| D-Link Wireless Internet Camera, Home Security, 802.11b, 11Mbps |
|
|
| |
| Features: |
Web-based Remote Access Using Any Java Enabled Web Browser
Integrated Web Server
802.11b Wireless or 10/100Mbps Fast Ethernet Connection
Bundled Software for Multi-Camera Monitoring and Management
Archive Streaming Video to Your Hard Drive |
| |
| Description: |
| With its compact, all-in one design, the DCS-900W is a great remote monitoring solution for your home. The DCS-900W connects quickly and easily to your existing Fast Ethernet network or 802.11b wireless network and a setup wizard guides you through the set up process to get you up and running in a matter of minutes.The DCS-900W features a built-in web server, which means that you do not need to have a computer to stream video images directly to the Internet. Video images captured by the DCS-900W can be viewed remotely by typing an IP address into a Web browser. With its easy-to-use Web-based interface, the DCS-900W can be managed and configured from anywhere in the world.The included Windows-based IPView Lite software provides even more features, allowing you to archive streaming video straight to your hard drive, monitor up to 4 cameras on a single screen, rotate camera views, and update the firmware on your DCS-900W. |
| |
| User Reviews (37 total): |
Page 1 2 of Total 2 Pages
|
The way I resolved the WEP security issue, November 27, 2007
By wb6fiu (Monticello, UT United States)
This isn't so much a review of the camera itself, as it is information on a way to resolve what I consider to be the camera's biggest downside (other cameras too!). This might get a little wordy though. In reading some of these reviews, I notice that a lot of people have trouble understanding Networking technology (BIG surprise), causing them to suffer through tech support calls. But, knowing even a few basics, can help avoid having to make that dreaded call... As most people now know, WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) is badly broken, and is only good for keeping honest people out of your WEP enabled network. The DCS-900W only supports WEP. My home wireless network is configured for WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access), which offers much stronger security, (but only as strong as you make your pass phrase). I didn't want to open up my entire LAN to black-hat hackers, by adding a WEP access point, just so I could add the camera. So, here's what I did to keep my network safe, and still use the WEP based camera... I happened to have another router, and another Access Point (has to be two separate units). I used my laptop to configure them through an Ethernet cable. First, I set the router's (that is, the additional router's) LAN address to an available address within my existing LAN: 192.168.254.253, (Use the same SUBNET MASK as everything else: 255.255.255.0). Then, I set the WAN IP to a static address of: 192.168.1.1. Then, I configured the Access Point to have a static LAN IP address of 192.168.1.2. Of course you also have to configure the wireless stuff (i.e. SSID, WEP, 64, or 128 bit encryption...). Now that the new router and Access Point have been configured, here's how to connect them up... Using Ethernet cable, connect from your existing router, hub, or switch, to a LAN port on the new router. Then, connect the Access Point to the new router's WAN port (It might be labeled "Internet"). Now you need to create a "static route" in your original router's configuration, that will allow users who's PCs reside on your network (in my case, on the 192.168.254.0 segment) to access the camera(s) which reside on the 192.168.1.0 network segment. The static route parameters (fields) should be something like this: Active or Enable, Name (of the route (it's just a name)), Destination IP (in my case, the added network segment address: 192.168.1.0) (It might need to be entered as: 192.168.1.0/24 (the /24 indicates 24 bits of the segment address or another way of saying there's 24 bits in the subnet mask)), Gateway (in my case, the LAN IP address of the new router: 192.168.254.253). If the router's IP is 192.168.1.1, and your Access Point's IP is: 192.168.1.2, then your camera(s) can have any IP in the range of: 192.168.1.3-254... At this point, you can access anything on the "1" subnet from the "254" subnet. Now, I haven't tested the following with my setup, so you might need to play with IP addresses here, to make it work? If you want the camera(s) to be able to access DNS (Domain Name System), and NTP (Network Time Protocol) servers, you'll need to open some ports on the new router. This is called "Port Forwarding" or "Virtual Server" or "Firewall Rules" (Depending on what your router manufacturer wants to call it). Anyway, you'll want to configure "Inbound Rules". For DNS, the Port is: 53 for both TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) & UDP (User Datagram Protocol). For NTP, the Port is: 123 for UDP. You want to "Allow Always". For the destination IP, depending on how versatile your router is, you might try giving it the LAN IP address of your original router, or maybe the actual destination IP of the server providing the service. Once the ports have been opened, the cameras and the Access Point should all be able to use DNS and NTP services. I've said all of that to say this... Having another router added to your existing infrastructure, provides a safe way to incorporate any equipment that is limited to WEP. Assuming your added router has NAT (Network Address Translation) turned on, Nothing malicious is coming through it, into your original LAN. And if your Access Point can disable wireless to wireless communications, then even if someone does obtain a wireless connection to the Access Point, the only thing they can even attempt to do is guess the Admin password to the Access Point. So, make it STRONG. But that's ALL they can do. Hope this helps a little.
