Logitech Alert 700n Indoor Add-On Camera with Wide-Angle Night Vision

This is my review of the outdoor model (750 or 700e), but all of this applies to this model as well.If you need a longer ethernet cable or a white one they are available on Amazon or from Monprice. Search for FLAT cable as round cable won't allow for closing the camera properly. Logitech also had longer cables but only in black and quite expensive.UPDATE 2: I wish I had known this before I spent $800.... quote from january 23, 2013 press release from Logitech CEO:"...we have initiated the process to divest our remote controls and digital video security categories, ..... by the end of Calendar Year 2013."See third-quarter press release on the Logitech site. Bummer.ORIGINAL rating and Update #1:I'm trying to add only new info here; these are great cameras, sensitivity is excellent, software is generally good and the quality level is high. I'm pretty happy.Why 4 stars? The wall wart is huge (2"+ from wall) and ugly. Good luck getting your wife to allow this thing except behind furniture. The outside set-up is even uglier as there's a cord from the wall wart to the 110v plug... it's clumsy, big and highly visible. As others have noted, the micro-sd card is hard to access, but I'm not certain why you'd want to access it regularly (see below). And it's much easier to access on the indoor versions than it is on this one.There are trade-offs designing a security camera and Logitech has chosen to use the Powerline standard.... this is a good decision as it avoids a lot of cable stringing, but it's not perfect. You need to understand the downsides. First, Powerline may not communicate reliably (see below for fuller discussion of why and what you can do about it). Secondly - as to the outdoor camera - this thing works great. BUT you need an outlet within about 15 feet and if you don't have one you're going to need to run an extension cord (ugh) or some special flat ethernet line (the weatherproofing of the camera requires this kind of cable). IF you do all this, are you then going to have an outdoor security camera plugged into an outdoor outlet? If so, what keeps someone from walking off with the whole thing? Of course if you run the line in to an indoor outlet, all well and good, but then the convenience of plug-and-play is defeated.Also, the night vision version of the indoor camera (700n) and this outdoor camera don't work well when set up inside to "look out a window".... the infra red is totally defeated by the window glass. They work fine "looking through the window" for daylight or lighted areas, but not in the dark.MAC USERS: Everything you read will tell you that this system requires a PC for initial set-up. This is no longer true: as of November, 2012 Logitech has the Alert Commander software for OSX (10.6 or higher) available for download. Installation was very simple and the two cameras were recognized immediately. There is a very cool feature which allows you to customize the sensitivity areas of each camera, using up to 16 adjustable rectangles to define which motion will trigger the camera and which motion will be ignored. Very helpful for avoiding triggering by a bush that is in the corner and gets blown around. I'm still learning all the ins and outs but I'm very happy with the picture quality.There are also free apps for the iPad and the iPhone, for live streaming. Apparently you have to buy the extra cost subscription if you want to download the recordings to your iDevice. The software has a couple of bugs but they are minor (I have been unable to turn the camera LEDs off or the camera audio on).And yes, my system is all Apple (Airport eExtreme, etc) and of course Safari works fine when you want to use a browser to view your cameras.FOR EVERYONE: this system is based on the Powerline technology which passes a signal over your home's electrical wiring. This has many advantages in terms of quick set-up as you don't have to run a lot of wires around. I have had Powerline installed in my house for several years as part of my security system and as a very reliable way to distribute ethernet throughout the house without stringing cable. But there is a key limitation to Powerline which may explain some of the lower ratings you see here.... This is the case with all Powerline set-ups. In some cases they communicate just fine, but in others they don't.Here's why: most homes have a 2-branch electrical system.... one 220 volt line comes into the house. The 220 volt input is split into two 110 volt circuits called "buses". Each bus has multiple circuits and circuit breakers. Powerline system will usually work fine on different circuits as long as they're on the SAME bus. When the signal has to travel from one bus to the other things get iffy. The way around this is to install a device in your circuit breaker panel called a signal bridge. This device simply passes the signal from one bus to the other, but it takes up two circuit breaker positions. INSTALLATION IS NOT FOR AMATEURS.If you share a panel (in an apartment, for example) this may not be possible. Note that if you share a panel you potentially share the Powerline signal so think about your security. Other difficulties may arise if you have electrical sub-panels. And if your condo building has a 440 volt incoming line.... well, I dunno.You can avoid a bridge by keeping your cameras and the receiver (only one of the latter is needed, for up to 6 cameras) on the same bus. I've also read that it's desirable to avoid the bus that has your refrigerator on it (or any other appliance with a large motor), as these things can generate signal interference, but I haven't had that issue.And plain extension cords are fine, but AVOID surge suppressors... they block the signal.OTHER THOUGHTS: Be aware that there are two versions of the indoor camera.. the 700i doesn't have night vision, the 700n does. If you can find the 700i it's cheaper and works as well "looking out a window" as the 700n. Of course if you want to watch inside the house in the dark (baby's room perhaps) you 'll want the 700n.The motion detectors on these things are adjustable for sensitivity and on the highest level they are very sensitive.... think a crow walking around on the grass 50 yards away.The cameras come with a 2GB micro-SD installed... You can replace this with up to a 32 gb card. How long this is good for is dependent upon how much you record, so the sensitivity setting is important as is the activity level in front of the camera. ["Activity level" includes moving branches, etc.] Also when you turn on the controlling PC/Mac, the card gets downloaded and the camera writes over it when it's full or downloaded, so you probably won't need to ever change the card if you set it up correctly.There's a user community on the Logitech site and there is discussion of downloading your video to your Dropbox or other cloud storage. Seems to me that if you can do that then you can go back in history even if you're accessing it with a browser from a remote computer.... so then why would you need the subscriptions service??? Just asking....I'll post more as I learn more.Update 1: I have contacted Logitech support about the issues I had using the Mac software to adjust the camera settings. They were VERY helpful, but the only way we could resolve the issues was to use a PC to adjust the cameras, then migrate the cameras to the Mac network. The latter happens pretty much automatically once you re-launch the Mac version of Alert Commander.Logitech has escalated the issue and we have exchanged several emails. I'm impressed with how they are keeping me in the loop.

