Linksys WVC54GC Wireless-G Internet Video Camera

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Product Details

Product Manual [2.35mb PDF]

• Item Weight: 3.4 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0002V8KW2
• Item model number: WVC54GC
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (55 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #30,746 in Electronics (See Bestsellers in Electronics)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: May 2, 2006

Product Description

From the Manufacturer
The Linksys Wireless-G Internet Video Camera sends live video with sound through the Internet to a web browser anywhere in the world! This compact, self-contained unit lets you keep track of your home, your kids, your workplace -- whatever's important to you.

Unlike standard "web cams" that require an attached PC, the Internet Video Camera contains its own web server, so it can connect directly to a network, either over Wireless-G (802.11g) networking, or over 10/100 Ethernet cable. The advanced MPEG-4 video compression produces a high-quality, high-framerate, up to 640x480 audio/video stream.

The Internet Video Camera's unique form-factor and wireless connectivity allows you to mount it on a wall nearly anywhere, or slip it into its included stand for desktop use. Once it's connected to your home network, you can "see what it sees" from any PC in the house, while the audio/video stream is secured from the outside world, hidden behind your Router. If you want the video to be visible from outside your home network, you can open an appropriate port on the Router, and then create password protected accounts to manage access to the camera, or leave it wide open for the world to see. The SoloLink domain service (trial sign-up included) lets you access your camera using an easy-to-remember "name", even if your home Internet connection uses a dynamic IP address.

You can also turn on Security Mode, which tells the camera to send a message with a short video attached to up to three email addresses whenever it detects motion in its field of view. You can then log onto the live video stream if the situation warrants. The included Viewer & Recorder utility lets you record the audio/video stream to your local hard drive, "live" or on a predetermined schedule.

Let the Linksys Wireless-G Internet Video Camera help you keep tabs on your world.

Features

• Integrated web server - view from most web browsers
• Access the camera from anywhere in the world via the Internet
• Supports enhanced MPEG-4 compression
• View video from your Wireless-G or wired ethernet network
• Connect an external Microphone or use the Built-in microphone for audio monitoring
• Easily identify your camera's IP address from the built-in LCD display
• Includes easy to use Linksys Viewer & Recorder utility with Snapshot feature
• Motion Detection and E-mail notification
• Create a database for user authentication
• Supports resolution of up to 640x480 pixels
• Time Stamp & Text Overlay
• Connect up to 4 users simultaneously
• Supports Linksys SoloLink DDNS Service for dynamic IP connection
• Multi-platform support - TCP/IP, SMTP (E-Mail), HTTP, DHCP
• Windows-based Setup Wizard for easy setup
• WEP encryption up to 128-bit

See a comparison diagram of the different wireless technologies.

Wireless networks are rapidly becoming more popular and coming down in price. Since they don't require cables, you can use the devices anywhere in an office or home, even out on the patio. There's no need to roll out an Ethernet network cable to each room of a house; you can network anywhere -- without wires. Outside of the home, wireless networking is available in hotspots at coffee shops, businesses, airports -- great when you're on the road and need to get some work done. For convenience, wireless networking is the answer. What Wireless Standard is Right for Me? Now that you've decided to create a wireless network, the next step is to figure out which wireless standard to use. Basically, a standard is a set of specifications for a device. All devices that follow a specific standard share operating characteristics, such as the radio frequency used and maximum data transfer speed. For wireless networking, there are three standards to choose from at this time: 802.11b 802.11a 802.11g 802.11a/g To learn about the differences between the standards and select the right one for your network, click here for an easy-to-understand chart.

Product Description
The Linksys Compact Wireless-G Internet Video Camera sends live video through the Internet to a web browser anywhere in the world This compact, self-contained unit lets you keep track of your home, your kids, your workplace -- whatevers important to you. Unlike standard web cams that require an attached PC, the Internet Video Camera contains its own web server, so it can connect directly to a network, either over Wireless-G (802.11g) networking, or over 10/100 Ethernet cable. The advanced MPEG-4 video compression produces a high-quality, high-framerate, up to 320x240 video stream. The Compact Internet Video Cameras unique form-factor and wireless connectivity allows you to mount it on a wall nearly anywhere, or slip it into its included stand for desktop use.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

93 of 94 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It actually works and that's a surprise, October 23, 2004

By	B. America "annodomini1969" (East Stroudsburg, PA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

With a long history of many failed attempts at IP wireless cams, Linksys creates what others could not; one that works.

Configuration with WEP was pretty easy. It's a little temperamental with distance compared to the tolerances of other G devices, but it works. It does not react well to low light levels and tries to compensate via its own gain. If you are using this in a home without AMPLE light, expect a grainy picture.

Frame rate is about 20FPS and is annoying. The security feature works. It senses movement and mails a captured video file. With only 4 seconds at the medium setting, the video images were over 500Kb. This is not for a dial-up AOL user.

There is a remote viewing option that lets you use their web servers to hit your cam from anywhere. Of course expect to pay about $40 for two years access.

134 of 142 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Learning Your Mother Falls - Priceless, December 28, 2004

By	Robert Salita "Software Developer" (CHI PAR PHX SYD PDX CLD NKC) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Update: 28 March 2005: Comparing two web cameras. I originally bought the Linksys WVC54G and now have the Hawkings NC320W. Both are very good for senior monitoring purposes. I now prefer web cameras which use Java applets (NC320W) instead of ActiveX (WVC54G). There are situations and browsers that simply can't use ActiveX and thus can't display images. The quality of both web cams is suitable for senior monitoring. Expect image quality to fall off in low light. The WVC54G has a wider field of view. This can be important in situations where you'll have to buy two NC320W to see everything whereas only one WVC54G is needed. I am now using three NC320W and viewing using Firefox browser. Warning: setting up a router to handle multiple web cameras needs a near router expert. The NC320W may soon become obsoleted by the newer and cheaper HNC230G (not released as of this date). I recommend setting up the cameras using static IP addresses so power outages won't cause new addresses to be reassigned.

