Wireless Home Networking - Index of

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Part IV: Using a Wireless Network
You can also get cameras from other players, such as Linksys (www.linksys.
com), Hawking Technologies (www.hawkingtech.com), and TRENDnet
(www.trendware.com). You will often find videocameras bundled into other
packages; Hawking’s Net-Vision HNC290G Wireless-G Network Camera ($115)
interworks with its Hawking HomeRemote Wireless Home Automation System
HRGZ1 Gateway ($180), which enables you to turn lights on and off in the
house remotely. Often you’ll find packages of three or four cameras for a
lower bundled price as well.
Installing a wireless network camera is incredibly simple. These network
devices usually sport both an RJ-45 10Base-T wired network interface along
with an 802.11b/g air interface. Installing the camera usually involves first
connecting the camera to your network via the wired connection and then
using the provided software to access your camera’s settings. Depending on
how complicated the camera is (whether it supports the ability to pan, to
e-mail pictures on a regular basis, or to allow external access, for example),
you may need to set any number of other settings.
Security varies tremendously among videocamera offerings. If security is
important to you (as it should be!), you should check the technical specs of
any camera before you buy. Panasonic’s BL-C30A, for instance, is an older
model, and has only 40/64/128-bit WEP encryption to help protect your
wireless network from illegal intrusion. The D-Link cameras top out at WPA
as of this writing too. TrendNet’s TV-IP312W Wireless 2-Way Audio Day/Night
Internet Camera Server (www.trendware.com, $220), on the other hand,
supports 64/128-bit WEP, WPA-PSK, and WPA2-PSK. (We talk more about WEP
and WPA in Chapters 6 and 9, if you need to know more.) Look for a camera
that has at least WPA2 Personal (PSK) on board — over time more cameras
will have this.
To allow anyone from outside your home’s LAN to view your camera feed
directly (that is, not from a window pane published on your Web page),
you need a static WAN IP address. Although you can probably get such an
address from your broadband connection provider, it will probably be pricey.
More likely, you will use a dynamic DNS service (DDNS), which allows you to
assign a permanent Web address to the camera. A DDNS is easier to remember
than an IP address and is static. Your camera vendor should help you do
this as part of the setup process. D-Link, for example, has its own free DDNS
service (www.dlinkddns.com) that you can activate during your setup
process. Panasonic has its free Viewnetcam.com.
One of the cameras we like is the Linksys WVC200 Wireless-G Pan/Tilt/Zoom
Video Camera (www.linksys.com, $270) because it shows the camera’s IP
address in an LCD on the front of the camera. This makes debugging and
setup issues easier. However, don’t pay for the Linksys SoloLink $19.95
DDNS service — check out free service such as DynDNS (www.dyndns.com/
services/dns/dyndns/) if Linksys is still charging for SoloLink when you read
this. The WVC200 also supports only WEP and WPA as of this writing, not