Customer Reviews

Sharx Security VIPcella SCNC2606 Wifi Wireless 802.11g Security Network Camera

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Length:: 0:26 Mins

I purchased this camera mainly to use with my Smart Phone. It was easy to setup and can now view live video on my phone or any of my PC's.

I use this camera mainly to view wildlife behind my house. I have motion detector flood lights that light up the area at night, so I normally don't need the Moonlight Mode, although it does work great in low light.

The attached video was taken at night without using the Moonlight Mode. I'll attach another video showing what a video looks like with Moonlight Mode turned on.

This is an amazing camera and has a very sharp picture. I do wish it had an external mic jack like my SCNC2601. The audio is much louder and more sensitive when using an external mic. An external mic jack is on my wish list for the next smart phone supported model. :-)

Comparing this camera to my SCNC2601, I would say the SCNC2606 has a sharper picture but I do like the SCNC2601 for it's Pan and Tilt capabilities and its external mic and speaker jacks. Both are great cameras and work great locally or over the internet.

Length:: 0:59 Mins

Sharx Security VIPcella SCNC2606 Wifi Wireless 802.11 g Cell Phone enabled IP Network Camera with built-in Web Server, Microphone and Moonlight Color Night Vision

I was looking for a reliable 802.11 wireless monitoring camera. I tried two other brands. One would need rebooting every few hours to keep it functional. The video quality on the other was poor.
I decided to try Sharx camera, after reading the reviews on Amazon.
I have been using this camera for a week now. It didn't need rebooting like the other brand. The picture quality is amazing as compared to other two brands that I tried.
Cons:
The manual may be little a difficult for someone not very familiar with computers. But I believe this is overcome by the excellent customer support.
Pros:
Excellent Video Qaulity.
Reliable Motion Detection.
Excellent Customer Support.
Good integration with free dynamic dns, for accessing it from outside (linksys required paid service)
Email from Gmail SMTP server using port 465 (Not possible with the other two brands that I tested)
Moonlight mode for night video
Overall a very well balanced and reliable camera.

"Don't judge a book by it's cover" was never more true in this case. I wanted a camera of higher quality than your typical web-cam, so while I was scrolling through the results of "wireless cam" I initially missed this one due to it's visual similarity to webcams. But then I saw how highly it was rated and decided to try it. After owning the cam for over a month, I could _not_ be more impressed! It has all the features I was looking for and then some. Most importantly, onboard continuous loop recording to a SD card (or to remote servers), uploading of images to a remote server when motion is detected, and password protected web access (both through [...] or through active streaming using a viewer such as VLC).

The other reviews have covered most things that can be said, so I'll only try to fill in a few more blanks. The quality of the picture is excellent for the price. However, the moonlight mode does (understandably) drop the fps, yet unfortunately it still didn't quite have the sensitivity I had hoped for. There is a street light outside of my home, and although I can see fine with my eyes, the picture is completely dark even in moonlight mode. That's not too much of a problem though since the night-vision version is more appropriate for that use anyway.

Here's a quick run-down of all the settings available, since I don't think they are documented very well in the detailed specs:
Camera Setup:
- Light frequency
- Image rotation
- Moonlight mode on/off
- Power (activity) LED on/off
- Show FPS
- Mic on/off
Stream Setup:
- Independent Primary/Secondary/Mobile stream image size/framerate/quality settings
OSD Setup:
- On Screen Display (overlayed on video) configuration
Wireless Setup:
- Infrastructure or AdHoc modes
- WEP, WPA, and WPA2
TCP/IP Setup:
- DNS settings
- Configurable ports
- Basic or Digest Access Authentication
PPoE Setup:
- PPPoE dial-up on/off
DDNS Setup:
- Service, host name, username, password
UPNP Setup
- Universal PlugAndPlay Enable/disable
Alarm Setup
- Motion Detection (up to 4 configurable zones of sensitivity)
- Schedule Setup (configurable alarm schedules)
- Alarm Management (FTP/email/[...] of snapshots when the alarm is triggered)
- Periodic Sending (FTP/email/[...] of customizable timed periodic snapshots)
Alarm Server Setup (configure FTP/email/[...] servers)
SD card Function Setup:
- Record on alarm on/off
- Snapshot on alarm on/off
- Continuous record on/off (and this does truly loop, deleting oldest files to make room for new ones)
- Snapshot at interval on/off
- SD card FTP sending on/off
- Browse SD card
- Format SD card
Tools:
- System identity
- User management (can add login users, turn anonymous access on/off)
- Date & Time (configure time servers)
- Backup or Restore settings
- Firmware Upgrade (can only be done by support)
System Tab:
- Shows SD card status/space, wireless strength, active users, etc.

