Customer Reviews

TRENDnet SecurView Wireless Day/Night Internet Surveillance Camera Server with 2-Way Audio TV-IP312W (Silver)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I bought this camera for my sister, who just had a new baby. I wanted a wireless web came with two way audio, so that she could take it from room to room. I couldn't find a simple wireless webcam, so I bought this thing, which does way more than I wanted. Luckily, I like gadgets, and this is one neat gadget. However, its very difficult to setup if you want to use some of its advanced capabilities. Since the manual does not give very good instructions, I'll try to describe the basic things you need to do to set it up, as well as provide an overview of what it does. Do not buy this camera if you are not comfortable configuring your router. Someone who doesn't have basic networking skills would probably give this camera one star.

Pros

1) Can be an excellent security camera. The motion detection software works well, and the IR night vision is very good. The two way audio over the internet means you can speak to people it sees. It can be setup to send an email to your cell phone, and then you can log onto it with a PC and view and speak to your intruders or guests. It can also record video clips to network storage, although I couldn't get it to mount a shared windows directory. It seems to want a linux based shared drive.
2) The video quality is good, although not what you would call high quality. It's a little bit jerky, but that's what you get with this technology.
3) Has a nice mounting bracket that you can screw to a wall. The bracket has a tilt swivel mount on it like a camera tripod mount, so you can easily attach/detach the camera from the mount. This means you can carry it from room to room when using as a webcam, then put it back on the wall mount to use it as a security camera.
4) The included software can view multiple cameras at the same time, with each camera being displayed in a tile, just like a professional security camera system.

Cons

1) Horrible setup. If you don't know how to configure your wireless router, you won't be able to view this camera over the Internet. See below. However, if you only want to view it from a PC on your local network, and don't need the email notices when it detects motion, you can set this thing up just fine. This means you can't use it as a webcam, though. The instructions do not tell you anything about configuring your router to do this.
2) No autofocus. How do you focus a wireless camera that is in a different room than the computer monitor you use for viewing the camera? You can't, because you can't turn the manual focus ring and see the results as you turn it. This makes for a lot of back and forth to get the thing focused. The solution is to bring your wireless laptop with you as you move the camera.
3) Won't mount a windows shared directory. Technical support has yet to answer my email about this. Basically, this means you can't have it automatically record video clips to your PC when it detects motion. You can still record video clips manually, through the software interface, though, even onto a PC over the Internet.
4) No tilt/pan. Some cameras in this price range come with tilt/pan. I sacrificed it to get the two way audio and the IR night vision. The field of view is pretty wide, so I don't really miss the tilt/pan.

Setup tips
Most people's wireless router will have a dynamic IP address assigned to it by your Internet provider. Computers and cameras on your wireless network will have private IP addresses that are not routable to the Internet. By default, this camera wants to use 192.168.10.30 as its IP address. Your router may not recognize this private address. Mine was setup to only use a 192.168.1.x network. I had to reconfigure the router's private network to the 192.168.10.x network to talk to the camera.

Furthermore, there is no way to view the camera on that private network from a PC over the Internet. However, you can configure your router to route incoming requests from the Internet to the camera. You have to set up ports 80 and 554 to be redirected to the camera's private IP. Next, you have to be able to find your routers external dynamic IP address from a web browser on an Internet PC. The only way to do that is to sign up for a dynamic DNS service. When your router gets its IP assignment, it will report it to the dynamic DNS service, who will map it to a URL that you will type in your browser. Once set up, you view your camera over the Internet by typing in your URL. The dynamic DNS service sends your browser to your router's IP address, then your router redirects the request to the internal private IP address of the camera. A similar redirect would be needed if you were running a hardware firewall on your network. Note, the camera does have the ability to report its IP address to a dynamic DNS service, too. Only use this if the camera's IP address is actually routable over the Internet. Most of us will have the camera on a private network, with an IP address that is not routable. In this cae, if you use the dynamic DNS from the camera, instead of your router, it will not work.

If you want to setup email from the camera, you need to be able to configure it to talk to your provider's SMTP server. It's very similar to setting up an email client, so if you can do that, you can do this. It can send email and record pics/vid without you having to setup that dynamic DNS, thankfully. You only need the dynamic DNS if you want to view it over the internet.

