Linksys Wireless Internet Camera with Audio

I bought this camera to monitor my house over my wireless network when I'm away. Here are my impressions after one week:

PROS:

1. Kinda cool looking. The large lens cover camouflages the camera.

2. Images are decent (not great) in low light.

3. Multiple people can view the camera remotely through an IE browser (no other browser will work, however).

4. 30 frames per second gives smooth motion (however, faster frame rates and higher resolutions are only practical over local network, not over the Internet).

5. Remote pan/tilt feature works well (though noisy ... no stealth panning with this one).

6. Audio works fine.

7. Motion detection/email notification works well (after a non-intuitive set-up).

8. Linksys' "SoloLink" remote DDNS service works well, and you'll need it if your service provider and your network uses dynamic IP addresses (e.g., cable modems). There are alternatives, but you'll save yourself a lot of aggravation if you stick with SoloLink.


CONS:

1. VERY difficult set up ... much more difficult than my Linksys' WRT54G router, print server and two desktop adaptors. The camera works much better plugged into the router via Ethernet port. Going wireless adds a significant level of complexity to everything.

2. At first I believed that the antenna position was just plain finicky. The wireless connection didn't work until I set the antenna at right angle from the unit. Now the camera doesn't work wireless at all. I thought that perhaps the antenna was defective; however, other reviewers confirmed that this is a common problem.

3. Picture quality is below average. Not as crisp and detailed as my $80 Logitech webcam. Black shirts and green foliage appear purple. Tweaking the setup makes no difference. Not for serious surveillance.

4. The monitoring/recording utility software doesn't work; the software can't find this camera on my network, wireless or cabled. I've given up on using this utility and, instead, rely on the (inferior) browser with its buggy ActiveX viewer.

5. Finicky browser viewing. At first I thought the camera was dead until I discovered that I needed to kick-start the viewer with a browser refresh. The ActiveX plug-in also locks up my browser occasionally, even when I'm not using the camera. Connection speed is MUCH slower over the Internet. Using a higher resolution setting (640x480) prevents the image from loading over the Internet. Inside a corporate firewall? Forget it....

6. You'll need to use Linksys' EXPENSIVE SoloLink subscription to view the camera over the web if you have a dynamic IP address and DDNS (e.g., cable modem).

7. It took me all week to figure out how to get the motion detector email notification feature to work. The documentation doesn't tell you that you need to go into an obscure image "sensitivity" submenu and enable at least one of four "zones." Why isn't one of these "zones" enabled by default?

8. Camera "server" fails regularly and requires a reboot (unplug, then re-plug in the camera). I reboot each morning as a precaution. If I'm gone for several days, I'll need to find a way to reboot from a distance (on/off timer?).

9. Linksys online support/Q&As/user forums for any of its cameras is frustratingly non-existent.

10. PDF manual is woefully inadequate ... it appears as though the writers got lazy after a bullet point or two to highlight various features (but some aren't mentioned at all). The manual offers very little troubleshooting and no set up examples. This manual is a chief culprit why this camera is so difficult to set up and use.

BOTTOM LINE: How much set-up aggravation are you willing to put up with? And look elsewhere if you want "wireless."

I purchased two of these cameras. They are new to the Linksys product line. They are not inexpensive. However, compared to all the other wireless-g cameras available, these are good and reasonably priced. (Note, I had tried another brand of wireless-g camera, and had written a review on it. I returned those cameras.)

The cameras support WEP or WPA security (I am using WEP), are good in low light conditions, are sensitive to infrared illumination, can be accessed from anywhere I have access to the internet, and have remotely controlled Pan and Tilt. I have had them for 1 month, and I like them. Kudos to Linksys.

A word of CAUTION, I have not seen any wireless network camera that is "plug and play." And if you have a wireless router, firewall, wireless security, cable modem, etc., it gets more complicated. That is just the way it is right now. For this price range, no manufacturer can afford to give you tech support, other than for the basics. And for networking, there are very little "basics."

The manual is decent (79 pages.), but could use more information. However, you still will need some knowledge about setting up network adapters, especially if you are using a different brand router (which I am.) With some knowledge, it's going to take at least an hour per camera (probably several hours for the first camera, if this is your first time setting up an internet camera.) With little or no knowledge, you may not want to bother. I can be very frustrating.


