Awesome WIFI Security/Baby Monitor Camera!

[gnmwilliams]

My wife and I started looking at internet enabled baby monitors a little bit ago and I came across the NextstepIP Pro. For anyone looking for a wireless, internet enabled security camera I would highly recommend this camera from http://www.nextstepbabymonitors.com/video-baby-monitors/NextStepIP-PRO.htm Yeah yeah I know, baby monitor, but this has the potential to be used for so much more. The camera itself is just a panable IP and Wifi network camera that can be controlled through your browser or various Android and IOS apps. I think the thing that sets this one apart is the ease of setup and their customer service. I emailed them a question this morning at 9:08am and had a response by 9:10am! The camera can be remotely controlled through the app or browser window and supports two way audio and recording. It will also email you snapshots of deteced motion if you want. I know these feature aren't unique to this camera and each camera is around $150, depending on how many you order together, but I just can't rave enough about how easy it was to set up and how well it works.Plus, I can just unplug it from power and take it to another room if the little one wants to play in there and can also add I think up to 24 other cameras if I ever wanted to. If you have any specific questions that the website doesn't answer just PM me. I can also text some pics of it and some video I took of how easy it is to control from the app. I just figured I'd share in case anyone was in the market.

PS - One more thing. If you play around with the email on motion detected feature, don't forget to either turn it off or set the scheduler. Otherwise you'll end up with around 40 emails in your inbox the next morning with pictures of you watching TV in your underwear. Just a heads up. My network administrator will never be able to erase that from his memory. :)

Update - Just added some pics of the response time on the second page. Edited January 11, 2013 by gnmwilliams

[z0mbies fear me]

I will check in to this. Our baby is due by the end of the month and it would be cool to get one that i can re-purpose after she outgrows it. Thanks for the heads up!

[gnmwilliams]

I will check in to this. Our baby is due by the end of the month and it would be cool to get one that i can re-purpose after she outgrows it. Thanks for the heads up!

No problem! This is why i also went with this system because I can add cameras later and use them for other things. And I forgot to mention that each camera comes with a wall mount and that each camera has an audio in and out port for larger speakers as well as an external antenna port for adding things like an amplified or directional antenna. Or if you want to hardwire it, it also has an ethernet port.

Edited January 10, 2013 by gnmwilliams

[TMF]

So can you view remotely or do you have to be on the same network as the camera?

[gnmwilliams]

So can you view remotely or do you have to be on the same network as the camera?

Remotely. The instructions take you through how to set up a public IP as well as set the camera up on your local network. Now the refresh rate is faster on your local network, which is to be expected, but viewing remotely has maybe a two second delay which is more than usable for me. And that's been remotely viewing it over a cellular connection. I haven't gotten to a PC outside my home network to try out the browser view yet. My work's firewall won't let me view it here. :(

Edited January 10, 2013 by gnmwilliams

[TMF]

[quote name="gnmwilliams" post="880584" timestamp="1357835684"]Remotely. The instructions take you through how to set up a public IP as well as set the camera up on your local network. Now the refresh rate is faster on your local network, which is to be expected, but viewing remotely has maybe a two second delay which is more than usable for me. And that's been remotely viewing it over a cellular connection. I haven't gotten to a PC outside my home network to try out the browser view yet. My work's firewall won't let me view it here. :([/quote] I just sent the company an email to inquire about the set up, since I left my wife with the laptop that has a broken CD tray which would make setting up the software difficult. She just uses her ipad. This system is way better than the we use now, and I love the idea of being able to watch the kids while I'm away. I'm planning on having one set up in the kids' play room and the baby's room. Thanks for the link, it's about to improve my quality of life.

[gnmwilliams]

I just sent the company an email to inquire about the set up, since I left my wife with the laptop that has a broken CD tray which would make setting up the software difficult. She just uses her ipad. This system is way better than the we use now, and I love the idea of being able to watch the kids while I'm away. I'm planning on having one set up in the kids' play room and the baby's room. Thanks for the link, it's about to improve my quality of life.

Only software you need is downloaded from the next step website. It helps you find the cameras ip address. Set up in short is, plug in camera to router, get its ip address, lock it into router, click use camera wirelessly, unplug camera, put it where you want, type in its ip address in your browser window, login with the username and password you chose, and thats it! They include an instruction manual in plain english that details every step of the process, even setting up the smart phone apps. I use foscam pro on my iphone and you just type the local ip address and public ip addresses into the corresponding fields and you're done. The app gives you full control over recording and rotating the camera. You hold down the microphone button to speak through the camera. I think I traumatized my dog last night playing around with this. :)

Edited January 10, 2013 by gnmwilliams

[monkeylizard]

If it e-mails a photo quickly, that could be a useful thing to put in a safe. How long does it take for it to send the pic from when the motion sensor gets tripped?

