Soundy

Conversely, the cameras will use you bandwidth ONLY when you're connected to them. If you're just checking in now and then, it shouldn't be too much usage. Might want to look at a camera (or cameras) with built-in recording.

Yeah, I dunno, I would suspect someone tried'em, then packed'em back up and returned'em, especially with some of the settings changed.

Rory, sounds like you got used cameras or something... maybe some that someone returned. Every 24VF I've installed has been set at 2.8mm with tack-sharp focus out of the box.

Personally, I tend to prefer routers that have the option to reserve IPs. I'll still sometimes assign cameras and DVRs static IPs for the sake of network management, but it's always better to have all the options available. Reservation is a basic function of DHCP design, where you can tell it that "X" MAC address will ALWAYS be assigned "Y" IP from within the pool range. With many newer ones, reserving an IP as as simple as looking in the DHCP table and clicking a "reserve" button (or ticking a checkbox) beside the desired machine's address. Almost all the ones that support reservations will also allow you to define the IP you want it to get, and many of those will even allow you to assign an IP outside the normal pool range. That's the kicker with these problematic Linksys units: not only are they changing the IPs when they shouldn't, but none of them that do this have a reservation function either. In other words, they appear to use a half-assed implementation of DHCP. I can't say I haven't seen problems with other brands either, but those have been rare and generally just one-offs. Linksys are the only ones in my experience that seem to always be a crapshoot.

If DHCP is properly implemented and working, that shouldn't happen unless the power has been off for more than at least 12 hours. Normally, once a client has received an IP from the DHCP server, it should then run until the lease period is half-expired, at which point the client should request a renewal. In most cases, the server will renew it right away; if it doesn't, or if the client doesn't pose the request, the server will maintain that IP for that client for the remainder of the lease period, after which it returns to the pool. In other words, with a 24 hour lease, if the client doesn't request a renewal at the 12-hour mark, the client should still be able to send a renewal request and right up to the 23:59:59 mark, and get the same IP back. If that's not happening - or worse, if the client is being given a new IP while it's still up - then there's something wrong with the DHCP server. In the case of the Linksys routers, it behaves as if the DHCP server isn't honoring renewal requests, so after the lease expires, the client sends a new request, and gets the next available IP, while its original IP returns to the pool. If the DVR is the only system on the router, then once that IP expires, the client should get handed its original IP again. Yes, you can work around all this by manually coding the info into the DVR, and if that's the way you prefer to manage your network, then more power to you... the point is, you shouldn't have to kludge around like this. And it doesn't help if you have one of those rare oddball routers that will only let you forward ports to IPs within its DHCP range.

Those baluns are designed for video - they MAY work with audio, but I wouldn't bet on it. You want a "dynamic" mic. I've never seen a mic of any type that comes with a BNC connector, though - most use either an RCA or a tip-sleeve or tip-ring-sleeve type connector (like a headphone plug). Professional ones use locking XLR connectors. There are adapters available that will let you connect just about anything to your BNC inputs, through a combination of adapters, if necessary.

Yes, but it shouldn't be randomly changing the IP. As long as the client renews its lease within the defined lease period, it should retain the same IP indefinitely.

Any photo app with those same functions should be able to reproduce similar results. I normally use Paintshop Pro 12, personally... that, or Irfanview, which is freeware and also has all those same functions.

Considered a motion-activated floodlight there, in conjunction with a standard camera? Only comes on when someone moves in the area, which is the only time you need to record anything anyway... and often as not will startle some away. An ounce of prevention...

Well, YMMV, but I've used D-Links, Belkins, Netgears, ASUS, and a handful of other off-brands as well as Linksys, and Linksys are the only ones that have consistently had issues for me. Maybe they just don't like the frigid sub-30C temperatures we get around here.

Id set the IP to static, as when you want to port forward it is more accurate. Later on down the road the IP might change due to other computer on the network or power outage on DVR the same time, or for whatever reason. I normally start all DVRs with 192.168.1.200. A few routers I've come across won't allow you to port-forward to IPs outside their DHCP range. Stupid, but true. A better option, if your router has it, is to set the DVR's IP as "reserved" or "static" in the router's DHCP section. Oh, and if it's a Linksys... ditch it. I just went over this with a guy on another forum, he was having trouble port-forwarding to his XBOX because his Linksys router kept changing its IP... even when it wasn't being shut off. I've had the same thing happen on a customer's DVR before as well - 192.168.1.101 one day, 192.168.1.102 the next, even without a reboot. I've only ever seen this on Linksys routers... and none of them that do it even offer a reserved/static assignment option - double-whammy.

You don't NEED baluns, but you should use shielded cable to avoid noise. Keep in mind that this mic needs to be powered, as well.

No reason to go trial-and-error - use one of any number of lens calculators either online, or downloadable: http://lmgtfy.com/?q=cctv+lens+field+of+view There are some good samples here but they really just show a comparison of different focal lengths - since you're dealing with different distances and areas to be covered, the examples won't really apply to you. Use a lens calculator to determine the proper lens for your need.

I assume you mean Perspex? Probably not - chances are 99.9999% that you'll see "IR fogging" from the LEDs reflecting off the inside of the pane. Use a non-IR camera or disable the onboard IR, and use an IR illuminator outside the enclosure.

I run my own mail and web server on my broadband. Sometimes I have to build another server and run it for a while at home. It's handy to have a second IP in that case, since it's not possible for a router to forward the same port to two machines. It's also handy sometimes to be able to expose a machine directly to the 'net for testing (DMZ doesn't really do the same thing).

Some cameras can flip it internally. Can't tell from the website, but I would suspect this camera doesn't have it. Some DVRs might be able to do it too. Try finding something like this - you should be able to un-screw the existing mount from the camera and thread this on instead.

Looks to me like that's the mount the camera comes with... Doesn't appear to be a way to mount the camera from the top. You'd either need a "J" mount, or mount the camera up-side down.

I think bpzle is right, it's a little bass-ackward, but the spec is saying "from 110 to 20 degrees", not "minus 20".

DDNS servers have been around forever, we used to use one with a dialup connection some... oh, 16 years ago. They've only become popular - and thus plentiful and painless - more recently.

Not necessarily correct. It depends on your ISP and how many IPs they give you. With mine, I can plug three devices into a switch and into the cable modem, and each will get a unique "outside" IP. This is always a concern... I find this is more common with DSL. Always

That is correct. Nope. The maximum analog framerate is strictly a function of the capture card and has no connection to the IP cameras' framerate. The only limitation then becomes the bus speed of the computer.

Have you talked to your ISP? Our DSL provider around here is set up so when you first connect a new device, it's given a "private" IP that lets you connect to their "customer service" site, where you register the device's MAC address, and then get a "public" IP so you can connect to the 'net. This may be the case with your setup as well.

"The picture would look like pure sh*t run over by a truck and placed into a plastic bag" AHAHAAHAHAHAHAAHAHA

Well we normally use either standard FT4 RG-59 coax with four-conductor station-Z wire for power... but you can use just about any 18/2 or 16/2 wire for power, or you can get Siamese wire (coax and 18/2 webbed together)... Then you need either twist-on BNCs, or crimp-on, or compression BNCs... then the appropriate crimper for the type you get. Or you can use Cat5e with baluns for power and video and not need BNCs.

Well, not SUPER expensive... I can get you pricing, if you let me know which model you're interested in.