Rating  - needed a new router and some tech support
We purchased this camera last week so we could watch our new infant puppy when we're not at home. The camera has been running for 3 days consistently and we are very happy with our purchase. However, we encountered a few troubles.
We are not IT people, but consider ourselves computer savvy. After realizing that the camera did not come with an ethernet cord, which is required for initial setup, we attempted to hardwire the camera to our desktop using the cable that was connecting our wireless router to the desktop. Then, we connected the desktop to the router wirelessly. This seemed great in concept, and it probably would have worked. Unfortunately, we were having a great deal of difficulty. So, we obtained additional cables and tried to set it up again the next day. Everything seemed functional, and then the next morning, everything quit. It seemed that after purchasing the camera and having to upgrade our wireless router firmware, and after the camera trying to access and change our DHCP settings, our wireless router finally died. It was four years old, which is apparently considered old.
So, we bought a new NetGear router. This time the install was seamless. Everything worked exactly as the install instruction said it would. We had one problem in that we couldn't access the camera from the internet. I called tech support and the problem was solved within 20 minutes. They were very helpful and knew exactly what to do. The software for NetGear autoconnects to the UPNP settings of the camera. When you set up port forwarding, the port is already in use. So, you have to turn off auto UPNP on the camera so that the router does not see it there. Then, the port is available for the incoming web traffic. Once we did this and changed the port number, everything worked flawlessly.
I recommend this camera to people who are computer savvy. You do not need to be an IT person to use this, but it definitely helps to know your way around your router settings. Overall, we are very pleased with our purchase and would buy another one.
Rating - Good WebCam for the Price
I have 3 of these webcams in my home. 2 for monitoring my pets and 1 to monitor my basement as I have water problems. I have a wireless network connection via my Laptop. I use the LinkSys Wireless Router.
These work very well. I can check in during the day while I'm at work. I can also check in via my CellPhone (Palm Centro) if I am out of town. I was suprised as to how well you can view the image via a cell phone.
The only problem I have had, was that the cameras would often be "offline". I learned that if I put them all on a timer so they all get a break, then they work just fine. Since you cannot see anything after dark, I just turn mine off with a timer during the night.
I plan to get 1 more of these in the near future to monitor my pellet stove.
Rating - A cool little device...
This is a neat little device. I have a bunch of them. They are small enough that you can tuck them inside stuff, cheap enough that you can use a bunch of them, and the picture quality is adequate if you put them in the right places. Don't use them for your wedding snaps, though...
They can send periodic pictures by email, take bracketing pictures (say 5 pictures before the trigger, and 5 after, a second apart,) and they can store the snaps internally, email them, or ftp them to a server somewhere. They can send to 3 different email addresses, and they have 5 triggering conditions including time of day and motion detection, each of which can do different stuff with the pictures. The JPEGs are about 27k at 640x480, so they won't kill your email. This one uses 4 watts, so they will run forever off a cheap UPS if someone turns off the power to your house. The wired cams use 2 watts. Each camera has a webserver built in, which can show a single page with 3 other cameras' pictures on it. Configuration is a breeze. Really.
Only downside I have found is that they do WEP not WPA. I use an old access point just for the cameras. Balanced against the positives, this is a minor point.
This is an amazing amount of technology for under $180.
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Customer Reviews for Panasonic,BL-C20A,037988845057,0037988845057,B000FBOF96, |