Pros:

-- Can access the camera wirelessly (within your network) and through the Internet (within or outside of your network.) I am using DynDNS for access from outside my network. Your browser must support ActiveX (currently, works best with Internet Explorer.) Linksys also provides monitoring software for access outside of your browser (but it doesn't work.)

-- Moving the camera to other locations (within your wireless network) is easy. Just unplug, move, and replug into AC outlet.

-- Has nice features regarding IP assignment, email alerts, motion detection, etc. I have tried all these features and they work well. Motion detection requires some tweaking so that it isn't constantly picking up motion. When away, I get an email with a 5 second video clip whenever motion is detected. (This can be as little as 2 seconds, or no video clip at all, just an email alert.)

-- Good image quality. Quality depends upon compression settings (the camera is transmitting images digitally, adjustment may be necessary to minimize the volume of data being transmitted [bandwidth].) Webcams don't have the same bandwidth constraints, since they plug right into your computer, so there quality tends to be better. The camera has adjustable framerate and quality settings.

-- Fair color quality. I don't believe this is a serious issue for security. Black and white is still predominantly used for security. Part of the lack of color quality (or accuracy of color) is the camera's infrared sensitivity, which is a plus. However, if security is a serious issue, there might be better choices for surveillance.

-- Decent low light sensitivity. The camera's infrared sensitivity makes the camera more sensitive in lower light incandescently lit areas. If you can read under the existing light, you will get a very good picture. (For viewing under dark conditions, you would need to supply your own infrared lights.)

-- Motion detection with email alerts. Works well when set up properly.

-- Good fixed focus. Camera focus can not be changed, however, the images appear clear under most conditions. (The ability to manually focus on a remote camera is not a feature that is easy to do. There is no viewfinder on the camera! Remotely focusing cameras are expensive.)

-- Multiple indicator lights and LCD address display on the camera, in case you forget what IP address your camera is assigned to. These lights and display can be turned off remotely.

-- Remote pan and tilt. Works well. The motor is a little noisy. But for the price...

-- Can use a Dynamic DNS (DDNS) service other than SoloLink. I am using DynDNS and I have DDNS and a cable modem and a non-Linksys wireless router. Again, you need to know a little about networking.


Cons:

-- Setup is complex. This is probably an issue with any wireless camera. Setting up access, in particular from outside your network, is a complex process. Going from wired to wireless is particularly complex. The initial setup does not include all the options available when you access the camera remotely. So, you can't do a complete job during the initial wired setup (particularly with setting fixed IP addresses and port assignments.)

-- Camera is not small (like webcams.) With the motors and dome, I understand this is the best functionality you probably will get for the size and price. Smaller cameras require smaller motors, etc. and that would cost more.

-- The stand the camera sits on is flimsy; the camera just sits on it. I am surprised there is no snap/lock (or whatever) to hold the camera to the stand. It would not have cost any more. However, there are mounting holes and a tripod socket on the camera.

-- Monitoring software, for access without using your browser, has problems. I was only able to get it to work on one of three computers I installed it on. Linksys has not been helpful. This software is required for viewing multiple images at once and provides a recording capability. One can view multiple images with your browser, but you need to open up more than one window on your browser and then try to arrange them.

-- Accessing the camera wirelessly through the Internet can be a problem if you don't have enough bandwidth (internet speed.) Also, some corporate firewalls won't let you through.

-- Camera antenna is very directional. Requires careful adjustment in some locations in order to access it. The worst position is upright (vertical) as shown in all the pictures!

-- No useful online help or forums. My guess is that camera is still too new.


Other:

-- I have had both my cameras plugged in (AC power) for days with no need to reset. When I first installed my cameras, I unplugged them more frequently to reset. (There is a reset hole on the bottom of the camera; but unplugging is easier.) I don't have a conclusion.


This is a relatively inexpensive IP camera that works relatively well in the wired mode that is relatively new to the market. However, even with extensive help from Linksys/Cisco's technical service I have been unable to get it to function in the wireless mode. As others have noted the color is poor. Read more...

Pros

- This is an affordable IP camera that allows one to view from other computers if you use Linksys' web-forwarding service or other services.

- Pan/Tilt mechanism works though, as another reviewer points out, a little noisy. This may be good if you want to know if someone is using the camera.

- There is a 2X zoom that may help is some cases but it is not much of a magnification

- The color of the image suggests that it relies heavily on IR wavelengths so it may work in low light but I have not tried this yet.

