Can you help Newbie to Camera on my LAN

[LandslideGal]

Hello

I want to put up a camera -- I am looking for advice and explaination to put be in the correct direction before I get lost looking at the wrong products. I have an ancient home wireless b/g WG602 Dink access point and a LYNKSYS DSL Ethernet Cable router hooked up and my home Cable access network works and my wireless network works...all happy 123 encrypted. How to add a camera for OUTSIDE vigil...

I have about one million questions and need recommendations...I stumbled here I hope this is the correct place, I am a programmer -NOT a network engineer but bumble through network stuff ok on setting stuff up.

My view window view from inside is ok but an outside camera would be better!

Q1) how does the signal get inside to my guttless Access Point? is there a camera where the wireless antenna remote can be on a wire through the wall into the house and the camera still lives out side?

Q2) I just want the pictures to be taken when there is a car or truck or something moves big not leaves..is that possible. I do not need live video all of the time I just want to record activity...

Q3) How does the picture data file get from my home network up to a website?

Q4) Can I use my own website to hold the image or do you have to belong to some special website service?

I cannot spend crazy money but I want a decent photo for about 300ft? I run XP PRO. I have an older MAC running OSX I think but it is usually turned off under used only to test websites on MAC.

Thanks for any any help -advice sorry if this is the wrong place please give me a site where i could read or goto and the correct names of products to look at.

Thanks....tons..in advance !

[LandslideGal]

Come on folks give me one or two Cameras to look at - gotta be out doors under a deck look off a about 100-300 ft down a road. I have a B/G wireless running please give me some product to review? is there one that can have a remote antenna attached or do they all have those attached ones? My house will not all ACCESS point .. transmit outside it is steel.

[spymasterflash]

Go simple. Get a camera that saves to SD card on a motion trigger. Even a jpeg-only cam will do (nicely). I don't know of too many low-$ cameras that include a storage card. I have a couple that do but for a case like yours I'd try to find something cheaper. Make sure you can easily get to the storage card. The one outside camera I have with SD uses an enclosure of sorts that covers the SD slot so you could not remove it without a lot of hassle. That's a good feature else anyone could remove it; and it is meant to be wired and so the images are pulled via the network.

Anyway, get a camera that has an easily accessible storage card and you can dispense with all the networking, and everything else for that matter, except a power source. Each night, head out to the camera and pull out the SD card. Stick it in the PC and see what went on.

You'll have to program it to save on motion, but after that it runs by itself. That's the plan, anyway.

If you can keep the camera inside, you'll have more choices, and no housing to block SD card access.

How much are you looking to spend?

At 300ft? You'll need a pretty strong zoom since motion at that distance is like a bird flying by, or maybe even a bug. Very unlikely to get useful detection without zoom. Zoom cost$.

It might be cheaper to hire a kid to take pictures (once school lets out) of everything that goes by.

[LandslideGal]

I was thinking I could put some sort of outdoor worthy wireless IP camera with a remote cord antenna that I could run through the wall, make the camera some kind of server or email the pictures to a email box that I could fetch from and upload to a server ( I am a programmer) This camera would be on the wireless LAN network that I could open some port and ping/access from the www... or have it email- i could write a process to uplaod a picture from email every time there is a new one....like a truck moved - the camera took a picture and emails it, I get it or perhaps live - I will spend some dough not $500...but some.

I want to watch the front of the home, drive way , door.. based on movement not leaves in the breeze...I want to put picture up when a truck drive in. hell all day if need be.

Thanks for the kid idea but, like, no liablity issues are harsh this is the USA..Thanks for the SD idea but I already hate downloading picture from my family camera..less time on a CPU .. is more for me, family I code I do not play online.

I want a good camera to be outside that can transmit b/g wireless, I would like to be able to attach an antenna that is longer, I would like this camera to work as a server or email. 300ft may have been and exageration - I would like it not to break after 1 year.

More information please any of you camera gods. This is got to be the place if not do not make me read those Fracken Amazon reviews ..

[barshnik]

Sorry, but you are kind of asking for a lot for a little. Outdoor network cameras cost a bit of dough. A fixed iris camera, even if it will work 'kind of' OK outdoors, is not going to put up well with ever changing outdoor lighting. Cameras designed to work outdoors are usually auto-iris, and designed to put up with a wide range of lighting, temperature, and humidity concerns. Many new wireless routers could work at the distance you mention, but as for the camera, you may have to put up with a learning curve.

Only dollars can address these issues, unless you can be really creative.

I liked the idea of hiring a kid to take pictures.

[thewireguys]

This is what I would use:

Axis 221w $699.00 you need a housing

You can use a different housing then the Axis one (made my Videolarm)

Axis housing price $299.00

[LandslideGal]

I guess I did not think outside under an eve would be such a big deal, we have no weather to speak of really, this is California my High is 100 and my low is 54, it is almost always dry we get two days of hawaii style humidity and about 10 days of rain.

Ok how about if I "wire" it to the router does that make more options available?

So to me you are saying I have to go $$$ big to be out side you are all saying that these level of cameras/housings like http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=432 will not do the trick...

How about shooting through the window then-- I guess that would work (not as cool but) ...how far can you shoot out the window - does that help my problem? Anything I should know about that ?

The AXIS looks great but so much $$$

[LandslideGal]

We do have rattle snake so no kids ....to much liablity.

[barshnik]

<<The AXIS looks great but so much $$$>>

An Axis 209 FDR just sold on eBay for the $260 range. Although technically not an outdoor camera, and doesn't have auto-iris, I did mount one under a garage eve here in LV (similar climate to some of CA) and it is working fine so far. Not WiFi, has to have ethernet wired to it. Certainly doesn't have the low-light capability of the 221 or even the 211, but throw in a cheap motion-detecting floodlight and you are set.

I was pretty impressed with how the 209 worked outdoors, even though you risk a freak storm blowing water/dirt and possibly ruining it.

[LandslideGal]

Thanks I will look a those then - I do have the ability to build a housing of semi water resisitant nature (we do boat sort of stuff) I do not need night that much but I already have a motion light out there.

Thanks for some decent advice --FINALLY