Review - Network Security Camera

eladnova

Hey guys

Just wanted to post my experiences with the following in case it helps anyone. Maybe there's a few people out there wondering from a 'real user' what these Network Camera things are like.

Background
Our estate had a few break ins over the Christmas. As I'm "into computers" anyway I've been investigating getting a camera and hooking it up to the web. Not having time to trawl a massive amout of reviews, I picked up a Dlink DCS-942L which was the only one available in my local Dublin PC shop.


** How it works **
I basically plug this into the hall socket when Im leaving the house.
- Its connected to my UPC wifi.

There's a lot of options within it's web-based control panel and here are some I have enabled.
- I have it set on motion detection. When it detects motion, my iPhone gets a notficaiton. On the iPhone App, I click the camer and can view a real time* feed of what the camera sees.

- Upon motion detection it also emails me 6 static images taken at 1 second intervals of the camera view.

- It also records to it's local memory card

- I have it set to also FTP (upload) those images to a private web server in case there is a break in and the camera itself is taken

- The camera uploads video footage to the server too

- There is 2 way audio enabled too but I don't tend to use it

That's basically it. When I return home, I just unlpug the camera and stash it away.

** Review **

The feature set is rich. Although the control panel (web based) isn't the most intuitive, it's not bad. I could set it up but I doubt my Dad would be able to get it going without some help.

The Dynamic DNS part was suprisingly easy to setup and even after I changed my router, the camera was still available from the internet and my iPhone.

The nightvision is realtively poor and only suitable for indoors. I initially thought of pointing one of these out the back window but even with the lights out, the cameras on the light itself and their reflection hampered that. So, indoor only although there are other outdoor models.

The resolution is relatively poor and I think about 640 x 480

Nightvision has a hard time keeping up with fast moving actions. When I arrive home, it sometimes has trouble even watching me climb the stairs and the image is relatively blurry on motion.

* Real time picture viewing is a little laggy depending on your phone signal. Actually, "real-time" too is a slight innacuracy as the camera buffers the picture so you're actually seeing footage from the previous 5 seconds.


** Overall **
Having said all that and probably been quite critical, I'm actually very happy with the camera. It's an entry level model and I'm sure the more you pay, the better the performance.

The camera is not a deterrent to anyone determined to break in. They have to already be in the house to see it recording but it's good to know that if (touch wood) we were broken in that we'd at least have some footage instead of just a trashed house.

I think the key here is (sadly) to have a few cameras and even a discreete outdoor one too.

if I was to purchase again, I'd probably consider the Y-cam series of camers and their accompanying cloud based monitoring system. They also have a HD outdoor camera too which gets great reviews.

Stoner

Thanks for that, good information