Although it's true as others have mentioned that there's no phone number for customer service, only email, they are incredibly responsive, and they truly know the product. You can expect a rapid reply that truly addresses your issue and not just canned unintelligent replies. If you buy this cam, be sure to contact them immediately, as they will download new firmware to your camera that fixes bugs and adds new features. This should be done right off the bat since the firmware overwrites your settings.

For the money, I don't think you can go wrong with this wireless camera!

Length:: 0:16 Mins

This camera has excellent picture quality, even when light level is low. This video was taken vedry late afternoon on a cloudy day, and with the "moonlight mode" it looks almost like a bright day, except motion gets blurred. If there is more light the motion is clear with 30 frames per second.

After researching and trying other options for monitoring my newborn daughter's nursery, I chose the 2606 because it offers a wide variety of features for an affordable price. Combining a wide angle lens, a low light setting (be sure you enable the "moonlight" setting to get maximum performance), and several simultaneous streaming options including some with two-way audio, the 2606 is a very versatile camera. Unlike some other wireless IP cameras, the 2606 offers several levels of encryption including WPA2-PSK which was a huge selling factor for me. Another HUGE selling factor for me was the cross platform compatibility since my primary system is a Fedora Linux machine. One thing to note on this point is that the included software is Windows only but it's only used for the initial setup of the camera (really it just scans your network to determine the IP address of the camera). However, all you really need to know after you plug the camera in is what IP address was assigned to it. Once you know the IP address, all settings can be set through a web browser regardless of platform. After installing the included software, simply plug the camera into your router and run the software and your camera will be automatically detected (again if you know how to determine the camera's IP address then you don't even have to install the software). The camera also has built-in motion detection and alarming capabilities so you can be notified via several options such as e-mail whenever motion is detected in view of the camera. If you're looking for a great wireless camera and you don't need total darkness vision (if you do check out the 2607), then the 2606 is a really nice camera which offers plenty of technology for a reasonable price.

I bought this camera as a camera for a weekend house. The camera works flawlessly and has many more features than I had expected. After set up on the wireless mode, the camera can be put anywhere in the house and routes through my Apple Extreme router. The instructions for setting it up with an Apple Extreme are step-by-step and flawless (there are also instructions Windows and other routers). When I needed assistance, the email customer support was quick and informative. When I needed more detailed help, I got phone help from one of the Sharx team who was very helpful and got the diagnosed the problem (my mistake) in a matter of minutes and then spent the time to tell me more of the features I would probably want to use. Overall, it probably took me less than an hour to set up the camera and begin to get familiar with it. Since then I've played around with other features and am discovering more of it's capabilities. Besides the wireless mode, another feature that I've tried is remote viewing from anywhere there is the internet (hence almost everywhere in the world). I also bought a Micro-SD card (highly recommended) for the camera (14.99 for 4GB) and like the ability of the camera to record pics onto the card either motion activated (loads of choices there also) or at regular intervals. These pics can also be remotely viewed. I also like the email feature that emails pics (again in my case motion activated) to an email account, again with loads of choices regarding how many, how many frames per second, etc. so as to not get thousands of pics on your email (I set up a gmail account specifically for this purpose; Sharx gives specific directions for setting it up in gmail so it will work, and it did the first time. So far these are the features that I've set up; and another awesome thing is you can use these features simultaneously, e.g., have it record on the micro-SD card and email, etc. The user guide has great directions for setting up this camera, including suggestions about what you might want to do when just starting out and what is more advanced, and as I said before, the email support was fast and great, and the telephone support was top notch (even though I only needed to use it once). This camera exceeds my expectations, so much so that I'm going to get another for the outside of the property and maybe even another (the night vision one) for inside; after the initial setup adding cameras seems even easier. BTW, the picture is sharp and clear, and you can use this camera as a digital video recorder (DVR) with the micro chip! All the materials, style, documentation and workmanship demonstrate that a lot of thought has been put into this camera, its functions and the users.

