tome9999

Couplers are ok in moderation. It is better not to use them on long runs, they can cause signal reflections and other problems, but in general one isn't going to kill you if you aren't pushing the limit on length of run.

Why are you sure it is a networking issue with the switch? Ping (terminal window in Mac OS, or Command Prompt in Windows) the ip address of both cameras at the same time and see if you are losing packets. At the same time try opening browser windows to them and see if you still cannot get a response. If ping continues while you have the problem getting the camera to respond it is likely something other than the switch.

Do you have motion detection turned on and are you writing data to SD card and/or the network (or email)? I had a similar behavior yesterday when I left motion detection on and moved the camera from where it was originally set up with a limited view area to a place looking at a tree blowing in the wind. The camera's cpu was pegged responding to motion events, writing them to SD card, and sending me images in email. When I realized it, I got in quickly after a reboot and turned off motion detection. The camera continued to send me the buffered events in email for well over 30 minutes and it was still quite slow (though not impossible) to respond during that time. I now have email messages with 500 images from about a 30 minute time interval!

Buellwinkle, Thanks. I have two australian shepherds that go crazy barking when someone pulls in the driveway and/or comes to the door. We are gone for long periods of time though and so this is for when the house is empty. And, while I would love to help you out and lighten your canine load, I will have to decline on the offer of small deterrents. That Axis video is good. However, I don't think I really want to play that at my front door every time the milk guy, UPS driver, or my mother-in-law comes to the door. I could tie it to setting off the house alarm perhaps and play it inside the house, but they would have passed the camera by then.

LOL, I watched that thing with anticipation, waiting for the "big moment". It never came.... Shockwave, do you know what mic you used, it isn't too bad. Thanks.

Thanks Buellwinkle, that is what I was looking for in terms of mic/speaker info. In terms of recording conversations, I am really just thinking about using it to get a little value out of my expensive deterrent. To be honest, I am not sure I "need" this camera or a video surveillance system in general, but if I am going to put one in I might as realize some other value from it, like using it as a way to talk to people who might come to the door for legitimate purposes. Or scaring off the deer that come to eat our bushes

Anyone have any suggestions for what would be a nice compact solution if I wanted to have a speaker and microphone mounted near the P3367 for 2 way audio?

As mobbarley says either is fine. Linear supplies use a larger magnetic transformer and rectifier, are usually physically larger and heavier than a switching equivalent, are less efficient and are often more expensive. They produce less noise (emi radiation) than a switching supply so are a good choice where that matters. With most consumer electronics (including cameras) induced noise isn't an issue and switching supplies are fine due to less power being wasted and being cheaper. Probably more than you care to know...

That link just gives the same error page as above. With or without compatibility mode or IE9 (or 8,7)....

Hmm, I tried all the different Browser modes in the Developer Tools, but still nothing. Oh well, it isn't worth spending any time on, as I said I don't use IE anyway... Thanks though.

If you have a fairly large computer screen open the 'Live View' in a new window and line it up so that the live view is behind and to one side. Scroll this window to a good spot for focusing before going back to the focus window. Then reduce the width of the window with the focus settings as much as possible and cram it over to the other side. You shouldn't get that error in IE10 but you will notice problems with some config pages currently, such as the storage page. To fix that open the IE10 window, press F12 to get the developer section, use the row of buttons in there to change it to IE 9 mode - you can then press the x to close the developer half of the screen. What happens if you click the link you posted above? This will remove all the stuff after the IP. Good suggestion on Live View thanks. I have two screens one of which is 30" so no problems with real estate. The back button (the link in the error message) gives a 404 page not found error. Thanks.

Another thing with the Axis p3367... In Windows 7 I usually use Firefox and it works fine. But I was trying to use IE (version 10.0.9200.16576) and it won't work. It gives me the error below. I guess it isn't a big deal, I use IE as infrequently as is humanly possible, but just wonder why it doesn't work considering it is supposed to be THE browser to use with the camera.... I go to http://192.168.1.67 and I get that error after it prompts for UID/Passwd. It even knows it is the Axis camera as you can see in the tab it is trying to open. I do the same thing in Firefox or Chrome, it just works. Any ideas?

