Customer Reviews

TRENDnet Internet Surveillance Camera TV-IP100

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I bought this camera and the Linksys WVC54GC. I don't really care about the wireless, but Linkys only offers wireless cameras.

This camera offers several improvments over the Linksys:

1. The TV-IP100 supports both Java and ActiveX, so you're not stuck with Internet Explorer or the lousy bundled software to view the video from the camera. The quality of the video is also much better. This camera does have a focus ring, so make sure to adjust it for the best picture quality.

2. The bundled software is better. It never crashed on me like the Linksys software would. TIP: Download IP-View Pro from TrendNet's support site by clicking on the link for the older versions of this camera (version A1 or B2). IP-View Pro offers more functionality than the IP-View SE bundled with the camera on CD, and appears to support more than the 4 cameras the SE version is limitted to.

3. A bonus for those who have POE (Power Over Ethernet) injectors or hubs, is that this camera's power connector is the right size and polarity to work with most 5V POE splitters. My setup delivers power to the camera of the spare wires in the ethernet cable. Linksys for some reason chose to use a smaller barrel connector than what my POE splitters come with, so an adapter is necessary.

If you really want or need Wireless connectivity, there is a wireless version of this camera.

Couldn't beat it for the price or ease of use. Easy to take the java feed coming out of it and plug it in to other web pages with a simple piece of code (just look at the source in the java view mode). Doesn't like all ethernet cords. Some seem to not make contact well unless you push them in all the way and then sometimes they lose connection after a day or so and need to be pushed back in a little more but, this is only with 1 or 2 cables that I tried.

I found that if you know about html, you can edit the files to change the appearance of the web page displaying the video image. I just created a page that will run the image at full screen. I found editing the activeX version works best! - don't forget to install the activeX control though.

I bought this camera based on the reviews, so figure I better do my part. The camera is pretty easy to set up. If my router had the default IP configs, it would have been easier. The instructions assume you know your way around networking.

Once I got the web interface up, I was able to quickly set things up to do DHCP which greatly simplifies things.

The picture is not bad for such a small camera. I have it pointed out the back window in my lakehouse so I can see the weather from home.

I DO NOT USE WINDOWS, so I appreciated that a few reviewers stated that this camera had a non-active-X mode. I am sure that the java may slow things down, but it works. I am still trying to get things configured to use the scheduler to upload images to my web site. Not sure what I am doing wrong there.

Positive:
Good web interface.
Good Picture.
Java-Streaming
Price

Negative:
Focusing ring is a little tricky.
Instructions for setup assume savvy user.
No night vision.

Good camera for the money. I purchased this and a Linksys. Came back and purchased another of these and returned the Linksys.

This camera has a better image and is easy to use. Only drawback is that it doesn't have a scheduler to let you use it as a motion detector. Linksys had this feature but it reset when you rebooted the computer.

Although advertised to work with all operating systems, the help line advice from Trendware was to "find someone with a windows machine". End of story.