Linksys Wireless-G Internet Video Camera | 
| Brand: Linksys
List Price: $223.99
Buy New: $149.99
You Save: $74.00 (33%)
New (2) from $149.99
Rating:  55 reviews
Sales Rank: 4756
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Shipping Weight (lbs): 4
Dimensions (in): 11.3 x 9.6 x 4.4
Warranty: 3 years warranty
MPN: WVC54GC
Model: WVC54GC
UPC: 745883559305
EAN: 0745883559305
ASIN: B0002V8KW2
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | Product Type - Internet Camera | | • | Dimensions WxDxH - 3.54" x 1.46" x 4.02" | | • | Weight - 0.29 lb. | | • | Cabling Type - RJ-45 |
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Product Description
The Linksys Wireless-G Internet Video Camera sends live video with sound through the Internet to a web browser anywhere in the world! This compact, self-contained unit lets you keep track of your home, your kids, your workplace - whatever's important to you. Unlike standard "web cams" that require an attached PC, the Internet Video Camera contains its own web server, so it can connect directly to a network, either over Wireless-G (802.11g) networking, or over 10/100 Ethernet cable. The advanced MPEG-4 video compression produces a high-quality, high-frame rate, up to 640x480 audio/video stream.The Internet Video Camera's unique form-factor and wireless connectivity allows you to mount it on a wall nearly anywhere, or slip it into its included stand for desktop use. Once it's connected to your home network, you can "see what it sees" from any PC in the house, while the audio/video stream is secured from the outside world, hidden behind your Router. If you want the video to be visible from outside your home network, you can open an appropriate port on the Router, and then create password protected accounts to manage access to the camera, or leave it wide open for the world to see. The SoloLink domain service (trial sign-up included) lets you access your camera using an easy-to-remember "name", even if your home Internet connection uses a dynamic IP address.You can also turn on Security Mode, which tells the camera to send a message with a short video attached to up to three email addresses whenever it detects motion in its field of view. You can then log onto the live video stream if the situation warrants. The included Viewer & Recorder utility lets you record the audio/video stream to your local hard drive, "live" or on a predetermined schedule.Let the Linksys Wireless-G Internet Video Camera help you keep tabs on your world.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 50 more reviews...
 Learning Your Mother Falls - Priceless December 28, 2004
Robert Salita (CHI PAR PHX SYD PDX CLD NKC)
132 out of 140 found this review helpful
Update: 28 March 2005: Comparing two web cameras. I originally bought the Linksys WVC54G and now have the Hawkings NC320W. Both are very good for senior monitoring purposes. I now prefer web cameras which use Java applets (NC320W) instead of ActiveX (WVC54G). There are situations and browsers that simply can't use ActiveX and thus can't display images. The quality of both web cams is suitable for senior monitoring. Expect image quality to fall off in low light. The WVC54G has a wider field of view. This can be important in situations where you'll have to buy two NC320W to see everything whereas only one WVC54G is needed. I am now using three NC320W and viewing using Firefox browser. Warning: setting up a router to handle multiple web cameras needs a near router expert. The NC320W may soon become obsoleted by the newer and cheaper HNC230G (not released as of this date). I recommend setting up the cameras using static IP addresses so power outages won't cause new addresses to be reassigned.
True Story. Everyday I check on mom to make sure she's ok. While on vacation in Australia, I tuned in at the very moment she fell off the couch in Chicago. Using Skype, I called the senior home to have someone help her get up. Although she could have slid over to the phone and called for assistance, the important thing is that I learned she falls and can't get up by herself, and she hasn't been telling us. The WVC54G works well for this application. I can even see which DVD she's watching. I had to open port 1024 to get it working so it's not plug and play. Once running, it has never gone down, very important. My only complaint is that the auto white balance isn't true. Colors and lighting are somewhat off.
It actually works and that's a surprise October 23, 2004
B. America (East Stroudsburg, PA USA)
91 out of 92 found this review helpful
With a long history of many failed attempts at IP wireless cams, Linksys creates what others could not; one that works.