|
DOA, July 28, 2007
By Clinton E. Foster
This camera failed to work from the moment I plugged it in. The lights flashed virtually at random... the power light would sometimes blink on and off, sometimes it would stay solid. The ethernet light would blink once every minute or so at some times, and at others, even when it wasn't plugged into anything, it would stay solid. After a brief conversation with their technical support staff, it was determined that my product was defective. I tried two separate routers, and neither detected it. The reset button didn't appear to work, either.
I was really excited about this, but now I'm not so sure. I'll certainly be leery of purchasing a D-Link product in the future. I guess we'll see how well the replacement works.
|
Easy setup but not a reliable performer, June 22, 2007
By Eric Barger (United States)
This camera was easy to set up just like the DCS-900's I own. I want to note that you can run this camera via ethernet cable if you want. In fact I do this because the wireless comes and goes for no reason and it is only 20 feet away from the router with no obstruction. The video is choppy like the DCS-900 but the quality is livable for those who can't afford the higher end ip camera's (like Axis who actually deliver 30 fps). Low lighting situations are horrible on this camera and making out faces is not easy to do unless you are in a well lit room.
Tech support by D-Link is present but be prepared to be dealt with "aggressively" if you email them about the frames per second not performing as advertised.
Have realistic expectations and if you can, go for the higher end cameras and be happier with your decision. Btw, I use this camera with SecuritySpy for the Mac.
|
Good little security Camera for the price., June 2, 2007
By Martials Art maniac (Flushing, NY United States)
I picked this unit up about a year and a half ago. I needed to have this unit serviced after 7 months because I could not connect to the unit anymore. Soft Reboot, Hard Reboot did not solve it, DLink was nice enough to send me another unit. Took about 2 weeks turn around. That was about 9 months ago, I have had this camera mounted on top of my house over looking the front yard. In the day time the image is very crisp at 640x480, I only hope one day a 1280x1024 resolution would come out so I can view my entire yard just instead of my front porch. I have a piece of saramic taped on it, so the water will not get absorbed into the unit. It has survived the cold winters and also the rainy season as well. It holds up well outside, you just need to cover the unit.
Nite time viewing is not soo great, it is very grainy but what can you expect w/o a builtin night vision modular. I use webcamxp with this software to broadcast it over the web and also to send me email alerts triggered by the motion senor. I like to check up on my UPS and Post Man every once in a while to see what they are up to. :) I recommend using WeBCamXP with this unit because it has a lot of nice features which the DLink software does not have. The interface can be a lot better, but I just use it for its camera feature and nothing else, so it does not bother me.
I highly recommend this unit if you want to look over your new puppy inside the house or view your property. I currently have two of these units, one for the inside of the house with a Linksys POE connected to it. (Power Over Ethernet), so I can mount it anywhere without trying to struggle to find an OUTLET.
|
Novice review, May 31, 2007
By David D. Vanderpool (Albuquerque, NM United States)
Being tech. stupid, I read all the directions and got it up and running wirelessly in a few min.
Still can't view it outside my network. The only thing I can figure out is that there is a block on my server side to reduce bandwidth but the instructions cover that too. I have yet to try it but in the mean time, I use it to spy on my dogs in the livingroon while I'm working in another room. Good picture, average wireless range. I like it so far.
|
Great hardware, HORRIBLE software!!!, April 6, 2007
By X_HOBBES (NJ, USA)
The device is GREAT. The concept is GREAT. The software is HORRIBLE! The documentation is even WORSE!!!