I have 4 of these at one of my customer. They have one checking pool area, one checking the property and 2 in their shop. They are clear as a bell. They have the software setup so they can see all 4 at one time on a separate monitor. The latest firmware make them easy to setup. All 4 are wireless going to a netgear router. They have 2 computers with extra monitors and they both can see all. Early on with the old software they were a little confusing to setup but with the latest firmware they are a snap. They stay connected 98% of time. Once in awhile they stop and usually a reset of software cures it.
The customer support is probably one of the best I have seen, I deal with support in my job and I wish other companies were as go as they are. I had a slight problem with one camera and I sent it back and they fix it and returned it with latest updates both hardware and software. I can't say enough about their support.
The cameras are clear and the sound on them are also good. You could use them at your house for door security. I am going to install one so I can see and talk to anyone at the door.
The price of the cameras are a little on the expensive side but you get what you pay for. If you want quality and clearity this is a good choice.
I setup up the cameras for viewing on the net. I use NO-IP which I use for my personal projects as well. You can get a free account or a pay one depending on what you want.

After hours and hours of research, I purchased the Sharx Security VIPcella SCNC2606 about 3 months ago. I use it to "tune in" to see my 3 month old in her crib while I'm at work. As has been described here by other reviewers, the camera can be a bit of a challenge to set up, but if you follow the detailed instructions carefully, most people should be able to set it up with little or no problem. It would have taken me about 30 minutes to do it if my wifi network name had been one word instead of 3. Overall, it took me about an hour or so (and I have very limited experience with setting up network stuff like printers and wifi routers). As many others have noted, Sharx's customer service is very responsive. I emailed them a question after I set it up and got a response quickly.

The camera's resolution/video quality is excellent, even in relatively low light. I can use my iPhone/iPad to see my baby anywhere in the world! A few caveats: 1) While I can use the camera with my macs (and set it up via mac), I cannot control some of its functions like zoom. For that, you need to use a PC. 2) My company restricts streaming video so I'm forced to use a proxy site whenever I want to use it from work. 3) Be careful if you use your iPhone/smartphone often: streaming video can increase your data usage costs pretty rapidly.

I bought 3 sharx cameras to watch my new nanny. the set up is very easy, just read the enclosed user manual and follow the directions. within 15 mins i got the video image live on my home computer. the cameras are installed in living room, baby bed room and dining room. all 3 video can be seen in one control window. (i use the app called Multilive, which is included in the setup CD)

i emailed the web addresses of the cameras to my friends, they tried it and everything worked well for them too.

to watch the live video at my work though, is another story. my company has very good firewall, blocking pretty much every port. each of my cameras need an open port to work. port 80 is common for internet use, tried that first and it worked. if you experience the same difficulty watching the video from work, just try the following steps: in the camera setting screen, click network, then click UPNP. change the external HTTP/RTSP port range to 80 -- 80. for multiple cameras, you need to contact your IT department to see what other port numbers are available. try 8080 and 1755, they are common open ports.