Ultra Technology Solutions - » Blog Archive » Linksys WVC54GCA Wireless-G Internet Home Monitoring Camera Review

Linksys WVC54GCA Wireless-G Internet Home Monitoring Camera

22nd May 2008, 09:05 pm

After having a bit of experience with the Linksys WVC54GC IP based camera, I was almost ready to purchase one, or something similar for my own home installation. When the Linksys WVC54GCA camera was released I waited a while for the initial reviews, and then I went ahead and purchased one. This camera is selling at the same $100 price point but offers audio, Macintosh browser compatibility, WPA2 wireless security, 640×480 video resolution, mobile phone streaming, and FTP upload along with email attachments when using the motion detection. These added features make this camera worth the wait for me.

As you read customer reviews, you will notice many people are unhappy with the cameras performance in dim light. I will agree this camera needs a fair bit of light. You will also read about people having a hard time getting the motion detection working, or that it’s too sensitive. Some people write that the picture is grainy. To these comments I would respond, maybe these folks should have spent a little more money. For a hundred dollars, this camera works very well, it serves its intended purpose, and the setup could not be any easier. This is not a “security” camera, it is a monitoring camera. While some of the features can be used for security purposes, it should not be mistaken for an inexpensive replacement security system or camera. This camera uses the standard Linksys style web interface for administration and video viewing. You may also access the video steams directly with the following URLs. Click the “Watch Our Feed” link below to access our embedded Linksys webcam feed.

Linksys WVC54GCA Wireless-G Internet Home Monitoring Camera

Watch Our Feed

QuickTime or RealPlayer:
rtsp://< Camera IP Address>/img/video.sa

Windows Media Player:
http://< Camera IP Address>/img/video.asf

Mobile phone with RTSP support:
http://< Camera IP Address>/img/video.asf

The FTP upload feature was a nice addition, as stated above the motion sensitivity can be a bit annoying, especially if you have it configured to drop you an email every time it picks up motion. I have mine setup to upload an MPEG4 video to my hosting account, this way I have the opportunity to go through them at my leisure and space is not as much of an issue. While 99% of the videos are no good, I have some good ones of my dogs and kids that I have decided to keep. Who knows, maybe you will see one on AFHV. The other advantage to this FTP option is of course, if someone did happen to enter our home, having a video with a time stamp might be useful in figuring out who it was. Since these cameras are wireless, a few placed in strategic locations would provide access point coverage in most homes. They can also easily be moved to cover other events, such as that backyard barbeque, or just point one to your backyard view for the world to see.

All in all, the Linksys WVC54GCA Wireless-G Internet Home Monitoring Camera is well worth the price tag. Because they are so inexpensive, purchasing a few for your home is not unreasonable either. While it is not a “security” camera, the Linksys WVC54GCA does allow a home owner to view their home while they are not around. Whether it’s your dog or the mail man that’s been captured, a catalog of 5 second clips can be fun to go through, just to see what goes on when your not at home.

Our Linksys WVC54GCA Embedded in HTML

Our Linksys WVC54GCA Embedded Directly Into a Word Press Blog

		Linksys WVC54GCA view in dim light at normal quality.
Linksys WVC54GCA view in daylight at normal quality.

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142 Comments

Mitch:

I have this camera, and am not impressed. The video is grainy to the point of not being able to recognize people. The wireless connectivity is weak and the sound stream is noisy and unusable. If you are in the market for an IP based we cam, I would recommend you shop around before purchasing this one.
23 May 2008, 7:14 am
admin:

I agree with you in that people should shop around, however I have not experienced any of the problems you have stated. The image I posted above was to demonstrate the camera image in a low light condition, with the image quality set to normal. I will post some other examples in better light soon. As for the sound and wireless issues, have you tried switching the channel on your wireless access point? To determine if the sound issue is related to your wireless, you could also plug into an ethernet cable and see if you experience the same problem. As with anything, you may need to try different configuration settings to suit your environment or expectations. There are even settings to compensate for florescent light pulse.
23 May 2008, 10:26 am
ratnat:

Actually these can be used as security cameras, there is a host of software available that will allow you to use this, and cameras like this as a security cam. The picture is much better also if there is a consitant light source, so they do work better pointing outside than in. For a hundred bucks you can’t go wrong and setup is a breeze.

~Peace~
23 May 2008, 2:41 pm
admin:

Software is included which will allow you to view up to nine cameras at once. The motion detection capture is not limited to 5 second clips either. The only down side to this is, you would need to leave your computer on all of the time.
24 May 2008, 5:35 am
admin:

I will be posting the code and instuctions showing how to embed this Linksys Webcam on a web page, so check back soon. http://www.ultratech.us/cam.html This method does not require the viewer to have Quicktime or Media Player installed. It seems to be working with most browsers I have tried on both Windows and Macintosh.
1 June 2008, 9:51 pm
GSTACY:

How long before you post the code on how to embed this Linksys camera? I am having a hard time using the rtsp stream and .asf file, they don’t seem to work. I can view the rtsp stream in quicktime, but when I embed it on a page it does not work. I have opened a slew of ports on my firewall, but I can’t even get the streaming on my own network. I have the WVC54GC, the same code should work, right?

Thanks
Greg
4 June 2008, 9:20 pm
admin:

I have posted the instructions on how to embed this camera in an html web page. As I stated on my demo page, I am sure there are other ways to do it, but I wanted to do it without Media Player or QuickTime. I hope this helps, you can post questions if you get stuck.

http://www.ultratech.us/ultra/?p=13
18 June 2008, 8:46 pm
Ultra Technology Solutions - » Blog Archive » How To Embed A Linksys Wireless-G Internet Home Monitoring Camera:

[...] Linksys WVC54GCA Review [...]
18 June 2008, 8:54 pm
Joe:

Thanks for the great help. Your embedding instructions worked perfect! This camera does require light but $100 for a wireless camera is a great deal.

Thanks again,
Joe
24 June 2008, 2:28 pm
Chris:

I just purchased this camera and set it up in about 20 minutes. I found it to be an incredible value. The picture is excellent. I have spent a while setting the hotspots for the motion detection to provide the desired sensitivity. The only thing that has been a problem is the motion detection picking up the shadows of my palm trees blowing in the breeze. That can’t be helped. It is working as designed. I just need to trim the trees! I will be buying 2 more of the same model.
24 June 2008, 2:33 pm
admin:

Chris, yeah it does pick up any sort of light change as motion. This is why I have the FTP setup instead of the email.

Joe, I’m glad you were able to get yours embedded also. I figure anyone who was trying to do this probably knows a little about their firewall and IP addresses, so I didn’t go into great detail about that. Even know these could be the hardest part of the whole setup.
24 June 2008, 2:52 pm
Dale:

I cannot setup FTP on mine. What format is it in? I presume it is ftp:// ip
Is that correct?
2 July 2008, 1:46 pm
admin:

Enter your IP or Server name in the FTP Server field. I did not specify ftp:// or http://. Leave the port at 21. Enter your ftp user name and password. Leave the passive mode disabled. If you wish to have your files uploaded to a directory, enter the name in the File Path Name field like this /dirname Be sure to create this directory using an FTP client as I doubt the camera will create it for you. This should do it, if not try it with the passive mode enabled. I have sent you a screen shot of my setup, I hope it helps.