You'd think that a security camera would get Internet security right. This one doesn't even try.

The camera doesn't support SSL/TLS connections. This means that, every time you log in to the camera across the Internet, your password is going across in the clear, and anyone sufficiently interested can then use that password to log into your camera in your home and watch what you're doing or record their own copy. Furthermore, even without logging in, your communication with the camera is open for the world to see. This a huge oversight that has no excuse; it's like installing new locks in a house and leaving the key under the doormat.

If you try to set up email alerts to notify you of certain actions (e.g. motion detection), you'll find that the camera does not support secure SMTP servers. In other words, every time the camera sends email, it will be sending your email password in the clear, so that interested parties could later log into your email account and do whatever they want.

The product uses a proprietary Internet Explorer ActiveX control, which forces you to use IE instead of a more secure and standards-compliant browser like Firefox. But that's not bad enough. The ActiveX control apparently has no understanding and support of Vista NTFS permissions. This means that in Vista if you try to record to certain directories on the hard drive, it fails with a cryptic error message---even if the user has administrator rights. The only apparent way to get around this is to run Internet Explorer as Administrator (a special Vista super-user that has more rights than even a user with normal administrator rights), which is a bad idea in general and reflects the outdatedness of the implementation.

There is no way to tell the camera to start recording to the local hard drive when some action occurs. Sure, you can have the camera record to a "network hard drive", if you can figure out how to set one of those up. Or you can have the camera record to a USB drive hooked up to the camera, which someone can easily steal along with the camera. Or you can manually record to the local hard drive. But you can't simply leave your browser window open and have the camera only start recording to the local hard drive when there is some activity.

This would be a great little camera if someone with actual security experience had been in charge of its firmware. There is no excuse for these huge lapses in design, ruining what could easily have been a great product.

Update 2011-07-04: I was excited that firmware upgrade 1.1.0 build 72 purports to add SSL support! A closer look reveals that TRENDnet is utterly incompetent when it comes to networking. Yes, the firmware allows you use SSL for the SMTP server (outgoing emails), and this works. But that's the only good news. While there is now a configuration for specifying an incoming SSL port (default 443), if you try to connect with Internet Explorer 9 you get "Video is not support for HTTPS Protocol." Lovely. And if you connect from outside the network using Firefox (using port forwarding on the router), the Java applet won't load, giving "java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: ultracam.class". And of course the TRENDnet SecurView Mobile Android app doesn't support SSL in the least. Utter incompetence.

Update 2012-04-20: Now TRENDnet is saying that firmware version V1.1.1 build 74 brings "improved security". But Firefox still gives a ClassNotFoundException, and IE still says "Video is not supported for HTTPS Protocol". And of course the Android app still doesn't support SSL. But security is so important to me, you know what I'm doing? I'm leaving the SSL turned on, even though I can no longer view the video in IE or in Firefox, and I'm using IP Cam Viewer, a third party Android app, to view the live camera stream over SSL on my phone! It's unbelievable that I have to use software not even written by TRENDnet to view the secure feed. Then again, by now it should be expected.

You can't find a better device at this price point, but it does come with some annoyances and limitations.

Things I Like:
- Really great night mode via built-in infrared lights.
- Stable. No crashes or hiccups in the month I've had it.
- Solid construction. The camera and included mounting bracket are very sturdy.
- MPEG streaming video. Really nice quality, and a fraction of the bandwidth required by MJPEG standards, so there's less "internet lag."
- The ability to backup your settings is a nice touch, in case you have to reset the camera for any reason.
- Three year warranty.
- Support for sound. Built-in ability to listen (from IE, not from Firefox/Java) and the ablilty to connect speakers to "talk through" the camera.

This I Dislike:
- Camera gets "stuck" in night mode. Under normal indoor lights, the camera often continues to force itself into night mode, which results in strange washed-out colors. This is made more frustrating by software limitations that don't allow you to manually control which mode the camera operates in. Seems to work okay in fluorescent lights from office settings. Surely, this is all just a software glitch that will be fixed in an eventual software patch....I hope.
- Always requires a username and password to view the camera. So if you want to just setup a public camera, that's a frustrating limitation.
- Difficult to remove Trendnet's "branding" around their live video images - their logo, border, and other stuff. I think this can be done, but it's certainly going to require web developer skills and a bit of hacking to do it.

