Customer Reviews

IP Video 9100A Plus Network Video Server (Black)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I had to place a little warning to others who might want to try this little IP camera server. I believe it's worth the money and will most likely be buying another soon, but be forewarned. There's a large measure of patience and network knowledge that is needed to get this little guy setup correctly.

First, there is no mention on the box what company it comes from, (Google says "Aviosys"). A CD accompanies the device, but good luck finding the documentation. It took looking through all the contents, as well as numerous cryptically labeled folders to find the 9100A Plus PDF file. (Try "doc/9XXX 2.3 manual/91-91A Manual-QI/9100A Plus Manual.PDF").

There are about four different applications that come with the device. (The "Disk1" folder is the location of the "setup.exe" for the 9100A applications). IPEdit, IPTracker, Surf16, and IPPowerCenter. IPTracker doesn't appear to work, (but then again keep in mind that I didn't really bother spending time with it). IPPowerCenter needs some .NET libs to work apparently, (again, didn't waste time). Surf16 has potential since it allows you to view up to 16 different videos on one screen. Since I'm looking for a web-based solution, I didn't bother using Surf16.

The IPEdit is the key. One thing to make sure you understand is that the 9100A is a very basic server. Anyone who's used to working with servers knows that you have to wait for them to startup. (ie. Don't expect the 9100A to be up and running as soon as you plug it in. Give it about 3 or 4 mins.) Once you've given it some time, startup the IPEdit and hit the "ReScan" button. This will give the IP address that you place in your browser window. (ie. http://192.168.X.X/ or whatever LAN X.X.X.X you have setup.)

The device seems to center around IE only, as the IE browser will show the entire web application, (configurations, camera options, etc). FireFox will only show the embedded camera window. It works, just not as useful as IE. (Not something I particularly like, which is one of the reasons why the rating is 3/5).

This device works pretty well, is only somewhat warm with a single camera hooked up. It's the size of an Altoid case and could very easily be forgotten and buried by papers and other "desk" objects.

It has potential to be "hackable", but we'll see...

For the ~$90 I paid for the 9100a, I can say that this device has exceeded my expectations. The following represents my experience.

The 9100a 4 channel video encoder is made by Aviosys. As with any device these days, it is typically a good idea to verify you are running the latest firmware from the manufacturer's website. Google will take you to it.

I have integrated this 4 channel encoder into my surveillance system, and it has been working great. Similar to another user, I have it mounted in my garage inside a panel. It does get warm but continued to function flawlessly throughout this past, mid-western summer.

Because this device has the ability to stream a raw MJPEG video stream, it has the potential to work with any 3rd party video recording software capable of receiving such a stream. There are plenty of software packages out there that can do this. In my case, I configured this device to work with Zoneminder, a fully functional and free surveillance software package. You can find specific instructions for integrating the 9100a with Zoneminder in the website forum. Google Zoneminder to learn more.

Out of the box, this device will stream all four cameras to your recording software in round-robin mode... meaning the application will see only 1 video stream that switches between cameras every so often. I personally don't care for this. However, installing the Yoics add-on firmware, as mentioned by another user, will give this device the ability to send 4 independent video streams to your recording software, albeit at a slow ~2 fps rate. Did I mention that Google will point you to the Yoics website? :-)

Sure the documentation stinks, and I can't say much for software that ships with the 9100a. Just remember you are getting this device at 1/5 the cost of the next most affordable 4 channel encoder. If good documentation and technical support are worth it to you then the Axis 240Q or 241Q may suit you better.

I never understod people that buy technology yet know nothing about technology - and so thereby bash the technology as "bad". The Aviosys 9100A+ (which is what this is, just rebadged as IPVideo) is a GREAT device and with a quick firmware update from Yoic, it is now a OUTSTANDING product.

The factory firmware is limited to full functionality under Internet Explorer Windows version only. The Mac version of IE does not work at all and Firefox, Safari and other browsers (Windows or Mac) only displays camera #1 and you cannot configure the device with those browsers.

So. Like any piece of networked device, some knowledge is required to configure it. That is common sense - this is not a light bulb that you plug in and switch on. I have yet to see any networked device by any vendor "just work".

Overall, this is an awesome device and I will be buying 3 more for our business and 1 for my home.

EG

There is one caveat about using the IP Video 9100 and that is that the video jacks are numbered 4-3-2-1 rather than 1-2-3-4. When I thought I had plugged into the number 1 (leftmost) jack I was actually plugging into number 4 and the results were disappointing. When I plugged into the rightmost jack, everything worked perfectly. I'm only using this device for a single channel of video, but now I am quite happy with the results.

