Monitor Your Home From Afar With A Web Camera

Sometimes while I’m at work I’ll wonder what my mischievous pets are up to. . . which cat is throwing up on the vacuum cleaner or how many pellets my parrot is really throwing out of his cage. I guess it’s sort of like how a parent would think about what their kid is up to. Well, it’s easy to monitor “the kids” with a web camera.

Web cameras are nothing new, but people are increasingly using them as security cameras or to just curiously monitor activity inside the home. To get started with an effective web camera you can actually monitor online, you need a broadband Internet connection and a camera kit bundled with the proper hardware and software. Camera setups can be wired or wireless, but wireless offers more flexibility since it’s not tethered to your computer. Once your camera is installed, it will have its own IP address (a number that identifies the camera on the Internet). You type this number into any web browser (with your given password) and you’ll catch Fido in the act of chewing a chunk off the couch.

There are a variety of web cameras specifically designed for home monitoring with a wide price range. The most economically effective one is probably the Linksys WVC54G Wireless G Internet Video Camera. The camera includes its own web server, which means you can connect directly to a network without being plugged into a computer. Putting the camera in security mode automatically sends you e-mail alerts (up to three e-mail addresses) with video clips upon motion detection. The WVC54G comes with an easy to user Linksys Viewer and Recorder with a Snapshot feature (lets you take still pictures). This allows you to record video and audio to your computer’s hard drive. It uses Wireless-G (802.11g) networking with advanced MPEG4 video compression, giving you up to a 640x480-pixel audio/video stream. The WVC54G sells for about $190 from CompUSA/ www.compusa.com or www.linksys.com.

A higher-priced alternative is the D-Link DCS-5300G Internet Security Camera.
It is more than double the price of the Linksys WVC54G at $440 per camera, but with the added capability to pan the camera up to 270 degrees horizontally, tilt it up to 90 degrees vertically and a 4x optical zoom to view the action close-up. You can also monitor up to 16 cameras simultaneously on a single screen with the option to connect it to your television and VCR (if you even still have one of those). As with the Linksys, it records using MPEG4 compression, video is recordable to your computer’s hard drive and e-mail alerts can be sent to you. It is available at www.dlink.com.