Configuration with WEP was pretty easy. It's a little temperamental with distance compared to the tolerances of other G devices, but it works. It does not react well to low light levels and tries to compensate via its own gain. If you are using this in a home without AMPLE light, expect a grainy picture.
Frame rate is about 20FPS and is annoying. The security feature works. It senses movement and mails a captured video file. With only 4 seconds at the medium setting, the video images were over 500Kb. This is not for a dial-up AOL user.
There is a remote viewing option that lets you use their web servers to hit your cam from anywhere. Of course expect to pay about $40 for two years access.
 the worst product ever May 18, 2006
NYC user (New York, NY United States)
24 out of 53 found this review helpful
I am writing this while on hold with linksys customer support for the 10th hour. First of all, the product is IMPOSSIBLE to install without help from technical support even with my linksys WRT54G router (I am reasonably computer literate). When I finally installed it the first time, the power supply broke. I had to pay to send it back, even thought it was obviously not my fault. When I tried to install the replacement camera, the representative informed me that I needed to update my firmware on my wireless router. When I did this, my wireless router broke. So now I had to pay to send the router back. When I again tried to connect the replacement camera, I spent 3+ hours on the phone. It worked with the wire, but never wirelessly. Finally they were willing to authorize a return, but still will not simply give me my money back. Why would I want to waste another 4 hours trying to install a defective product? This is not yet a viable product. it is shoddily constructed (will definintely have more power supply problems) and the customer service is woefully inadequate.
BUY BELKIN. Or be prepared to spend hours with tech support and going to the post office to return this product.
Works fine if you are careful and methodical! January 4, 2006
C. Blakely
23 out of 23 found this review helpful
[EDIT]
Ok, 3 weeks after setting these cameras up, I do have a few negative comments. The cameras will sometimes spontaneously stop working. I haven't been able to figure out why. I'm on the other side of the country from them now so I can't physically see them. Eventually they come back online. All 3 are just sitting there plugged in, in an empty house.
The video is fairly choppy if sound is enabled, even at 320x240.
The lighting plays a huge role in the quality of the image - bright sunlight in a window makes the image almost unusable. The image is very poor in dim lighting as well.
The field of view is pretty narrow and there's nothing you can do about it - I wish there was a wide-angle option.
I wish the interface to the camera was editable, and that you could show multiple cameras on the same page.
Other than that, they cameras basically work as advertised, but I couldn't recommend them for anything other than a novelty because of the image quality concerns and the reliability issues. It's fairly cheap and is good for casual monitoring.
[/EDIT]
I just set up 3 of these for my father-in-law (all the kids gave them to him) in his vacation home. He wants to be able to check on the house when he's not there. They worked fine, as advertised, as long as I was careful and made sure I had the right firmware. This is how I did it, without using the setup CD (which is confusing and was unnecessary for my setup).
If you've got a Linksys router and you haven't messed with the IP ranges like someone else who posted has, it's really easy to do - the most important thing to do is set it up WIRED first! I plugged the included ethernet cable into the router and into the camera. Then I powered on the camera. It booted up and showed 192.168.1.115 or something as the IP address in the little LCD window. I opened up an Internet Explorer window on my PC. Went to http://192.168.1.115. The configuration utility for the camera came up. Clicked on "View Video", installed the ActiveX Control I was prompted for, and up it came - the camera worked. Clicked on "Setup". Default username and password are admin and admin. Under "LAN Settings" I chose "Fixed IP Address", and assigned it the value I wanted. For my 3 cameras, the IP address I chose were 192.168.1.150, 192.168.1.151, 192.168.1.152. Subnet mask was always 255.255.255.0. Gateway, Primary DNS, and Secondary DNS were all always 192.168.1.1 (the router's IP). Tested each of those by opening Internet Explorer and going to the IP address for the camera (i.e. - http://192.168.1.152) and made sure they worked under the fixed IP address.
