Wireless/Outdoor, Camera Needed...

[2marshall8]

Is there a camera that meets all of these needs?

1. Works Outdoors and is weatherproof
2. Wireless Network capability

If so, what make and model do you recommend I purchase.

thanks for the advice.

[frozen]

try a google search first. outdoor ip camera - Google Search
http://snipurl.com/27yyp [www_google_com]

[thewireguys]

Most quality IP cameras require a housing to be used outdoors and I don't know of any wireless IP cameras that don't require one.

[thewireguys]

[4xem]

We have a number of customers that use the wireless IPCAMWLPTZ with a heated/cooled dome enclosure, IPCAMENCLODHF with great success. That being said, your wireless connection and environment will have a lot to do with performance. I recommend a good strong WAP, possibly connected to an outdoor antenna depending on distance and thickness of walls. Your other option is to use an Ethernet bridge to change a wired camera to wireless.
Please let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks,
Jay
_________________
4XEM Corporation
Specializing in IP Cameras, Network Cameras and Video Servers
www.4xem.com
Toll Free: 1-866-999-4936

[geolt3]

I just ordered 2 wireless outdoor network camera systems from www.wirelessoutdoorcam.com for our contruction forman to monitor their site after work hours. They keep having materials disappear from the job site and need to put a stop to it. We already have an offec trailer there with a PC and phone line and we can get DSL and record to the PC. We plan an access point to connect the camera, PC DSL modem to. In theory it should work. If it does we will be ordering more for our other sites. They are a little pricy but still a good buy compared to the other options out there. I'll let you know how it goes.
-Geo

[kymberm]

Toshiba IKWB11A I got mine on ebay for 400! it's awesome, even in low light. does everything. Makes me wonder what the IKWB15A does that this one doesn't? anyone know?
You wn't be disappointed with this one.[/img]

[geolt3]

Kymberm,
When I was researching for a wireless outdoor camera system I looked into the Toshiba IKWB11A but saw that it was only 802.11b and "b" only max's out at 11Mb/sec, "g" can go at 54Mb/s and burst rates at "108Mb/s". And some of the wireless indoor IP cameras we already have are "b" only and at a full 640x480 they are very jerky. If we connected them to the network directly they ran pretty good at 100Mb/s. And the the only way we good get better performance was to lower the resolution size and image qulaity. So we figured we needed at least the "g" speed at 54Mb/s and there wasn't a whole lot of choices out there for an IP camera that you can use outdoors, is wireless and uses 802.11g. Now if anyone knows of any system running the new 802.11n draft, please let me know. "n" is suppose to double the "g" speed or better. I asked the techs at wirelessoutdoorcam about this but they said there current wireless hardware only comes in in 802.11 a, b or g and that "n" is not an option for them yet.
Sorry, we just got our 2 new systems in yesterday but I haven't had a chance to test them yet. I got overload with chasing someone abusing our intenet policies...

[Mr Sots]

[geolt3]

Thanks for the info, and yes we have both VGA only and some MPEG cameras and there is quite a bit of diference in speed. But I failed to describe our infrastructure though.
Most of the construction sites barely have power to plug into so CAT5 direct wiring is not usually an option. We have extension cords, genrators and batteries everywhere. And we are able to power the cameras from wirelessoutdoorcam straight from the 12 volt batteries. We also have instances where some of the engineers on site are pulling CAD drawings accros the wireless to their laptops while out on site. And this can drag down our wireless access points pretty good. And our budget won't allow us to build additional additonal wireless system just for the cameras. We try and use the MPEG Cams whenever we can but we only have so many to go around. They are much better with handling motion than the JPEG ones. But I'm always looking for new & better cameras systems. So let me know if you see anything else that might work for us!

[murphycc]

Speaking of 802.11b, does anyone know if using a 802.11b wireless camera actually slows down an 802.11g network? I read that it's very common that attaching a 802.11b peripheral to an 802.11g network will slow down other things on the 802.11g network too (i.e. normal download speed from the internet).

Can anyone verify this? I have a 802.11g network at home and was thinking of buying the Sony SNC-P5 camera with its wireless card, but its wireless card only handles 802.11b. I don't want my entire network to slow down on account of that camera being hooked up to it...

-Chris

[Mr Sots]

That paints a clearer picture! While it's not going to help your short term problem, when you come to replace/upgrade your cameras look for ones with some onboard memory or the facility to add CF type cards to act as a buffer in the event that someone needs to drag a large drawing across the WLAN.

Another option could be to segregate your WLAN into VLAN's for data and CCTV, giving the CCTV a higher priority than normal data. Users would in reality barely notice the difference but your live camera streams would definately benefit!

Better still, use dual radio AP's with CCTV on one frequency and data on another.

[geolt3]

I like your idea of W-VLAN's! But maybe I'm think ing too much. Because during the day when they are working I can set the DVR system to ignor the Wireless Outdoor IP Cameras during the normal 7am-7pm hours. That would mean th emajority of th ebandwidth could be used for dat. But after hours the DVR can start monitoring the video feeds from the cameras and use all the available bandwidth.
But I think I'm going to play around with the wireless VLAN idea just to see how well it works.
BTW, Have use ever used the WDS features of 802.11b/g? I've read that it cuts your bandwidth in half. Is that true? Because it would be sure be nice to use these cameras as access points also. That way I could daisy chain them from one to another.

[geolt3]

Morphycc,
As far as I know, 802.11b does not slow down a 802.11g network by IEEE design, but it probably all depends on the manufacturer of the access point you are using. I personally will not use any of wireless hardware you can by at a big box store. At most they give you only 65mW-100mW of transmittion power. The access points I purchase are 400mW with good antenna. They are capable of few miles of distance...if you have wide line of site, that is. I've found that the 2.4Ghz frequency does not like obstructions especially TREES! If you already have an access point, I say try it and download a large file and see if there is a difference.