What is it?
A cloud-orientated video surveillance camera for home or office.
How will it change my life? They say a man's home is his castle, so how far should you go to protect it? Being bombarded with terrifying images and stories every day in the news makes it all too easy to get on the paranoia train.
Having road tested the Archos Smart Home (£199), I was keen to take a closer look at some alternatives from the same sector.
One of the stand-outs at the more affordable end of the market is the Day/Night Cloud Camera, a surveillance device that gives 24/7 observation over any premises via the cloud. The software can support up to 32 cameras, giving a comprehensive monitoring solution for homes and small businesses. Being IP (internet protocol) based, it needn't be connected to a computer to function - it simply needs access to a network, be it home or office.
You can monitor cameras remotely through the obligatory iOS and Android mobile apps and from any location, although the cameras are static and cannot be manoeuvred via the cloud connection. The excellent mounting mechanism allows the device to be put anywhere and still point in almost any direction, which is ideal since the camera is fairly big and unlikely to be easily concealed.
The picture quality is great and captures at 30 frames per second with optional time stamp and text overlay, making it perfect for business environments. The night vision is also effective up to 15 feet in complete darkness due to the built-in LEDs which give out just enough light for functionality without being intrusive.
Good points? It's easy to connect the camera via cable or wirelessly to your internet router but not foolproof, as a particularly funny YouTube video proves. One American reviewer is baffled by mention of "DIY" in the manual and it all goes quickly downhill from there.
The camera has a built-in wireless extender function which increases the range of your wireless network. This is a brilliant addition as dedicated wireless extenders are not cheap; being able to remove wireless dead spots and increase coverage is very handy.
The camera can be triggered by motion and sound so there's no need to trawl through hours of recordings to get to the section where something is actually happening. Real-time email alerts give a first warning and photographic proof as it's possible false alerts could be triggered.
Bad points? There are no negatives, only what-ifs. Alerts via SMS or an alarm would be useful.
Best for ... Those looking to monitor their homes or business without having to break the bank.
Avoid if ...This all seems too much. What happened to guard dogs and nosy neighbours?
Score: 9/10.
l D-Link Day/Night Cloud Camera, £54.99 (dlink.com)
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