- There is an LCD panel on the front that allows one to check the unit's IP address and whether it is static or dynamic.

- The software permits an email alert if the image changes which functions as motion detector.

- The software can ftp an still image to another site at regular intervals so that you can build a movie or update a viewing web page.

- Setting up the camera in wired mode was straightforward.

Cons

- As others have noted the color is poor. Trees and grass register a reddish hue that suggests that the camera is heavily weighted toward the IR wavelengths. A replacement unit also had this problem so it is probably the default situation.

- The image resolution is not crisp.

- As another reviewer has noted the stand is flimsy and does not hold the camera securely, especially if the cable is stiff.

- The major problem is that I have not been able to establish a wireless connection using my D-Link DI-642 wireless router. This has been noted by other reviewers. After with several interactions with Linksys/Cisco's technical service the first unit was deemed defective and replaced (shipping at my expense). The replacement unit also could not function wirelessly suggesting that the problems are inherent in the design. I will not list the steps that we tried to establish WiFi but they were extensive with both the initial unit and the replacement unit. Linksys/Cisco has again asked me to send the replacement unit in for another replacement. I am fairly proficient with wireless configurations so I should be able to configure this camera to work with my network.

In summary, this camera has good potential but is plagued by problems that make it a disappointing product. I believe that this camera has a narrow window of compatibility and is not ready for the general consumer market. I'm betting that these problems result from software issues that were not addressed before rollout. I can not recommend this camera.

Please note that it is Linksys/Cisco's policy that no refunds are given on returned equipment. This means that if you are not satisfied with its performance you have no recourse.


This camera doesn't explicity advertise that you need IE 5.5 to use the features that the camera is packed with. Nice unit. But you can't get there from here if you are running a Mac (IE 5.2 is the highest available there), or if you use Firefox, Safari, Mozilla or others.

Linksys needs to wise up and go cross-platform compatible. The camera has too many nice features to keep it all in Windows. The author of thompsonreviews.com has a FAQ on how to get limited video working with a Mac which is helpful if you already own one of these.

As with any wireless product hard to set up. Mine more difficult as running from a router to a wireless router to a range expander. All of which are Linksys. Sololink or other services not really needed as they are not very reliable and the domain names are so long you might as well just type numbers. Set the camera only, to fixed ip address at the end of your assigned range and allow the router to assign numbers to other computers on the network. Most cable providers actually dont change your ip addresses very often and will for a small charge give you a static ip address if it becomes a problem .The camera is easily accessed remotely over internet using routers ip address(found in your routers set up pages). Remember that the 192 ip numbers are only valid inside your home network, Remotely you access the camera by the internet ip address so trying to access 192.168.1 .... numbers through your browser will never work unless you are physically on the network it is attached to. Like wise if you are on the same physical network as the camera, the internet ip addreess of the router will not work. once you have forwarded it to a port that port must be listed after the ip address or it will not find it. From work I find the camera by using the routers internet ip address followed by the port it is forwarded to -- like 213.132.110.71:1026 and at home on my network I use the fixed ip address of the camera 192.168.1 .110:1026(1026 is the port it is forwarded to)
In a network at home you are trying to access the cameras port, and remotely you are trying to access the routers port which are two different ip addresses
As far as sharpness and color it is good and certainly no worse any webcam i have ever used. Pan and tilt works well and I can move it anywhere in my house, repower it back up and never run the set up. I am going to buy at least one more .

Took way to long to get working, and with lots of workarounds to get any functionality out of it at all. The wireless antenna is defective, and the Linksys community forum has lots of horror stories (of course I didn't see them till after I had the camera and was trying to find help making it work). The firmware is buggy. If you try to make too many changes to quickly, the camera loses it and must be reset to factory and the setup process restarted. The wireless antenna is defective, I suspect a design flaw, so it won't work on wireless at all (some others got it working only with the antenna straight out but mine won't work at all). The camera won't respond to a LAN (local IP) access request, I could only get it working through the Sololink DDNS.

I have a Linksys WVC54G fixed wireless internet camera that works fine on the same network, but this PTZ camera is a dog. I'm hoping Cisco/Linksys releases a firmware update that fixes some or all of the problems (other than the defective hardware), but I've used lots of Linksys products and they are so cheap (in cost) because they're so cheaply built, and Linksys likes to skip the firmware update process and simply release a new version of the product(s) that fixes some of the buggy aspects of their earlier versions. Sucks, but then their stuff is cheap. I'd rather pay a few dollars more for better quality.

