Setting up a device like the WVC54GC ought to be simple. You mount the camera on its stand, plug in the power adapter, connect the network cable to your router and run the set-up CD to configure the camera.

However, in our case the camera was ‘not found’. We discovered that the packaged Ethernet cable was faulty and after a swap all was well but that’s the first time we’ve ever come across a duff cable and it didn’t bode well.

You connect the Linksys camera to your router by either 10/100 or 802.11b/g and it then broadcasts a picture to the world. You can view the image with the Linksys Viewer & Recorder Utility which can handle up to eight cameras.

It’s more useful to access the camera across the Internet, presumably so you can watch your house get burgled while you’re on holiday, but that means you have to log on to a specific IP address.

This is fine if you have a fixed IP address but ADSL users don’t have that luxury and will need to use the Linksys DDNS (Dynamic Domain Naming Service) called Sololink, which gives you a one year free trial once you have registered. This associates the changing IP Address with your Solo Link account with the format yourname.ourlinksys.com.

You may also fancy the 30-day trial of Intamac remote camera monitoring service but it costs £5 per month per Linksys camera after the trial expires, which starts to get expensive.

Image quality is unimpressive as the Linksys is a basic webcam with 320x240 resolution that looks awful at low light levels which is exactly when you’re likely to use the cam. Added to that you have no movement control so really it’s more of a gadget than a serious security device.

Also consider:
Axis 212 PTZ network camera
If you're looking to monitor a large area, the fish-eye lens will definitely appeal

Axis 205 network camera
It is incredibly easy to use, but unless you fancy shelling out for the additional software it's basic in its functionality.