 

door opens

photo taken

photo sent

[gnmwilliams]

If it e-mails a photo quickly, that could be a useful thing to put in a safe. How long does it take for it to send the pic from when the motion sensor gets tripped?

 

door opens

photo taken

photo sent

Im still playing around with it. Right now I have it set to take a picture every five seconds and i get six picture in my inbox in well under a minute. It can go as long as one pic per minute or as short as one per second so Im still not sure how many it waits to take before it emails you. Such as six shots in six minutes until it emails or what. I will play around with it more though. It can also be set to record video and audio and upload to an external FTP site if you have one.

[monkeylizard]

I'm wondering if it was on a shelf in a safe and the door opened (triggers the motion sensor) would it transmit the photo(s) before the thief has time to grab the camera and pull it out from its power supply.

[viscero]

Thanks for the heads up!  Our first is due in May and I have been casually shopping around for a monitor/cam with these features.  Think you just saved me some time though!

[peejman]

One thing I've read about these is people intercepting the signal and using it to spy on you (or your kids).  Verify the security of the signal.

[TMF]

[quote name="monkeylizard" post="880677" timestamp="1357843572"]I'm wondering if it was on a shelf in a safe and the door opened (triggers the motion sensor) would it transmit the photo(s) before the thief has time to grab the camera and pull it out from its power supply.[/quote] That is assuming the thief immediately realizes that its an IP camera, then decides not to just run away. I'd say the chances of that happening are slim if someone enters your home.

[gnmwilliams]

One thing I've read about these is people intercepting the signal and using it to spy on you (or your kids).  Verify the security of the signal.

Yep. The instructions make it very clear to enable port authentication and use a good wifi password. That and I don't broadcast my networks SSID as well as using some other security tricks so I'm not too worried.

Edited January 10, 2013 by gnmwilliams

[TMF]

Just ordered two of them.

[gnmwilliams]

I'm wondering if it was on a shelf in a safe and the door opened (triggers the motion sensor) would it transmit the photo(s) before the thief has time to grab the camera and pull it out from its power supply.

This might be a good experiment for me to try. I'll try some different stuff and get back to ya. I'll just remember to put some clothes on this time! :)

[Guest Lester Weevils]

I had got a non-pan-zoom dlink wireless ip cam just because it was easy to buy local, to experiment with, but haven't played with it much yet. Those Foscams get real good reviews but there wasn't one fer sail local and was too lazy to order one yet. Just wanted to get my feet wet with some experience.

 

Been wondering maybe even indoor cams could be adapted for "gentle use" outdoor around the house, by mounting it in a weatherproof box. Either permanently attached or temporary placement. Perhaps get a small weatherproof plastic camping container as sold at walmart and other places, hinged gasket lid and easy-open clamps. Cut a neat square or round hole where the cam will look out and glue in an optical glass flat or optical quality acrylic or polycarbonate flat. The ideal optical flat would be transparent to infrared so the camera would operate in night-vision mode. Otherwise the infrared LED's would reflect off the flat and fog up the video at night. Most glass is almost certainly unsuitable for a night-vision capable box, haven't researched to determine if there is common plastic that would be more fit for purpose. Then again, an optical glass flat with excellent anti-reflection coating might do, except that MOST glass also tends to block infrared transmission.

 

What I'm really looking for, first and foremost, is a peer-to-peer capable wireless night-vision cam. So that no router or wireless access point need be involved. There are zillions of android apps that MIGHT be talked into such, but can't find references of many people that got it working, with enough details to know it is practical for my uses. A couple of companies supposedly are beginning to release IP cams programmed to do peer-to-peer, at inflated prices, for "people too dumb to set up a wireless router" properly. But I just want to get the router out of the circuit, rather than being askeered of setting up a router.

 

The foremost application would be for an excellent backup cam for the jeep. I'm blind in right eye and the neck is stiffer than when I was young, and when backing I about have to break my neck twisting around to see good enough with only one good eye. I need a backup cam bad. Also want said backup cam "always on" not just when in reverse. Many cheap backup cams are designed to only run when in reverse gear, and if you run them all the time they will overheat and fail. But a big monitor and clear video of the back view would suffice as "better than rear view mirror" in conjunction with the center and side mirrors, for a one-eyed fella with a stiff neck.

