Wireless Web Camera Options?

kevinvee asks: "I am trying to find a suitable wireless web camera for broadcasting video streams from various sites around the university where I work, including buildings currently under construction which can be far from both network and electrical outlets. Besides the x10 packages, however, my search is coming up rather empty. Things we have to consider are the maximum distance from transmitter to receiver; power source, and if battery-powered, the average battery life; video quality; additional necessary hardware and software; outdoor/indoor capabilities; and weather resistance. I'm sure there are also other things to consider which we haven't thought of yet. Has anyone else tackled similar projects? What hardware did you attempt to use and what experiences did you have with it?"

Axis cam plus Cisco 350 Workgroup Bridge?

[Mordant]

Should work just fine:

http://www.axis.com/products/cam_2100/index.htm

and

http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/cc/pd/witc/ao35 0a p/prodlit/a350b_ds.htm

Re:Axis cam plus Cisco 350 Workgroup Bridge?

[linuxwrangler]

Or another linux-powered web-cam: http://www.stardot-tech.com/netcam/index.html. Just add 802.11 and an antenna and you should be fine except for power. Most buildings - even ones under construction - have some power. If not, a deep-discharge RV battery should run one for a long time. Or add a solar panel if you have enough light. I think the stardot is used at the north pole but they have the whole setup rigged to wake up and send a picture via satellite phone periodically to reduce power consumption. The poster did not mention the one BIG consideration: budget. This is an easy problem with sufficient application of $$$.

Re:Axis cam plus Cisco 350 Workgroup Bridge?

[funky womble]

I'll second the recommendation for Axis from personal experience - they're really good.

I don't have personal experience of these [smartbridges.com] but they look fairly nice too and maybe a little cheaper than the Aironet.

Dlink Wireless Web Cam no good for this

[philosophyandrew]

The main consumer 802.11b wirless netcam, the Dlink DCS-1000W, is unsuited for your task. It DOES work well as an entry-level wireless netcam, but isn't at all ruggidized or set up battery powered or indoor/outdoor operation. (It does, however, accept stanards CCTV lenses, which opens up the possibility of adding a more versatile lens with more iris control and perhaps a zoom. Perhaps it would be possible to together enough casing/power hardware kludges to get it to work. Off the shelf, however, it won't give you what you want.)

Panasonic has some "prosumer level" wireless netcams that might do the trick, although I don't think that there are any of them that meet all of your requirements.

OT: X10 ads

[Violet Null]

It's sad. I read the opener, and the very first thought into my head, the very first one, was "What about X10?"

Why is this sad? Because the only reason I know about X10 is through their pop up ads(1), which I despise, and in no way wish to support -- yet they're obviously successful. I hate it when reality interferes with me like that.

(1) Until I started using Mozilla, of course.

Re:OT: X10 ads

[Stephen Samuel]

I may hate the X-10 popup adds, but at least they're paying for them -- which supports the web sites that I'm going to. I'd rather support X-10 and the sites that they give money to than somebody who spammed me..
You'd have to tie me to a pole and treaten to burn me at the stake to get me to buy from a spammer.

Surveillance?

[NickDngr]

Putting cameras in the female dorms and locker rooms will get you into trouble. Shame on you for trying to involve us.

it's not all bad

[b_pretender]

...on the otherhand, putting cameras on rooftops looking at construction sites is not bad. It's rather interesting. I used to go watch construction almost every day. Finally, they put up some webcams. That just made me go watch it more often, since, I could see what they were doing and was interested in seeing it closer.

Solar power

[fm6]

If there's no reliable source of line power, you're going to have to look at solar power. I don't think there's an affordable battery that will keep you cams online for any length of time. Here's somebody else who did that [whistlerlivewebcams.com].

Probably not what you are looking for.

[FreeLinux]

Things we have to consider are the maximum distance from transmitter to receiver; power source, and if battery-powered, the average battery life; video quality; additional necessary hardware and software; outdoor/indoor capabilities; and weather resistance.

You don't give your requirements for the parameters that you mention. I suspect, being an Ask Slashdot, that you are looking for something on the cheap. If this is the case then X-10 is your only real choice and you will have to live with poor quality, short range and short battery life.

But, lets pretend that you really wanted the best. In this case I would recommend the Canon VCC 4 [dealtimeshopping.com], at truely great remote video camera. Of course, you will need power for this. For power, you should get a Honda generator [honda.ca]. Finally for the wireless part, you should look into the Ikegami Microwave link [ikegami.co.jp] or the Canon Canobeam DT50 [canon.com].

Now we're talking about a serious long range, high quality, remote control webcam. Ain't it cool?

Virtual moderation: +1 funny

[Stephen Samuel]

'Nuff said.

minidv cam that streams mpeg4

[akb]

The x10 is a piece of trash, what you really want is one of these [jvc.com]. 3ccd minidv camera that hasa wireless broadband adapter over which you can stream mpeg4. And it runs Linux [videosystems.com].

D-Link's got you covered.

[dozer]

802.11 or 100baseT, HTTP-configured.

Sweet stuff.

http://www.dlink.com/products/DigitalHome/Digita lV ideo/internetCameras/

You mean like this?

[jad4]

Am I the only one who immediately thought of Alison's pants?

pantscam.com [pantscam.com]

Swann wireless cameras

[MeerCat]

The range isn't high, but I've been meaning to get one of these [swann.com.au] to try out - it's small enough (size of your thumb) that weather-proofing should be easy, it'll run off anything from 6-15V I believe, so wire it up to a few D-cells or a car battery if you want (consumes 180mA), and if you can get the receiver within 100m and plug it into a networked PC with video-capture then you should be fine.

I believe they do B+W, Colour, or Colour with Sound versions, and they all seem to be quite cheap and quite well reviewed.

Better alternatives to X10 products

[Nonesuch]

Smarthome (www.smarthome.com [smarthome.com]) carries the X10 product lines, along with X10-compatible Leviton products.

They have a large variety of surveillance products [smarthome.com], at various price/durability levels.

Disclaimer: No affiliation with Smarthome, except as a satisfied customer. I've bought wired cameras and other products from them, never had any problems with SmartHome.

Please Share

[hugecrow]

"I am trying to find a suitable wireless web camera for broadcasting video streams from various sites around the university"

hehe, me too, can you post the link for me?

We do this at my work

[dbrummer]

The company I work for, SmartConnect, Inc. [smartconnect.net], specializes in Internet Video and Digital Surveillance. We have setup a city wide wireless network with cameras at parks and stop lights. We are a partner with Axis and could probably complete what you're looking for.