Other things you'll want to know:
- Focusing the camera is done via the focus ring on the front of the housing, not from within the software. So you have to be physically present at the camera to do it. That means you'll also need your laptop (or a friend on a phone) to know you're getting it right.
- TrendNet's site includes a "lobby cam" from their office, as well as a simulated user interface, and digital version of the manuals. That gives you a pretty good feel for what you're going to get with the camera.
- Viewing this camera from outside your home network is going to require some advanced skills in updating your router's settings. It's not especially hard, and there are instructions online to do it. But unless your router supports these settings and you're willing to tinker with them, many of the camera's features are going to be unavailable to you.
- The setup was not nearly as difficult as I thought it would be, based on other reviews. The need to connect it via a network cable to do the initial setup is a little annoying, but understandable and not too difficult if you've read through the manual. The manual is actually pretty well-written - you can download it from the manufacturer's site to judge for yourself.

For some reason, trendnet does not document the most useful URLs for this camera, so I'll set forth some that I use below. For instance, it is possible to stream the video via rtsp to your blackberry. You can also stream simple mjpeg video to the chrome browser natively.

Streaming video:
(blackberry) rtsp://ip:port/3gp (must enable 3gpp in the admin panel first. Use rtsp port (default=554))
(chrome browser) http://ip:port/cgi/mjpg/mjpg.cgi
(quicktime?) rtsp://ip:port/Mpeg4 (Use rtsp port (default=554))

Static JPEG
http://ip:port/cgi/jpg/image.cgi

streaming audio
(unknown what software supports this)
http://ip:port/cgi/audio/audio.cgi

I'd really give this camera 3.5 stars. If setup were easier, it would be a solid 4, if it didn't have manual focus 4.5, if all of above were true and the company's manual or website gave decent support, it would be 5 stars because of the low costs but high features.

My Trendnet IP312W is connected to a Mac (OS X Leopard) airport express network used for home and baby monitoring. Mac support from Trendnet's site and manual for this product is woefully low.

I am using it with Evocam software, which provided moral support during the various evenings I spent getting it to work. (Eventually selecting "use RTSP" for this camera in Evocam brought an image from the camera, that was after I changed the camera's default IP address, etc).

The camera provides a decent picture day and night via our local network. The image is browser accessible via the local network with most browsers (Safari, Firefox, IE).

The price on this camera was significantly lower than many other wireless cameras capable of joining a more secure WPA2 wireless network and also providing night vision. Word to the wise, you can't buy some other color network camera and a standalone infrared light from Amazon and expect to make your own, budget, night vision system.

I love this camera (IP312)! Its resolution is excellent. The night mode could not be any better. The software is simple to use and well featured. The included mounting bracket and swivel attachment allow you to mount the camera in any position. My only complaint would be that the light sensor seems a little over sensitive and puts the camera into 'night' mode (black and white) when light conditions would still support a color image.

I returned a Panasonic BL-C111A after using the Trendnet for a few days. The IP312 has a better image, easier to use software and a night mode that actually works.

It takes a little time to set it up if you want to use it as a camera to stream video over the internet. (look below for detailed instructions).
The video is great. The nightvision is great. The audio is great.

ON A MAC, However, you can't setup motion sensor, you cant activate audio (neither in, nor out) because you need Internet Explorer's Active X that is not available on Firefox or Safari. The software SecurView also does not work on a Mac.

DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS FOR AFTER YOUR PURCHASE
Objective - set it up to access it from any computer away from home.
What I have at home: a router (with a firewall) and a cable internet connection.

If the firmware of your camera is 1.0.0.0 version 30+, the camera's IP is fixed 192.168.10.30. Thus to talk to the camera you will need to change the IP of your computer on the TCP/IP of the internet connection that it's being used, to a fixed IP starting in 192.168.10.xx (in the xx use any number you want).

If the firmware of your camera is newer, it comes with a DHCP (it will take a router assigned ip - thus you don't need to change the IP of your computer.

After finding out what is the ip of your camera, you have to access it to set it up, via your browser, just type in the ip of the camera and it will show up a setting up screen. Here is very straight forward:
-> go to the ip setup and put the same domain of your router (i.e. 192.168.2.***). You can use a fixed IP or DHCP.