The camera has good fluid motion in the house on the internal network.

Over the internet it is more then I expected. Very good quality considering it was over a semi slow up-link speed that Brighthouse provides here in MI. Over all I'm happy with the speed.

The camera is clear but not perfect. (Very high quaility if you compare to most of these webcams and small cameras that aren't $500+) don't expect camcorder quality here.

Viewing my couch is NOTHING like when you see it live. The camera does a very bad job of displaying correct coloring. Things tend to have a purple / green tint to them. Not really a huge issue for me, but if you are expecting an exact color match, you'll want to move on.

The most important thing you can read here is this......

The antenna is EXTREMELY touchy. The camera will not work over the wirless AT ALL and then you will move the antenna 3 inches down and it's working at it's best. Anytime you set the camera in a new spot, play around with the antenna because it likely will not work the first time you set it down, a simple twist of the antenna will solve your problem.

Overall I give the camera 7 out of 10. Color issues and the antenna being so iffy was kind of a disapointment.
I am buying another so I am happy with my purchase as I believe you would be.

I installed this camera and worked fine. I took it downstairs for wireless. It is so slow, you can take a nap. If you trying to use to see video from work, overseas or from another wireless computer, forget about it. It does not work. (Even I enabled port on camera and opened the ports on wireless router.). It worked as long as it was sitting next to wireless router. If you take if far from wireless router, it does not work. I returned it and using my Logitech QuickCam (wired).

For the money the camera is OK, but setup is a nightmare. Needs better instructions....

a virtual nightmare with set up. no help from their support staff on phones, nor online Q&A. poorest choice i ever have made in a product!!
I am a savvy computer type with network experience and this one for the books. Item still sitting where i left it......., useless.

I needed a camera to record what goes on in my house and my Sony HandyCam wasn't going to make the mustard. It does not detect motion. You all know where I am going here.

See, I have 4 cats (don't ask why), and I wanted to find out who was doing what in the living room. And of course, have some fun.

I have been debating over the thought of purchasing a wireless camera for over a year now and was looking at the Linksys Wireless-G Internet Video Camera and the Linksys WVC54GC Compact Wireless-G Internet Video Camera but Santa never provided one for me.

I was a little worried because of the negative reviews on Amazon about the G PTZ. Seems there are more negative than positives and I didn't want to get myself into purchasing something that I was going to spend a bunch of time trying to make work and having my girlfiend looking at me silly for, e.g. (If you saw the negatives, you know it didn't work, why did you buy it?). I really do love her alot!!!!

Well, I went out and purchased this product, it arrived today, and I have it up and running right now.

I am very Impressed!!!!

FYI - I own a Linksys WRT54G wireless router and a Linksys NSLU2 network storage adapter with 2 Maxtor external 250gb drives.

I saw a few reviews that said configuration of the camera was a nightmare (my words) and I was very concerned about purchasing the product. I had the camera up and running in less than 10 minutes. Without the Linksys software.

When I plugged the unit into the back of the router, it got assigned a DHCP address. I went into IE, plugged the IP address of the camera and off I went to give it a static IP address. I disconnected it from the router, put it into another room (this is where I got concerned, because I saw a reveiw that the antenna is flaky), and presto....it was up and running without a problem!!!

What is even cooler, is there is a front panel display on the unit that will display what IP address it is set to. It will show DHCP or Fixed.

If you do not like something bulky, this may not be the camera for you. But it fits just right in the middle of all my nick nacks. My son saw me messing around with the computer and the camera and was looking around the living room to figure out where it was at. It really can go unnoticed with the color of the unit and profile.

I just need to figure out how to get the motion detection working...that will be at a latter date but all in all....

Cool Camera...

Nice job Linksys!

I gave it 4 stars because I do not have something to compare it too at its remarkable price. Where I work, they spent thousands of dollars on similiar products but you have to run it on separte severs and special cameras. I thought that was my only option. The video quality of this product is "better", but the software and documentation could be a little bit more indept.

If you are looking for video quality, like my Sony HandyCam, forget it. It just does not make it. Although, for goofing off, or just monitoring things, it does a really nice job.

Thanks Amazon for having a really great internet site that allows users like me to review products before we purchase them. You know how much I've spent on your site!

And Thanks Linksys for providing the world with great products. But can you give the world a update on the NSLU2?







