Panasonic BL-C131A Network Camera Wireless 802.11

Other products by Panasonic

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 2.9 x 2.9 x 3.9 inches ; 7.4 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000NVR9SM
• Item model number: BL-C131A
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (177 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #415 in Electronics (See Bestsellers in Electronics)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #3 in	Electronics > Camera & Photo > Surveillance Cameras
  #3 in	Electronics > Security & Surveillance
  #21 in	Home Improvement > Fire Safety & Home Security

• Date first available at Amazon.com: March 1, 2007

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Keep an Eye on Your Pets
Always feel close to your pets, whether at work or on vacation. Did the walker show up as promised? Is the dog sleeping on the sofa? Is the cat scratching your new leather chair? You'll know instantly with the Panasonic PetCam.

See There When You Can't Be There
Place this plug-and-play camera in your home, office, vacation home, or almost anywhere else you'd like to keep an eye on things, with no PC required at the location. The camera can be viewed and controlled from a standard Web browser, video display, or even a compatible cell phone or PDA, with no additional software required. All of the other required software, including control software (TCP/UDP) and e-mail software (SMTP), is already inside the camera.

Control the Camera Remotely
Using a standard Web browser, video display, or even a compatible cell phone or PDA, you can control the movement of the camera. There is Pan (left & right) movement and Tilt (up & down) movement available. You can also assign a "Home Position" that allows you to return the camera to a pre-designated shooting position. Up to eight shooting positions can be registered in advance, so you can aim the camera exactly where you want it. You can also click on the part of the image you want to see, and automatically bring that part to the center of the screen.

When You Need a Little Privacy
With the built-in Privacy mode, your privacy is protected by simply pressing a button. An indicator on the front of the camera turns red, and you know at a glance that the camera is now only accessible by you. The camera can also be set up to show a green light when the camera is being accessed.

Sensor Recording
With the built-in heat sensor, the camera can be set to record and/or notify you by email when someone enters the room. It can even automatically move to a preset location when triggered, just in case someone was viewing a different part of the room.

Record Only What You Want to Record
The camera can be set to automatically record video at certain times and certain speeds.

Create Your Own Free Web Address
The free Viewnetcam service allows you to create a personal Web address (e.g. http://bob.viewnetcam.com) so you can view your camera's live images on the Internet. Access your Panasonic Network Camera live from virtually any Internet connection point around the world! Your Web browser is the only software you'll need. Here's how the camera and service works: Special software embedded within your Panasonic Network Camera gives your camera the ability to locate your unique Internet address. No matter what kind of Internet connection you have or which Internet provider you use, the Viewnetcam.com service will keep your camera's Internet address permanent.

Features

• 802.11g/b Wireless
• Pan/Tilt/Digital Zoom with Presets
• Simultaneous MPEG-4 and JPEG
• 1 Lux Color Night View Mode
• Up to 30 Frames per Second CMOS
• Full-screen Monitoring
• Remote Monitoring from Cell Phone
• 4-up and 12-up Multi-camera Pages
• Built-in Web Server/IP Address (IPv4/v6)
• Built-in Microphone
• Thermal Sensor
• Image Transfer by Motion Detection, Sensor Alert, Timer
• Privacy Mode
• Plug-and-Play Installation
• Free Web Address
• Multi-Language Interface
• 1 Year Warranty

Product Description
Wireless Network Camera 802.11g, MPEG4, Automatic Network Configuration, Universal Plug and Play, Set-up Wizard, Remote Pan/Tilt Control, Built in PIR motion detector

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

265 of 279 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent camera, excellent customer service, October 6, 2007

By	K. Lam (San Jose, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

My wife and I wanted to keep an eye on the nanny with our baby from work. After researching the network cameras for several months, it seemed that only Panasonic cameras consistently received positive (usually glowing reviews) whereas cameras from other major brands like Linksys, D-Link, etc received mediocre or poor reviews. So I went with Panasonic. And after about a month, I have to say I am very impressed with it. Some background: I have a classic Linksys WRT54G 802.11g router, with 2 WinXP PCs connected to it via ethernet and 3 more PCs connected wirelessly; plus, I have AT&T/SBC DSL service via a Speedstream 5100 DSL modem. If you're moderately computer literate, you should have no problem following the included instructions to setup (view and control) the camera in wired mode or in wireless WiFi mode.