If you have a non-Linksys router, or have messed with your routers' IP range, it's more complicated. D-Link and Netgear use the 192.168.0.xxx range (0 instead of 1), and I presume to get these working you'll have to plug the ethernet cable from your pc into the camera, use IE to go to the address it shows in the LCD window of the camera. The you should be able to change the IP address of the camera to an acceptable value (like 192.168.0.150) Gateway, Primary DNS, and Secondary DNS would be the router's IP address (i.e. - 192.168.0.1). Then you plug the camera into the router and you should be able to access it through IE on your PC at that new address.
Once I was sure that worked, I set up the wireless settings. Typed in the SSID the router uses, chose Infrastructure, clicked "Enable", and hit "Apply". If you forget to hit Apply it won't take. Then I hit "Edit Security Settings" and in the popup window chose the Default Transmit key from the router, and the key from the router. Kept it on "Open System". Then hit Apply and exit.
Now I unplug the power from the camera. Then unplug the ethernet cable from the camera. Then plug the camera power back in. The lights will flash and the indicator for wireless should come up, along with the IP address I chose. Open up Internet Explorer again, type in the address again (http://192.169.1.152), and it works.
Did this with all 3, then placed them in the house where I wanted them, and tested them again. All worked.
Then I went into their configuration utilities and set up the Email Alert feature. This is the only part that gave me trouble. Basically what I figured out is that the 2 cameras that had Firmware version 2.07 worked fine, and the one that had 2.11 never worked. I downloaded the 2.07 bios at ftp://ftp.linksys.com/pub/network/ (the file is called WVC54G_fw2.07.zip) and flashed the 2.11 camera back to 2.07. Then the email notification worked fine.
Oh and another confusing part was the "Outgoing Mail SMTP Server". Turns out you pretty much have to use your internet provider's mail server, which I was able to find on their website. He uses Charter Cable, and I found out on charter.net that the server is smtp.charter.net. I also just set up a new GMail account specifically for these cameras.
To make it easy to view the cameras from the internet, Linksys included this SoloLink DDNS thing which they charge for. I opted for a free option, and made a new dynamic DNS account at dyndns.org. I set up port forwarding on the router to forward alternate ports (I chose 2000 and 3000 - and set up the cameras "Alternate Port" to these values) to two of the cameras. So now he can get to the three cameras by going to
http://thehostnameichose.dyndns.org
http://thehostnameichose.dyndns.org:2000
http://thehostnameichose.dyndns.org:3000
That's it - works great and I'm happy with them. I give it a 4 because the fact that I had to flash backward to an older bios in order to used an advertised feature is stupid. Other than that, it's great - and no more difficult to set up than most other wireless networking devices.
 Linksys is a winner with full motion and sound February 3, 2006
N. J. Simicich (Labelle, FL United States)
23 out of 23 found this review helpful
A couple of inaccuracies in other reviews:
This camera presents a standard mpeg4 stream on a standard web interface - and if you have the codecs (they are around and common) you can watch the video from any system - Windows Media Player, or Linux using mplayer, or your Macintosh. Please see my comments on security of the Hawking below - if you have to have Java viewing, I strongly suggest the D-Link over the Hawking - Hawkings have no security.
If the data stream really was only viewable with the Active-X control, that would be a reason to find this camera unacceptable. If there was a jpeg available via the built-in web server at a certain url (as the mpeg data is available, and as is the case with the D-Link, the camera would be a real home run).
These are a new generation of "webcams". These cameras have a built in web server. They connect to your home net via ethernet, either wired or wireless. Management programs can display the images from the cameras on your computer screen.
I recently examined a Hawking camera, and have also looked at a Linksys and a D-Link. Superficially, the Hawking seemed to have security, but there were only two official ways to get an image from the camera. One was by using a facility where the camera e-mailed you an image. This image was tagged as spam by my provider because it used the big5 character set, even though it contained no text. But the other way was to use a java applet which was automatically downloaded from the camera, the same way any applet would be loaded.
