Saturday, November 9, 2013

X10 AirSight PTZ IP Camera Wireless Network Cam, Dome, Night Vision, 3x Zoom XX40A

X10 AirSight PTZ IP Camera Wireless Network Cam, Dome, Night Vision, 3x Zoom XX40AI just bought a home that was burglarized during the DAY (ha!) while I was out. I have an indoor alarm system, so the alarm was set off when the window was broken. This was AFTER they had already stolen property from my backyard. I immediately commenced to beefing up my home's security (inside & out). My home-security provider has cameras but the cam with 360 view isn't water proof & the one that is, is static. Not to mention I don't want ANYONE with visual access to my home but me. I spent quite a while looking for a camera. It was VERY draining sitting here for hours at a time (for two days) looking for a Security Cam that had all the features I needed: **Outdoor/Waterproof **360 View **Internet/IP for remote access **Good Picture Quality **WiFi **$200 or less (since I'd be buying 4 or more) **Decent Reviews. I wasn't as concerned with whether it had I.R. night vision but that would be a definite plus if it did in addition to all the other features. Well the X10 AirSight PTZ IP Camera does have all of the above features. Now before I give my full review just let me say, DO NOT spend a ridiculous amount of money on these types of electronics. Price is not always synonymous with "quality". This is the attitude I had while shopping (especially after reading BAD reviews of some expensive models), not just because I would be buying multiple units, but because I truly believe that a $2000 cam wouldn't work any better than a $200 cam. Some may argue with me on that, but I own a few realty properties (and a business) and I feel this camera is more than ENOUGH to perform the tasks needed. I'm sure a $2000 camera might have even better picture quality but if you don't have a T3 internet connection to power it, you can't experience the full benefits. Therefore it's a definite waste of money.....Moving on.... NIGHT VISION: The Night vision isn't great, but the fact that it has it, is a plus for me. Besides, I already have 360 motion-sensor flood lights installed near the camera. If you're looking for an awesome night vision cam, then this isn't the cam for you. OVERALL CAMERA: It looks great, very sleek, professional & high-tech looking. It works great, I haven't had any issues with it malfunctioning. The picture quality is pretty good. The speed when panning & tilting is also pretty good. I do have experience with web-cameras, and any camera that uses the internet you need to have a pretty good internet-connection & networking gear to get the best picture quality & the speed of the camera controls. My internet connection is 100mbps/DL 20mbps/UL, and I have a NetGear Router: WNR2000 v2 (which I plan on upgrading to an even faster model) INSTALL: My home has concrete/brick veneers so I had my contractor drill the hole for the camera cable to fit through. Then drill holes for the screws in the concrete. He basically physically installed the camera (haha) but if I had the right drill bits for that thick concrete I could have done it. I didn't test the cam & set it up before having it installed, but I suggest that you do just in case there's an issue and you need to examine it. That way you won't have to climb back up a ladder to fool around with it. SOFTWARE SETUP: There are two programs. One can only be used from within the home to view each camera you have. The other is basically like a network/device discovery tool. Honestly now that I think about it both are useless since the camera is "Plug-n-Play", it has on-board programming. When you visit the IP address (direct or remotely) of the camera you can control it & configure it from there. The camera & you Router is all that is needed to setup & configure everything. However, initially you should still install both to your computer. You can always uninstall them later if you feel they're taking up space on your comp. PRODUCT INSTRUCTIONS: TERRIBLE! I give them 1-STAR for the package instructions. Surprisingly, the wording is just fine (since this is a product from China and their translated instructional manuals are usually terribly worded) but it is the fact that they give absolutely NO instructions on ***HOW TO VIEW YOUR CAMERA REMOTELY***. For people that have never used an IP/Network Cam, this is VERY frustrating. So I will post the info on how to setup ANY IP/Network camera you may have. ***Log into you router and use "port forwarding" feature for each camera you have ***If you have a dynamic IP Address (your IP address changes every time you reset/unplug your modem & router) use a Dynamic DNS Service (aka DynDNS or DDNS) ***Then configure the DynDNS feature within your ROUTER and also the DynDNS settings within CAMERA. WATCH THIS YOUTUBE VIDEO>>> /watch?v=iHTxuYa3Kzo

No comments:

Post a Comment