UPDATE: Based on my early experience with this system recommended it to several customers and installed many. Every customer I installed this for, and my own, has experienced problems after a year or so like everyone else. Customer service gladly replaces them but the new ones also go out after a short time.Unfortunately after spending thousands on these systems, they don't stand the test of time and would not recommend them to anyone, EVER!ORIGINAL: Wanted to get a nice security camera system for our beach house covering inside and out. After a bit of research, I settled on these babies. Very easy to setup and the features are top notch. I love that I can see live video from any place in the world with my computer or phone and the SMS and email alerts are great for knowing when something is happening. My only complaint is i with the video was true HD, 1080, not 720, but otherwise, the quality if really great. Night vision is brilliant. This is a pricey option but I think it is worth it.

I started out with 1 now I have multiple camera. I got these since I wanted to be able to check on my house when traveling for work or vacation. Gives good picture quality. I use the app on my iPhone or iPad to "check-in" if I am concerned. I didn't want to install a$ security system (at the time I was in a rental home) and this has worked well. If someone decided to break into my home it should pay for itself if I can call the police as soon as the camera's alert and notify my phone.

We own two of these cameras and the are great! The first monitors our front door and we use the second as a video baby monitor for our infant son's room. The installation and set-up is super easy, just plug and play. You do need to follow the instructions that tell you to NOT use power strips. The cameras use the electrical wiring in your home to distribute the signals and power strips interfere with this. The software is idiot proof. Each camera can be configured independently for it's use.For our front door application, we found that the night vision doesn't work. The front porch lights wash out the night vision. But the front porch lights provide enough illumination for the camera to see at night. We have this camera configured to email during certain times of the day when it sense motion; so we have lots of funny picture of the UPS man. In this application we have the audio turned off so that it doesn't record noise from around the house. The camera only records when it senses motion and the software allows you easily navigate the video logs. We recently had a pet sitter come and I checked the logs to see when and how long she was there. The latest version of the iOS app allows you to change the alert settings from you phone, as long as you already have alerts activated through the computer software interface.In our Son's room we use the night vision and the audio. In my opinion it is a great baby video monitor as long as you have a traditional audio only monitor to provide continuous sound monitoring. When I want to spy on baby I just open the app on my phone or tablet and within 30 seconds I have streaming video. Plus when baby grows up we can use the camera somewhere else in the house.One of our cameras did recently stop working. I contacted Logitec customer support and they were very helpful in troubleshooting the issue. Ultimately the camera was replaced by Logitec. Throughout the entire process the same CS rep followed through with the claim and a new camera was installed and working within a week.

Fast shipping. Great price thankyou