I have a question on focusing the p3367. Is there a way to see a larger view when I am doing the focus? In Motion Detection settings you can make the image larger when setting the motion detection area. I don't see that feature in the focus screen where it seems really important. I want to get as good a focus as possible but the screen is so small it is hard to tell when you have critical focus.... I take a snapshot, blow it up in photoshop, see it is slightly out of focus, go back to focus settings, try again, take a snapshot, lather, rinse, repeat....Very annoying.

10/100 ethernet only requires 2 pair. Cheap cables, or older 10/100 only cables, often didn't bother to connect all 4 pairs. You should look at your cable and see if all 8 pins are connected. You can also verify they they are wired to spec: http://www.utm.edu/staff/leeb/568/568.htm 568B is more common but either will work as long as the cable is wired the same on both ends.

Ah, yes, I see they do include another one at least. You'd think they would either just leave the cable out or ship a reasonable length one (50' or more). This is like 10-15'.

I just received my 3367-ve yesterday and played with it for a couple hours. I am very impressed! I thought the Brickcom that I returned was nicely constructed but it doesn't hold a candle to this camera. Really nicely thought out and designed. I am really liking all the configuration settings. The proof will be in the image pudding once it's in place and I can see some real images, but in the couple hours I played with it I was surprised at the useable image with very little light. I bought mine from Ebay, got it for 1079, free shipping, and it arrived 2 days later via fedex. If I have a complaint out of the box, it is that the cat5e cable they include is ridiculously short (though it is a very nice shielded one). The problem with the short cable is that there is a very nice grommet on the cable that prevent water and pests getting in, and the only way to use that grommet on another cable is to cut the cable they sent, which is a shame, take the grommet off and build an new cable. You can't slip the grommet over the connector. Cutting it so that it would go over the end would defeat the nice seal it has.

Are you kidding? It's the little dog you need to worry about

I am looking for thoughts and advice on mounting a camera to cover the front door of a house. It is a slightly unique situation and I have several options and decisions to make but not sure what would be best. The house is a single story ranch with no attic and long roof overhangs (about 3 ft). The overhangs are represented by the light gray in the (not to scale) drawing. It has solid decking and insulated panels on the roof so there is no access from above at all. The first floor of the house is raised about 4 feet above ground level. So when you walk up to it, the soffits are 12 feet or so in the air. But when you climb the steps to the front door (which is in the connecting area between the two rectangles in the drawing) you are at normal floor height. You could easily reach up and touch the front edge of the roof overhang (about 90" high at the front edge, 102" on the back edge at the wall). There are three 50W equiv lights in the courtyard that are triggered by motion sensor and provide quite a bit of light at night. There are also driveway lights that could be triggered as well. It is 29 ft from the front door to the front wall of the right rectangle and 44 ft from the front door to the front wall of the left rectangle. It is then probably another 80-100 ft to the street. I want the camera to be able to see anyone walking into the courtyard and also see down the driveway as much as it can (day and night). I would also like it to see the front door, but don't know if that will be possible given that the priority would be to see down the driveway and I only have so much FOV. I am currently thinking of using an Axis p3367-ve. It claims to have an 84 degree FOV. It will be set up to write to a SD card in the camera, as well as writing to a NAS on the network. Ideally, the camera would be mounted under the soffit on the front porch back in the upper left corner of the drawing. I would put it far enough back in the overhang to only just see under the edge of the roof and out. I want it high up in order to be out of view from inside as the whole front of the connecting area is glass on either side of the front door. The other place would be over top of and to the left of the front door. The problem there is that it will be kind of in your face when you come to the door. It seems to me the big issues are: 1) Someone could easily reach the camera 2) To wire it I need to go down the wall, under the porch decking and into the rim joist (which comes out in the basement). The house is in a good neighborhood as it goes, but is somewhat rural. There have been a couple break-ins randomly in the area. I don't really anticipate someone vandalizing the camera, and after all, if they are whacking your camera you have video of them doing it! This model is vandal resistant so I would hope if that happened I would at least have some video of them before it was turned off. The second issue is the wiring. I was thinking of cutting the siding back a couple inches from the corner, and running a trim board in place of it, from the roof down to the floor of the front porch. I would dado out the back and have the wire run down the back of that board. In the future a camera may be added on the top corner of the right hand rectangle looking down the driveway as well in order to see the garage doors (and anyone who would pull around to that side). So, does this seem like a reasonable plan? Should I be thinking about anything else, or considering something different in terms of camera placement?