 

Many spensive wired big-monitor rear-view cam solutions mount the big monitor where the radio goes, for both rear-view and GPS. A two eyed fella might find that ideal, but only being able to see out the left eye, I have to take my eye entirely off the road to glance far enough right and down to get a good view of the console radio. So putting even a big monitor there would be a safety hazard. There are various fancy spensive RV and big rig always-on wired and wireless rear-view solutions, and also one company sells a spensive rechargeable battery wireless always on rear-view system for RV's, trucks, and temporary mountings for ease of trailer hookups. One small cam with suction cups, and then a small video monitor receiver with various dash mount options. Unfortunately the video receiver has too small a screen for my liking, and it costs too much. The cost would be fine if the monitor was big and it was higher-res. 

 

I could fabricate and mount a real rugged phone or pad holder on the left-front window post of the jeep.  Mount a 10" or 11" pad puter or a big screen smartphone on the post and it would not obscure the traffic view any worse than the front window post already does. Such a rear view monitor would be at eye level and easy to glance at with left eye without taking eye off the road. Also the most ideal solution for a one-eyed guy to watch a gps program running. With a high-res cam, it would be a fabulously detailed always-on rear view. Don't have time to do a science project learning how to program an android to peer-to-peer wifi app, if none of the thousands of android cam viewer apps don't quite fit the bill. Maybe the easiest solution would be to permanently wire a cheap wireless router to the jeep DC, but finding off-the-shelf peer-to-peer wifi viewer app that would talk to any IP cam sans router would be the most elegant solution.

 

Peer-to-peer connection to a battery-operated hi-res wireless cam would also be great for many assorted things. If a particular part of the property needs watching "temporarily". Or maybe hang one or more in trees for camping, or even realtime game-cam temporary uses.

 

It may be that wifi is not the best avenue. Something I need to research more-- Apparently there is a tiny market niche of hi-res bluetooth cams (obviously peer-to-peer from the get-go) that are primarily sold as first-person sportscams. Haven't surveyed the entire market and it would probably be higher priced. It would almost certainly have good enough range to work in a jeep wrangler as a rear-view cam, but the limited range of bluetooth would rule out many other possible uses.

[gnmwilliams]

I had got a non-pan-zoom dlink wireless ip cam just because it was easy to buy local, to experiment with, but haven't played with it much yet. Those Foscams get real good reviews but there wasn't one fer sail local and was too lazy to order one yet. Just wanted to get my feet wet with some experience.

 

Been wondering maybe even indoor cams could be adapted for "gentle use" outdoor around the house, by mounting it in a weatherproof box. Either permanently attached or temporary placement. Perhaps get a small weatherproof plastic camping container as sold at walmart and other places, hinged gasket lid and easy-open clamps. Cut a neat square or round hole where the cam will look out and glue in an optical glass flat or optical quality acrylic or polycarbonate flat. The ideal optical flat would be transparent to infrared so the camera would operate in night-vision mode. Otherwise the infrared LED's would reflect off the flat and fog up the video at night. Most glass is almost certainly unsuitable for a night-vision capable box, haven't researched to determine if there is common plastic that would be more fit for purpose. Then again, an optical glass flat with excellent anti-reflection coating might do, except that MOST glass also tends to block infrared transmission.

 

What I'm really looking for, first and foremost, is a peer-to-peer capable wireless night-vision cam. So that no router or wireless access point need be involved. There are zillions of android apps that MIGHT be talked into such, but can't find references of many people that got it working, with enough details to know it is practical for my uses. A couple of companies supposedly are beginning to release IP cams programmed to do peer-to-peer, at inflated prices, for "people too dumb to set up a wireless router" properly. But I just want to get the router out of the circuit, rather than being askeered of setting up a router.

 

The foremost application would be for an excellent backup cam for the jeep. I'm blind in right eye and the neck is stiffer than when I was young, and when backing I about have to break my neck twisting around to see good enough with only one good eye. I need a backup cam bad. Also want said backup cam "always on" not just when in reverse. Many cheap backup cams are designed to only run when in reverse gear, and if you run them all the time they will overheat and fail. But a big monitor and clear video of the back view would suffice as "better than rear view mirror" in conjunction with the center and side mirrors, for a one-eyed fella with a stiff neck.