Google this device and you will find a link to a technical review that describes how this is a little Linux computer in a box... pretty impressive!

Documentation was a third generation photocopy
No mention of the actual manufacturer or website
Pretty simple to set up for someone who understands basic networking
Windows support is more comprehensive than non- Active-X capable browsers, but still primitive
Works great in Safari on my Mac, iPod Touch
Great product considering the price.

I bought this and did not expect much. Boy was I wrong. Works great as advertised.
Down Side:Instructions suck. I finally figured out how to talk to the 9100a , thru my linksys router. Once I did this, I could change it's settings to a stand alone static ip address. The ipedit or find your 9100a over the internet (same sub net mask) never did work, found all kinds of cams & 9060 cam servers, but never was able to find my own 9100a. I renamed it, and still no luck. I am going to buy another one.
I wish they had a video out on it to monitor, but instead they put a audio in. Next, gets real hot, going to take case apart and drill some holes for ventilation. I'm going to buy another one just for a spare.You can't beat it for the price and how it works.
Frank

Still going strong with no problems 11/16/09. I might add I have it located in my garage and it got over 90 degrees in there this summer. No problems.

Got this item and had it set up and working within about 15 minutes. It does require you to do a bit of work on your router, but nothing hard. I was able to use it to watch my house over the holidays while I was over my mother's. Fun to see my cats walking around and playing. Worked on remote PC and on my LG non-smart phone! HOWEVER, I gave it a ding because I could not find a way, after hours of digging, to record what I was seeing remotely. I could record while at home just fine, but not from another computer. The image and video files would appear in the list when I had clicked save or save as, but then when I would go look for the file, nothing. I am stumped and will post here if I sort it out. It would be really great to figure this out.

It does have the capability to upload motion detected images or constant recording to an ftp site, but I have not used this feature yet.

Also, bear in mind there are several models; this one has NO video out, so you cannot record to a stand-alone dvr or vcr, but rather only to your computer. Instead, it has one audio in jack, which can be useful. I got this because I had a crazy drunk neighbor who would yell stuff outside my house at night. Made a point of telling him I had an audio-video recording system in place and the problem stopped instantly. He could see the cameras so he knew I was serious.

The software/firmware works quite well. You can remotely adjust the image, view all or just one camera, etc.

I do recommend this highly if you just want a system you can use to check on your house remotely.

The device works great at digitizing four analog camera inputs and makes it available over the web. You must use Internet Explorer to get the best value out of the device because it requires Active-X. In Firefox (on Linux) the interface is rudimentary at best. I have resorted to using wget to grab images from the device.

I planned to hook this up with ZoneMinder, but I need to update the firmware with the Yoics version which was mentioned by other reviewers. Unfortunaely, the first unit came in DOA, and had to be replaced (no problems, just took time), and then when I went to download the Yoics firmware, they have changed the site and I can't get to the firmware. Many requests for help have fallen on deaf ears. Yoics won't even provide an Email address!!

I would give it five stars if they had the Yoics firmware already installed!

Don't buy this unless you want to use windows and Internet Exploder.

Rick

Device does what was needed. I loaded the Yoics firmware on it and solved a problem I had with gathering video from analog cameras.

When I just couldn't get a wide enough outdoor IP camera I turned to the much, much cheaper CCD security camera market and found the perfect model. I then started trying to figure out how I would round up these CCD's with the rest of the IP cameras I have around my home. I found the IP Video 9100A being sold by Computer Geeks. Just looking at the generic product box made me wary but I figured I would give it a shot anyway. After all, I just needed a JPEG stream to pipe into my security software (Blue Iris).

The product arrived on time and packaged well. Once I hooked it up to my network I found the device in my DHCP list on the router and I was up and running. The interface was horrible and it only really worked with Internet Explorer (No Firefox). I used Google to see if anyone was doing what I was and I found out that there were so many people using this gem because of a little third party firmware someone created and released for free! I had noticed that another reviewer here also recommended the same so I gave it a shot. The firmware is called Yoics [...]). Follow the directions! If you do not properly install the firmware and let it finish you can render your unit inoperable.

Now that the new firmware is installed the interface is a dream to use and works absolutely perfect in Firefox. It also now gives me some images to clamp my security software to (which is xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx/usr/yoics0.jpg through yoics3.jpg for anyone wondering).

This unit is so wonderful that I have just purchased another one for the other side of the house. I just wish the manufacturer would install Yoics as the default firmware!