Mark
2 July 2008, 10:16 pm
Dale:

Thanks Mark

Its working fine now with your help

Thanks

Dale
5 July 2008, 1:01 pm
Need Help:

Can these be placed outside. Like under a roofs awning or inside a garages vent located usually over the garage door?
5 July 2008, 11:40 pm
Tony:

I cannot get the mobile streaming to work on my T-Mobile Wing (HTC).

The free TZO domain http://mydomain.linksys-cam.com works fine from any computer on the internet and keeps track of my dynamic IP address sucessfully. Ftp and E-mail upon motion detection work fine.

Realplayer my work computer acts like it’s downloading a file but never displays the live feed using the syntax you mentioned: rtsp:///img/video.sa (BTW, where does the mobile access code go? It prompts for a username/password). What username/password should be used? admin? individual users have their own password, different from the mobile access code.

My windows mobile phone (and one of my XP computers at home using IE 6) keep changing rtsp:// to res://. I don’t know why that’s the case.

I forwarded port 554 on my router to my internal camera ip address port 554. Same for 1024. No help.

Tried rtsp://mydomain.linksys-cam.com:554/sec_code like suggested by some other threads online. No luck.

I would appreciate any tips to get the mobile streaming to work in Windows Mobile 6.0. the camera is great otherwise.
16 July 2008, 6:46 pm
Bill:

I’ve been trying to work out the format of the rtsp:// address to use on WM6.1

I found the answer was rtsp://MyName.MyLinksysCamera.com:554/xxxxx (where xxxxx is the access code set within the mobile streaming section of the camera admin page).

Bill
17 July 2008, 1:49 pm
Jose Luis Rodriguez:

Hi, I have installed a camera in http://**.**.**.**:1024/img/main.cgi?next_file=main.htm and it works fine using the IE browser but when trying to embed this camera on a html page it is not working properly.
I have downloaded your cam-code html example and changed the IP value to http://**.**.**.**:1024 (and using the corresponding LinksysViewer CAB file stored in the same folder).
Do I have to use the TZO or NO-IP services?

Thanks and regards.
18 July 2008, 2:54 pm
admin:

Hi Jose, I have sent (via email) you a file with your IP info. that is working with both IE and FireFox. You don’t need to setup DNS, it will work with the IP, but if your IP changes you would have to adjust the html. In fact I just saw someone walk by your window on the demo page LOL. You must have more bandwidth than I, as your’s streams pretty smooth.

Mark
18 July 2008, 7:56 pm
Jose Luis Rodriguez:

Hi Mark,

Thank you very much for your support.
Now it is working properly.

Regards, Jose Luis.
19 July 2008, 1:48 am
Lake-end:

Nice article.
Can anyone tell me if the audio works in video streams on any other browser than IE?
I’ve been led to believe that activeX is required for the sound, I would like to know if this is true.

Regards.
22 July 2008, 1:28 am
Crazy Skeeter:

Lake-end, I believe you are correct. Sound will only work with Internet Explorer as it uses the mpeg streaming and FirFox, Netscape and Safari use the mjpeg. I think mjpeg is a series of images, one after another and does not support sound. I don’t think the sound is enabled on this cam, but it was this past weekend. This cam was in the garage over the weekend showing kids play guitar hero, it was cool. Now it’s back in the back yard with nothing but a weedy garden. LOL

C. Skeeter
22 July 2008, 4:27 pm
Soul Sister:

The weekend before I was watching a HOT guy play a real guitar and the sound was on then also. The sound was pretty crappy, but you could hear what he was playing and it was good. I have stopped by by every couple nights since to see if he would be on. I saw those kids playing those plastic guitars also, I was like WTF? Kids put big brother back on and come back when you can play for real. Guitar guy, IM me at the address I have posted here, let me know when you will be back on I don’t have one of these cams, but I do have a regular webcam for chat.

Suzzie
22 July 2008, 9:47 pm
Gary:

This is a very helpful review of this camera. This is the only site I have found with a true review and live demo. I think I am going to purchase this cam. Its more of less for fun and it seems like this camera has a lot of features for the price. I see a guitar, but no one playing it.

Thanks,
Gary
10 August 2008, 9:28 pm
CE Storage:

Yes this cam works very well, we use these at my storage facility. Check us out at http://www.cestorage.com/
21 August 2008, 4:15 pm
Steve Jacobs:

You say this camera should not be used or counted on as a security camera. i have read other articles which say this is a great affordable option for a securtiy camera. Why do you think this should not be used for security purposes? Just wondering.

Steve
22 August 2008, 2:43 pm
Paul D.:

Hi! I have problems recieving LinksysViewer.cab from camera. I type as it is given here but i it says “HTTP 404 The webpage cannot be found”. I use WVC54GC not “WVC54GCA”. Any idea what can be wrong. Thanks a lot in advance!
25 August 2008, 2:29 am
Ken B:

I too, have a WVC54GC as well as some WVC54GCA cams. The WVC54GC does not have the cab file in the place you specified. I don’t know where it is but would also appreciate knowing.

Also, the code you publish allows anyone to have the address of your cam by simply scraping it off the web page which gives you no control over how many instances they are viewing, hence sucking up your bandwith. At least by embedding the code in a http site, you have some control over who can connect. By giving direct access to the cam, you do not. Is there a solution where you can have a “server” serve up the stream without yielding the camera’s ip address?
26 August 2008, 8:16 pm
Mark:

Hi Ken, give this path a try: http://Your.Cam.IP/NetCamPlayerWeb11gv2.cab (but use your cam IP) If not, view the source of your cam page and do a find for .cab

As for the bandwidth, you are correct. I have thought about that, but so far have not had a real issue with my cam. Probably because there is nothing super interesting to see (most of the time). I have unplugged it before to bump people off when things slow down here. The cam has a limit of 3 (or maybe 5) I think. Which is still more than enough to chew up my bandwidth. You could enable the password and then give it out to people you wish to access the cam also I guess.

Mark
26 August 2008, 10:49 pm
Ken B:

Hi Mark:

That path worked. However I still cannot view any video and I don’t know enough about java script to troubleshoot. BTW, the WVC54GC does not display video in FF as the GCA does. Looking at the source from the cam reveals that instead of message.cgi, the GC uses message.js and there is no reference to language.cgi even though there is an empty file by that name in the camera.

For what it’s worth, the GC will stream with both VLC and Mplayer using either /img/mjpeg.cgi or /img/video.asf

Here’s hoping that if anyone has had success with the WVC54GC they will post a mini howto here.
30 August 2008, 1:10 am
Mark:

Hi Ken, we have a few of these at work. I will take stab at it (from home) and post the instructions. You don’t really need to know java when you look at the source file. What you need to do is change some of the paths, which would be html. I don’t think this cam works with Macintosh, so that would be one issue with embedding it on a web page.

Hey by the way, I noticed by your email that you are a fellow Mainer!

Mark
30 August 2008, 8:22 am
Mark:

Hi Ken, I have posted the instructions on how to embed the WVC54GC cam. I can send you a working example also if you like. This one is just like the WVC54GCA, just find and replace YOUR.CAM.IP with your cam IP. Also keep in mind if you are coming through a firewall, you will need to setup one of the cams on a different port and create a new forward rule for that port. If you setup dynamic DNS you can use the same name. my.dns.name:1024 (1024 being the port number). You would also need to specify the port on your find and replace. Let me know if you get stuck.

http://www.ultratech.us/ultra/?p=297 (instructions and text file download)

Mark
30 August 2008, 10:49 pm
Ken B:

Hi Mark. Thanks for the files. It appears that the code page you sent is the same as that supplied by the cam, minus some html. It doesn’t work for me. Perhaps I should have mentioned that I’m trying to get this to work with Linux and FF.