I hate it when a manufacturer goes through all the trouble to create a magnificent product, but then skimps on the software/drivers/documentation/etc. This is a perfect example. The device is rock-solid -- could not ask for a sturdier product without going to industrial quality (and price). The software looks like it was written to entertain children! The developers focused SO MUCH on creating pretty icons (that are actually ugly), that they completely forgot about usability -- and worse, they forgot to document!!! There are no pop-up tips over any icons, nor is there any sort of Help feature anywhere. There is a PDF owners manual, but it seems like it was written by a 10-year-old. Half of the features are not even mentioned in the document. It's extremely frustrating to know that the functionality is there, but I will have to poke around at the stupid software for days before I discover it! Basically, a developer spent days coding each feature, but could not spend 2 minutes to put a label and description on it. Features that nobody knows about or how to use are USELESS!
If this device had even half-way decent software and documentation, it would get 5 stars -- but the software and documentation is so poor that it gets only 3 stars (maybe even just 2).
As for the hardware, here's my review..
SPEED: This device uses 802.11b, so it is limited to 11 Mbps, which can be too slow for video with moderate/high frame rates. However, for security purposes, 5 frames per second is sufficient (slightly choppy video, but better than most VCR-based security systems). I haven't tried recording at higher frame rates. I imagine that if compression is set to high, fairly high frame rates can be achieved.
IMAGE: This device can record up to 640x480 pixel video. However, the software only supports 320x240. In daylight, video seems relatively crisp, even at high compression. At night, the camera doesn't fare as well. D-Link makes other cameras that have much better night vision than this one. If you're looking for a night-time camera, consider a different model. The camera has a rotary focus dial on the lens, which can be set from close-up (20cm) through infinity.
CHASIS: The camera housing is sturdy and the base is actually made of cast metal (I expected cheap plastic, but was pleasantly surprised). The most-delicate part of the unit is the screw-on antenna. It's not poorly made, but just not as rugged as the rest of the camera. The camera is NOT intended for outdoor use. I have it temporarily mounted on a window sill, pointed towards the front of my house. Eventually, I will actually attach it to the window frame. The base can be screwed into either the top or bottom of the camera, so it can be mounted on a ceiling, wall, bookshelf, or wherever you'd like -- nicely done.
Initial setup (getting it onto the network and seeing video) is somewhat straight forward, but the poor software and documentation become apparent right away. Advanced setup (video surveillance, motion detection, recording, etc.) is EXTREMELY frustrating. I'm searching for 3rd party video surveillance software to use with it because I hate the packaged software so much.
The webcam comes with its own built-in webserver, so it can host its own website (nice feature). The built-in browser-based setup screen (kind of like configuring a LinkSys or D-Link router) does have a Help menu! However, the only thing it has is the following text: "For Help on Web Configuration settings, please refer to the Manual included with your Internet Camera." =-P
Good luck!!!
|
Wifi Flakey, November 3, 2006
By TV Geek (York, PA)
I really like the setup and picture from this camera. I ended up putting it outside my firewall so I could spy on my daughter from work during her naptime. With the hard-wired internal webserver, it has been remarkably safe from hackers. It seems to do a good job when it is connected to the network by a cable, but it flaked out a lot when I tried to use its Wifi connection.
|
Great Camera, does everything I expected, June 19, 2006
By Jeff Heaton (St. Louis, MO)
A great web camera for the price. Plug in the ethernet and power cable, and you are nearly ready to go. Note that you will have to plug in the ethernet cable for initial setup, even if you are planning on using wireless. You can access the camera directly, it has its own built in webserver. This allows any program that can use HTTP to work with it. Very handy if you want to use a program to upload shots from the camera to your website at regular intervals. No propritary software needed to get images, view everything from HTTP or a browser.
|
Good Camera for a Mac Security System, May 14, 2006
By MicroDoc (Wisconsin)
I just purchased this camera to set up with a Mac security system. The camera set-up requires a PC so if you are using a Mac you still need a PC to set up the camera. Once the camera was set up I used my mac software to add it to my security network and the camera works fine. Image quality and movie recording using this camera is good. I have not been able to get the wireless to work with the Mac system, but direct connection to the ethernet works fine.
