Wireless Surveillance Cameras

Snaking cables used to be one of the most annoying tasks in setting up a home surveillance system. Let it be annoying no more. Once you've set up a wireless router in your home, you can use it for all kinds of great stuff ... like home security. How cool would it be to simply plug the power cord on that a security camera and get right down to business ...

If you've held back on installing a surveillance system because of the cabling hassles, your wait is over.

It's 802.11 to the rescue!

Wireless surveillance cameras beg the question: why bother with wires?

Here's a roundup of some of the most popular affordable wireless surveillance camera offerings:

Sony's line of IP-based surveillance cameras are well worth a look. The SNC-M1W and SNC-M3W series cameras feature embedded IP servers and transmit video over 802.11b. The Sony cameras provide 320 x 240 sized images, with a maximum frame rate of 30 frames per second (FPS). The units allow for both MPEG-4 and JPEG compression formats. The SNC-M1W is a fixed camera, while the SNC-M3W (shown at right) has pan, tilt, and zoom capabilities. Both models offer motion detection.

Panasonic's diminutive BL-C30 wireless network camera provides pan (plus or minus 50 degrees), tilt (plus 10 to minus 40 degrees), along with a pyroelectric infrared heat (not motion) sensor. The IP camera features a built-in webserver, 802.11g wireless capabilities, WEP encryption (64, 128 & 152 bit), and JPEG compression with 15 FPS at 320x240 pixel. Email or alarms can be sent (with image) based on timer or heat sensor.

PromaxUSA's PRO-PT3118 wireless camera delivers pan, tilt, and zoom via 802.11g. The camera provides "intelligent" motion detection, 4X digital zoom capabilities, 64/128 bit WEP encryption, and MPEG-4 compression. Pan and tilt are controlled via a click-to-move interface. Need to deal with the elements? The weatherproof aluminum-cased Promax PRO15-2400 uses a 1W 2.4Ghz transmitter and uses 20 infrared LEDs with a fixed 3.6 mm lens for day or night use.

At at about eighty dollars a pop, X10's fixed mount XCam2 gets the nod for its low price point. But you'll need to fork over significantly more green if you want all the bells and whistles. The Ninja Pan and Tilt option provides 240 degrees of pan, 130 degrees of tilt, and four preset positions for an additional hundred bucks, while the software and PC video/USB adapter adds one more c-note to the total.

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