook Pro) via wireless. Off topic, I’m not impressed with the range on the Linksys Router, but it provides some pretty quick bandwidth in the home with two networks to connect into, so I live with it.

   I unboxed the WVC80N, which came with an ethernet cable, a CD, and some instructions/manual. I followed the instructions to the letter, which instructed me to put the CD into a computer first. I put it in the Power Mac. The CD worked fine and opened up a set-up guide. The set-up guide told me what to do… it detected the wireless devices on the network, then told me to plug the ethernet cable into the camera… I clicked ‘next’, then into the router… ‘next’, then plug the power in on the camera… ‘next’, and turn it on… ‘next’… it detected the camera via the ethernet cable with no issues, and continued to lead me through the set-up… I had to create user name and password for the camera, etc., then something awesome happened. I used to be pretty technical, but now don’t like to mess with having to figure out how to make something work… I just like it to work. So to my pleasant surprise, when I clicked ‘next’ this time, ALL THE ADVANCED SETTINGS that allow the camera to be seen via the internet (through secure login and password) were done AUTOMATICALLY for me while I watched. No port mapping. No WPA set-up. No hassles! Awesome!

   Then it led me to the TZO set-up (free for 90 days) for the service to be able to look at the camera from anywhere on the Internet any time you want. To explain the technical side of this to non tech folks: If you have a normal DSL or cable internet service, you get what’s called a “dynamic IP address” assigned to you from your cable company. This IP address is a number that allows other computers to be able to find your computer whenever you ask to see something (like pulling down video from [...] or getting search results from google – it’s a “send the video to this address” kind of thing). But a dynamic IP address can change every time the power goes out or your modem reboots. The internet provider just gives you another one from the ones they have laying around. So where your IP address at your house might have been 123.456.789.123 yesterday, it could be 123.456.789.456 today. So when you are out on the Internet looking to view your camera, you need to know what your IP address is for your house at that particular time. Enter TZO. TZO is an IP mapping service that has your camera send out a message to them saying “here I am”. Then TZO writes down that IP address (automatically) for that day and gives you an address at their site to log into ([...]), which then forwards you to your house and your camera. The service costs $25 a year, or discounted for multiple years. NOTE: You don’t have to have this service if you have a static IP address or can figure out your dynamic IP address without this service.

   So I set up a TZO domain (and will probably pay the $25, because we got it to show the family what’s going on in the nursery for a new baby… and it’s a simple web address for the grandparents can bookmark. FYI, the camera allows you to set-up user accounts and passwords for different users.), and here’s where another magical thing happened. I clicked on “show video”… and it just worked. FROM THE INTERNET ADDRESS… IT JUST WORKED. Amazing. So now I started to play with and test to see what the limitations of this device are:

   First, we had two family members log on simultaneously to see frame rate response. It worked at almost 30fps for three simultaneous users at maximum resolution of 640×480. Cool. So let’s play with the settings:

   The camera is a smart device, and if you’ve ever seen your Router’s set-up menus after logging into your wireless router… there’s the same type of interface here inside the camera. You can change basic settings like dynamic or specific IP address, tell it whether or not to turn the power LED on/off on the front of the camera, etc…. you can change image settings, to large, med, or small resolution, set frame rate, etc… you can add or delete login accounts and passwords (add: grandma password: grandchild for grandma to use when she clicks on your camera’s web address), and you can change the settings for automatic motion detection, automatic timed recording, etc. The camera will send you an email with still images or short 5 second video clips every time it detects a change in the camera’s environment (if you want it to – fully customizable), and it works well if you set the outgoing SMTP server (google this).

   My experience with network response in the home with the camera on:
   
   I’ve seen the complaints about the camera interfering with throughput to other computers in the house, bogging down the network, etc. I tested this camera two ways: 1) I put everything on one side of the dual band router (simulating what it would be like for a normal wireless router), then 2) I put the camera on one side of the router, and everything else on the other. FYI, we cancelled cable/satellite as soon as Hulu started putting the good stuff online, and use that and podcasts as our sources of entertainment. As that [...] can be a bandwidth hog (streaming hi-res digital video usually is), I fired up hulu, set the camera to it’s maximum resolution and frame rates, and did some tests.

