Monday, July 15, 2013

Samsung SNH-1011 SmartCam IP Camera

Samsung SNH-1011 SmartCam IP CameraLet me tell you this. Previously, my home was burglarized, and burglars destroyed my security DVR by smashing it with sledge hammer. How outrageous.. Since then, I was looking for security devices that secure from those violent acts. That is the reason why I choose an IP camera. I researched through Internet and saw all the comments about how horrible IP camera is. So, I didn't have a high hope on IP cameras but decided to give a try. I ordered each IP camera that available on Amazon, and end up with this SNH-1011. Here is my review for Samsung SNH-1011.

Great picture quality and transmitting speed:

I saw couple of complaints about choppy and lagging video, but I guess Samsung step up with this problem. There are three type of option for bandwidth speeds; High, Medium, Low. I tested all these setting with my Verizon Fios and guess what? With highest setting, there is no delay at all! Medium 0.3 sec delay and low 0.8 sec delay. Not a big deal.

(I just confirmed with Samsung's representative that Samsung will expand their data server within US)

Set up is easy and simple:

The manual that Samsung provides is quite straight forward. You just have to follow their instruction. The downside is there are so many features that need more time set up such as YouTube, Picasa, E-mail notification, and etc. It took me around 35 minute to set whole thing up including other features. Once I set it up, it was working flawlessly.

Web Browsers:

I tested it with several web browsers such as Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, and Safari. As a result, each browser has different installation time and transmitting speed. My preference is Chrome > Internet explorer > Firefox > Safari. Also, Safari does not support bandwidth option somehow. I tried to adjust it, but browser wouldn't let me. It was no big deal to me since I probably use SNH-1011 with either Chrome or Internet explorer.

Android and iPhone App:

SNH-1011 has free app called "SmartCam Mobile". Available on both Android and iPhone App store, but if you such through iPad, it will not show up. You need to switch your setting to see iPhone App compatibility apps. I do not know why Samsung does not list this app to iPad store, but they need to create an app for iPad since iPhone SmartCam Mobile app is does not work efficiently with iPad (stretched image just bothers me).

Slick looking with heavy base:

I love the exterior design of SNH-1011. Looks slick and has bright white color. LED Status light is also big plus (Red, Blue, and Purple). On the bottom of unit, there is a heavy weight component to prevent SNH-1011 to fall down. The weight is just about the right and can be removed.

I believe that Samsung is trying hard to make this SNH-1011 right. Only downside is it does not support cloud storage. To me, 30 sec record through YouTube is not enough. Also, I agreed that there should be way to protect our user ID and password. I'm not quite comfortable with this. If you are not going to use features like Picasa and Youtube, it does not really matter. But asking e-mail address and password seems lack of security feature. I contacted Samsung to ask about this, and they mentioned that they will fix this problem, and also, they will provide cloud service around March. Overall, I'm quite satisfied with my purchase and hoping Samsung will follow up these known issues and make it better.

Samsung/Amazon need to do a better job of informing the buyer that these cameras ONLY work via an external website link to YouTube. They do not work stand-alone on your internal, behind the firewall, home network.

Cameras are nice and small and appear to be of good quality. Don't know if they work because unfortunately, you cannot even turn the camera on without first agreeing to provide Samsung freedom to record and use your pesonal information. It is so bad they won't even let you watch the installation video without giving them your personal information. Secondly, you cannot hook these cameras up to your internal WIFI network; no, you can only access the video security feed via YouTube and Twitter! Are you freeking kidding me, you want me to broadcast video of the personal comings/goings of my household to YouTube and Twitter! You also expect me to provide Samsung, a foreign company, with a permanent tunnel through my firewall; now that is security!

Sure, the Samsung server records my streamed video to a supposedly "secure" portion of YouTube. If you believe anything in the public domain is SECURE you're nuts.

I've tried two other WIFI cameras and neither of them would stay connected on the network. So, I'm off trying yet another brand to see if someone can acutally make a home-security camera that works over secure WIFI.

Buy Samsung SNH-1011 SmartCam IP Camera Now

I purchased this camera to checking on my cat while I'm at work or leave my house for business trips. I got to say the camera works great. It is not HD quality but by having this, I do not have to worry about my cat all the time. It was pretty easy set up with guide. I'm not quite tech savy but I was able to connect this camera with my wireless router. The picture is very clear and easy to navigate on cell phone. I highly recommend this camera to anyone who wants to use iPhone to check their beloved pets.

Read Best Reviews of Samsung SNH-1011 SmartCam IP Camera Here

At first I was skeptical of purchasing this product because of the bad reviews. But I decided to try it out because I am a fan of Samsung products and they never let me down. Plus I liked the design and the upload to youtube was very interesting to me.

I received the product very quickly and smoothly without any problems with free shipping. So that was the first positive sign. I remember I really liked the look of it when I first saw it. Good looking camera and I can tell it was not made with cheap materials.

Other things that I liked were the quality of the video, audio, and night vision. The white noise is kept to the bare minimum and does not bother me at all. The video during the day and the night vision is great as well.

The youtube feature on this product is innovative. Others have complained and were worried that strangers can view your recordings; however, you can relax because it will be uploaded as private. I made a new youtube account just for this camera which was very simple.

In sum, I guess this review is for all that is a little skeptical about this camera. But I own it and it works great for me. You can be confident that this will perform what it advertises it to be.

Want Samsung SNH-1011 SmartCam IP Camera Discount?

First of all, I agree this camera is very easy to setup, literally in about a minute or two, you can have the camera up and running. I bought it because it was a Samsung and I have had great success with their products. I also bought it because, it optionally uses a wired setup to the router and since I intended on placing the camera in the room with the router, I might as well have a wired access for faster more reliable use.

If you intend on using this as a baby room monitor or other room in the house that you occupy within the wireless router then, it is a great camera.

However, if you want to use this camera as remote monitoring, using Samsung's website then I say beware. If you want to view the camera with the website, then you are stuck in "relay mode".

This means that you are limited to 3 minutes of use and very slow, grainy response since your video is passing thru Samsung's servers. I called the toll free number that was included in the package. The explanation given was that I am using 2 devices prior to the camera. Namely a cable modem and a router!! Samsung support indicates that they do not support live remote monitoring unless you are connected directly to the modem, not the router!! What's the point of having a wireless camera then?

Samsung clearly missed the mark on this product

update May 23, 2013

Apparently last night Samsung did an update on their website for monitoring this camera. In the process, the deleted all the registration information and I have to re-register with the serial number from my camera. Well, I'm not sitting next to my camera, that's the whole point. Customer service cannot give you your serial number over the phone and they don't know why camera registration's got deleted

Stay away from this camera-

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