 

Many spensive wired big-monitor rear-view cam solutions mount the big monitor where the radio goes, for both rear-view and GPS. A two eyed fella might find that ideal, but only being able to see out the left eye, I have to take my eye entirely off the road to glance far enough right and down to get a good view of the console radio. So putting even a big monitor there would be a safety hazard. There are various fancy spensive RV and big rig always-on wired and wireless rear-view solutions, and also one company sells a spensive rechargeable battery wireless always on rear-view system for RV's, trucks, and temporary mountings for ease of trailer hookups. One small cam with suction cups, and then a small video monitor receiver with various dash mount options. Unfortunately the video receiver has too small a screen for my liking, and it costs too much. The cost would be fine if the monitor was big and it was higher-res. 

 

I could fabricate and mount a real rugged phone or pad holder on the left-front window post of the jeep.  Mount a 10" or 11" pad puter or a big screen smartphone on the post and it would not obscure the traffic view any worse than the front window post already does. Such a rear view monitor would be at eye level and easy to glance at with left eye without taking eye off the road. Also the most ideal solution for a one-eyed guy to watch a gps program running. With a high-res cam, it would be a fabulously detailed always-on rear view. Don't have time to do a science project learning how to program an android to peer-to-peer wifi app, if none of the thousands of android cam viewer apps don't quite fit the bill. Maybe the easiest solution would be to permanently wire a cheap wireless router to the jeep DC, but finding off-the-shelf peer-to-peer wifi viewer app that would talk to any IP cam sans router would be the most elegant solution.

 

Peer-to-peer connection to a battery-operated hi-res wireless cam would also be great for many assorted things. If a particular part of the property needs watching "temporarily". Or maybe hang one or more in trees for camping, or even realtime game-cam temporary uses.

 

It may be that wifi is not the best avenue. Something I need to research more-- Apparently there is a tiny market niche of hi-res bluetooth cams (obviously peer-to-peer from the get-go) that are primarily sold as first-person sportscams. Haven't surveyed the entire market and it would probably be higher priced. It would almost certainly have good enough range to work in a jeep wrangler as a rear-view cam, but the limited range of bluetooth would rule out many other possible uses.

The enclosure idea is something I might pursue as well. I do know that these aren't outdoor by any means but seem like they would hold up well if you could find a way to keep the moisture out. I would also contact them directly and ask if they have any models that would be better suited for outdoors. They do have more than just this one on their website.

[gnmwilliams]

I did get a response from customer service about the time interval of the camera. I was told it always takes five pictures no matter the interval you set. So if you set it to 1sec it will take five pics every 1sec (talk about eating up data) or up to five pics every minute. I will try to test out it's reaction time with various scenarios and post back here.

[Tncobra]

How bad can a baby steal that you have to set up security cameras? :)

( had to edit this due to post attempt by phone went wrong.) Edited January 11, 2013 by Tncobra

[Guest Lester Weevils]

The enclosure idea is something I might pursue as well. I do know that these aren't outdoor by any means but seem like they would hold up well if you could find a way to keep the moisture out. I would also contact them directly and ask if they have any models that would be better suited for outdoors. They do have more than just this one on their website.

 

Unless cold weather would kill the cam, it ought to be no-brainer simple to get one working in a weatherproof enclosure for daytime use. Trickier for infrared nighttime. Old dad has a cheap wireless system with three cams. His system receiver connects to a television monitor with an ordinary composite video connection. I don't think his cameras are "outdoor" cams, but he keeps one of his cams under the awning under his back deck so he can watch coons and possums and such playing on the back deck and yard after dark. It isn't exposed to direct rain, but surely it gets wind-blown moisture on occasion and has worked for years out there. But his other two cams sit inside on the window sill of a bedroom and living room looking out the windows. In the daytime they give perfect video surveillance looking out the windows but they fog to gray at night when the infrared turns on and reflects off the glass (and maybe the window glass doesn't pass infrared good enough either). So without glass his night-vision works great, and with "ordinary window glass" it doesn't work at all.

[gnmwilliams]

How can a baby steal you have to set up security cameras? :)

Tricksy little Hobbits.

[gnmwilliams]

Ok so this thing is fast! I tried pulling the plug as soon as I could grab it and it still beat me. It managed to upload every time before I could get to it. I thought I'd have to give it a little head start but as you can see from the pics it managed to take one even as the door was opening. This is with the sensitivity set at 8 out of 10. Any higher was catching the light changing from me approaching the safe. I decided to time it and I've attached a couple shots.

