I work at home. My wife and I are usually downstairs, and our two little girls sleep upstairs. And we often want to see how they're doing when they're upstairs:
1. Are they asleep or awake? We wonder this (1) shortly after we put them down for naps or for bed, (2) periodically while they are supposed to be sleeping, and (3) when we anticipate them waking up.
2. Are they OK? We may wonder this if we hear a strange noise or hear them crying or simply want to check on them for peace of mind--whether they're playing or supposed to be sleeping.
We used to creep upstairs as silently as we could and crack open a bedroom door to check on them, but often this would wake them up.
So I researched baby monitors and security cameras to see if I could find one that meets five criteria:
1. Wireless. We wanted to mount it in our children's rooms, where there are no computers, modems, or routers.
2. Streaming. We wanted to easily stream the video on a computer (Mac or PC), iPhone (or other web-enabled smartphone), iPod Touch, and iPad--whether connected to the Internet via our home WiFi or another way when away from home.
3. Day/Night. We wanted a clear picture regardless of the lighting in the room.
4. Audio. We wanted the option to hear as well as see what's happening.
5. Secure. We wanted the video to be password-protected.
We decided to get a Sharx Security Camera, which meets all five criteria, and we love it. We use it constantly day and night. We recently added a second one.
The camera has other features beyond the above criteria (e.g., DVR recording, motion detection, timed emails, FTP uploads). Installation is not difficult if you follow the instructions, and the email customer service is prompt and helpful (info@sharxsecurity.com).
I bought this camera (white) due to user reviews. My main requirement was that the ip camera has to have its own DVR. The Sharx has that and on top of that user reviews raved about the Sharx customer support. Cust support was very responsive and complete but the camera did take me about an hour to set up as my ip forwarding was not working correctly but Sharx did figured out that my firmware needed upgrading. Once done it worked as advertised. The IR did not worked so well for me because I had to turn it off as my camera has to monitor our drive way through a window. This caused my night videos to be black and white but I understand that this is a limitation with other cameras as well. The range is pretty good as it was still recording from one end of the house to the second floor. The night video is sometime choppy...but the recording was pretty smooth.
One thing I wanted to point out is that the micro SD capacity was not mention on the Sharx web site so I purchased a 32GB micro SD for longer recording at the same time as I ordered the Sharx from Amazon but when the camera arrived the Sharx manual mentioned that it was limited to 16GB. I formatted the 32GB SD and stuck it into the camera and it shows available size as 32GB so it worked after all...
Buy Sharx Security VIPcella-IR SCNC2700W Wifi Wireless b/g/n IP network camera with MicroSD DVR and Tru Now
We own 3 Sharx cameras. If we need any more, we will likely stick with Sharx.
Setup:
Setting up ANY ip camera can be complicated -your wifi router, Internet service provider, and general computer situation is very specific to you. If you live in an apartment building that provides Internet service you may have firewalls or other security measures in place that require additional setup steps for ANY ip camera to work.
The Sharx camera is easy to set up on your own if you are an intermediate level computer user. If you are not, the Sharx folks will literally talk you through setup step by step until yours is working. They are helpful and patient.
iPhone iPad Android compatible:
I have no idea why the other reviewer said that this doesn't work well with iOS devices. It is simply not true. It's an IP camera you need to get an app for viewing IP camera videos. I am watching my kids on my iPhone with ease right now using the NetcamViewer app. Plug in the IP address and port the camera is on and specify its a Sharx and it works no problem.
Nighttime viewing:
This gives a great night time feed. You do need to take care on camera placement, however. The camera has a dim red ring of lights at night that are easily reflected off of some high gloss or mirrored surfaces. These reflections degrade camera performance. With proper placement, night vision is great. This is better than your regular baby video monitor because you aren't restricted by the strength of the cameras signal.
