Saturday, September 6, 2014

Logitech WiLife Digital Video Security--Outdoor Add-On Camera

Logitech WiLife Digital Video Security--Outdoor Add-On CameraI have a mixed review about this product. It is easy to install and works great. The problem I had was when the camera stopped working just after my one year warranty expired. I spoke to their customer service and they had me run a diagnostic report. This was sent to their diagnostic department and I received the following email "Thank you for reporting a problem to the WiLife Diagnostics Group!

Your email is being reviewed and a company representative will contact you." I was never contacted by a company rep. I did however buy another camera. I just hope it last longer than a year, and I hope their customer service improves.

I use the wilife system in my business. I have indoor cameras inside and outdoor cameras in my drive-thru (which is still technically inside). The outdoor cameras only last me about 6 months. The indoor cameras have lasted 2 years and are still going strong. I recently purchased 2 additional indoor cameras to replace the 2 outdoor cameras that continue to fail.

The system is great and the quality of the images are outstanding. I do however recommend avoiding the outdoor cameras.

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I am happy with this system. It performs as described and is perfect if you don't want to hack up your house running network cable. I have a full up 6 camera system, and it's has performed in excess of my expectations.

Based on all of the negative reviews floating around about this setup, you'd think this system was a joke....from software, connection issues, performance issues, it doesn't do this, it doesn't do that. Whatever. I find that most negative reviews come from technically challenged individuals, or those that have unrealistic expectations. We haven't experienced the issues others have reported. We have the most current software (v2.5) and camera firmware, and have had no issues whatsoever. For the price, we're getting what we paid for.

The specs on this system are clear. If it doesn't meet your needs, then don't buy. We find that it surpasses our expectations. It's great to have a record of all of the activity that goes on around our home while we are absent. Now that we have this system, we find that we cannot live without it. It's like going from dialup to high speed internet....you can never go back. We'll never be without a surveillance system again.

Read Best Reviews of Logitech WiLife Digital Video Security--Outdoor Add-On Camera Here

The Logitech outdoor cameras have a known defect (caps melting).They fail in about a year. This is due to the following four 1000uF capacitors: C26, C27, C31 and C32. The caps that were in the original release were 10 volt caps. The next release they were 16 volt. I had 7 dead cameras. I replaced them with a 25 volt high quality cap and they have worked ever since. The caps don't fit perfectly (the original are 8mm diameter versus the 12.5mm that I put in) so you'll need to insulate the leads and let them float above the circuit board. Here is the Digi-key part number for the cap I used: UHE1E102MHD6.

Here is the link for the cap

They are 81 cents each.

The caps are from Nichicon and are Aluminum Electrolytic. They are rated for 10,000 hours at 105 degrees C. They are through hole, radial can, 12.5mm diameter.

I used a high reliability type HE. Here is a link. You could also use TT, PA, HV, your choice.

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When I first got the system and installed it, I was excited. Installation was easy. It started right up. It was sending me email alerts. I could access my cameras from the internet. How cool was that!!

But now 3 months later the bloom is off the rose, and I am ready to scrape it or send it back. It is just too unreliable. I have my system at a location that I only visit once a week. I would estimate that less than 25% of the time does it make through an entire week with all three primary functions (local recording, email alerts, internet viewing) all working, all week. And it's not just one thing. It's multiples. Logitec's help system always has suggestions but reliability never improves and the same problems continue to repeat.

So unless you can physically access the system daily and/or are ok with parts of the system going down for periods of time, I would stay away from this product.

Great idea. Flawed execution.

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