   First, if no one is looking at the camera, or it’s not sending you an email telling you about motion, it doesn’t affect bandwidth at all.

   When looking at the camera feed, the camera’s operation with nothing else going on within the network is great. 640×480 comes through mostly 30 fps at about 1/2 second lag or less. When you fire up hulu while the camera is running (on the same channel) is when you can start to see a difference. Both the camera and hulu suffered a bit. Where I usually don’t have to wait for hulu to buffer, it stopped to buffer once while the camera was on the same side of the router, but mostly… it was still fine. The camera was running at about 10fps, and I was watching a hulu show. I was impressed. WARNING: When I turned on motion detection and walked into the room so I could force the camera to fire off a “motion detected” email… both hulu and the camera ground to a halt. I assume this is because the camera was creating media attachments and sending them off via email.

   So then I put the camera on the other side of the router’s dual band capability, giving it some bandwidth privacy. The camera worked great. Hulu worked great. I could even watch then simultaneously in two different windows. When hulu was showing a video, the frame rate on the camera drops a little (20fps?), and lag time increases to a second or so. But when you’re not streaming digital video from the Internet or downloading some torrent, it’s a top notch camera that works great. I would highly recommend the dual band router however if you want to have fewer bandwidth issues.

   Image quality:
   
   It’s not HD, but it’s not bad either. Digital artifacts are non-existent in proper lighting, and if any light is existent in the room at all (a night light), the low level light operation is exceptional. The camera WILL go dark if there is no light present. It is NOT an infrared camera, does not have IR lights, and did not pick up anything when I turned some IR lights on in the room. But crack the door with the hallway light on, and you can see. If you want to have the capability to check in on the cats during the day, or have the grandparents watch while you feed/change/play with the baby, this will be a great camera for that. Color is good. Clarity is good. I can even watch it on my iPhone. Having see what the rest of the market has to offer, and with as hit or miss as Linksys has become now-a-days, I gotta give this camera 4.5 stars.
2. MyHomeServer guy says:

   July 18, 2010 at 10:48 am

   Review by MyHomeServer guy
   Rating:
   We’ve been using the WVC80N camera for a while on our home network with a Linksys WRT350N router. The WVC80N is the next generation IP camera from Linksys. It’s older similar looking twin the WVC54GCA is good but had some issues that the WVC80N solves. You can see reviews of the WVC54GCA cam at myhomeserver.

   The WVC80N adds Wireless N, an easier setup for Remote Viewing and best of all, direct writing to a NAS drive to record video! This means you don’t have to keep a computer running, simply setup a shared folder on your NAS/Network drive and then add in the path,username and password into the camera and that’s it! It will instantly start recording a AVI file to the drive directly that you can play in Windows Media player, etc.

   Remote access is also better since it is now included as an option in the CD wizard. When you setup the camera, it asks if you want to remotely view the camera. Selecting YES will setup a custom domain name [...] and then the wizard will set a static IP on the camera and setup the DDNS at TZO and set it up in the camera. All of this is done behind the scenes and it does all of the port forwarding and port selection automatically. This is a big advancement in camera setups..its actually easy

   Great camera, I give it a thumbs up
3. Tom Servo says:

   July 18, 2010 at 10:57 am

   Review by Tom Servo
   Rating:
   Linksys WVC80N cam review:
   
   Positives:
   
   Supports 640×480 resolution at up to 30FPS. Don’t buy an ip cam that doesn’t support 640×480 (i.e. some of the Panasonic ones)
   
   The low light level performance is good. This cam claims to have a better CMOS sensor that the previous model but it’s still not all that great in low light (if you want good images in low light you need an IP cam with a CCD sensor but this adds cost and complexity). This is not a Day/Night cam that has infrared LEDs that provide illumination in completely dark areas. (You need to have some level of lighting). Still, I think it’s better in low light that some other IP cams.
   
   Cam supports wired Ethernet AND 802.11n (Draft) WiFi. 802.11n is better for supporting multiple cameras (but see negative below).
   
   Works very well with (3rd party) BlueIris software
   
   The camera can time stamp the video with the current time/date. It can also display any text on the video (such as location etc) that you enter)
   
   The user manual PDF is very well written and goes into technical details that other manufacturers leave out (such as CGI commands to control the camera without using the web interface).
   
