Customer Reviews

Creative Live! Wireless Internet Camera System

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I really NEEDED to like it, too. Trying to figure why my dog keeps going crazy during the day and I needed a wireless webcam to do it. But this is just not cutting it.

First of all, it's really not wireless, which you already know if you read the installation info on the Amazon page. You have to plug it into the wireless server, and then you have to plug the server into a power outlet. Not the most ideal set up, but I really needed it, so I figured I'd try it anyway.

Problem #1, the camera is so light, it won't even stand up by itself. The cord keeps pulling it over.

Problem #2, it's supposed to be easy to install, and apparently everyone on here thinks it is, but it was giving me fits. I got as far as it telling me to unplug the temporary network cable, and then it asked if I wanted to set it up for the internet, and I said yes, and everything was downhill from there. It wouldn't find the camera at all without the network cable plugged in, and even when I had it plugged in, it would find the camera, but kept timing out trying to connect to it. And the couple times I did get the connection, it would drop almost immediately.

I finally "deleted" the camera, and ran the wizard again to install it, and said NO to the set up for web question, and then it worked.

However, problem #3, it can't see outside at all. I tried pointing it out the window and it was completely washed out, you could see a very faded tree and that was it. I thought maybe it was a reflection problem with the window, so I opened the window, and same thing. I have read about cameras not being able to see in the dark, but this one can't see when it's too bright, apparently.

The other complaint that I have is that they tout this wireless bundle as a security thing... monitor your house from the internet, etc. But then the camera they bundle it with is a regular webcam, not a wide angle. If you're going to try to monitor a room, then you need wide angle. All it is is a USB webcam and a wireless server, it should have been easy for them to just put the Live Ultra (I think that's the wide angle one) in there instead of the Live. Or maybe sell the server separate so you can buy whatever webcam you want.

Oh, and my other gripe is that the phone tech support is only open M-F during normal business hours, so if you need help setting it up, you have to call from work. In which case, you won't have access to any of the equipment while you call, so they can't walk you through problems.

Annnd, one more thing... I was wishing that the software it came with had the same features as the Web Cam Center software (only for multiple cameras.) I like the feature that records a photo every 10 seconds and stores them on the hard drive... that way I can just put it in thumbnail view and browse through until I see something in the frame that's not supposed to be there. With the software that this comes with, it will take a photo every how-ever-many seconds, but then it puts it together in a movie, so unless you know what time something happened, you'd have to watch the whole movie in order to see anything.

I purchased the camera as a security cam for our house and as a way for my other half to be able to see the cat (the cat always sleeps in the same place by the window) when she is working out of town.
This camera works great with a Linksys WRT54G wireless router.
Just use port forward in the settings on the router and away you go. That fact that Creative will host the page with that displays your camera is fantastic.
It is a great buy!

I was looking for a set of web cams for security purposes while we were on vacation. Setup of the cameras was very straightforward and had them both up and working the way I wanted them to be in about 30 minutes. I had one camera trained on the front door and one on the basement door. I was able to view both cameras side-by-side with Creative's Internet Camera Center software. The cameras are also individually accessible via any web browser.

To view the cameras, you have the option of subscribing to a DDNS service so your cameras can be accessed by a DNS name, or if you keep track of your public IP address (as I did), you can use that as well. If you have more than one camera, you'll have to configure a unique web and streaming port for each one, and port forward appropriately.

I also used the camera's motion detection capability. It has the capability to email you when motion is detected, and will send you a configurable number of still images of what it detected. If you do use the feature, be prepared for false positives. Sudden light changes, such as lights on timers, seem to trigger the motion detection. I probably only received five or six emails per day (all false positives, thankfully), which I thought was perfectly acceptable.

The camera image is quite good for a camera in its price range. I considered a Linksys, however after reading all the horrible reviews regarding its camera quality, I passed it up for the Creative.

Overall, I'm really happy with the product.

