• Image sensor: 1.3-megapixel CMOS image sensor
• Video resolution: 1,280 x 1,024 pixels (up to 15 frames per second)
• Connectivity: Ethernet port, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi
• Memory card slot: SD
• Zoom: 4x digital zoom
• Recording medium: SD/Network-attached storage
• Viewing angle: 355 degrees (horizontal), 120 degrees (vertical)
• Audio out: Yes
• Night vision: Yes
• WPS connectivity: Yes
• Mobile app: Available in Android and iOS, free

Unlike D-Link DCS-5230L IP camera, this Edimax IC-7110W does not have a spherical cover. Its open concept allows it to rotate nearly 360 degrees horizontally, allowing for a wide field of vision.

The video images tend towards red and blue. In some instances, black actually becomes blue. The night vision works perfectly, though.

Despite claiming to have two-way audio with its built-in microphone and audio out port, I did not manage to pick up any sounds. When you plug in a speaker, the audio output works.

The app works better than the browser when it comes to moving the camera – simply swipe the video feed to do so. There is around half a second of lag from the time you swipe the video feed to the time the camera starts to move.

The iOS app is compatible with both the iPhone and iPad. So you need to download the app only once.

However, there were many occasions when I simply could not connect to the camera on either a Wi-Fi or 3G network. You also cannot talk through it.

• Image sensor: 1.3-megapixel CMOS sensor
• Video resolution: 1,280 x 1,024 pixels (up to 10 frames per second)
• Connectivity: Ethernet port, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi
• Memory card slot: MicroSD
• Zoom: 16x digital zoom
• Recording medium: MicroSD/Network-attached storage
• Viewing angle: 310 degrees (horizontal), 90 degrees (vertical)
• Audio out: Yes
• Night vision: Yes
• WPS connectivity: Yes
• Mobile app: Available in Android and iOS, free

The price of this D-Link DCS-5230L wireless camera is at the high-side but it has all the bells and whistles that you could wish for in an Internet protocol (IP) camera, from night vision to Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) connectivity.

You can access the camera from anywhere, either using a browser or via the app mydlink Lite.

The video images tend to look washed out and the colors seem wrong, even in natural light. However, the infrared night vision works very well.

It has two-way audio communication with its built-in microphone and, when you plug in a speaker, you can listen to what your children are doing and then remind them to do their homework, for example.

With D-Link’s mobile app, it takes up to 2seconds after you press on the virtual directional key before the camera starts moving. You can zoom in with a virtual slider, albeit slowly.

The iPad app, mydlink+, costs US$0.99. It does pretty much the same thing but on a bigger screen.

D-Link promises that this surveillance camera will deliver a plug and play experience instead of a plug and pray one.

Designed for use in the home and small offices, the camera can be accessed and managed from anywhere in the world via mydlink mobile app on iPhone or Android devices.

High-quality video and audio can also be captured directly to a local hard drive without needing any software installation. The camera can be easily integrated to either an existing wired network or wireless network.

Click for more detail:
D-Link DCS-1130 Wireless N Fixed IP Network Camera with Built-In Microphone

• 640 x 480 resolution
• 16x digital zoom
• Manual-focus
• Wireless N connectivity

Trying to set up a home surveillance camera, or cam, used to be rocket science. To be able to view the video feed remotely on a smartphone or PC, you have to key in the Internet protocol address of your cam on your viewing device.

That is where the problem starts, because all broadband services now work on dynamic IP addresses and these change all the time.

To get around the problem you have to sign up to DynDNS.com, which monitors your broadband line every time your IP address changes.

That fixes only your external IP address, but because your router also dynamically allocates the internal IP address of your network, you need to set your router to always allocate the same internal IP address to your cam.

Another problem is that some Internet service providers block the default port 80, which your IP cam uses to send out video feeds, and you need to activate port forwarding in your router to solve this problem.

But all that is history with the new D-Link 1130L IP camera – the first cam I tested that is simple to install. What D-Link did was to load extra software into the cam. When the cam detects an Internet connection, it automatically bypasses the router as the gatekeeper to your cam and goes straight to a D-Link server on the Internet that does all the hair-tearing configurations at the back-end for you. It has never been this easy.

Simply connect the cam to the router through a LAN cable, then run the step-by-step installation wizard on the CD. If your router supports the Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) standard, just press the WPS button on the cam and the router.

You will then be prompted to sign up for an account at www.mydlink.com, which is the server that configures all the settings on your cam. Next, install the mydlink app from Apple App Store or Android Market on your smartphone. Launch the app, key in your user name and password and start viewing.

You can also view it on your laptop by logging on to www.mydlink.com.

After I set up the cam, I unplugged the cable and moved the cam from my study to the living room. Even via a wireless connection to the router, the video was smooth. I kept the cam running for hours in my office and the video feed just kept going.

I am using the D-Link DIR665router at home, which has a standard called Universal Plug and Play (UPnP), that lets devices talk to each other (in this case the router and the cam). This means the video feed goes directly from the cam to my smartphone over the Internet.

According to D-Link, if your router is not UPnP enabled, the cam cannot do a live feed. In this case, it records a 60-second video automatically and uploads it to the D-Link server, which then streams the video to your phone upon request – which means you have to keep reconnecting to your cam to view the latest feed.

Image quality is average and things can appear grainy. There are no pan and tilt capabilities.

D-Link says it will roll out more powerful cams later this year with the mydlink feature. Other brands like Edimax are also launching similar cams soon.