The big difference I’ve noticed between the GC and the GCA is that the GCA works “as is” with FF. i.e. when I click on “View Video” at the cam page, the video plays whereas it doesn’t with the CG. This tells me that some additional code is needed over that supplied by the cam.
31 August 2008, 1:59 pm
Mark:

Hi Ken, I don’t think the WVC54Gc will work with anything but IE. This was one of the “new features” of the WVC54GCA. I even tried changing the var vmode to jpeg as this is how the WVC54GCA works with Firefox (mjpeg). But I just get a blank screen.

Mark
31 August 2008, 4:31 pm
Louis:

Hi,

I’ve purchased this camera and very impresive with it feature in this price. But I got problem with the power, the camera sometimes can power on and most of the time can’t. And finally have to return to the base and get a refund (Linksys don’t have stock).

I’m not sure I should buy the same one again or not because I’m worry it has the power problem again. Anyone has facing similar problem?
1 September 2008, 9:24 am
Linksys WVC54GCA | AlaGeeks:

[...] As stated above the camera come packed with features. The video quality is also very very clear. Click here for a screenshots of actual pictures taken from a camera like this one. The link is also another [...]
3 September 2008, 6:06 pm
Anne:

I just purchased the WVC54GCA camera, but I cannot view the camera from outside my local network. I’ve already got a web server (apache) running on port 80 with the dynamic dns provided from DNS2GO, so I am guessing that this has something to do with it. I have repeatedly tried to set up the camera to use the alternate web access port 1024, but to no avail. I have port 1024 opened up on my linksys router, pointed to the ip address assigned to the camera. If I go to http://mydomain:1024/ I get server not found or DNS error. If I temporarily route port 80 away from my web server and to the camera’s ip address, I can see it fine. Am I missing something here? I noticed that there is no way to change the port assignment from 80 in the Wireless G Internet Home Monitoring Camera Setup (windows version, not web), so I am assuming that it continues to listen to both port 80 and whatever port you set up as the alternate web access port. I’ve also tried to embed the camera viewer in a web page served up by my web site (the one currently attached to port 80), but no joy there either. I’ve tried setting these lines in your example page:

var ipadd = ‘192.168.1.108′;

var dw_push = ”;
where 192.168.1.108 is the ip address of the camera. I also tried using mydomain:1024 in its place and still no joy.

This is getting beyond annoying. Can you please provide any clues to help me get this working?
7 September 2008, 11:00 am
Anne:

oops, it didn’t capture my second example line of code properly…here it is

var dw_push = '';
7 September 2008, 11:05 am
Anne:

one more time

var dw_push = '<img border="0" alt="Video for other Platform/OS" src="http://192.168.1.108/img/video.mjpeg" onError="reloadOnErr(this)">';
7 September 2008, 11:06 am
Mark:

Hi, it sounds like you have a pretty good handle on the network thing, and I assume you have set a firewall rule on 1024 like you would have for port 80 (your apache). Did you say you can see the cam fine on port 1024 using the internal IP? First make sure you can access the video on port 1024 internally, (http://192.168.1.108:1024) so you know this works.

Verify the gateway is set correctly on your cam. It should be the internal IP of your router/firewall and it does need to be there so packets can find their way back out.

With the firewall passthrough set have someone from outside of your network try to access your cam (using http://yourdomain:1024. If you post it in a comment I will moderate it out if you want.

It is possible that your ISP blocks port 1024 I guess also. You could use an online port scanner to see if its open. If it’s not you could start trying different ports. I doubts it’s blocked though if they don’t block port 80.

I think you are coreect, even with the alt port set to 1024, the cam still listens on 80 also. This should not cuase any issues though.

I hope this helps,
Mark
7 September 2008, 12:02 pm
Anne:

Thanks Mark for the suggestions. I finally tried another port other than 1024, and strangely enough it worked. Not sure if anything else inside my local network was trying to use 1024 for some reason, although I can’t think of anything off the top of my head.
7 September 2008, 1:56 pm
kenb:

Anne:
nmap will show you if port 1024 is open for use:

ken@em3:0:~ $ nmap localhost

Starting Nmap 4.11 ( http://www.insecure.org/nmap/ ) at 2008-09-07 23:27 EDT
Interesting ports on localhost (127.0.0.1):
Not shown: 1669 closed ports
PORT STATE SERVICE
22/tcp open ssh
25/tcp open smtp
80/tcp open http
110/tcp open pop3
111/tcp open rpcbind
113/tcp open auth
143/tcp open imap
631/tcp open ipp
901/tcp open samba-swat
993/tcp open imaps
6000/tcp open X11

Nmap finished: 1 IP address (1 host up) scanned in 0.143 seconds
ken@em3:0:~ $
7 September 2008, 10:31 pm
tom:

I’ve not been able to successfully view my camera via mobile. I’ve tried Mplayer, real player, and Streaming media(HTC application). Have tried the rtsp and http methods and :554 and :1024 with and without access code in the string and with and without the /img/video.sa or .asp methods. Help! what am I doing wrong. Also, I’m using the TZO method and my addres is http://myname.linksys-cam.com instead of the “mylinksyscamera.com” I’ve seen referred to here. It does work perfectly in IE7 or FireFox, just not mobile. Thanks for any support.
9 September 2008, 1:54 pm
Mark:

Hi Tom, would you believe my cell does not do the video thing? My contract is just about up, at least now I have an excuse to get a better phone. Here is a YouTube video showing a guy do it on a Nokia phone. Notice he is using the internal IP. I would try to setup access uisng the internal IP first, and then move on to the DDNS name and firewall config. The manual mentioned the RTSP port and an RTSP data port, you would probably need to forward both through your firewall if you are trying to gain access from the outside.

YouTube Video

I will post a howto when I upgrade my phone (assuming I can fugre it out).

Mark
9 September 2008, 3:34 pm
Mark:

Tom, I know this is going to sound silly but, be sure you have mobile streaming enabled on the cam. Admin > Setup > Image

I may have to stop by my local cell phone pusher tomorrow.

Mark
9 September 2008, 3:39 pm
Dunk:

Make sure you enable mobile streaming under the image tab. Works on a HTC Titan 2 good.
12 September 2008, 9:43 pm
tom:

Well, almost there. I turned on port forwarding in my router for port 554. Now I can view the camera through the IE browser on the phone except that is doesn’t stream. Only shows a still shot. What’d I miss? Thanks for the tips.
Tom
19 September 2008, 9:42 am
Carl:

I read the blog before I bought this camera to keep an eye on our boxer in the back yard. I’m a long time Mac fanatic, but I do keep a PC at the house for my wife who sometimes works at home. I had no issues with the setup of the camera. I did scan the instructions, but Mac people usually believe that you are doomed if it requires RTM. By the way, the camera browser works great in Safari on Leopard. I do experience issues with Firefox. Fortunately, it worked right out of the box and within thirty minutes it was on the internet. I’m more than satisfied with the image quality. In daylight it is much better than I expected. The weak link in my home network is a Belkin-N router and it’s distance from the camera but it always pops back up on the network after a signal fade. I used a DDNS service that was FREE and it always finds the camera. I’ve had so much fun with this Linksys camera that I’m going to buy another one for my front porch so that I can experiment with the motion activation feature.
26 September 2008, 3:39 pm
curt:

I have four cameras from Linksys. 2 WVC54GC’s and 2 WVC54GCA’s. Apparently the software that comes with both only works with it’s model respectively. This was a grand dissapointment as you can imagine. I was really hoping to see all four camera’s on one screen but you can’t even install both model’s software on the same computer since one is an “upgrade” to the other. Well apprently the “upgrade” disables the two older camera’s. Looks like a class action lawsuit waiting to happen if you ask me. Hopefully Linksys will release an “upgrade that allows both models to work with the same viewer software. If they don’t I have purchase my last linksys product.
14 October 2008, 6:51 pm
Mark:

Hi Curt, I hear ya. When they tack on one charatcer to the model number, onc would assume they are pretty much the same camera. There are a bunch of 3rd party apps that will allow you to view multipled cams and cam types. I have tried the demo of couple and they seemed to work just fine. Y

Good luck,

Mark
14 October 2008, 7:21 pm
Rodgaard:

I have just tried to setup two of these. After succesful setup you are asked to power the camera up again, but neither of the cameras come alive again. There are several reported issues on this problem – but no resolution.
17 October 2008, 3:10 am
Ken B:

Well I have discovered that to stream the WVC54GCA in FF, one does not need all the java script. It is sufficient to just use
IE renders the image but it does not stream, at least mine doesn’t
19 October 2008, 2:46 pm
Markus:

Hi, at installation time the blue power led stops to burn. Does it mean there is no power again? After trying several times the blue led never came to burn again. So I brought the device back to the vendor and got a new one. Now, exactly the same problem. If I connect the power cable for the first time, the blue led burns. But again, during the installation procedure the led disapears. In central Europe, where I live, we have a stable power network without any severe voltage peaks. I cannot believe this is a power problem. Can anyone help on this? Thanks, Markus
21 October 2008, 1:02 pm
Mark:

Hi Markus, are you able to access the camera using the IP address and a web browser? There is setting under the Basic Device Settings, check to see if this is set to disable. I have mine disabled so it does not reflect back from the window it’s facing. When I power it on the led does come on for a second or two, which sounds like what you are seeing.

Mark
21 October 2008, 4:22 pm
Markus:

Hi Mark, thanks for your answer. I can access the settings through the browser and am aware about the possibility to switch the light off. My problem is that the camera switches the power off after several minutes. Then I need to disconnect the power cord for at least 10 mins. With a bit of luck it works again for several mins. after connecting the power. I would like the camera constantly working. Unfortunately I did not find any comment on this in the user manual. Any help is appreciated. Markus
24 October 2008, 10:44 am
Trini:

Keep up the good work.
27 October 2008, 3:29 pm
Brent:

Markus – I just started having the same problem. I live in a big USA city so I know the power supply is fairly good. I unplugged the camera to change it to a different position, when plugging it back in, it never powered back (no light on front, nothing hitting my network wired or wirelessly). If you hear anything more about the cause or how to address, I’d love to know it.

B
9 November 2008, 2:39 pm
imi:

Hi Mark – i have the same problem as Brent and Markus…!

My camera was a breeze to setup and had been working fine ever since (almost 1 month now)…

However, the other night i switched it off (whilst it was working fine and sending images to the browser) to reposition it but when re-plugging it in to the mains at the new location it wouldn’t power up again – the Blue LED doesn’t come on… and hence no image to the browser – both from an internal and external connection.

can anybody help not sure what i’m doing wrong here…!
18 November 2008, 9:20 am
Bob:

Hello – I too have the same problem as imi, Brent and Mark. I have 2 of these cameras and they randomly power off after they are configured. They have to be removed from power for at least 2 minutes and when reconnected to the power source, sometimes they power up sometimes they won’t. The amount of time they stay powered on is completely random.

I have used an APC3000XL as a power source so I ma very sure the power is clean and stable.

Hoping someone somewhere knows if this is/will be acknowledged as a legit problem.

Thanks,
Bob
19 November 2008, 1:02 pm
Ken:

I have had one power brick fail. It’s a simple matter to measure the voltage at the end of the power cord with a volt meeter. It’s a little more difficult to measure the voltage under load but it can be done. An alternate power source can also be tried as long as it’s 5 volt, center positive.
19 November 2008, 4:28 pm
Mark:

Yeah, I agree I would have to say there must be an issue with some of these cams and or power supplies. Has anyone called Linksys tech support on the issue yet?

Thanks for the input Ken!

Mark
19 November 2008, 4:55 pm
Bob:

Hi,

I just replaced the wall wart with another known good power supply. The voltage under load was fairly stable but at the time the camera would stop working, current draw would climb slightly before dropping into the uAmp range.

Tha cameras seem to work reliably now.

Bob
19 November 2008, 4:58 pm
Mark:

By the way, my cam has held up pretty well. You can see the image is not quite right in the upper corner. It took a pretty hard fall off of my window frame. I am surprised it works at all. The camera case is also warped from the heat of being mounted in the window over the summer. I have not yet been brave enough to take it apart and see if I can center the camera. I don’t see any obvious screws holding it together. Any clues on that anyone before I bust out the Dremel?
19 November 2008, 5:00 pm
Mark:

Well in case anyone has the need to take their WVC54GCA apart, the front face snaps right off. Use a small flat screwdriver and pry gently to separate it from the rest of the cam. The microphone simply sets in, so a light tug on the red and black wire set will free the face. Mine had bowed from heat warping the plastic. I had to remove the plastic “nubs” holding the fake chrome lens plate in. I was able to set this back against the actual cam and the corner rounding has been corrected. It snapped right back together for me. I may take some pictures and post instructions later.

Thanks for the info. on the power supply Bob. I am sure many people will find that useful, even though one would think Linksys might come good on a power supply for you and others since there seems to be an issue with them.

Mark
19 November 2008, 6:13 pm
Bob:

Update: Cam with new power supply still working. After 24hrs I will unplug, let sit for a while, then run another series of tests.

Thanks for the heads up on disassembly MArk, I was looking at that yesterday b4 I decided to try a new wall wart first.

Bob
20 November 2008, 1:15 pm
Tom Silk:

Hey thanks for the info. on the power supply. I find it sad that when I called Linksys they act like they had never heard of the problem. They tried to tell me it was a power issue on my end, and to just reset it. I am glad to have found this site with such honest and helpful information. Thanks to all!

I am headed to Radio Shack in the morning!