This was the only image data displayed on the camera's web interface.
I wanted to get a still image, so I traced the applet's data stream. The applet simply connected to a port on the camera and then presented four characters and a newline. The camera responded with a four byte header and a jpeg. I was able to use echo, sleep and netcat to pull jpegs out of the camera - but I did not have to present the password to pull jpegs out of the camera.
The instructions that come with the camera tell you to open this port to the Internet via port forwarding from your firewall. You also open the camera's web port.
If you do this, then a hacker can see that you have this camera and then they can look for other open ports, and if they find the camera port, they can easily pull jpegs out of it with no password.
This is OK, though, since the camera is so incredibly bad that all that anyone will see is sort of a flesh shaped amorphous mass. I took this camera back to the store.
There are two other products on the market. One is the D-Link DCS-900W, and the other is the Linksys Wireless G. Both are comparable to the Hawking and way better.
The Linksys presents both sound and video as an MPEG4 stream. I know of no way to get still images from this camera (other than by having the camera e-mail you one). There is an active X control that allows you to view the video on a windows system, or, with the right codecs, you can use Media Player or Mplayer to view the stream. However, only a Windows user using Internet Explorer can access the camera through the web interfacr and see full motion video. Everyone else can go through multiple layers of frames to determe what the url is for the mpeg4 stream - then, that URL can be fed to a regular media player that can play (or record) an mpeg4 stream.
The Linksys can be connected to a 10 or 100 wired ethernet, or to an 802.11b or 802.11g wireless net. It supports WEP. By default it is configured to run at a fixed address - but it can run on WEP. A unique feature is that it has a small LCD panel and the LCD panel displays the IP address that it uses. It can look for motion within the camera and send out alerts by e-mail if motion is detected (that is, no external program is required to deal with automated motion detection from this camera). All data is presented on the web interface, and basic authentication (userid and password) is demanded if the camera is set up to require it before the video stream, or any data other than the base screen is presented. There are two levels of users - those who can display the video stream and one user who can administer the box.
I have not installed the Linksys management software - it seems to be unneeded. If I could find an open source solution that would allow me to convert mpeg4 to a still jpeg, then this would be the winning solution. But the conversion stacks I have found garble the images horribly. I believe that there is conversion available in the support software.
The D-Link has a URL where a jpeg can be accessed. All interaction is via web - and all interaction requires basic security. There are two levels of users - One user who can configure the camera and those who can just display pics.
The D-Link has a Java applet and an active-X control - take your pick - that allows you to view motion pictures - and it also has full motion video - so you can view full motion video from any browser that supports Java applets, or, if you are an IE user who has not installed Java, you can use the Active-X control to look at the video. Thus, the full motion video should work for almost everyone - I know it works in Linux and Windows. The D-Link has the best low light capability. It also has the clearest picture, by far. It does not have 802.11g and it does not have sound. It does support WEP. Internally, (to the applet) the motion data is presented as a series of jpegs, using a standard http stream format. All video or jpeg data is presented only after successful basic authentication.
The management software for the D-Link camera works reasonably well, but there is no reason to use it other than, perhaps, for upgrading the flash - although the "lite" software can present a very high quality full screen full motion video. All motion detection recording on the D-Link is done in an application on a connected windows PC.
These cameras cost a few dollars more than the Hawking, but they actually have a modicum of security.
The Linksys is a winner if you need sound, or if you want to get the extra performance of an 802.11g device - if you do not have any 802.11b devices, you might well not want to introduce the first one.
If you need motion detection in the camera, the Linksys devices also win. Linksys cameras and a wireless router would obivate the need for a computer onsite, and, with a DSL connection, say, would allow for the accumulation, at a central site, of images where motion was detected.
If you do not need sound - say, for a manned security setup, the D-Link cameras would allow you to put 16 cameras on a single screen - no wiring cost, and you could have motion detection and recording. That would be expensive, but probably much cheaper than any other solution. Considering that you could avoid wiring, it would be a winner.
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