Linksys WVC54GC web camera
January 23, 2007 by colbert low
Filed under Announcements, Digital Cameras, Media PCs, Misc. Gadgets, Peripherals, Portable Video
As I usually do, I make it a point to read reviews and other informative stuff about the product or gadget before buying it. I came across this review that made me think twice about about buying the new Linksys WVC54GC web camera. Well as we all expected of cameras, the easiest part should be hooking the system and making it work fresh from the box. On the contrary, on the review, he was met with the words “not found” even after following all instructions on the set-up. He later on found out that the packaged Ethernet cable was faulty. Of course as expected of the company they changed it for them and sure enough it worked well. But hmmm…. that sure is not a good sign.
Web cameras are usually used to see your chatmates or in a more formal world, the people you are having conference with while you are somewhere in Hawaii drinking coconut from a glass with a tiny umbrella in it. But now, all it takes is to plug your Linksys WVC54GC web camera to your router by either 10/100 or 802.11b/g. And by viewing the camera over the internet you can watch your house for any intruders while lounging in a pool side on some Ritz Carlton Hotel. But then it was said that you need to log on to a specific IP address and this is if you have a specific IP address which most of us ADSLers uses. Well, we still can if we use the Linksys DDNS (Dynamic Domain Naming Service) called Sololink. Yes, it gives you 1 year free trial and then what? Say goodbye to your holidays cause you wont be able to afford them anymore ones you sign up for this one. Intamac also give you a remote camera monitoring with a 30 day free trial service. But you will need to pay £5 per camera per month and after the trial expires that is where all the surcharges starts to show their true colors.
And also, you cannot expect an impressive resolution from these cameras as the review says that the Linksys is a basic webcam with 320×240 resolution, gives a very bad resolution during low light levels. Mostly around the time we are likely to use the camera. So I guess having one is not really for security purposes, I mean I will not depend my entire belongings on something like this. But it sure is one mean thing to have and boasts to your friends over cocktail parties.
Here is a cool article on how to embed one of these cams into a web page.
http://www.ultratech.us/ultra/?p=13
It was pretty easy to do with these instructions.
I have 2 of the Linksys WVC54GC Cameras and have enjoyed using them. Had some difficulty getting them on the wireless network but once I flashed the Firmware update both cams have worked great. I have one cam set to be viewed over the internet which my sister enjoys using. I have had no trouble wih bandwith issues.