Toshiba IK-WB01A Network Camera

[MDLarson]

I'm in the process of researching network IP cameras for a new business we're opening, and I figured the best way to learn is to purchase a camera and play around with it a bit before we commit to buying a bunch.

I decided on the Toshiba IK-WB01A for my testing purposes, since it seemed to be a camera that I could use for my own personal use at my home after all the testing was done (it has 802.11b wireless + 10/100 Base-T capability). I bought the camera from Provantage.com for $180.81 + $9.45 for standard ground service shipping. This was the cheapest price around, and the service from Provantage was good.

The software I plan on using is the single camera version of SecuritySpy, which I bought for $50. There is another software solution called EvoCam, but from what I've read, SecuritySpy has the edge when it came to multiple camera setups.

Included with the camera was a 10 VDC power supply, mounting hardware, an ethernet cable, a couple of line filters to clamp on the ethernet cable, a manual and the Quick Start Guide. The power supply has an extra long cable, presumably for more flexible installation.

So I unpack the camera, and following the directions on the Quick Start Guide, quickly find that there is no Mac version of the Toshiba Camera Finder, which apparently is required to setup the camera for the first time (I had assumed that I could simply type in the default IP address in my browser and access the web interface).

I called the toll-free support number on the box, and the tech guy acknowledged the fact that they do not have a Mac OS X version of the software. I pointed out to him that "Mac® OS X" was listed on the Toshiba specifications page and that I was misled. I also asked him to send me a PC to setup the camera, to which he politely replied, "I don't have a PC that I can send you." So, I guess I need to find a PC myself to apply the firmware update.

I will continue to update this thread as new developments emerge...

 

[MDLarson]

I brought the camera into my workplace where I have Virtual PC, and installed the Toshiba Camera Finder. I also had to switch my IP address in VPC to 192.168.0.50 and the subnet mask to 255.255.255.0. It did not specify a router address.

So, I open the software after hooking the camera up to the network, and it finds the camera. I can login either as an admin or guest. Clicking on the camera in the list simply brings up a browser window to either the root level (http://192.168.0.30/) or the admin login page (http://192.168.0.30/admin.htm).

I do not think a PC is needed to access and configure the camera. In addition to the admin login method described above, the camera defaults to DHCP. If you can figure out what the auto-assigned IP address of the camera is after you plug it into your DHCP network, you can access it via that IP address in your browser. The Toshiba tech gave me this tip but left out the actual page that I needed to access, which is admin.htm. Just typing in the DHCP-assigned IP address only gets you to the guest login, and you'll be where I was last night, confused, lost and frightened. Well, maybe just frustrated.

ANYWAY, I don't know what the Apple firmware I was emailed will accomplish for me, but I installed it anyway. The camera accepted it and rebooted.

I took a couple of screenshots to give you an idea of video quality. These were taken using 640x480 picture size and "MIDDLE" picture quality.

I will post any further impressions that I have as I come across them.

 

[MDLarson]

I've been playing with the camera for a little bit, mostly exploring the web interface. Like I said before, I'm using the camera primarily with 3rd party software, so I am not using the camera's built-in web interface to its full potential.

However, from what I've seen, it's very workable once you log into it. Like I alluded to in my previous post, the hardest thing to grasp is logging onto the camera. The Windows app, Toshiba Camera Finder, may be useful for novice users, but all you really need to know is the IP address.

Camera quality seems pretty good. This being the first web camera I've had the opportunity to play with, I was expecting a higher frame rate per second. When I had it plugged into my 100 Base-T switch, the framerate seemed to be adequate. I switched it to wireless mode, and it seemed to take a performance hit as far as framerate went, but I could be imagining things. It would have been nice to come with 802.11g instead of 802.11b.

The auto-black & white feature is pretty convenient, actually, since you can achieve more detail in lower-light conditions when it is in black & white mode. The camera adjusts for the optimum lighting balance too.

One small issue I've had is in the power connection. When the camera turns on, the lens tilts down and pans right in an initialization process. This would happen every time the camera power plug would be inserted. A couple times I was moving it around, and it would go through this initialization process without me taking out the plug... so I don't know what's going on there. It hasn't been a problem since I haven't been moving it around too much.

So... I guess that's about it. If somebody has specific questions, just ask.

 

[MDLarson]

And by the way, I meant to look at the camera cross-eyed in that 2nd picture. I already know I look like a dork... ha!

 

[MDLarson]

I received an email from "Nate", who had the following to say…

After reading through the online manual, there's a few things that you should add to your review or contact the company about.

#1 Outside access. It would be really hard to access this camera from
outside your network. They say it can be accessed from anywhere and even
your cell phone, but that's not true.

You have to set up your wireless router to allow a "port forward" to
your camera, give your camera a static IP and also you would have to
know the IP address of your wireless router on the internet, if you can
access it from there.

The only easy for them to offer this capability is to do something like
"go to my PC" does and offer a "proxy" server. Or if the user has his
own server, he could do some sort of forwarding of packets from there
(the camera is always connected to the server, it's a outgoing
connection for the camera). They should provide better instructions
on this issue.

There's lots of problems with their claims of being able to access it
from anywhere and you should try doing it yourself to see what the
problems are. I know because I have a few things set up here myself and
would like to safely access them from outside and it's always a pain in
the ###.

#2 If it's Mac OSX compatible, it's also Linux compatible, but yet they
don't list that and they should.

#3 It looks like they are using GPL Linux internally to run this thing,
I didn't see any links to source code.

#4 They should show the pan and tilt angles right up front, most people
would think it does a 180 X 360 or something like that.

#5 Oh yea! WEP sucks! Don't put this in your bedroom ! Why didn't they
do WPA and also the mail POP3 stuff isn't encrypted so your password
goes out over the air in the clear. It's really not that hard to include
better encryption anymore with these MIPS processors and so much RAM.

I really like the $500 version of this camera, .03 lux and megapixel.
Wish it was only $200 !

The $500 version of the reviewed camera Nate mentioned is the Toshiba IK-WB11A, which does appear to have many improvements over the IK-WB01A.

I have to somewhat disagree with Nate's #4 point only because it seems like ALL specs are equally "buried". Toshiba could definitely do a better job at presenting their cameras, but in truth, a large percentage of IP cameras I've looked have a similar specs page, so Toshiba is not so horrible in relative terms. A quick look at the specs page does reveal a Pan of 112° (+56° to -56°) and a Tilt of 54° (+5° to -49°).

Port forwarding is something very new to me, but once you get the concept down, it's fairly straight-forward. It would still be nice if it was easier, however. I may still play around with Toshiba's built-in web server and port forwarding for internet-wide viewing, as I don't really want to keep my iMac running SecuritySpy open all the time.