-
How do I set up my own camera? How do I set up more than one camera?
Prequisites: Register for a HomeCamera account; download and install the HomeCamera webcam security software (installation requires double-clicking on the downloaded file and following the prompts). Ensure your webcam is connected to your computer and that the relevant drivers have been installed.
i) Click on the HomeCamera icon on your desktop; this will launch the client software; click on the "Add Camera" icon on the toolbar.
ii) The camera addition dialog box will appear with a live video from your webcam (if you have more than one webcam, the first webcam on your PC will be selected automatically). Enter a name for your webcam (e.g. kitchen), select the picture quality, and hit OK.
iii) If this is the first time you're setting up the HomeCamera client, it will ask you to enter your HomeCamera user ID and password. Once you've done this, the client will automatically connect to the server.
You can set up additional webcams by again hitting the "Add Camera" button and following the steps above. As many as four webcams may be set up on a single PC.
-
How do I access my camera via the Internet and via a mobile phone?
To access via the Internet, simply login to www.homecamera.com - you'll immediately go to the "My Cameras" section. Click on the image icon to access an image and on the video icon to access a video (videos require QuickTime; if you do not have QuickTime installed, you can get a free download from
Apple )
To access via your mobile phone, you can:
i) send a
text message to +65-9191-9195 saying "cam <name>" (where <name> is the name of the camera you want to access e.g. "cam kitchen"); you will receive a link to the image; click on the link to download the picture. If you want a video clip instead, your text message should say "video <name>" (e.g. "video kitchen"). Note that this message must be sent from the mobile number you used when you registered with HomeCamera; if we're unable to recognize your number, you will receive an error message saying the requested camera does not exist.
Note: Your mobile service provider may levy additional charges for international text messaging. Do contact your service provider for details.
ii) Alternatively, point your mobile phone's
WAP browser to http://www.homecamera.com/mobile - you'll need to login with your HomeCamera user ID and password. After logging in, you'll see your cameras displayed; click on Image for a picture and Video for a video clip (pictures are shown immediately while a link to the video will be sent to your mobile phone).
iii) Depending on your phone model, you may be able to save the picture or video for future free access.
-
Which webcams can I use with HomeCamera? Do I have to buy the webcams from you?
HomeCamera works with all USB-type webcams on Windows XP and Windows Vista (if you're stuck with an older version of Windows, contact us... we may be able to help you with an older version of our webcam security software that runs on Windows 98 and above). You do NOT need to buy a webcam from us - any commercially available webcam should be okay.
-
Does HomeCamera work on a Mac?
a) To set up cameras, you'll need to use the HomeCamera webcam security software, which, currently, only runs on Windows XP and Windows Vista. We have successfully tested our software on a Mac running Windows XP under Boot Camp and are working on a Universal version for the Mac. If you'd like to be notified when we release a Mac version, please drop us a note from the
Contact Us page.
b) You can access your cameras from any computer with a Web browser. Videos require QuickTime, which may be freely downloaded from
Apple.
-
Does HomeCamera work with network / Wi-Fi / Internet cameras? Can I use camera "X" with HomeCamera?
At this time, HomeCamera only works with one network / Wi-Fi / Internet camera: the D-Link DCS-2120. We will be continuously adding support for additional cameras.
-
My D-Link DCS-2120 doesn't have any HomeCamera setup options...
This may be because your camera was shipped without the HomeCamera enhancements. This can be fixed through a firmware upgrade which you can download from
here
(coming soon). D-Link has committed to support the DCS-2120 under warranty, worldwide, even if your DCS-2120 did not originally include the HomeCamera enhancements
-
Can I use a pin-hole / spy-camera / dome camera / CCTV camera with HomeCamera?
Short answer: yes. Somewhat-longer answer: You'll need to connect the wireless receiver that comes with your spy camera to your PC's "video-in" socket. If your PC does not have a video-in socket, you may need to purchase a "video grabbing card" - Hauppauge and others make such cards that cost less than $50 (and, as a bonus, such cards usually also include on-board TV tuners!). Ensure your CCTV camera and the card share the same video format (such as NTSC). If you need more help with this, drop us a note from the
Contact Us
page.
-
The PC Support people at my workplace don't allow any software to be installed on our work PCs. Can I still access my home cameras from my work PC?
Yes, as long as you have a Web browser and Internet access, you can access your cameras. You do not need any additional software to be installed on a PC in order to access pictures from webcams installed on another PC. To access videos, you may need RealPlayer, QuickTime, or any other player that supports the .3gp video format.
-
Do I need to install any software on my mobile phone or PDA to access HomeCamera?
Short answer: usually, no. Most mobile phones and PDAs can access all HomeCamera content without any additional software.
So long as your mobile phone has unrestricted access to "the mobile Internet", you should be able to get to the HomeCamera server and access pictures. Also, if your mobile phone has a camera and lets you record video clips, it will almost certainly already have all it needs to access videos from HomeCamera too.
-
Is the beta period really free? Will you immediately start charging my credit card the moment the beta period expires?
The beta period is completely free. We do NOT ask you for your credit card information when you create a beta account. This way, you can be sure that we will never "automatically" charge you at the end of the beta period. You will need to login and specifically upgrade to a full-user account for us to begin charging you.
-
How do I know I can trust you with my credit card information?
Well, we don't ask you for your credit card information at all. Even after we go commercial, we will process transactions through PayPal (you do not need to be a PayPal member - they accept one-off transactions just like any other site). We will never see your credit card information. Also, it would be worth pointing out that we're owned by a publicly listed mobile telecom operator and are based in Singapore, a country known for its law-abiding people and clean governance. The bottomline is, your credit card information will be safe.
-
I am concerned about privacy issues. Can anyone access my cameras without my permission?
No; as long as you keep your HomeCamera user ID and password safe, only those people to who you specifically give permission can access your cameras (for more on this, see the KnowledgeBase).
If your question is not answered above, you might find an answer in the more comprehensive HomeCamera KnowledgeBase.
|
