TRENDnet Bullet IP Camera Old Version TV-IP310PI

TRENDnet Outdoor 3 MP PoE Network Surveillance Camera with Night Vision, TV-IP310PIFirst, the disclaimer: TrendNet has offered me a $5 Starbucks coupon for writing this. I don't know for sure if I can be bought out, but I do know that it will take more than a promise of a coffee coupon...TrendNet makes good cameras: I have about five of them. This one is compact, and has good picture quality. It comes without a power adapter, presuming, I guess, that you will want to use PoE. And, you do: Power Over Ethernet is really the only way to go. If you don't have a box to provide PoE, buy one with at least 4 PoE ports, as you will use it again in the future.A short manual is included, as well as the TrendNet software, which is on one of those 3 inch CDs: the ones that work fine in a horizontal tray, but not so well in vertical one. I assume that you can download the software from the web if you can't make the teensy disc work: I already had the software from previous purchases. I use third party software for monitoring: Blue Iris, and I like it a lot. But the TrendNet software might work well enough for you, and you probably need it to set up the camera for whatever application software that you finally decide upon.The box also contains a tricky waterproof connector to attach to your Cat 5/6's RJ-45 connector where you attach it to the camera. If you are mounting outside, I strongly suggest that you use the weatherproof device. I didn't on one of my cameras, and within six months the connections had corroded so badly that the camera didn't work, and had to be replaced, as the (now) corroded connector is attached permanently to the camera. I taped it up and tried to weatherproof it when I installed, but that failed, and I'm in fairly dry climate and know about drip loops, etc.The important point to remember is that the connector has to be installed on the Cat 5/6 cable BEFORE you put the RJ-45 connector on the cable, which means that you can't use an off-the-shelf cable. (But if you are mounting outside, you probably aren't doing that anyway, as it would mean drilling holes much bigger than necessary to route the cable.)So that's it. It's a good camera, and after nearly a year of usage, I've found the cameras reliable, save for corroded connections. As much as I'd like to do so, I can't blame TrendNet for that failure.Robert

I have had 3 of the "bullet" and 1 of the PTZ camera from Trendnet for 3 or 4 years and while the hardware is solid and well built but the software, the firmware in particular, is buggy and updates often break features for months at a time as you wait for an update. One update broke the motion capture and a the update to fix the problem wasn't released for months leaving me to either record everything or nothing. And this is when they do update the firmware. The PTZ camera which was bought around the same time as the Bullet types was discontinued a couple years after I bought it and development on the firmware ceased. Between outdated firmware and reliance browser plugins which web browsers no longer support I can no longer configure certain aspects of the cameras.The latest firmware security hole which allowed an attacker administrative access to the camera, which did happen to me, was the last straw. I am trashing these cameras and have bought all new cameras from Ubiquity. I cannot recommend this brand.

This is rebranded Hikvision 3MP Bullet Camera ( DS-2CD2032-I ), it will accept the current USA firmware for it from Hikvision website , it will not ( or at least I could not ) downgrade the firmware using "whoislooking" 's v5.30 firmware downgrade kit found on IPcamtalk forum. Keep in mind flashing to Hikvision's firmware WILL void the warranty. But I could not the the camera to work using the ONVIF protocol to work with my Hikvision DS 7608 NI E2/8P nvr, hence why I flashed it with the "downgrade kit" , but went up in firmware. Once flashed to the new firmware, you have to activate the camera via Hikvisions SADP software ( I use a laptop, and a Trendnet POE injector and 2 patch cables ),. I also did not enable DHCP, set the IP manually and set the IPv4 Gateway to that of my NVR. Then you plug it in to a POE port of your NVR. When you add the camera, it must be done manually since the NVR ( mine did ) will assume a weak password automatically, the current firmware will accept a strong password to activate.It did take several reboots of the NVR to finally get the camera online. Then you can login to the camera ( assuming your NVR allows for this ) to change the settings in the camera. All my management of my cameras is done via web browser through the NVR and not direct from the NVR , since my NVR is remotely located.The camera has a good picture, a semi wide field of view with the 4mm lens ( good for front door applications ).It supports recording in 3mp mode ( 2048 x 1536 ) . You have a lot of control over the camera once logged into it , with a lot of settings. Some people complain about the image in darkness. I have a front door light, so mine is always in color at night. But with the light off, I get a bit of IR light bouncing off the stucco wall to help, though past 15 feet the image gets dark. My other cameras ( Hikvision DS 2CD263F-1 ) by comparison throw much farther and have a really good night picture, with some noise.The mount is sturdy. I manged to mount to a 4" round bell box plastic blank and then mount that to a 4" round bell box. You can mount it direct, but you'll need a 1" hole to fit the bulky ethernet connector to, as there is no room in the base. This leaves a small bit of room for the 3 screws used to secure the camera. This works if you are mounting the on a wood soffit overhang where were has been pre run back to the NVR, but in stucco you might blow out to much plaster since the 3 holes will be close to the 1 inch hole you need to stuff the ethernet connector. The camera does run a bit warm, but not hot. My other cameras ( Hikvision DS 2CD263F-1 ) run cool by comparison. I have read this is due to smaller compact size and the 48v interface being close to the rear of the camera.This a good camera for the money, and if you can get it to work with your NVR / system with the supplied Trendnet software, that's great, but it is underneath a Hikvision, which are well known for their great cameras.