The good things:
- It works! (One shouldn't overlook how important this part is!)
- It is easy to set up.
The not so good things:
- It really really really needs more video and network settings. For example, to control the frames per second and the polling rate.
- More info. If you don't use the stupid network wizard, it never tells you anywhere the info you need to do it manually, (nor online). The port numbers listed in the device are not inclusive.
- Warning. If you have highspeed internet connection via cable, you may not have the upload bandwidth needed to get anything useful out of it remotely. The local cable companies frequently lie/mislead you about your UPLINK bandwidth...

good size camera,easy to connect, easy to view images in the computer/web. I wanted to record outdoor activity, but this camera only gave a visible image for one hr out of the day when the light was perfect according to the camera - basically sunny days, evening and in between did not record. For the one hour that there was an image(6 am)it recorded clearly & in color. I tried adjusting everything, but it didn't work... may work indoors only, or mine was broken...

While this camera seems to be aimed for remote monitoring of areas for security reasons, we have found it great for being our baby webcam. We just turn it on, point it at our son, and let people check to see how he is doing throughout the day. Also, my dad calls us using a web messenger program and we do video teleconferencing so he can keep up with his grandson even though they are 2,000 miles apart.

After reading other reviews for other units about how hard it was going to be to set up a wireless camera, I decided to try one of the Creative Live! units as a test.

Even thought I have a wireless access point and not a true wireless router, the unit set up easily and worked perfectly right out of the box. Because of the firewall I have set up, it was a bit harder to get the remote monitor access to work, but after setting up a VPN tunnel, it also works as advertised.

The only thing I am not really happy about is the motion activated e-mail system. It works, kind of... Because the motion detection is really based on changes in light and not true motion, every time the wind blows the trees outside the window, the change in light causes the camera to send out an e-mail. I ended up having to turn off that feature, because I was getting 100+ e-mails daily. What I would like to see is a method that allows the unit to write to a hard disk on the local network instead of sending e-mails. I contacted Creative technical support to ask if this was possible. The first response said yes, and gave instructions. Those instructions did not match my software, so I asked for clarification. The second response said I could not do it at all. I asked about the contradiction, and a third answer said to lower the light in the room. Needless to say I am not all that happy with their support department....

If they could add the ability to send pictures or video to a local hard disk based on motion, this would be a winner!

After spending a lot of time trying to set up this camera myself and time with the Creative tech support I actually ended up returning the item. Turns out that the camera requires the use of Port 80, which is blocked by my ISP and, according to my ISP, is blocked by many ISPs. Tech support wasn't much help either. I had to wait at least 20 min each time I called and I felt like I got the run-around each time, with a wild goose to chase in order to get me off the phone.

I got this thing up and viewable on my local network, but could never access the image over the web. Quite a disappointment. I do not recommend it.

Like many others, I picked this item up as a home security feature. I get some peace of mind from the fact that I can check on the status of something remotely with only an internet connection, and the motion detection works reasonably well. It does a few false positives here and there, probably due to changes in light coming in through the window, but they're really not that frequent.

The positives:
- Easy setup, at least for me. Had it up, connected to the internet, and the motion detection / email configured in less than a half hour.
- Motion detection works as advertised. Sometimes the pics are a little blurry if the light is low, but for this price I'm not complaining.
- Adjusting settings, turning motion on and off, even turning the camera on and off... it can all be done remotely via the internet. Solid.

Areas for improvement:
- Can we PLEASE get a timer option for the motion detection? Instead of having to turn it on and off, I'd LOVE to be able to set it come on between the hours of 8 and 5, Monday through Friday. That would make the motion detection feature far, far more useful if the unit lives in a trafficed area.
- It's a little wobbly. I ended up taping it to its wall mount bracket, and the additional heft makes it far more stable. Just use electrical tape, and it doesn't even look that bad.
- It really can't be used for monitoring outside. Any brightness much above normal inside lighting washes out the picture, no matter how much you play with the settings. Not a huge deal, just make sure you're buying it for inside use.

Overall, well worth the money.