.:: Wireless Web Camera ::.
Before you buy and start using a wireless web camera, there are at least three different points concerning wireless networks you should know about.
1) WLAN protocols
WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) is a wireless technology in the 2.4 - GHz or 5 GHz band for the transmission of computer data. It is a wireless network that operates according to the IEEE 802.11 standards and their successors. In practical use it can replace ethernet cable connections by wireless connections. For the OS and programs this replacement is transparent and looks just as if the computer was connected by ethernet cable.
WLAN's have greater ranges as other wireless technologies (WPAN-, Bluetooth) and generally offer higher data transfer rates. Currently the IEEE 802.11n standard allows data transfers up to 300Mbit.
The underlying standard IEEE 802.11 goes back to the '90s, when data transfer speed was restricted to 2 MBit and the protocol was still very sensitive to interference. However the development of new standards took place very quickly and the next stepstone was the 802.11b standard, which allowed transfer rates of up to 11MBit is is still widely in use today. It was followed by 802.11a and 802.11g, which both make transfer speeds of up to 54MBit possible. As of the writing of this, 802.11g has prevailed and is currently the technology that is most widely in use.
The new 802.11n technology, which the IEEE adopted at the end of 2008, employs a new concept called MIMO (multiple in, multiple out) and hereby makes transfer speeds of about 300MBit possible, while 600MBit are already in planning.
So you should take note of what standard you are currently using and if the wireless web camera you're going to buy supports it.
2) WLAN security
If you operate an unencrypted wireless network, you have to take into account it might be (ab)used by strangers and that people can and possibly will sniff your traffic. That's where encryption starts to become important, and your wireless webcam will have to support the encryption standard you intend to use just like any other wireless device on your network.
Encryption is the process by which plain text is transformed into ciphertext (encrypted text) using an encryption method (cryptosystem). Text in this case is not restricted to text data, but also includes any kind of information like video, audio, images... iow everything you expect to transmit with your wireless webcam, right?
In wireless LAN's, there are currently two encryption standards widely in use. The first is WEP, which stands for Wired Equivalent Privacy. This encryption algorithm was cracked within a few month of becoming available on the market and should not be used anymore, at least not if you intend to operate your wireless LAN safely and secure. The second encryption scheme is WPA (WiFi Protected Access) and its successor WPA2, which differ from each other by the way they generate their encryption keys. WPA uses TKIP, while WPA2 uses AES. Both these standards can be considered safe. An additional advantage over WEP lies in their ability to change the keys they use for encryption at certain intervals, so even if one of the encryption keys is compromised, only a part of the encrypted traffic can be decoded with it.
If you are serious about WLAN security, you should definitely use one of the WPA standards and keep in mind the wireless webcam you're going to buy supports it.
3) Built-in webserver?
Something that's easy to forget: if you plan to record images or publish a live stream with your webcam 24/7, you should keep in mind to buy one with a built-in webserver. Otherwise you'll also have to run a computer around the clock just to make information recorded by the webcam available.
I hope this little checklist was useful for you. Have fun buying and setting up your wireless webcam!