|
Wireless mode not working, February 24, 2006
By A. Huang
The camera worked fine with wired configuration. For some reason the wireless mode is not working for me. After talking to the D-Link tech guy, he recommanded return the product as defective item. I don't know if just my luck of getting a bad one or not. Thinking to re-order it again and see what happen.
|
|
|
BIEN, February 23, 2006
By Nayjhoan Perez
ESTA CAMARA ESTA BIEN, NO TIENE MUCHA NITIDEZ PERO ESTA BIEN. AUNQUE ME VINO UNA DEFECTUOSA Y ESTOY ESPERANDO QUE ME LA REINTEGREN.
|
Received a defective camera - Dlink bad decision, February 5, 2006
By J. Barber (Miami, Florida United States)
I bought this camera and just when I am out of the country installing it I get the tech support guys tell me to send it back, lost my money, never again buy dlink. This was my first and last dlink product.
|
Much better than the alternatives, February 4, 2006
By Gadget Geek (Boca Raton, FL United States)
These are a new generation of "webcams". These cameras have a built in web server. They connect to your home net via ethernet. Management programs can display the images from the cameras on your computer screen.
I recently examined a Hawking camera. Superficially, it seemed to have security, but there were only two official ways to get an image from the camera. One was by using a facility where the camera e-mailed you an image. This image was tagged as spam by my provider because it used the big5 character set, even though it contained no text. But the other way was to use a java applet which was automatically downloaded from the camera, the same way any applet would be loaded.
This was the only image data displayed on the camera's web interface.
I wanted to get a still image, so I traced the applet's data stream. The applet simply connected to a port on the camera and then presented four characters and a newline. The camera responded with a four byte header and a jpeg. I was able to use echo, sleep and netcat to pull jpegs out of the camera - but I did not have to present the password to pull jpegs out of the camera.
The instructions that come with the camera tell you to open this port to the Internet via port forwarding from your firewall. You also open the camera's web port.
If you do this, then a hacker can see that you have this camera and then they can look for other open ports, and if they find the camera port, they can easily pull jpegs out of it with no password.
This is OK, though, since the camera is so incredibly bad that all that anyone will see is sort of a flesh shaped amorphous mass. I took this camera back to the store.
There are two other products on the market. One is the D-Link DCS-900W, and the other is the Linksys Wireless G. Both are comparable to the Hawking and way better.
The Linksys presents both sound and video as an MPEG4 stream. I know of no way to get still images from this camera (other than by having the camera e-mail you one). There is an active X control that allows you to view the video on a windows system, or, with the right codecs, you can use Media Player or Mplayer to view the stream. However, only a Windows user using Internet Explorer can access the camera through the web interfacr and see full motion video. Everyone else can go through multiple layers of frames to determe what the url is for the mpeg4 stream - then, that URL can be fed to a regular media player that can play (or record) an mpeg4 stream.
The Linksys can be connected to a 10 or 100 wired ethernet, or to an 802.11b or 802.11g wireless net. It supports WEP. By default it is configured to run at a fixed address - but it can run on WEP. A unique feature is that it has a small LCD panel and the LCD panel displays the IP address that it uses. It can look for motion within the camera and send out alerts by e-mail if motion is detected (that is, no external program is required to deal with automated motion detection from this camera). All data is presented on the web interface, and basic authentication (userid and password) is demanded if the camera is set up to require it before the video stream, or any data other than the base screen is presented. There are two levels of users - those who can display the video stream and one user who can administer the box.
I have not installed the Linksys management software - it seems to be unneeded. If I could find an open source solution that would allow me to convert mpeg4 to a still jpeg, then this would be the winning solution. But the conversion stacks I have found garble the images horribly. I believe that there is conversion available in the support software.
The D-Link has a URL where a jpeg can be accessed. All interaction is via web - and all interaction requires basic security. There are two levels of users - One user who can configure the camera and those who can just display pics.