   Very reliable, especially with a wired connection. I run these 24/7 without having to periodically reset cams, which is a problem that seems to plague other IP cams.

   Negatives:
   
   There does not seem to be a way to manually focus the camera lens. If you have stuff going on more than a few feet away you will not see details!
   
   The power adapter cord is way too short! The cord SHOULD be at least 10-12 feet long. I never understand why manufacturers always give you a short cord – do they feel that you always have a power outlet where you want to place a cam?
   
   I don’t like the mounting bracket. Two screws (NOT INCLUDED – why?!) must first be screwed into the mounting surface and the mounting bracket slides into the screws and held by friction or gravity (depending on mounting position). This is in contrast to other cam mounts which must be screwed down and are unremovable without tools (this one isn’t). In addition it is too easy for anyone to move the cam’s position by hand. Also the mount makes the cam stand out more (more noticeable). There should be a cardboard template included to make it easier to drill the mounting holes for the screws (they must be spaced apart correctly otherwise the bracket will not fit). Also the design of the mount makes it impossible for the cam to mount against a vertical surface (side of bookshelf) and show a straight level display, because the side of the cam bumps into the base of the mount.
   
   This cam is labeled as using draft 802.11n technology and features 1 internal antenna (according to the datasheet). For maximum range and speed 802.11n uses MIMO which requires multiple antennas. This may explain why the range may not be as good as it could be.
   
   The cam’s web interface should feature a WiFi scan feature which also displays all detected SSIDs, channel # and % signal level (so you can get an idea of signal strength and channels in use by other routers). Trendnet WiFi IP cams have this feature and it’s a VERY useful one. It’s disappointing that other manufacturers don’t include this feature.
   
   The camera doesn’t allow the image to be flipped either horizontally or vertically. This is a nice option to have, especially since the mounting bracket only attached from below the camera, not above (even though it could have had both top/bottom mounts but didn’t probably for cost reasons)
   
   The image options web page allows brightness/sharpness to be set, but it doesn’t display the image at the same time so you can observe changes.
   
   The webpage “Live Video” displays video only using MJPEG, not MPEG. Other cameras (such as Trendnet) allow selection of video type. This does not mean that the camera only supports MJPEG but that’s all you can get via the default webpage).

   Comments on other reviewer’s problems:
   
   “Range problems” – WiFi connections are tricky things, in that there are many factors to consider. Interference from other routers, distance/positioning of both router/cams, router firmware, cam firmware, MIMO capabilities of both, type of walls between router & cam etc. The only constant to reliable working WiFi is experimentation – sometimes another router or cam will work better in a given situation. Wired Ethernet gives the most reliable results but isn’t always convenient. If the web interface displayed signal levels it would be easier to troubleshoot wireless problems. Also this camera should have 2 antennas for MIMO support.
   
   Overall I think this is a decent camera for the price (less than one one five). However many improvements that I’ve listed can be made via firmware so hopefully this camera will be improved. And how about a True 802.11n MIMO version of this camera?
4. J. Schwab says:

   July 18, 2010 at 11:11 am

   Review by J. Schwab
   Rating:
   It took me about three days to get my five cameras that I have installed at my house all dialed in.
   
   They are very reliable; the cameras work VERY well with my wireless router; the motion detection works very reliably ONCE you have set everything up correctly.

   Please note — I did NOT set these cameras up using the software. I programmed each by hooking them up on a computer that saw them at their default IP address of 192.168.1.115.

   My network: C-cast cable modem, Router: Apple Airport Extreme, Cameras Connected Via: Wireless N

   These cameras are set up default on the 192.168.1.xxx network at 115. If you are like me and use a different 192 network, you will need to bring up a machine on the 1.xxx network at your home to see and configure this camera.

   Easy errors you can avoid when you setup these cameras:

   – 1. You must click ‘Apply’ after EVERY modification you make in a tab. Some of the tabs, such as the Remote access user database allow you to add members, but until you click Apply, it is NOT saved on the camera.
   
   – 2. When configuring your network access on each camera, I would strongly recommend that you use a static IP. You MUST include your gateway address and your DNS address (on a home local area network segment that should be your router address). Make sure you click Apply before going on to another tab.
   