Agreed. That is why I am here - trying to make my house a little less enticing than the neighbors. That is also why I grow dandelions " title="Applause" />

Thanks Shockwave. I do have (2) barking dogs, though when a neighbor was broken into recently they found out about it because someone a couple miles from their house called them at work after finding their dog which the thieves let out. Not long after that break-in we had the local sheriff come to talk to the neighborhood about what can be done. They said that dogs have not been a deterrent (at least not in our area). Criminals, like delivery service drivers, bring treats. They just let the dogs out and give them treats. They were proponents of alarms and video. This article I recently posted suggests that cameras ARE a deterrent, it claims even signs indicating surveillance are a deterrent. At least for the criminals they interviewed On the other hand, it says that dogs are a deterrent in direct contradiction to our local sheriff. viewtopic.php?f=54&t=35991

Hmm, interesting. I have my P3367 on order now so I'll see how it looks/works in the location I am considering. But I'll keep these in mind if it doesn't work out on the front porch... Thanks!

Home automation is great. I would advise anyone doing it though not to get carried away unless they want to make it a full time hobby. I have a nice controller (ISY994 from Universal Devices) that is great, and UD's support is great. I have only about a dozen devices on the system in key areas to make things convenient. Garage door was one of the first! By the way, back to my topic, do video security pros generally view it as bad practice to put a camera at a door where is it reachable in residential installations? And if so, how do they solve the problem? I could put it out of reach but would be looking back at the door (and presumably the back of the head of the person standing there). That means I would need another camera to look down the driveway, but it could be done....

Running Windows as an application on MacOS (unix) is as god intended. I would add that Parallels (Desktop 8 ) works great as well. My MacBook Pro has a fast SSD. I usually just suspend Windows (version 7 currently) so it wakes in about 3 seconds. But even booting Windows in Parallels from a full stop is 17 seconds. I would rather the NVR software was native on Mac/unix but you use the tools you have. The apps I do run on Windows, mostly CAD/CAM, work great, performance is outstanding on this hardware. There is also Oracle's VirtualBox which is free. I have used it in the past with success but I can't vouch for it working for any of the NVR apps.

Kawboy, thanks for the response, I appreciate it. It isn't 12' up at the front door. If the camera is placed in that corner, or anywhere on the front porch area it will be less than 8' high to someone standing on the front porch. It would only be that high when they are walking into the courtyard - before climbing the stairs. The width is 18' (distance between two large rectangles). I am just getting started. This is really just a trial for this camera and seeing if I can get it in place in a neat and non-obtrusive way. I do want to put another camera on the garage doors as I mentioned, probably another p3367-ve if this works out. I will also need at least one more, and maybe two for full coverage in the end (and for those last 1-2, I intend to use less expensive cams). However, due to the way the house is situated on the property and in the neighborhood two cameras (front door and garage) will cover the vast majority of ways someone would approach the house. The garage door is on an automation system, it sends sms warnings in the evening and it never leaves the door up! Again thanks, Tom

In this location I can turn on lights via a motion sensor so it doesn't have to be complete darkness. Sounds like Axis is probably the way to go for that one location anyway. As always, many thanks for your opinions and your reviews! -Tom