The D-Link has a Java applet and an active-X control - take your pick - that allows you to view motion pictures - and it also has full motion video - so you can view full motion video from any browser that supports Java applets, or, if you are an IE user who has not installed Java, you can use the Active-X control to look at the video. Thus, the full motion video should work for almost everyone - I know it works in Linux and Windows. The D-Link has the best low light capability. It also has the clearest picture, by far. It does not have 802.11g and it does not have sound. It does support WEP. Internally, (to the applet) the motion data is presented as a series of jpegs, using a standard http stream format. All video or jpeg data is presented only after successful basic authentication.
The management software for the D-Link camera works reasonably well, but there is no reason to use it other than, perhaps, for upgrading the flash - although the "lite" software can present a very high quality full screen full motion video. All motion detection recording on the D-Link is done in an application on a connected windows PC.
These cameras cost a few dollars more than the Hawking, but they actually have a modicum of security.
The Linksys is a winner if you need sound, or if you want to get the extra performance of an 802.11g device - if you do not have any 802.11b devices, you might well not want to introduce the first one.
If you need motion detection in the camera, the Linksys devices also win. Linksys cameras and a wireless router would obivate the need for a computer onsite, and, with a DSL connection, say, would allow for the accumulation, at a central site, of images where motion was detected.
If you do not need sound - say, for a manned security setup, the D-Link cameras would allow you to put 16 cameras on a single screen - no wiring cost, and you could have motion detection and recording. That would be expensive, but probably much cheaper than any other solution. Considering that you could avoid wiring, it would be a winner.
|
I swore I would never buy a D-Link product again..., January 11, 2006
By Mike (Columbus, OH)
And I was right....I should have passed on this. It was a pain to configure, and then none of the settings would stick. Whenever I changed the default password, it would never let me log back into the camera without having to do a reset. That kind of defeats the point. Returning this item so I can get something decent. The money saved is NOT worth it!
|
This is a safe buy..., January 3, 2006
By SMC (USA)
I bought three of these to watch my kids with the new Nanny. Some said it's complicated to setup, I didn't think so. You need to configure the camera first using the RJ-45 connector, then go wireless. I had some trouble only receiving a signal from my wireless router upstairs to the corners of the ceiling where I mounted the cameras. I bought a repeater from Outpost for $19.00 and that cured that problem (Airlink Repeater www.airlink101.com). The only disappointment I have is that the cameras lens definitely provides a limited view of the room area. A wider view lens would have been nice, but for the money I really can't complain, I figure I'll just buy three more of these things and problem solved. Finally, you may want to buy some UPS/Surge protectors for each camera and your router in the event of a power outage if that's important to you. I've found UPS/Surge protector combinations for about 20 bucks at Fry's that should power these cameras for half hour or so in the event of power outage. Bottom line, these are a good buy.
|
WINNER, December 30, 2005
By W. Tahon (New York, NY)
I bought this camera so my family overseas can "join us for breakfast" or spy on us when we play a game at the dining table and it works out perfectly!
For around US$100 you can't go wrong with this beauty! Both ActiveX and Java support for viewing means that virtually every browser is supported...
Configuration is a breeze, all you need to do is make sure you hook the camera to some hub or router that has another computer attached in the 192.168.0.x IP range (for the duration of configuring the camera you could also hookup the computer directly to the camera with a crossover cable of course). You do not even have to install the software on your computer: Just make sure you can browse to the camera's default address of 192.168.0.20. Wireless configuration was easy as well: put in the settings, unplug ethernet cable, reboot the camera and you are all done! (my camera is only 25 feet away from the wireless router in the same room, so I did not test the wireless range of the camera)
If you want the camera to be reachable from the internet you of course need to do some port forwarding in your router, good idea to enable the second port on the camera (nice feature you can use a port different than port 80) so you can reach the camera on some high unknown port (providers often block incoming traffic on port 80 as they do not want their customers to be running webservers...).
The support for Java makes it easy to "plug" your camera in any website you might have (that is what I did and it works wonderfully). Support to define an NTP server is also nice: your camera shows the correct time always. Ability to hand out usernames and passwords to your family and friends: nice as well.
Quality of the video is very acceptable for a camera in this price range. I use it indoors in a not so very well lit room and it works out fine, sure the image gets somewhat grainy when the lights go down but again: very good light sensitivity in this price range. If you have US$200 or US$300 to spend you can get better quality and features (e.g. 2-way sound, pan, tilt), but I did not want to spend that money.