Record function:
You can monitor what's going on with a live feed. Or you can go back and look at what's on the miniSD card. This function really gives you peace of mind. We set ours on a loop of XX hours. Want to know what percentage of time the nanny was on her phone yesterday. You can check! We did a 'dry run' to make sure we had set up everything properly. I would recommend such testing to anyone who needs to be able to go back and review. ( I certainly would if I was counting on this monitoring my business, or in my case my kids!) Our record function let us review what really happened when our daughter had an accident under the Nanny's care.
Clarity:
The lens on this camera is a significant step up from previous Sharx models. ( we also own the 2606 and the 2607 in addition to this one.) This one covers an area that is 40' long, and it is high enough resolution to really see what is going on at the very end. It is sharp in both day and night viewing. I do wish there was a way to force the night time viewing on in low light conditions, though.
Customer service:
After 2 years, our 2606 model stopped working. This was beyond warranty, but the Sharx folks let us trade up for this version for just a bit more that the price difference between the two.
Read Best Reviews of Sharx Security VIPcella-IR SCNC2700W Wifi Wireless b/g/n IP network camera with MicroSD DVR and Tru Here
Purchased several of these to replace Panasonic network cameras in my set up mainly for the night vision capabilities, including one as a baby monitor. The IR LEDs are a nice feature. The included instructions are very detailed, well-written and helpful. I'd encourage buyers to read thoroughly. Even though I didn't need it for setting things up, email support is prompt. I was inquiring about advanced features. Overall, I'm very impressed with the build quality, instructions, and support. Features such as the multi-window motion detection are also a nice touch.
For the benefit of Mac users, they do include instructions specific for AirPort and Time Capsule setups. My setup was on a Mac with a TIme Capsule and a Buffalo NAS for recording alarms. Connecting to a DDNS provider for remote viewing was also easy. I mostly access the cameras through an iPhone app (Netcamviewer) and otherwise through Firefox or Safari with no problems. Having Internet Explorer is nice if you want to have the ability to view the motion detection thresholds being triggered, but you can fine tune the settings in any browser. If using IE, use the 32-bit version (not 64-bit) it's mentioned in the manual, but I'd skipped over it.
I do miss the pan-tilt features of the Panasonic, more so because it allows for easier installation (you can point and adjust after the fact). Most applications that I have don't require the pan-tilt afterwards during normal operation. The Sharx has a slimmer profile, although I wish the included mounting bracket was smaller. It's a sturdy bracket, but just relatively large. Panasonic cameras also have an IR sensor in addition to motion detection, which proves more flexibility for triggering.
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I ordered 3 of these bad boys and so far the only problem I've had is one of the cameras had to be rebooted manually (unplug). The setup was pretty easy. I was able to get these configured and running within two hours which included installing DD-WRT firmware on a new TP-LINK TL-WR1043ND Ultimate Wireless N Gigabit Router instead of using a 2wire wireless gateway. When I ordered these I didn't realize it supported Wireless N, so that's a bonus on my part. I'm also able to use Google Chrome to view and hear. I installed the quicktime and activex plugin for chrome, and I disabled the 3D acceleration in Quicktime. Just click on "primary stream", allow permission, and it works. If you are on a Mac using Safari, just click on "primary stream". Should start playing without having to install plugins.
For my DNS i used "No IP". They give you 3 free hosts, which is something I couldn't see on DynDNS. All I saw was options to pay :(
I've only had these for 4 days and will continue to update as time goes by, but so far so good. I haven't messed with the quality much, but right now I'm using 16GB memory card and at best quality i'm getting 3 days of recording, but I will be dropping the quality to something less intensive. Should give me at least a couple of weeks based on my experience with other cameras.
Again, great cameras and setup was as easy as I've seen. The manual book is very easy to follow incase you get stuck.
I hope these continue to run and impress as time passes by. Oh, and I use an iPhone as my mobile device and picture quality looks good. Love that you can increase and decrease window size just like you would any other website.
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I love everything about it. It's so wonderful to have a remote after not having one for a while. It arrived clean and came with batteries, it works great.