Cheers!
1 December 2008, 10:30 pm
Bob:

2 Week Update – Cams are still working with new power supplies. Haven’t had a single issue since replacing the wall warts. Good luck to all.
2 December 2008, 10:21 am
Goska:

I have 2 cameras connected. All works fime except that I am unable for forward post for the second one using dyndns.org service. I understand that the free domain maps to the gateway router and ports forward to the IP addresses of the cameras. What am I doing wrong? Is it possible to view more than one camera over the Internet?
4 December 2008, 4:43 am
Ken:

Goska,
It’s not dyndns.org that does the forwarding. dyndns org simply translates your site url to the external IP address of your router. Your router must do the forwarding. Pick two unused port numbers for the cams. i.e. port 8011 for cam1 and 8012 for cam2. Then configure your router to forward port 8011 to cam1’s local IP address and local port, same with cam2. For example, if cam1’s local IP address is 192.168.1.123 then the url for that cam is http://your.site.url:8011/ and when the router sees incoming packets destined for port 8011 it will forward them to local address 192.168.1.123. If your router allows you to pick an internal port different from the external one, simply forward to port 80; otherwise, set the alternate port on cam1 to 8011 and the router will forward to that port. Same for cam2.
4 December 2008, 11:27 am
Goska:

Thanks, Ken. This is exactly what I did – the cameras are on 192.168.1.80 and 192.168.1.81. I can view both via the LAN but not using the dyndns.org URL, nor the currently allocated external IP address with the port number. I can see the first camera using http://ip:port1/ format but not the second camera http://ip:port2/ I cannot understand why, the port forwarding is setup for both. Has anyone got 2 cameras working on different ports? My ADSL Gateway router is Linksys WAG54GV2, I am using a Repeater Bridge with WRT160N router and DD-WRT firmware on it to connect both cameras (my Gateway router is too weak to connect the cameras which are some distance away from it). The port forwarding is setup on WAG as WRT acts only as a repeater.Any ideas what could be wrong?
4 December 2008, 12:17 pm
Goska:

Me again. It appears that my second camera is faulty. I have set it up on the same port as .80 (ie. left it as the only port forward – just port1 going to .81) and I cannot see it using http://ip:port1/ while I could see the first one (.80) without a problem. I can see it on the LAN using 192.168.1.81 (which I assume means that the Web server on the camera is working OK). Has anyone had a problem with port forward not working on a camera?
4 December 2008, 12:49 pm
Mark:

Hi Goska, I just want to be sure of something. In the ip address 192.168.1.81 81 is not the port number. In the cam setup, under administration, use the alternate port configuration. I think it starts at 1024. You would then use this address 192.168.1.81:1024 1024 is the port number. I think you may be confusing the last portion of the IP address for the port number?

Secondly, be sure you have the default gateway set also on both cams, otherwise they will never be accessible from the other side of your firewall.

Mark
4 December 2008, 12:57 pm
Goska:

Eureka! I compared the settings on both cameras one by one and discovered that while the first one had the Options/Alternate Web Access Port setup to port1 automatically, the second camera did not have it setup to port2. Once I specified port2 on the second camera’s Options/Alternate Web Access Port I can see it now. Great! No idea why it was different.
4 December 2008, 1:12 pm
Shannon L:

Very helpful site and love this camera. But has anyone experienced the endless streaming while in firefox? I have DU meter (a tool that measures bandwidth) and whenever i go to not just my webcam but others who run the WVC54GCA firefox just keeps streaming even when I navigate off the page. The only way to stop it from endlessly streaming is to close firefox. I’ve tried firefox on different computers and different version of firefox all with the same result.
This is a problem because I only have so much of an upload limit.

Internet Explorer works fine.
12 December 2008, 12:15 pm
ken:

Yes, Shannon. It appears that FF 3 refuses to disconnect, at least in the Linux version. I’ve tried it in Windows and did not see the problem. The only way I’ve found to stop it is to close FF.
12 December 2008, 3:27 pm
Shannon L:

Ken: this happens to me using windows in FF. I wonder if I try to downgrade the firmware on the camera to r22 if it’ll stop doing this with ff. Really don’t like messing with firmware in case it gets bricked. Hmmmm…
13 December 2008, 6:58 pm
ken:

Shannon,
It’s my experience that it doesn’t necessarily have to be a WVC54GCA. In tests we’ve done other cams cause the same problem, but it did seem to be just FF3, not earlier versions. I’m with you; I’d be afraid of making a brick. Simply temporarily stop port forwarding the cam to break any persistent connections.
Ken
13 December 2008, 9:38 pm
Mark:

This probably explains why my wireless flickers well into the night. I always think to myself….. “how long are these people going to sit and watch the blackness of night?” Someone probably browsed to the cam, and then moved on, all the while Firefox is chewing up bandwidth. I unplug mine when things get slow here.

Hey Ken, thanks for taking time to answer these recent questions!

Happy Holidays!

Mark
14 December 2008, 12:07 pm
ken:

Mark,
Yes, and the sad thing is that FF is chewing up bandwidth on BOTH ends. We discovered this one evening after a MELUG event. We all broke and met at a members house after the meeting. I was playing with some bandwidth monitors when I discovered that one of the members was still on my home cams. He insisted he wasn’t and, sure enough, after some investigation we discovered that FF refused to let go. We continued to investigate and found that any site with a streaming cam had the same problem.
14 December 2008, 8:42 pm
pk:

I am having difficulty viewing video of my Linksys IP cam when i remote access it from my company’s network.
I can access it but the web browser just cannot display the video, it just hanged. I am using IE. Using the same PC and accessing it from outside the company (say in my friend’s house with broadband), there is no problem. Wonder if any one can help me resolve this issue ? Thanks.
16 December 2008, 12:53 am
Mark:

Hi pk, if you want to send me the address (blog[at]ultratech.us) I will try it from here. Are you trying to access the cam directly or is it embedded in a page? I suppose they could be blocking the .cab or .js files, however I don’t think you need the .cab file if you already have the Linksys plugin installed. Have you tried both IE and Firefox?

Just for the heck of it try these two URLS from work, on lunch, after hours, or something.

http://www.ultratech.us/LinksysViewer.cab (should prompt for download)
http://www.ultratech.us/stdlib.js (should display java text file Chrome or prompt for download in IE)
http://www.ultratech.us/message.cgi (should display text file of variables)

Good luck!

Mark
16 December 2008, 5:27 pm
daniel:

do you know if this camera can be used for chatting, eg AOL’s AIM…
26 December 2008, 1:25 pm
Doug G.:

Hi Daniel, I think there is software you can get that will allow you to do this. I tried some a month os so ago, but the sound ket cutting out on me so it was not as good as using a web cam and a Mic. I picked up a creative cam for like $30 and it works great!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Doug
30 December 2008, 2:49 pm
Joe Krings:

I just setup the WVC54GCA camera last night via 802g. After turning on, I also have poor quality, grainy video and a consistent scratchy audio which will not replicate room noise. I immediately began searching for answers. Ran across this site and one other that recommended switching router channels. Because my DLink is already running on channel 6, one of the 3 recommended (1,6,11), that wouldn’t seem to be a problem and since it’s brand new, thinking it’s not defective (though it could be). But, as a requisite, wondering if anyone else has been able to rectify coarse video and inaudible audio?

Thank you for any help, ideas, etc.
31 December 2008, 1:06 pm
Joe Krings:

BTW, low light sensitivity is on; brightness +3; changed fps up/down; running mpeg-4; incondescent set…think I changed and verified all I could regarding video settings; got a bit better lighting but still grainy.

Audio is checked on but really not any settings to adjust for that.
31 December 2008, 1:13 pm
Sumod:

Hi,

I have installed this cam in one of my shop. I don’t know how to use it thru Internet Explorer or Chrome from out side. I do not have a website. I also tried with Utility software available with this cam without success,

Could you please give me a website link where these instructions available.

Regards,
6 January 2009, 2:49 am
Anthony:

First of all, I gotta say, this blog and ensuing conversation has been VERY informative as it relates to this camera, so thanks!

This will be my first exposure to streaming a camera feed on the net, and I’m interesting in branding it as an inside joke with my family. Any suggestions on superimposing a png logo onto the live stream? The alternative would be to just build and HTML page themed around the brand, but I was kinda hoping the logo would show up when viewed through my LG Voyager, etc, which won’t display the surrounding webpage.