   – 3. If you are on C-cast and you want the motion detection feature to work to send you an email, remember to set your SMTP (email outbound) port to 587. Port 25 may work for about a day, but then C-cast will turn it off (web query , “C*mc*st Port 25″ for more info on this).
   
   – 4. Make certain that you click Apply after making each change on a tab.

   You do not need to use or pay for TZO DNS. DynDNS works just fine for me (web query DynDNS for info). When configuring for remote access, make sure to follow these tips to avoid common errors:

   – 1. Know AND understand how port forwarding on your router works.
   
   – 2. Make certain the local IP Address and forwarded port for remote access is the same on both your Router and your IP camera. On my network my first camera is on port 1024, the second on 1025, and so on. Make sure you click ‘Apply’ every time you make a change to your camera’s settings.
   
   – 3. If you are using RTSP on your camera to view on a phone or software that supports RTSP, make certain the ports are open and correspond on your router and camera.
   
   – 4. If you are using a lot of cameras at a location like I am, use meaningful names for your cameras and port forwarding schemes on your router.
   
   With respect to the above tips, I found a lot of VERY useful information on this camera and how to set it up at: [...].

   Test each camera that you add to the network.

   – 1. Access the camera on your local network via your 192.168.x.x,
   
   – 2. Access it the same and include your forwarded port in the web address; example 192.168.1.120:1024,
   
   – 3. Access your camera outside your network using your DNS name, example: mywvc80n.homeip.net:1024 — include your DNS name and the port in the address,
   
   Doing this in sequence will aid you in isolating any errors that you may have made in configuring your camera, your home network, your router, and your DNS settings.

   Lastly, if you are using G-mail to receive the motion detection message with attached video clips look in your Spam email box. Mark these messages as NOT SPAM. Five second video clips vary in size from about 500kb to 1Mb. Fortunately, if you use meaningful email subject lines in the camera configuration, G-mail will organize each camera’s videos into single conversations rather than a storm of repititious email traffic.

   My Apple Airport Extreme with these cameras have proven to be very reliable with zero down time in three days. I believe this camera would have much higher ratings if the users were more successful in avoiding mis-steps with this camera and their network configurations.
   
   ~Kemo
5. Just a guy says:

   July 18, 2010 at 11:41 am

   Review by Just a guy
   Rating:
   This is really a great camera. I bought this as a video monitor in my daughter’s room so I could see into her crib at night. It was fairly easy to setup on my wifi in my house. Once attached to my wifi network, I am able to use the web-based interface to view the picture and adjust all settings. I am even able to view the video, live, on my blackberry browser! (all for free.)

   You need to use the cd-rom to do the initial set-up (via an ethernet cable), then it has you unplug the cable and you are hooked up over wifi. I had no problems with my Fios router and my Win 7 machine.

   There is software I haven’t used to view the picture. I found that by just typing the camera’s ip address into my browser, I can easily do everything I want to do without installing any software. I get great picture and sound.

   You can have the camera email 5 second video clips to any email address when motion is detected – and you can adjust the trigger areas of the frame.

   You can also enable mobile streaming and use rtsp to get the stream to work on your blackberry for free. You do not need to use the paid service they suggest. It is a bit tricky to set-up (with port forwarding and funny syntax in your blackberry browser) but it works. Look online for instructions. Syntax is rtsp://IP address]:[port]/[camera mobile streaming pin]

   I deducted one star for the following shortcomings:

   1) the power cord is VERY short – this is stupid. It is barely five feet long. This makes it difficult to properly position the camera without using an extension cord. The adapter is reasonable in size – not a huge power brick.

   2) the low light performance is not great. In my daughter’s dark bedroom, it is fairly difficult to see much detail – even with a dim nightlight. I guess I could set up an IR light to brighten things up without bothering her, but I’m sure there are cameras with better low light abilities. That said, with a small amount of light, the picture is detailed and terrific.

   3) there is a very bright blue light on the front to indicate “on” status and flashes when connecting to the network. I put some black electrical tape over this annoying light.

   In all, I really like this camera a lot. Others had problems with networking and with the software. I had no issues getting this up and running and didn’t even need to install the software.