 

 

[TMF]

[quote name="Lester Weevils" post="880803" timestamp="1357852690"]I had got a non-pan-zoom dlink wireless ip cam just because it was easy to buy local, to experiment with, but haven't played with it much yet. Those Foscams get real good reviews but there wasn't one fer sail local and was too lazy to order one yet. Just wanted to get my feet wet with some experience.   Been wondering maybe even indoor cams could be adapted for "gentle use" outdoor around the house, by mounting it in a weatherproof box. Either permanently attached or temporary placement. Perhaps get a small weatherproof plastic camping container as sold at walmart and other places, hinged gasket lid and easy-open clamps. Cut a neat square or round hole where the cam will look out and glue in an optical glass flat or optical quality acrylic or polycarbonate flat. The ideal optical flat would be transparent to infrared so the camera would operate in night-vision mode. Otherwise the infrared LED's would reflect off the flat and fog up the video at night. Most glass is almost certainly unsuitable for a night-vision capable box, haven't researched to determine if there is common plastic that would be more fit for purpose. Then again, an optical glass flat with excellent anti-reflection coating might do, except that MOST glass also tends to block infrared transmission.   What I'm really looking for, first and foremost, is a peer-to-peer capable wireless night-vision cam. So that no router or wireless access point need be involved. There are zillions of android apps that MIGHT be talked into such, but can't find references of many people that got it working, with enough details to know it is practical for my uses. A couple of companies supposedly are beginning to release IP cams programmed to do peer-to-peer, at inflated prices, for "people too dumb to set up a wireless router" properly. But I just want to get the router out of the circuit, rather than being askeered of setting up a router.   The foremost application would be for an excellent backup cam for the jeep. I'm blind in right eye and the neck is stiffer than when I was young, and when backing I about have to break my neck twisting around to see good enough with only one good eye. I need a backup cam bad. Also want said backup cam "always on" not just when in reverse. Many cheap backup cams are designed to only run when in reverse gear, and if you run them all the time they will overheat and fail. But a big monitor and clear video of the back view would suffice as "better than rear view mirror" in conjunction with the center and side mirrors, for a one-eyed fella with a stiff neck.   Many spensive wired big-monitor rear-view cam solutions mount the big monitor where the radio goes, for both rear-view and GPS. A two eyed fella might find that ideal, but only being able to see out the left eye, I have to take my eye entirely off the road to glance far enough right and down to get a good view of the console radio. So putting even a big monitor there would be a safety hazard. There are various fancy spensive RV and big rig always-on wired and wireless rear-view solutions, and also one company sells a spensive rechargeable battery wireless always on rear-view system for RV's, trucks, and temporary mountings for ease of trailer hookups. One small cam with suction cups, and then a small video monitor receiver with various dash mount options. Unfortunately the video receiver has too small a screen for my liking, and it costs too much. The cost would be fine if the monitor was big and it was higher-res.    I could fabricate and mount a real rugged phone or pad holder on the left-front window post of the jeep.  Mount a 10" or 11" pad puter or a big screen smartphone on the post and it would not obscure the traffic view any worse than the front window post already does. Such a rear view monitor would be at eye level and easy to glance at with left eye without taking eye off the road. Also the most ideal solution for a one-eyed guy to watch a gps program running. With a high-res cam, it would be a fabulously detailed always-on rear view. Don't have time to do a science project learning how to program an android to peer-to-peer wifi app, if none of the thousands of android cam viewer apps don't quite fit the bill. Maybe the easiest solution would be to permanently wire a cheap wireless router to the jeep DC, but finding off-the-shelf peer-to-peer wifi viewer app that would talk to any IP cam sans router would be the most elegant solution.   Peer-to-peer connection to a battery-operated hi-res wireless cam would also be great for many assorted things. If a particular part of the property needs watching "temporarily". Or maybe hang one or more in trees for camping, or even realtime game-cam temporary uses.   It may be that wifi is not the best avenue. Something I need to research more-- Apparently there is a tiny market niche of hi-res bluetooth cams (obviously peer-to-peer from the get-go) that are primarily sold as first-person sportscams. Haven't surveyed the entire market and it would probably be higher priced. It would almost certainly have good enough range to work in a jeep wrangler as a rear-view cam, but the limited range of bluetooth would rule out many other possible uses.[/quote] I checked Amazon when I was looking into getting this and saw that Foscam makes outdoor IP security cameras that are enclosed and have many of the same features as this for less that $150.

[monkeylizard]

Ok so this thing is fast! I tried pulling the plug as soon as I could grab it and it still beat me. It managed to upload every time before I could get to it. I thought I'd have to give it a little head start but as you can see from the pics it managed to take one even as the door was opening. This is with the sensitivity set at 8 out of 10. Any higher was catching the light changing from me approaching the safe. I decided to time it and I've attached a couple shots.

 

That's excellent. Thanks for testing that.