Anyone know of any software or similar that can be used with this cam to accomplish it?
7 January 2009, 4:56 pm
Mark:

Hi Anthony, when you use your phone you must be accessing the cam directly? I don’t know how you would do this without say getting at the cam’s firmware.

Good luck,

Mark
7 January 2009, 9:54 pm
Mark:

Hu Sumod, I put this together a while ago. ( http://www.ultratech.us/ultra/?cat=236&paged=3 ) It should get you pointed in the right direction. I think we would need some more details to help though. For example, do you have a router/firewall at your shop (Linksys, Netgear, D-Link, etc) If you are not sure, is the cam’s IP still a 192.168 or a 10.0 number? If so you will need to setup a port forward and you will also need to know the true IP address of your router. You could also use some sort of DDNS service to make things easier.

Take a look at that link, and write back where you are at.

Thanks,
Mark
7 January 2009, 9:59 pm
Marco:

I purchased a WVC54GCA and when the setup wizard did not do the trick the 800 helpline helped me get the camera configured. I want to buy a 2nd and possibly 3rd camera but want to make sure that I can view multiple cameras via the internet without having to run a computer 24/7. Can this be done and if so will I see a split screen when I log into my IP address? Will I only have to configure my 2nd camera to run a different port and open that port on my router? Any advice is appreciated. Thanks
16 January 2009, 5:07 pm
Margaret:

Hi, Marco, I have 2 cameras running. I had no problems with configuration. I don’t have a static address so I am using the free service at dyndns.org to keep track of my router’s dynamic IP address. I can access both cameras over the Internet. You will need to use Linksys Video Monitor software in order to see the split screen. Otherwise you will be able to see them individually by addressing YOUR IP:PORT # for each camera. Cheers, Margaret
17 January 2009, 12:24 am
Marco:

Do you have to leave your computer on to be able to see the split screen over the web? If not, how does it program it into the camera software itself, since the camera is actaully the server?
17 January 2009, 7:38 pm
Mark:

Hi Marco, you would have to view wach camera individually, since each would be on a different port.

Margaret, thanks for taking the time to help out with questions!

Mark
17 January 2009, 7:45 pm
Marco:

Ok, but when I log in via the web to the static IP address I see the camera program of the the one camera I have now. When I install a second camera and open the port on the router for it, will it give me the option to go into the program of one or the other, or what will I see? Sorry for asking so many questions, I would prefer to know ahead of time, rather than buying another camera only to possibly having to return it.

Thanks
17 January 2009, 8:03 pm
Margaret:

You need to install the Linksys software on the computer you are viewing your cameras over the Internet. Using the browser wit IP address you will only see one camera at a time. You will need also to configure the Internet Cameras in the software setup for the Linksys software. You cannot view split screen in a browser (e.g. Internet Explorer). The software in the camera does not provide split screen. Only dedicated Linksys software can do it. It came with the camera. I have the LAN camera and the same camera over the Internet in split screens right now. I will disconnect the Internet video soon as I am using my own ADSL bandwidth this way. Also, when I travel I always carry a notebook with me with the Linksys software already setup for viewing. If you needed to use somebody else’s computer you may not be able to install the software. Another way to achieve split screen would be to have a Web page hosted on the Internet with pictures from all cameras but you will need to create it and upload it to the Internet. I prefer to use dedicated software as it gives me all controls over the cameras.
17 January 2009, 8:09 pm
Ken:

Marco:

<>

No.You will have two separate cameras. Neither camera will know about the other one.
You can view either camera with a web browser, by selecting its port. i.e.
http://your.external.ip:cam1_port/
-or-
http://your.external.ip:cam2_port/

The software loaded from the CD which runs on your computer will allow you to see both images simultaneously, but that is not done by the cameras. The cameras will return their respective images when asked but the rendering is done by the software running on your computer. A web browser will, of course, only display one or the other at a time, depending on which one you are visiting.
17 January 2009, 9:59 pm
Tom:

had a wvc54gca version 1.00r24 with a wrt54gl running ddwrt..everything was fine so I got a second one with the same specs…evrything is good, but the second one will not send any email with motion detection, or even a test e-mail…tried it with all the same settings…tried it different ports,,,any ideas
18 January 2009, 9:41 pm
Monica:

Hi, I’ve been trying to know what frame rate this camera has when it’s in its maximum definition (640×480), but the only information I could find about it is that the camera has “1 to 30 fps frame rate”. This doesn’t immediately tell me it does 30fps for all definitions, and I’m a bit worried the reason they don’t say it is they don’t do it. Can you help me on this point? Thanks!
9 February 2009, 11:41 am
Mark:

Hi Monica, with mine I have noticed that the FPS is lower when others are viewing the cam. Even plugged into the LAN the video performance seemed to be reduced when others are viewing. This said, I will say the FPS seems better when using the RJ45 than it is over the wireless, but this could be because my wireless is used hard by my kids and their gadgets. I know this is probably not what you are looking for but I hope it helps. I am sure Linksys would not commit to a FPS due to the many network conditions that can effect this.

Good luck!

Mark
9 February 2009, 7:22 pm
Monica:

Hi Mark, thank you for your reply. I intend to use with the RJ45 because of the wireless instability, and nobody else will view the camera. Do you think that way I can get approximately 30fps in its maximum resolution? Don’t worry, I know it’s just your opinion, I won’t blame you if you say it’s great and in the end it doesn’t work so well.
10 February 2009, 6:41 am
Geoff:

I want Linksys to replace these faulty power supplies. This is not legal.
19 February 2009, 6:31 am
Markus:

Geoff, I agree!! My THIRD cam finally worked. Regards, Markus
19 February 2009, 2:05 pm
Mark:

These page do get hit by Cisco – California ever other week or so. Post your problems if you have them. I doubt it will make a difference………. but what the hell!

I am sorry to say that might cam has been solid. Melted case, broken mount, dropped on the floor a few times and it still works. They must have a had a bad run of power supplies, but don’t want to eat the replacement cost.

Good luck!

Mark
19 February 2009, 7:23 pm
Todd:

I have the WVC54GCA (single unit). All I want to do is keep an eye on my CNC milling machine while it is running and I am not in the shop.
The resolution looks good and I am happy with the FPS. Low light is not a concern for me as there are powerful lights inside the machine it will be watching.

I am no networking expert but have quite a bit of PC experience – but have someone that can help me with the networking stuff.

My question is: Can I set this cam up to watch remotely over the internet through my router (downstairs) which is plugged into another router (main internet connection for upstairs?)

Currently, I have it setup so I can watch the camera on my pc when I go to the linksys website and click “view” (my router downstairs is a simple wireless Dlink – the router upstairs I am not sure what it is.) We have a static IP. Someone please help! LOL

Apparently, there has to be some forwarding going on. I only have minimal access to the router upstairs. I have the port 1024 setup in my router like it says to do and I can see the camera locally on my PC when it is plugged into my D link router (downstairs)

Any help is greatly appreciated!
27 February 2009, 9:45 pm
Carla:

wow. that is alot of information. I dont even know if I could do all that. And thank you so much for lettming me in on all the info.
5 March 2009, 9:25 pm
Mark:

Hi Carla, was there something specific you were trying to do? Several people take time to offer help on this post, so we may be able to help.