But if you want to setup the camera to be viewed (and controlled) from the internet, you need to do a bit more work. And this is where Panasonic's excellent, excellent customer support comes in. Panasonic's support line is 8_0_0-2_7_2-7_0_3_3; they are open Mon-Fri 9AM-9PM and Sat/Sun 10AM-7PM Eastern US Time; this tech support is available to you for the LIFE of the product. They will walk you through how to setup the camera, configure your router (for, among other things, port forwarding), and register with Panasonic's FREE Dynamic DNS web service. This last point is important: Panasonic network cameras include FREE Dynamic DNS hosting service for the life of the product; other brands offer the service for an annual fee.

Okay, step-by-step, here's how to config the camera for internet viewing:
First, if you use DSL as I do (as opposed to cable broadband), you have to configure the DSL modem for "bridge mode." (If you don't use DSL, then you can skip this step.) This is because DSL modems act as a router, and port forwarding cannot work behind both the DSL modem's router and (in my case) the Linksys WRT54G router. If you want, you can call your DSL tech support to ask them to walk you through how to "bridge" your DSL modem. But here's what I did.
1. Login to your DSL modem (for me, it's 192.168.0.1) using your DSL account (for me, it's my SBCglobal email address).
2. Select Advanced >> PPP Location
3. Select Bridged Mode (PPPoE is not used), then Change PPP Location
4. When prompted, restart the DSL modem
5. Login to your router (for me, it's 192.168.1.1)
6. Under Setup> Basic Setup >> Internet Connection Type, select PPPoE and enter the DSL login & password info you normally would enter in your DSL modem to authenticate your DSL service.
7. At this point, the "bridging" should have been successful. To check that bridging has been successful, click Status >> Router, and check that you are "connected" with an IP address showing. If successful, you should also see that your DSL modem's "internet" LED light is off while your router's "internet" light is on. What you basically have done is to move the point of authentication for your DSL service from the DSL modem to your router; your DSL modem merely acts as a bridge for the DSL service to your router.
8. Now, we move on to configuring the camera itself. I assume that the camera has already been configured for wired and wireless mode. Login to the network camera (for me it's, 192.168.1.253).
9. Click Setup. Change the Port No. from the default of 80 to 50000 (fifty thousand) and enter the IP address of the camera (for me, it's 192.168.1.253). Click Save, and the camera will restart. When it finishes restarting (taking as long as 1.5 min), it'll bring you back to the "Top" home page of the camera config screen.
10. Log back into your router, and go to Applications & Gaming, where you'll be able to set up port forwarding.
11. In the Port Range, enter 50000 as "Start" and 50000 as "End." Enter the IP Address of the camera (for me, 192.168.1.253). Check Enable. Save Settings.
12. Now, log back into your camera. Go to Setup >> DynamicDNS. Select viewnetcam-dot-com, then Next.
13. Click on "Your Account Link" to bring up the viewnetcam.com registration page, where you then select New Registration. Enter your desired registration info and select your domain name at viewnetcam-dot-com (e.g. yourname-dot-viewnetcam-dot-com). Click Choose.
14. Now, you will be shown a page confirming your registration. Under DDNS status, you will see Active-waiting. You need to wait up to 10min as the domain registration occurs, at which time, the status will change to Active.
15. We're almost done; stay with me! From WinXP Start Menu, click Run and type "cmd" to bring up a DOS window.
16. In the DOS window, type "ipconfig/all", which shows your computer's various network information. Under Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection, copy down the two addresses under DNS Servers.
17. Log back into your camera, select Setup, and enter the 2 DNS Server addresses from ipconfig/all in the 2 DNS boxes.
18. Go back to viewnetcam-dot-com, login to your account, and check that the DDNS status is now Active. If so, then you're all ready to go!
19. Go to yourname-dot-viewnetcam-dot-com:50000 to see your network camera on the internet!

58 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great cam for the Mac (OSX)....., July 28, 2007

By	David Schmitz "Smitty" (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews

You can do all setup via the builtin web server - even firmware updates. There is no need for installing anything from the included (windows only) CD. Streaming MP4 or MJPEG video works right outta the box in Safari as does the static captures - no need for drivers or anything else.. Those looking for typical, painless MacOSX setup will get it with this Panasonic webcam..

59 of 62 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It works as advertised, May 16, 2007

By	LS (Irvine, CA) - See all my reviews

I have experience with D-Link cameras, and this one is much better. Setup was a multi-step process, but went smoothly, and the free internet address really works. The camera has yet to lose signal, and I have it positioned a the farthest end of my wirelss network. Picture is clear, sound is ok, interface is very good. Only works well with Internet Explorer. On a Mac, the video will display in Firefox but without sound. I haven't expored all of the features yet, but the main thing is that it works (more than can be said for many wireless products).