Even the hardware that comes with it is of very nice quality, the mounting kit can swivel and turn freely in a position you want and locks down perfectly with the knob. I mounted mine against the wall and it has been snug in that position ever since :-)
This is one of the most impressive gadgets I bought lately (together with the Nikko Samurai RC car I bought for my son ;-) ...) and I would highly recommand it to anyone!
Enjoy!
|
Setup was a pain, but works well, September 12, 2005
By Brian Smith (Iowa City, IA USA)
If your wireless router is a D-link router, I bet that this will be very easy to set up. But, if you own another brand, you may have problems with your IP subnet setup and your DNS address. For example, I have a Linksys WRT54G which is probably the most popular wireless router in the world. The Linksys router by default uses IP addresses of the form 192.168.1.XXX. This causes problems because this camera expects the router to be using addresses like 192.168.0.XXX. The installation manual does not mention this problem at all. I had to call D-Link support to solve this problem.
I actually ended up talking to two D-Link support people and both of them were very knowledgable and pretty polite. The phone call was toll-free; I was on hold for about five minutes before I got through to the support person. They walk you through the solution over the phone step-by-step. They assume that you know absolutely nothing about computers.
After we got it set up, it worked as advertised, and we haven't had any problems (we have had the product for about three weeks).
|
Good camera -Good price, August 23, 2005
By Tech-y (Florida)
I purchased several of these cameras and I am very pleased with their performance. They are easy to setup and sturdy. Shhh! Don't tell D-link, but I did test their durability on ceramic tile.
For the price <$100> you can't beat them. I am amazed by their update times over the web. These cameras will act as independent web servers, if you set up your router correctly. Each camera needs to have its IP and port associated correctly, after that it's cake.
As I mentioned, these cameras do update quite fast. A fact I did not appreciate until I experienced the Toshiba IK-WB01. I only use the highest resolution setting (640x400). At this resolution, you will be able to capture moving cars fairly clearly. Meaning, you can recognize make, model, color and driver hair color.
If you want to capture images a night, the DCS-900w is not for you. You should consider purchasing the DCS-950g. The DCS-900w is good to 2 Lux, making it useless at night. The DCS-950g is good to 0.5 Lux to give you an idea of the difference.
Bottom-line:
1-Relatively low cost
2-Easy to setup
3-Good updates at high resolution
4-Very stable - occasional power blips confuse it like all my other wireless gear. If power blips are a problem for you, use a UPS or a timer like the guy above.
5-Software IPView light is useful
6-NOT for low light
|
Disappointing, August 15, 2005
By A. Singer (california)
It took 45 minutes and two different tech support guys to set the camera up to talk with our Linksys router, and then it turned out that if the camera is more than 15 feet from the router, it can't pick up the signal. In afternoon light, and close to the router, the picture is quite good. However, it's useless to us!
|
okay - not great., August 10, 2005
By Wellard (PA, USA)
I'm running this camera on a mac. The specs for this camera quote it as being mac compatible with reduced functionality. I'm afraid that's a huge understatement. The camera arrived with no mention of how to configure the camera on a mac and no software that works with a mac and it was not intuitive on how to get up and running.
I called up D-link and was obvious that they had no clue. The configuration routine that they tried to get me to run through made no sense until I took charge and told him how to get the camera talking to an Apple network. At that point I got him to guide me through the browser based configuration tool. When we got the camera working I was basically left with a camera that was streaming live footage that I could see on a browser, but had no software that was able to capture live feeds or still images.
The only saving grace was that we already had two hard wired cameras capturing images to our website and that has given us some proficiency in capturing images and getting them to a web page. Unfortuately, even armed with that knowledge would would have been left high and dry if it were not for my wife being able to hack the server on the camera to find the still images that it was streaming. From there we were able to use automator software to capture and upload to our website.
Basically, unless you have a lot of patience and experience in java and webcams I would not touch this camera. We have it up and running, but the support and functionality is pityful. There are better (more expensive) options out there, use them.
|
Page 1 2 of Total 2 Pages
|
|
| Copyright 2001-2007 WiFiReview.com |
|