Mark
5 March 2009, 9:36 pm
Chris:

Greetings,
I’m about 2 purchase 2 of these for use as a baby monitor (will have other backups) and also for home monitoring purposes. I can clearly see that at least with some effort the video is really nice. What I don’t understand is if the audio is any good. All the sample videos show video only, but no audio. Overall does anyone have any input on the audio side of this camera? How many feet away is it good for, would it work as a baby monitor type thing…etc? My goal, overall is as mention a monitor but also so family can log on and hear/see the baby.

Any input is appreciated.

Take care
8 March 2009, 12:01 pm
Mark:

Hi Chris, the audio can tend to chop out, especially if more than one person is viewing at the same time. On my internal network, I find it is more stable when plugged into my LAN, rather than using wireless. Your remote viewers will of course be subject your internet bandwidth limitations, and what might be consuming it at any given time. All of that said, I think it’s a neat idea and while the audio may chop out, I am sure your family will be thrilled to see and hear your baby at any given time.

Congratulations!
8 March 2009, 12:14 pm
Chris:

Hi Mark,
Perfect information, thank you very much. It seems like it’ll work well for my purpose and I’ll have a regular backup in case the audio is an issue. I’m IT geek so I have lots of upload bandwidth and will ensure that the camera’s IP gets plenty reserved internally and to the Internet. Even if it fails to be reliable for audio internally, I think it’ll do well for the family.

As mentioned several times this model really seems to be the best bang for the buck. I might paint some eyes on it and put some bee antennas on it for entertainment for my baby too.

Great blog BTW on this subject – I think plenty of people who are in the market will or have found it very useful. Good job.

Take care,
Chris
8 March 2009, 3:24 pm
ken:

Chris,
Excellent idea on the eyes and antenna. Now just add some (very quiet) moving wings to capture baby’s attention
Ken
8 March 2009, 6:20 pm
Mark:

Hi Mike, I just took a quick look at your source code. I noticed you did not setup DDNS (no-ip.org or other) I can also see the IP that was recored when you posted your comment is not the same as the one you have coded on your cam page. If you are using a NAT router hop on and verify your IP. You may want to take a moment and setup some sort of Dynamic DNS Service. I use no-ip.org and run the client on my PC. This updates the DNS record, which allows me to access my cam / router using a name URL. Keep in mind most ISPs use DHCP to issue leases on IP addresses. When the lease on your IP expires, you may end up getting issues different address.

I hope this solves it for you,

Mark
8 March 2009, 8:20 pm
Mark:

Hey Ken, this sounds like a keen business idea. Custom Nanny-Cams, custom made to match nursery colors and baby gender. We can have a site where we host pages for people with secure access for each client. The only concern would be liability. Since some people may not think and lay it right in with the child (wires and babies == NOT GOOD) or maybe they cover it over and it has a melt down like mine (electronic devices and no air circulation == NOT GOOD)

LOL, its good to see you’re still reading. We just did a pretty cool roll out of Linux FreeNX servers using autofs and ypbind (I know it’s not LDAP). The NX servers authenticate and automount homes on our LTSP server. The students don’t really know the difference. I think I may try to document this next. The only thing is these linux articles don’t produce any ad clicks LOL……… Linux geeks don’t poke around at Google ads! C’mon Linux people these Google Sponsors offer lots of good information!

Mark
8 March 2009, 8:47 pm
Ken:

Hi Mark,
Good idea for Nanny cams but I agree that liability would be a big issue. If the cam power supply goes belly up and something happens to baby soon after, it could be a legal disaster. Another idea I had for someone like Chris would be one of those LCD picture frames positioned close to the cam so baby would spend a lot of time facing the camera in addition to getting its brain stimulated. I know from experience that even very young babies can focus well and I believe it stimulates them. I credit the fact that my daughter is an artist with the fact that from the beginning she always had something new and fresh to look at from her crib. Let’s patent and manufacture LCD picture frames with an embeded cam just for this purpose.

Yes, you should document and publish your experiences with the NX servers. Right, Linux geeks have their own sources of information so they don’t need the Google ads, and we won’t contribute much to the economic recovery either because we use all free stuff.

Ken
9 March 2009, 7:34 am
Chris:

Hey Ken,
So, it just so happens we have a LCD pic frame that does not get used for anything. I found out yesterday that the wife has twins, depending on what we have we’ll load that thing up with pictures. It’ll also serve to provide ambient light that may help a bit with “night vision” or otherwise seeing stuff with the camera at night.

Mark,
I definitely 2nd you dynamic dns suggestion and I also use no-ip.biz/org…etc. It does not get much easier/free then they make it.
10 March 2009, 7:58 am
car floor jacks:

This is the first time I commented here and I must say you provide us genuine, and quality information for other bloggers! Great job.
p.s. You have a very good template for your blog. Where have you got it from?
14 March 2009, 7:56 am
Mark:

Thanks C.F.J. I have not had much time to post for a while. I use the “Fluid Blue” theme for this site. If you Google it, it should come right up. It was pretty close to what my site used to look like before it was Wordpress. I merged in my old header and footer images, matched up the CSS and whala! The site is ten times easier to manage than when I had individual PHP/HTML files.

Mark
14 March 2009, 8:22 am
Bil:

Does anyone have the spec on what powersupply to replace it with? Mine’s new and installed 24 hours ago. I’ve had to power it off now about three times in 2 days to keep it working wirelessly. I’m sure I can contact Linksys for a replacement but what if I get the same batch of bad power cords?

Any on-line source for a good replacement?
29 March 2009, 7:53 pm
Rob:

I have had the camera up and running now for 5 days. It seems I have to unplug it once or twice a day to keep it running wirelessly. I have not set up a static IP because i have Road Runner and Im not sure they will give me one. Thus far, the IP hasnt changed, so i can blame it on not being static. Is there a solution to the dropped signal without having to unplug everyday?

Thanks
12 April 2009, 6:24 am
ross:

Hi,

interested in this camera but i wish to use it to copy pictures and stream video to my QNAP NAS (209II) can it do this?

I also wish to use it to monitor my garden how good is the motion detector and what sort of range does it work at?
thanks (good review)!
12 April 2009, 7:20 am
Mary:

Hi,
I was just reading up on the camera. Great idea.
I was wondering what eas needed to have the camera set up at the cottage and view from home year round?
Do you need special equipment at the cottage for this?
17 April 2009, 10:48 pm
Mark:

Hi Mary, you would need electricity and an internet connection. I would also suggest using an appliance timer, this will ensure that the equipment is restarted, just in case the cam or modem hang.

Hope this helps,

Mark
17 April 2009, 10:58 pm
Sean:

Hi, Planning to pick up this cam. I read somewhere that only the TZO dynamic dns service could be used with this cam. But i see u folks here recommending other free ddns sites. How do you configure, say dyndns.org thru the browser. ( i have seen screenshots of the linksys config window which has only TZO as an option). Ta.
14 May 2009, 4:38 pm
Paul K:

I picked up two of these Certified Refurbished units. When it is hardwired there are no problems. When my wireless security is turned off there are no problems.

The wireless security I am using is WEP-open . I’ve been trying for a half a day now to get one going. I have tried each one separately. I’ve tried a different number of keys. That part of the Linksys software finding your wireless network. ummm. i don’t think that ever works cause it didn’t find it when my security was disabled.

