Airlink AIC250W VGA Network Camera
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Similar in Web Cameras
- Capture Resolution: 640 x 480 320 x 240 160 x 112
- Digital Video Capture Speed: 30 frames per second
- Web Camera Type: Network Camera
- Image Sensor Type: CMOS
- Interface Type: Wireless - IEEE 802.11g
- Resolution: VGA
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decent performance for the price
Pros
Price Performance Construction Multi-platform usage & configuration supported
Cons
User manual lacking depth Windows required to set up
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
Tech experts will find a good value in this wireless networked camera.
I bought the Airlink AIC250W network camera on sale at Fry's for $69. Knowing their house brand, Airlink, tends to be less user friendly than the higher-priced name brand products, I anticipated some of the obstacles I encountered in configuring the network camera.
For starters, the camera REQUIRES a Windows computer to set up. You have to run a program that lets you enable DHCP on the camera before it will join your wireless network. This utility is not available for Linux or Mac OS X. I used a Win XP installation under vmWare to run the utility, however. One trick- within vmWare, the default network config is set to 'share host's connection (NAT)'. You need to change this to 'Connect directly to the network (Bridged)' before the utility will be able to properly connect to the network camera.
Once you get out of the clunky utility and are able to use the web-based interface, that's where this product pops the clutch. The web-based config is mostly intuitive for someone who has a basic knowledge of networks and the internet. If you're not familiar with concepts such as FTP, dynDNS, or SMTP server, then you'll want some help from a tech savvy friend or family member to get this camera to do what you want.
I bought the camera to increase the security of my house. There have been many thefts and break-ins in my neighborhood, and I wanted to set up a surveillance camera on my back porch to record anybody trespassing back there. I didn't want to mess with a DVR or any other kind of recording device. I wanted a camera that was smart enough to be able to upload images to my web host, which provides me with 350gb of storage. With this system, if a crook destroys the camera or sets fire to my house, there will be a remote copy of images taken just before the break-in. The Airlink AIC250W meets this requirement perfectly.
Image quality exceeded my expectations. It beats a small webcam I bought for $19 and works well in reasonably low-light. The framerate while directly viewing the video feed in the java applet is pretty high. BTW- everything on the camera works on Linux & Mac OS X once you get it on your network using the afformentioned utility. It did kind of choke, though, when I tried to view the video at 640 x 480 over the wireless connection.
The wireless signal reception is also quite adequate while located two rooms away from my 802.11g base station. The housing and pedestal is durable and of decent quality.
Bottom line- like with most Airlink products, if you know what you're doing, you'll find a good package for a cheap price. If you need hand holding, you might find the product to be a hassle.
For starters, the camera REQUIRES a Windows computer to set up. You have to run a program that lets you enable DHCP on the camera before it will join your wireless network. This utility is not available for Linux or Mac OS X. I used a Win XP installation under vmWare to run the utility, however. One trick- within vmWare, the default network config is set to 'share host's connection (NAT)'. You need to change this to 'Connect directly to the network (Bridged)' before the utility will be able to properly connect to the network camera.
Once you get out of the clunky utility and are able to use the web-based interface, that's where this product pops the clutch. The web-based config is mostly intuitive for someone who has a basic knowledge of networks and the internet. If you're not familiar with concepts such as FTP, dynDNS, or SMTP server, then you'll want some help from a tech savvy friend or family member to get this camera to do what you want.
I bought the camera to increase the security of my house. There have been many thefts and break-ins in my neighborhood, and I wanted to set up a surveillance camera on my back porch to record anybody trespassing back there. I didn't want to mess with a DVR or any other kind of recording device. I wanted a camera that was smart enough to be able to upload images to my web host, which provides me with 350gb of storage. With this system, if a crook destroys the camera or sets fire to my house, there will be a remote copy of images taken just before the break-in. The Airlink AIC250W meets this requirement perfectly.
Image quality exceeded my expectations. It beats a small webcam I bought for $19 and works well in reasonably low-light. The framerate while directly viewing the video feed in the java applet is pretty high. BTW- everything on the camera works on Linux & Mac OS X once you get it on your network using the afformentioned utility. It did kind of choke, though, when I tried to view the video at 640 x 480 over the wireless connection.
The wireless signal reception is also quite adequate while located two rooms away from my 802.11g base station. The housing and pedestal is durable and of decent quality.
Bottom line- like with most Airlink products, if you know what you're doing, you'll find a good package for a cheap price. If you need hand holding, you might find the product to be a hassle.
