The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group
D-Link DCS-900W Wireless Internet Camera
Ash Nallawalla
ash@melbpc.org.au
 

 The D-Link DCS-900W Internet Camera is compact, discreet, wireless and Web-enabled. It enables you to mount it anywhere within range of your wireless network and to monitor the premises remotely. The wireless standard used is 802.11b, which is 11 Mbit/s, which is adequate for securitry monitoring purposes.

The camera comes with two standard tripod thread sockets above and below the housing, so you can mount it at the top of a window frame or ceiling or on top of something. A short antenna is screwed into the housing.

Web Access

The camera contains a Web server, so it can stream video images over a network or over the Internet. Configuration is also done through the Web interface, as is common with many network devices these days. You can configure it across the Internet if there is a clear path to it, that is, not blocked by a firewall.

If you have a dynamic IP address, you would need to use a dynamic DNS provider so that you can find the camera with a name that you can remember. You need a modern Web browser to view the video, such as Internet Explorer or Mozilla FireFox with Java (not to be confused with JavaScript) support.



Figure 1. IPView settings.



Figure 2. Recording options in IPView.

Software

The camera comes with IPView Lite software. It captures video in AVI format to a hard disk as per your needs, such as 1-20 frames per second or automatic. You can watch up to four cameras, which can be triggered by motion, as is appropriate for a security camera, to a schedule or manually. The software runs under Windows 98SE through XP. You can choose the maximum file size for the stored video, so that you won't fill the hard disk.

In Use
I had to use the supplied Ethernet cable to configure the device, which was at the default IP address of 192.168.0.20. I changed it to use DHCP, so it grabbed the next available address from my wireless access point. I put the camera in another room and installed the IPView Lite program on my PC.
 
The specification says that the minimum illumination needed is 2.5 lux at f1.4, 3000K colour. In practice, at dusk the camera could see the street lights but not much else. In sunlight or on cloudy days it is fine. As a security camera, you will have to treat it as a daylight and well-lit area device.



Figure 3. Network settings.

The RRP is $675 RRP and it is available from several resellers, which are listed on the D-Link site at http://www.dlink.com.au. Shop around and you will find much lower prices.
 



Figure 4. View from the camera in the afternoon.

Reprinted from the November 2004 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia

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