Do these cameras like a certain security better than another? My DSL modem/router is an ATT Uverse.

Paul
23 May 2009, 12:40 pm
Steve:

Hi,

I’m tring to get my WVC54GCA to show up on the web srom outside the house. I did get a domain. I’m on ATT U-verse router and think it is blocking some info. I talked with ATT and they helped me get it to work in the house, but if I ash some one else out side the house look at it no go. Any help wuld be great. http://192.168.1.71. is my cam address on port 1024.

Steve
14 June 2009, 10:06 am
Chuck:

I purchased the Linksys Camera and setup was easy for use on my internal network. I am not familuar with setup for WEB access. Would you please provide some basic settings that I can use to get the WEB aspect of the camera working.

Thx,
Chuck
24 June 2009, 10:11 am
Andrew:

I am trying to set up my linksys wireless cam WVC54GCA to update motion detection to my ftp server.It ask for the pathname.I have tried so many with no luck. can you give an example of what i need to do for the path name.
Thanks
Andrew
5 July 2009, 7:22 am
RN:

Have set up two of these great cameras. They work great on my local network and I am using the IP address outside. Only trouble is getting streaming video to my smart phone. I have a new Samsung Jack and it supposedtly supports streaming. When I connect via http all I get is a still shot. Can’t seem to get the rstp quite right. any suggestions for the router port forwarding syntax would be appreciated. My router has a user defined protocol option, but rstp is not an option. it is requesting a protocol number. Any suggestions for the router and the correct ip syntax to use from my mobile most appreciated.
13 July 2009, 8:49 pm
Ken B.:

Here’s an update on audio from the WVC54GCA. After trying everything suggested on the web to stop the choppy sound, I discovered that by setting the max frame rate to 30, the chopping stopped completely and the audio is superb. Consequently I reset the QOS settings on the router back to where they were originally with no ill effect. I’m listening to sound from the cam using vlc media player with the video track disabled and I can hear traffic going by. The highway is 250 feet from the house. I am simuntaneously capturing one MPEG-4 frame every 15 seconds from 7 cameras, 3 local, 4 remote and storing the images. I had originally set the maximum frame rate to 1 frame/sec to keep from killing my bandwidth but changing it to 30 has no effect on the video because I only capture one frame (using mplayer). I have details at mainstreetanswers org if anyone is interested. The local cameras connect wirelessly.
22 July 2009, 2:31 pm
John H:

Running Vista Home and not able to see you webfeed. First asks for approval to install active x control-then when I ok that says unknown publisher and no other options to correct. FYI, but any work arounds for this? Thanks
16 August 2009, 10:27 am
Ken B:

John H:
I had the same problem with XP Home and it turns out by changing the options in Tools/Internet Options to the most lenient settings I was able to get that to work.
17 August 2009, 10:52 am
Marcelo_Brazil:

Can you help me? recently, people can not see the image of my camera WVC54GCA in IE. The download the viewer does not start and IE displays the following message: “Windows has blocked this software because it can not verify the publisher. Name: LinksysViewer.cab editor: publisher unknown” (translation: google translator)
15 September 2009, 8:35 pm
Ray:

Marcelo, you need to go into internet explorer security, and configure it to download unsigned active x applications (I prefer with prompt so I know when and what is being downloaded). Medium security setting prevents this so you have to manualy change this setting. Then you can download the active X and it will play for you.
21 September 2009, 4:09 pm
bob:

vista basic will not allow unverifed active x
appears there is no way around this
24 September 2009, 4:40 pm
sebastian duq:

i dont know what is wrong, i can’t to connect to my wireless camera, this only works wired. i`ve tried changing the encryption, disabling all passwords in the router d’link and i dont know what else to do, please help me, excuse my english. i understand the languaje anyway. best regards, sebastián, from chile.
6 October 2009, 11:24 pm
sebastian duq:

i’m using the WVC54GCA and i bought the camera today monday 6 october.
6 October 2009, 11:28 pm
sebastian duq:

wiii!! my camera worked! the solution was to reinstall to the latest firmware (1.0024R). Now our robot will have eyes!!
8 October 2009, 12:06 am
Tony:

Mark,
I have followed your instructions about setting up the Wireless-G Internet Home Monitoring Camera and it works perfect, thank you! I just have one issue: Somehow the camera keeps disconnecting from the router or vise-versa; I have to unplug and plug-in the camera again and everything works fine – but it keep disconcerting every day. Any recommendations on what to change to ensure that the camera stays attached to the router? Thank you again, Tony.
20 October 2009, 10:50 pm
John:

For all the people out there that have been experiencing the problems with the camera staying connected. After several attempts with tech support that beared no fruit. I finally harassed my friend enough to take remote control of my computer (teamviewer freeware great program) and check out my modem/router(wag54g2) and cam (wvc54gca)He fortunatly, for me is a Cisco engineer and fixed it right up. Now I cant tell you how he did it but I can tell you that he tied the static IP of the cam to the mac address of the cam
then he also made sure that the wag54g2 only works in G mode and not on the others. These changes have completely corrected the drop outs. I hope someone finds this valuable and tries it. I can answer any setting questions you may have by looking and telling you what my settings are. I cannot help with any other types or models than what i have as i needed someone elses assistance but it working for me and I am in Vietnam internet is not exactly speedy. jfseeker69@yahoo.com
22 October 2009, 3:11 pm
Nick D:

The camera looks great. My only concern is I don’t currently use a linksys router. I do have a wireless router however. Will this make a difference?

Thanks for any info

Nick
24 October 2009, 8:04 pm
Doug M:

I would like to view my digital thermometer or digital thermostat while I am away from home and am considering using the Linksys WVC54GCA.
Can someone confirm if the picture resolution is adaquate to do this?
I can set the camera up on a tripod focused on the thermometer, provide sufficient light on the thermometer but the digits are only about .5 inch high.
Any info would be appreciated.
Thanks
Doug
23 November 2009, 7:39 pm
MrZimm:

Hi love the cam but have to question the authentication window. I setup a few accounts for people to check the camera and though it was secure. But then after reading I found out that anyone with half a brain could use the “/img/video.mjpeg” or even the snapshot url and bypass the login window. Now what is the point of the accounts I have to ask. How can I turn off this feature “/img/video.mjpeg” or any others like it.

If some one looks at the ip address and loaded it would come up to the linksys page with the model number. Just Google and read a few post and you can figure out how easy it is to get right to the direct video or image feed.

I like having these functions for testing but to leave them open to the world … now that I do not feel comfortable. I’m trying to figure how how to put this camera behind some other wall with a true password but since it’s port forwarded there is no other means that I can think of. Anyone else find this a stupid security issues.

Z
4 January 2010, 12:20 pm
greg:

quick question on the camera.. i have got everything set up with no problems think pretty easy.. am having 2 issues and would appreciate any help guidance that could be provided;

1. on the port forwarding for the 2nd camera (we have 2) I can seem to get to work to access via myname.mylinksyscamera.com…the 1st camera followed the settings and no problem the second cant get to work.. any advice.

2. lastly the camera that can see via public interent cannot see over my blackberry storm..anyone konw what you need to put in to see.

any help would be most apprecaited.. many thanks.
9 January 2010, 1:11 pm


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Linksys WVC54GCA Wireless-G Internet Home Monitoring Camera

Our Linksys WVC54GCA Embedded in HTML

Our Linksys WVC54GCA Embedded Directly Into a Word Press Blog

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