More: D-Link DCS-1130L Wireless N Fixed IP Network Camera with Built-In Microphone

The Panasonic KX-HCM110A is one of the more affordable pan-and-tilt cameras on the market. It offers a substantial 173-degree pan and 105-degree tilt range to monitor a much larger area than fixed lens cameras. Though it’s missing optical zoom, the camera’s 10X digital magnification (still with scroll wheel control) adds to its flexibility. Dual-stack support for IPv4 and IPv6 may appeal to future-proofing fans, and IPsec support (the same technology used in many VPN connections) eliminates nearly any chance of a hacker viewing your video. Panasonic also included an integrated microphone and a jack for speaker output.

Additionally, the KX-HCM110 features an I/O port so that, for example, when motion or a door sensor triggers an alarm, an external light might be switched on to assist recording. The camera can remember up to eight preset location and zoom combinations for quickly “patrolling” common areas in its field of view. Other basic extras, such as cell phone compatibility, configurable motion detection, and FTP, round out Panasonic’s midrange offering.

The picture quality on this camera fit well with the other lower-midrange cameras. Daylight results were noticably below the KX-HCM280A, but low-light tests were suprisingly good (but still not on level with our higher-end cameras). Strangely, this unit does not support multiple cameras in the viewer application, and VGA mode still holds you to a 12fps limit. So although this is a solid choice for wide-area general monitoring, we wouldn’t count on it for surveillance image precision.

[tags]Panasonic, Wireless Camera[/tags]

The D-link DCS-3420 takes the usability attributes of the D-Link DCS-1110 and piles plenty of extra functionality on top, starting with 802.11b/g (WEP and WPA security included), moving from support for four cameras to up to 16, and accommodating interchangeable lenses (chief among them the optional infrared unit for shooting in total darkness). We didn’t receive the IR or auto iris lenses for testing, and our unit seemed biased by default for shooting in low light as images were very over-exposed.

However, altering the video settings for optimal balance between bit rate, frame rate, and quality and tweaking the image settings (brightness, hue, etc.) yielded substantially better results. Even with the stock lens, though, low-light video proved remarkably clear.

D-Link integrates a BNC video output for connecting to a standard monitor or CCTV system. Another cool feature unique to this camera is the 4X digital zoom capability, which can operate like a mouse-controlled magnifying glass zooming in on a portion of the full frame. Other hot bonuses include two-way audio with the built-in microphone, a removable 802.11b/g antenna, email/FTP of video snapshots, and AVI export.

Motion tracking in 320 x 240 resolution mode was excellent, with very little noticeable blur or frame drop even over a wireless connection. The 10fps inherent at top resolution (704 x 480), however, shows a clear trade-off between detail and motion capability; you get one or the other, but not both. On the plus side, this unit’s MJPEG and MPEG-4 footage is viewable in any browser without a special application. Given its quality, rugged design, and flexibility for various lighting conditions, we highly recommend this as an upper-midrange security camera.

Click now to get D-Link DCS-3420-LW Extended Warr For Dcs-3420 DCS3420LW.

Built like a half-pound brick with a camera peeking over its edge, the D-Link DCS-1110 really delivers on features and performance. PoE, a desk stand, and two mounting holes make this unit more versatile for placement than one might suspect. The DCS-1110 integrates one-way audio for recording and a powerful Nightshot mode that uses the full 0.5-lux sensitivity of the image sensor. You can monitor up to three different zones within the field of view, each with its own percentage of sensitivity. The DCS-1110 even lets you preview the amount of motion it detects in each area so you can set a more realistic threshold.

D-Link keeps this camera easy to use without sacrificing flexibility or quality. The DCS-1110’s setup software displays D-Link’s usual simplicity, and its only awkward requirement is that it requires you to install ffdshow (an open-source DirectShow and VFW codec) to play back the MPEG-4 recordings, which, by the way, can spool straight to a NAS box.

There are no proprietary DDNS service issues, you can manually adjust the lens focus, and we like D-Link’s thoughtful touches, such as an antiflickering mode when used under fluorescent lights and the ability to set bit rate along with resolution.

For the price, D-Link does extremely well at preserving shadow detail and not showing blockiness. The Nightshot mode maintains impressive video down to surprisingly low light levels, and despite showing a noticeable delay between real time and what it displays on your screen, the DCS-1110 shows comparatively little blurring when shooting at VGA in 30fps mode. For those needing a general purpose IP cam on a budget, especially for businesses
looking to deploy a bunch of PoE cams around a facility, this is your chooce.

[tags]D-link, Wireless Camera[/tags]

Hawking HNC290G Net-Vision Wireless-G Network Camera stands up against Linksys’ unit in the budget category, sporting similar 10/100 Ethernet and 802.11b/g connectivity but adding adjustable tilt on the lens. The external antenna is removable for those who want a high-gain substitute. Hawking promotes this as the first network camera with automatic router configuration, but this function didn’t work on our D-Link DIR-635 router, forcing us to perform a manual installation.

Hawking requires remote service via the TZO DNS service, which has only a 75-day free trial. Another weakness is that motion sensing sensitivity isn’t adjustable. Also, some configurations require Hawking’s bundled camera viewing software, meaning you can’t change certain settings with the HNC290G’s internal Web server via a browser.

The Hawking HNC290G image quality on this device is fair, showing greater detail than the Linksys camera but lacking its color depth. Many test scenes look darker than they should, and you’d be hard pressed to identify an unknown visitor at normal range. The camera showed sharper motion results than expected in lower resolutions, but the 10fps rate in VGA mode is a known limitation. In low light, the Hawking HNC290G did well for its price and even triggered into recording upon motion detection, although the image quality was very poor. Again, this camera would be a better choice for casually monitoring a well-lit area than for reliable surveillance.

Click for Hawking Wireless G Network Camera now.