Astak Wireless IP Network Camera, Night Vision, 2-Way Audio, 802.11b/g, Motion Detection, You can View it from your iPhone and Upload your video to YouTube Directly.

by Astak

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• ASIN: B001LZSY06
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: November 23, 2008

Product Description

The mole is the all in one network camera for security and all your social network communities. A simple 3 step setup gets this H.264 Wi-Fi camera up and running, so that you can automatically send video clips to youtube or facebook, even if you're not there. Sophisticated built-in motion detection controls what you record, and will notify you via twitter or email if the mole catches something. You can remotely control the pan and tilt angles, and monitor or record video from anywhere in the world. View it from your iPhone, or any web browser. With 3 simple steps you can get your mole up and running, without needing complex technological know how. You can remotely control the pan (270 degree) and tilt (125 degree) of your mole from any web browser and iphone, built-in DVR (SD card required, SD card not included). Send video clips to youtube, the mole can automatically upload video clips directly to youtube.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Security Issues, October 9, 2010

By 

PC - See all my reviews

This review is from: Astak Wireless IP Network Camera, Night Vision, 2-Way Audio, 802.11b/g, Motion Detection, You can View it from your iPhone and Upload your video to YouTube Directly. (Personal Computers)

No way to secure the camera video/images. Only the main page is authenticated. The mobile page is NOT secured/authenticated.
Camera exposes your wifi security key in plain text.
Camera exposes your youtube username and password in plain text.
If this camera is hooked up to the internet then anyone that knows where to look can access your security settings, change any setting on the camera, view your camera, and control your camera.

There are other issues with this camera but given the above issues they are not even relevant.

Incase anyone is interested about what runs this camera:

Operating System is Linux (or some Unix variant)

Streams using VLC Media Player ([...])

Web Server is thttpd ([...])

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Works Pretty Good For Me, July 23, 2010

By 

Mark C. Giovannetti (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Astak Wireless IP Network Camera, Night Vision, 2-Way Audio, 802.11b/g, Motion Detection, You can View it from your iPhone and Upload your video to YouTube Directly. (Personal Computers)

Introduction

I purchased the Astak Mole camera to try one out; it is my first IP camera ever, so keep that in mind. After performing a lot of research on IP cameras, I realized the main issues with them were dropping of wireless connections and night vision performance. I am only using a wired ethernet connection, but the night vision performance is somewhat important; the camera is intended for use in my children's bedrooms at night.

Before I found the Mole at a warehouse club with a great return policy, the top candidate for use in the kid's rooms was the Foscam FI8908W (aka cam0011), since the night vision performance was listed as 0.5 Lux. The Foscam is much cheaper than this unit, but it was a no-brainer for me to try out the mole, given the no-hassle return policy.

Camera Setup

I did not use the YOICS service or the setup CD. I am fairly tech-oriented, but also found some instructions on the internet and a youtube video on how to set it up manually, which gave me a confidence boost! Basically, you plug in the camera to your network and locate the IP address assigned by the DHCP server. Next, you log in directly to the camera's web page for setup. I am only using wired, not wireless.

Night Vision

I have noticed upon researching the mole camera (after purchase), that the Lux specifications for the night vision are not listed anywhere that I could find. My testing thus far (in a completely darkened kitchen) reveals pretty good night vision performance at up to ten feet away. I did not test further than that, as the kids' rooms are not that big, but want to try it outside also, by setting it near a window.

Audio Performance

The audio performance seemed good to me when testing in our kitchen. This is an important attribute for me, given the intended use.

Motion Detection

The built-in motion detection seems to be really sensitive, but I did not try playing with the default settings. Motion detection is not too important for me, so I did not invest a lot of time in trying to improve it from the default settings.

Browser Performance

I tested out the camera's web interface on Internet Explorer 7 (Windows XP) via a wireless (N) laptop and a wired desktop. I also tested it out on Safari (Snow Leopard) via an iMac with a wired gigabit connection. Interestingly, Safari did not perform as well when viewing the camera live feed; the audio/video was delayed and the camera's response to commands (pan/tilt) was slow. IE7 worked much better in this regard. It did seem to freeze when left on overnight (requiring a page refresh), but I only think this happened on IE when using the wireless laptop.

Conclusion

Overall, I think this is a pretty nice camera (for my first IP camera), and think I will keep it; I can return it at any time. I will do some more testing before trying it out in the kid's rooms at night. The IE freezing issue may a problem, but that may be an issue with my wireless laptop. My monitoring plan for multiple moles is (eventually) to utilize DVR software, so it remains to be seen how the mole will work with the DVR software I purchase.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazingly Easy to Set Up and Use, June 3, 2010

By 

Adoptive Dad "Adoptive Dad" (San Antonio, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Astak Wireless IP Network Camera, Night Vision, 2-Way Audio, 802.11b/g, Motion Detection, You can View it from your iPhone and Upload your video to YouTube Directly. (Personal Computers)

This camera is a winner. Unboxed it, followed the quick start guide (hook up the network cable BEFORE the power cord) and installed software for initial setup. Worked perfectly, created user site and then stepped us through the wireless setup too, if desired. Unplug the network cable and the power cable, move camera to where you want it and plug in the power again. Tell the setup software to find the camera and that is it! Works beautifully with amazing video and connection speed. You can hook up a set of speakers to it and turn on the microphone that is built in for 2 way conversations (if desired) to the area you are monitoring. Pan and tilt worked great and with user defined HOME setting that brings the camera back to center on what ever area is most important to you. This camera really works great and watches the entire livingroom / dining area easily. The infrared works surprisingly well since I have had other infrared illuminated cameras with so-so results. Shop around for the price before buying. Great system. Highly recommended. It will be great to watch the house when I want to from out of state when needed.