True Story. Everyday I check on mom to make sure she's ok. While on vacation in Australia, I tuned in at the very moment she fell off the couch in Chicago. Using Skype, I called the senior home to have someone help her get up. Although she could have slid over to the phone and called for assistance, the important thing is that I learned she falls and can't get up by herself, and she hasn't been telling us. The WVC54G works well for this application. I can even see which DVD she's watching. I had to open port 1024 to get it working so it's not plug and play. Once running, it has never gone down, very important. My only complaint is that the auto white balance isn't true. Colors and lighting are somewhat off.

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Works fine if you are careful and methodical!, January 3, 2006

By	C. Blakely - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

[EDIT]
Ok, 3 weeks after setting these cameras up, I do have a few negative comments. The cameras will sometimes spontaneously stop working. I haven't been able to figure out why. I'm on the other side of the country from them now so I can't physically see them. Eventually they come back online. All 3 are just sitting there plugged in, in an empty house.

The video is fairly choppy if sound is enabled, even at 320x240.

The lighting plays a huge role in the quality of the image - bright sunlight in a window makes the image almost unusable. The image is very poor in dim lighting as well.

The field of view is pretty narrow and there's nothing you can do about it - I wish there was a wide-angle option.

I wish the interface to the camera was editable, and that you could show multiple cameras on the same page.

Other than that, they cameras basically work as advertised, but I couldn't recommend them for anything other than a novelty because of the image quality concerns and the reliability issues. It's fairly cheap and is good for casual monitoring.
[/EDIT]

I just set up 3 of these for my father-in-law (all the kids gave them to him) in his vacation home. He wants to be able to check on the house when he's not there. They worked fine, as advertised, as long as I was careful and made sure I had the right firmware. This is how I did it, without using the setup CD (which is confusing and was unnecessary for my setup).

If you've got a Linksys router and you haven't messed with the IP ranges like someone else who posted has, it's really easy to do - the most important thing to do is set it up WIRED first! I plugged the included ethernet cable into the router and into the camera. Then I powered on the camera. It booted up and showed 192.168.1.115 or something as the IP address in the little LCD window. I opened up an Internet Explorer window on my PC. Went to http://192.168.1.115. The configuration utility for the camera came up. Clicked on "View Video", installed the ActiveX Control I was prompted for, and up it came - the camera worked. Clicked on "Setup". Default username and password are admin and admin. Under "LAN Settings" I chose "Fixed IP Address", and assigned it the value I wanted. For my 3 cameras, the IP address I chose were 192.168.1.150, 192.168.1.151, 192.168.1.152. Subnet mask was always 255.255.255.0. Gateway, Primary DNS, and Secondary DNS were all always 192.168.1.1 (the router's IP). Tested each of those by opening Internet Explorer and going to the IP address for the camera (i.e. - http://192.168.1.152) and made sure they worked under the fixed IP address.

If you have a non-Linksys router, or have messed with your routers' IP range, it's more complicated. D-Link and Netgear use the 192.168.0.xxx range (0 instead of 1), and I presume to get these working you'll have to plug the ethernet cable from your pc into the camera, use IE to go to the address it shows in the LCD window of the camera. The you should be able to change the IP address of the camera to an acceptable value (like 192.168.0.150) Gateway, Primary DNS, and Secondary DNS would be the router's IP address (i.e. - 192.168.0.1). Then you plug the camera into the router and you should be able to access it through IE on your PC at that new address.

Once I was sure that worked, I set up the wireless settings. Typed in the SSID the router uses, chose Infrastructure, clicked "Enable", and hit "Apply". If you forget to hit Apply it won't take. Then I hit "Edit Security Settings" and in the popup window chose the Default Transmit key from the router, and the key from the router. Kept it on "Open System". Then hit Apply and exit.

Now I unplug the power from the camera. Then unplug the ethernet cable from the camera. Then plug the camera power back in. The lights will flash and the indicator for wireless should come up, along with the IP address I chose. Open up Internet Explorer again, type in the address again (http://192.169.1.152), and it works.

Did this with all 3, then placed them in the house where I wanted them, and tested them again. All worked.

Then I went into their configuration utilities and set up the Email Alert feature. This is the only part that gave me trouble. Basically what I figured out is that the 2 cameras that had Firmware version 2.07 worked fine, and the one that had 2.11 never worked. I downloaded the 2.07 bios at ftp://ftp.linksys.com/pub/network/ (the file is called WVC54G_fw2.07.zip) and flashed the 2.11 camera back to 2.07. Then the email notification worked fine.

Oh and another confusing part was the "Outgoing Mail SMTP Server". Turns out you pretty much have to use your internet provider's mail server, which I was able to find on their website. He uses Charter Cable, and I found out on charter.net that the server is smtp.charter.net. I also just set up a new GMail account specifically for these cameras.

To make it easy to view the cameras from the internet, Linksys included this SoloLink DDNS thing which they charge for. I opted for a free option, and made a new dynamic DNS account at dyndns.org. I set up port forwarding on the router to forward alternate ports (I chose 2000 and 3000 - and set up the cameras "Alternate Port" to these values) to two of the cameras. So now he can get to the three cameras by going to
http://thehostnameichose.dyndns.org
http://thehostnameichose.dyndns.org:2000
http://thehostnameichose.dyndns.org:3000

That's it - works great and I'm happy with them. I give it a 4 because the fact that I had to flash backward to an older bios in order to used an advertised feature is stupid. Other than that, it's great - and no more difficult to set up than most other wireless networking devices.