Compro’s IP50W is a network camera – it’s a webcam, but instead of attaching to your computer it attaches instead to your home network router.

That means it can be switched on all the time – cameras such as this are best suited to monitoring a room or a house rather than to chatting over Skype. It looks good, with a black-and-white front and small body. A stand is supplied, as is a kit for mounting it on a wall.

The W in the camera's name indicates that, in addition to connecting to your network using a cable, it can connect to a wireless network too – this option appears once the software discovers the camera, so you have to connect using a cable initially (one is supplied). If you don't need wireless capability a cheaper wired-only IP50 version is available.

Setting it up was easy up to a point – the supplied software found the camera on the network and prompted us to update the firmware to the latest version.

The software can be used to set up email alerts and motion detection so that it will only record when it detects movement, which is handy for watching the house when you’re away. Quality was good, and the software is comprehensive with loads of options and settings.

That’s also the problem, though: it’s not a friendly interface and it’s not clear which buttons are used for which options.

This is a powerful network camera at a good price, but only if you’re fairly technically minded or prepared to put in the time to make it work.