I would say that this product is not as easy as advertised. In order for me to see any picture at all I had to upgrade the firmware of the camera. Also the software interface so slow, cumbersome and not so user friendly.

It works but if you take it far from Wireless router. Forget it. If you are buying for overseas, don't even waste your time. I wasted a week to show it to my relatives overseas.

I tried these cameras right out of the box and experienced the same troubles others are having. But I came up with a work around.

The first thing you need to do is straighten the antenna completely. Do not use the 45 and 90 degree catches.

On my router/ap... I installed ddwrt on my linksys wrt54gl and increased the transmit power on the router from 28 to 50 and set the router to reboot itself every morning at 4:00am.

On each camera I bought a $5 appliance timer at the hardware store. (the one's people use to have their lights turn on and off when they aren't home) and plugged the cameras in to the timers. Then set the timer to shut the camera off at 4:00am and turn itself back on a few minutes later.

A nice low tech fix. Everything is 100% rock solid now. Of course I had to jump through a couple of hoops to get everything working but hey, these things are cheap for what you are buying. I have not had a single problem with the cameras in months after the timers and router reboot were in place.

Yes they are troublesome but are perfectly reliable with a little ingenuity. I would have given it 5 stars if it could push the images to an FTP server at a faster rate than 2 an hour.

Also, I wish it was able to stream the video so I could embed it in a page using media player or quicktime. ohh well.

I spent two days and couldn't get the wireless to work. With the camera configured using wired ethernet cable, the unit worked fine. Picture quality is poor and doesn't work in low light. I used two infrared light sources and the camera doesn't pick up a picture. PTZ is kind of cool, but it doesn't provide any value if you can't get a decent picture.

The concept is nice ... 802.11g camera. However there are some fundamental flaws with the design.

The streaming of the video is too heavy-weight for the 802.11g. A simple ping shows hops in excess of 800ms. As soon as I stop streaming, it is about 16ms ... which means the cams processor is overloaded.

The stream is very choppy.

As for pan / tilt ... only works 25% of the time. The video always streams (which means there is connectivity), but when I issue pan/tilt commands, only 25% of the time does it respond to my commands.

I bought this as a toy ... to put in the front window to see who is there, while I am working in my home office. I don't see how someone would / could use this for practical monitoring. The picture is very choppy, not very clear, and doesn't respond to commands.

Considering Linksys is owned by Cisco ... this hit the market without any real quality assurance. This is hardly useable.

2 thumbs down. Come'on Cisco ... get your act together. You are leaving room for someone to come in and do it better. I will be returning this, and may buy the panasonic.

I bought this camera to check on my apt while I am working. So far I am quite satisfied with it. Setting up the remote internet access is a bit tricky, but - I guess- it is always like that with these gadgets. I have a "standard" wireless network at home (w/ a Gateway 2wire router).
To do so, in brief, you have to open a new channel in your network firewall. This includes a port forwarding of the camera to a channel other than 80 (like 1024).
I am also using a linksys software (sololink) to track the dynamic IP address of the camera on the web, but you can use other freeware softwares for that, as well.
Pan/tilt function is great, color is OK. I'll try w/ an IR soon
In concluson this is a great camera for this price.

It presents/displays many problems for its configuration, for example so that messengers of yahoo works like camara Web in hotmail
Since I can make to use Linksys Wireless-G PTZ Internet Camera with Audio WVC200 - Network camera - pan / tilt - color ( Day&Night ) - audio - 10/100, 802.11b, 802.11g - DC 5 V, like webcam in messengers of yahoo and hotmail

The color of the image is WAY off (greens and blues display as red) and there is no way to adjust them. Don't expect to display the output on a web page without giving the caller your user name and password and then just PRAY they don't modify your setup! The image itself shows a "fish-eye" effect. Linksys has not addressed these issues in spite of the many complaints on their support forum. Nor will they provide any documentation on how to program the camera for a web site. My $50 Logitech web cam does a far better job.

As others have noted, this item is way, way too hard to install. I'm very computer oriented, build my own computers, taken college level computer courses, etc., and I could NOT get this to work even though I've gotten other similar units to work with minimal effort, D-Link version. Although, again, while it worked flawlessly "wired," it was also a minor challenge getting it to work wireless... but I could never get the Linksys to work at all... I have nothing against Linksys equipment, in fact, I have their WRT54G router and it's a great product.

However, this Internet Camera is NOT a great product...