Linksys Wireless-G Internet Video Camera

Have you ever been away from your home and wished you could have a quick look in to check everything’s OK? Or wanted to check on a sleeping child without going into their room and disturbing them? This new Wi-Fi camera from Linksys promises all this and more – a video camera that connects wirelessly to your home network, broadcasting live footage to any computer on the same Wi-Fi network or to anywhere on the internet.

Features
The camera can watch over any room in your house, whether you want to use it as a baby monitor or a security camera. By connecting it to your wireless network (which should be compatible with the faster 802.11g version of Wi-Fi) you can keep an eye on a room from anywhere you could normally pick up a signal. To broadcast your video over the internet you have to subscribe to SoloLink, but there’s a voucher included providing a 12-month subscription for free. The camera can also be configured to record video should it detect any motion.

Performance
The camera needs to be plugged into the wall and doesn’t come with a particularly long lead, so positioning the device can be a little awkward unless you happen to have a power socket right where you need it. Once it’s in place though, you simply need to type the camera’s IP address into Internet Explorer on any computer on your network, and out comes video and sound. The main downside is that it only works where there’s light, so you’ll have to leave the lights on if you want it to work at night.

Ease of use
Setting up is simple as long as you have a spare ethernet port, either on a PC or router. By plugging it in and entering the settings of your Wi-Fi network, the camera will log itself on and start working immediately. If you want to set it up using a wireless network you’ll have to change the settings of your network to those of the camera, which is a little inconvenient. We also found it tricky to set up our non-Linksys wireless router to transfer the camera’s images onto the web because the provided instructions are only for Linksys devices.

Value for money
This is a new concept and the problem with all things new is that you inevitably have to pay for them. It’s an impressive piece of technology that does its job well, but streaming video and audio across a wireless network is quite expensive at £230. Also, if you want to continue connecting the camera to the internet after your first year, you can expect to pay $30 a year (around £17).