IP camera - WiFi wireless camera - Review - PC World

IP camera

The IP camera is the basic element of both home and company security system.For work, it usually requires connecting to a home computer network, which can be done in two ways: using network or wireless infrastructure.Until recently, wireless models have been considered new, now they are in the offer of every counting manufacturer of cameras for monitoring.Wireless IP cameras are a convenient solution because they do not require network infrastructure to work.They are most often equipped with Wi-Fi cards, which you will find on the equipment of many home devices, from smartphones to laptops.This means that the IP camera can easily establish "contact".Importantly, the vast majority of these WiFi cameras are also equipped with a standard network interface that we can use when e.g..We will want to go on a wire way of communication.

"Wireless IP cameras will work wherever the installation of an additional wiring for signal transmission is difficult."

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Additional Wi-Fi card

The possibilities of wireless and wired cameras are identical.Most often these are the same constructions, so much that it is neailed in interface for wireless signal transmission.The choice is very wide, from simple and cheap models with a fixed lens, through indirect solutions, to advanced constructions equipped with e.g..in the lenses "Rybie Oko", which allow you to monitor the entire room with one IP camera.

Wireless IP cameras are most often equipped with a network card in accordance with the 802 standard.11 ".Thanks to it, the IP camera can easily be connected to a home wireless network.IP cameras equipped with a Wi-Fi card in accordance with WPS (Wi-Fi PROTECTED SETUP) technology are particularly convenient, which gives you the ability to connect the camera to a home / company WiFi network without entering the password.How to use this mechanism?Just press the WPS button on the back of the wireless camera, and then press the WPS button on the router so that both devices connect correctly with each other.Of course, the condition is to have a Wi-Fi router supporting this technology.

IP cameras are independent devices that are a full and independent network element.They are equipped with their IP address, website and even memory for recording recorded material (e.g..on the memory card).They can be controlled via their own configuration website or special applications and connected to the Internet via the PPPOE protocol or a router even without a computer mediation.Therefore, when connecting a wireless IP camera with WPS, remember, for example.change of factory slogans to more secure.This applies especially to models enabling remote configuration of the camera online.

One camera with wifi, four views

IP cameras equipped with a "fish" lens are one of the most interesting constructions for monitoring company rooms, and especially their ceiling counterparts, which allow you to record a 360 degree image.In practice, a properly selected wireless camera with the "Rybie Oko" lens will allow you to monitor the entire room.Importantly, some of them also allow you to divide the displayed image into even four independent parts, each of which can be controlled separately: change the angle of view, bring, move away and regardless of the other views.

What range does the WiFi camera have?

In practice, how far a wireless camera can be distant from the router depends on the type and number of obstacles between them.The interference generated by other Wi-Fi devices should be taken into account.In some cases, this distance can be much smaller than given by the manufacturer.Outside buildings, when there are no obstacles between the IP camera and the router, it can work even at a distance of 100 or more meters, and using e.g..Additional antennas can be increased this distance.It is worse in buildings, where the range of the wireless camera can be only a few meters, for example, when the load walls are in the way of the signal.

A good router is the basis

If you plan to buy wireless IP cameras, it is worth buying an efficient and modern router, which will cover the large area of the house and the area around it.Models will be particularly useful to unscrew the factory attached antennas, which will allow you to replace them with more efficient constructions.It should be remembered that in the popular 802 standard.11N for transmitting and receiving a wireless signal transmission performance, and thus also the range, increases with the number of antennas.By using two, you can expect a transfer of 300 Mb/s, and with the help of three, working in full composition both during broadcasting and receipt, you can get a speed of up to 450 Mb/s and better range.

The offer also included Wi-Fi routers in accordance with the latest 802 standard.11ac.They are much more expensive than standard routers in line with 802.11N, but they offer a better range (less crowded 5 GHz band) and a higher theoretical bandwidth (for now up to 1.3 Gb/s).Most often these are dual -band models that can simultaneously support devices in accordance with 802.11ac and 802.11n.Unfortunately, so far companies producing IP cameras do not plan to introduce new models equipped with cards in line with the 802 standard.11ac.However, it is worth paying attention to models of routers with increased power (range), such as.Airlive Dual Band High+Power Poe A.Duo, which has two radio modules working simultaneously in 2.4 and 5 GHz bands.They have high power and provide 3 times greater range than standard devices.We also recommend the Airlive N router.Power with available output power of 2 watts and a 3DBI antenna.It is at the moment one of the strongest routers you can buy, and not too expensive, because it costs about PLN 200.

IP image visible on the web

Many people installing wireless cameras want to have access to them online.Most of the manufacturers provide even special configurators that help to undergo this process even not very experienced users.Trendnet presented Cloudip technology at IFA.The IP IP IP cameras skip a completely advanced configuration, just install the software attached by the manufacturer, then enter the unique address of our WiFi camera in the web browser and after the reset username and passwords you can have full access to the camera from anywhere in the world.Thanks to cloudip, the software locates the camera regardless of the IP address and without having to set ports or create virtual server rules.