Note, if you had to change your computer's ip to talk to the camera, after setting it up, you will have to change your computer back, to talk to the camera in the new domain.

From within your router, all you need to do now is to type your camera's IP in the browser in order to access it.

From outside (through the internet), you still need a bit more setting up to do:

In the camera, change the access port from 80 to 81 (port 80 is blocked by many ISPs).

Now, go to the set up in your router and you have to open the port 81 for outside traffic. Just grant access (inbound port 81, put the IP of your camera, outbound port 81).

Now you have to know what is your external IP (the one provided to you by your ISP). You can use [...] (note that some ISPs change your IP regularly), so you allways need an updated ip address.

In order to have that done automatically, sign up to a free account at [...]. Then go to your router and in the DDNS section of the setup, put in your dyndns sign in and password. The router will keep updating the dyndns with your external IP, so that everytime you go into your created dyndns address, it will forward you to the right external IP of your ISP/Router.

Now, to access your camera from outside, just type into any browser (IE works better), [...] ([...]), so that it will access the port that you have previously opened.

Well, that's it !!! Easy huh? ;-) It took me a long time to find out how to do it, but it works beautifully after this. The product is 5 stars, but the setting up is tough (but it couldn't be different, this is a sophisticated demand).

Have fun.

After spending a lot of time with technical support I finally got the camera working through a router. The biggest problem (2 hrs) was actually ZoneAlarms firewall. It shut down the window needed to configure the camera with no notice. Turn off your firewall!

Now to the real problem for me. I wanted to use the stand-alone advertised email capability of the device. And I can't. The problem is that the firmware does not support "secure password authentication" required by my broadband SMTP If you are using Qwest Broadband you cannot use the camera to send email. You have to leave your PC on to send an email.

The documentation in general is marginal and the front line tech support folks are rookies. Nice but rookies.

Having read the Amazon reviews for the IP312W I expected some degree of difficulty in setting up the camera. It ended up being much tougher. I'm not an IT specialist but have set up wireless networks and devices to work over the internet. However I could simply not get the IP312 to work over the internet. Actually I still have not gotten it to work on my wireless network. I gave up and am waiting for someone from my company's IT department to assist in setting up the wireless connection. I was able to get the camera to work while connected via an Ethernet cable. The picture quality is excellent. Also the night mode works extremely well. The software is pretty straightforward. If only setting up the camera were as easy! If the camera were simply plug and play it would be 4-5 stars. However the difficult setup coupled with very poor instructions have me giving only 3 stars. TRENDnet could have a real winner here if it improves its instructions and the ease of use.

I bought 4 units of this camera and so far only 3 were delivered. I can tell you right now: if you are not an advanced user or you do not know one that can help you, forget it! You will not be able to configure this camera to work on your network. The instructions manual is a joke. There are much more instructions and hints on other comments here in Amazon than in the manual. But if you are a geek you will make one single camera work on your network.

The real problem begins when you try to have 2 or more cameras working at the same time!

Although the software that comes with the product can manage up to 16 simultaneous cameras, only one works at a time. I had tried everything and all types of configurations, DHCP, fixed IP, changing the security protocol of my router and on the cameras, etc, etc, etc. They simply do not work simultaneously. When I connect all three a very strange thing happens: each camera works for about 5-10 minutes, than it disconnects from the network and another one connects... and it stays for 5-10 minutes and then everything gets repeated.

I'm trying to get help from the TrendNet Support service, but they did not provided me any hint of what is going on, and I'm starting to believe they do not have a clue about the solution. You can also add to that situation the fact that they take several days to answer an email.

It has been a very frustrating experience, and I am starting to seriously regret my acquisition...
'
[UPDATE April 06, 2008]: After sending an email for almost different dozen people at Trendnet they finally gave me attention and provided me with a new firmware build (38) that solved the issues I was facing. I can't set the cameras too away from my wireless router, so I can not use them where I would like to (and both my notebooks work fine at these spots), but in general the cameras are working The recording is not a good feature as the image is too jumpy. I'll probably have to invest on a wireless repeater and see if the video recordings get improved by having a stronger wireless signal near the cameras.