ZyXEL CloudEnabled IP Camera (IPC4605N)

ZyXEL's CloudEnabled Network Pan & Tilt Camera provides some fairly sophisticated network surveillance camera features that can benefit small businesses. Remote camera movement control, bundled Network Video Recorder (NVR) software, and infrared motion detection all make this an attractive and affordable video surveillance solution for a home or small business. But the web-based and bundled software need some significant improvements before the product can be considered a home run. Without robust NVR software, Zyxel's camera is more on par with consumer webcams and, in that space, Logitech's Alert 750n Indoor Master System??is actually a better home IP camera.

Introducing the CloudEnabled Network Pan & Tilt Camera
Without a doubt, many will find that ZyXEL's camera looks like a miniaturized robot or some machine roving the surface of Mars?it's very impressive looking. The camera sits on a base, and a motor moves the camera head so you can position it remotely. You can turn the lens up, down, left, or right while viewing a live feed.

The camera features a 1/3-inch CMOS Megapixel sensor. The lens specs include a focal length of 4.0 mm and a 10x digital zoom.

The rear panel has an Ethernet port, an EXT port, audio out, microphone in, a microSD slot, and a USB port only for connecting the accompanying wireless USB adapter. At first I thought you could add a USB flash drive for storage purposes in the port, but you can't.

The camera ships with a power adapter, Ethernet cable (it can operate wired on a network or wirelessly), a quick installation guide and install CD. The camera can be ceiling or wall mounted?it also comes with a wall mount plate, screws for a ceiling mount, screw anchors, and a camera pad.

Setup
The camera's installation disc has a setup utility, bundled software, and a user manual. I set up the camera following the quick-start guide's instructions. These instructions cover connecting the camera to a router via the Ethernet cable (this must be done for initial setup even if you plan to operate the camera wirelessly).

Once the camera is powered up, its red LEDs light up and the camera rotates on its own with robotic-like movements?making for a very cool boot-up.? ZyXEL's camera also has an additional LED on the front which turns from a psychedelic purple color to solid blue once the power and a network connection is established.

Insert the disc and the "eaZy" wizard launches. The wizard offers a diagram how all the cables connect from the camera to a computer to a router. It then advises that even if you plan to use the wireless, you still have to set up through a wired connection first.?

The LED in the front should be blue, the wizard states, once the power and LAN connections are made.? The software wizard also detected my camera on my network right away and displayed its IP address.? I then gave the camera a name and description, which is optional.

The camera supports DHCP, or you can give it a static IP address. During setup, you also specify how you plan to orient the device, either upright or hanging upside down from a ceiling mount. In the latter case, the video is rotated 180 degrees.

If you plan on operating the camera wirelessly, you can choose that option during setup. The setup software performs a scan of all wireless networks in proximity and you can select one to connect to. The wireless setup is a bit of a hassle, because you have to know what type of encryption the Wi-Fi network you're connecting to uses, and not just the fact it may use WPA2 but whether its AES or TKIP encryption. Ideally, since the software can perform a Wi-Fi survey, it should be able to pick up the encryption method.

The fact that you have to initially set this up on a wired network makes for some potential network conflict once you connect wirelessly if the wireless router is on a different network. I had some difficulty doing this kind of setup. The software doesn't handle the network change well and gives no indication at which point you should disconnect the LAN cable.? I ended up having to use a router that was on the same network as my wired connection?your best bet for the wireless setup. Most SOHO small business users will likely have one network, for wired and wireless, all powered by the same router, but if not the network conflicts are a possibility setting up wireless. Setup wraps up by asking you to create an iSecurity account. This is a cloud service that allows for remotely viewing the camera from a browser or mobile device.

iSecurity
iSecurity provides a live feed from your camera. The interface has arrow buttons that allow you to move the camera at different angles. There are also some configuration options, such as setting the video stream resolution (640x480, 320x240, 160x120), frames per second, and video quality.

It's a decent cloud service, but the free version is very limited. To share camera streams with friends or to access advanced features, you'll have to get a paid iSecurity subscription for $5.99 per month (or $59 per year).

After I activated the paid account, I had some more options such as a sharing tab, which lets you invite friends to view your stream. Just enter in their email address, add a note, and they are sent a link. The invited viewers must also create an iSecurity account (they can view with the free account).

An "events and motion" tab lets you set motion detection sensitivity and enable notifications. With notifications on, an email is sent to an inbox or a notice is sent to a mobile device (if using the iSensitivity mobile app) whenever motion is detected.? With these events, the camera will record images that you can flip through like a slideshow.

The iSecurity interface is easy to navigate, but I found it somewhat lacking. For instance once you log in to the cloud service, the "Login" button remains at the top of the screen. This was confusing as I moved around the interface: Unless I was on the live camera feed page, I couldn't tell if I was logged in or not.?

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