【30X Optical Zoom】 5MP Surveillance Camera Outdoor, 360° View Ctronics PTZ Security Camera WiFi with 492FT Night Vision, Human Detection Auto Cruise & Zoom, Sound & Light Alarm, 2-Way Audio, IP66

I have owned this camera for over a year. This camera features superb night vision, very high resolution (4K), and excellent manual or autofocus 20X optical zoom and a whole host of other features. With this camera I can read license plate numbers from over a city block away even at night. To read license plates at night, you will to adjust the exposure to minimum, but it works great and is very readable . If you do it, be sure to adjust the exposure back to “normal” after reading the plate as that exposure level is not suitable for normal night vision. The built in microphone is also sensitive and it even has a speaker built into to allow you to talk from within your PC or cellphone.

In my situation, I set up my camera as a WiFi IP camera, though it can be set up as a wired camera through an Ethernet link cable. However, merely powering up my installed camera and connecting it to my wireless router proved futile in my situation due to the distance involved between it and my WiFi router in my living room. I could only wirelessly connect directly to my camera from my cell phone by using the CTronics Android app. You have to search for the camera using the broadcasted WiFi signal from within your cellphone’s WiFi connection function. Once you do that, the CTronics app works great. This camera also works with a number other free apps available in the Google Ptaystore or Apple.

Now here are the steps anyone needs to perform to connect CTronis camera to your wireless router if you are in the same situation I was in where the camera’s signal WiFi signal was too weak due to distance and other factors.

1. Purchase a Linksys or equivalent WiFi extender and make sure it has 2.4 GHz wireless capability. These cost about 50 bucks on Amazon.

2. Plug the WiFi extender into an AC outlet near your camera inside the house, but not too close. In my two story house, the 2nd floor landing atop the stairs proved adequate.

3. Configure the WiFi extender for 2.4 GHz wireless functionality.

4. Using the direct WiFi connection from your cellphone to the camera by searching for the camera from with within your phone’s WiFi menu. In this mode, the camera itself operates as its own sort of WiFi router. Then open the Ctronics app and connect to the camera. Then from within the Ctronics app menu, read the IP address of the camera, and then write it down. It will be 192.168.1.XX . I don’t know if all CTronics wireless cameras use the same default IP address.

5. Open a Google or Mozilla browser on your cellphone and type http://192.168.1.XX for a web address. Your browser will bring you to a blue menu where you are prompted for “ADMIN” and “PASSWORD. The default is “admin” and “admin” respectively, or what ever you set from the CTronics Android app.

6. Once in the CTronics camera settings. Click on the “Settings” tab on the upper left.

7. Click on the “Network” function.

8. Click on the “Wireless” function from with the “Network” menu.

9. Click search.

10. Select the WiFi router host you just set up with your WiFi extender’s 2.4 GHz signal. In most cases it will be the same as your current WiFi router but with an “_EXT” at the end of it.

11. Once that is accomplished, connect your cellphone WiFi to that same 2.4 GHz signal of your WiFi extender. Please note that the WiFi extender will change the IP address of your camera when it re-broadcasts your camera signal.

12. Now open the Ctronics app on your cellphone and search for the search for that camera. It will find the camera and you will now be able to operate and configure it from that app using the direct connection routed through your WiFi router extender device.

13. From within the Android Ctronics app, look up the new IP address that your WiFi extender reassigned for that camera and write it down.

Now that you have that new IP address, you can now operate that camera from any PC, Android, or Apple device from your home WiFi address using any internet browser or Blue Iris software that I highly recommend. I also recommend that you go back into the camera settings and change the camera’s time zone to your particular time zone because the default one is set to China. I highly recommend Blue Iris primarily because it allows you to use digital zoom that combines very well with it’s optical zoom.

 This camera is GREAT ! I installed one for a friend of mine and decided to get one for myself. Easy install, easy to use app on my phone. The featurs are all here Awesome zoom you can see individual blades of grass ! The night vision is stealthy and no need for bright flood lights. It gives you a picture almost like daylight. The pan tilt cruise mode enables you to scan a wide area. You can also set a guard mode that will identify a human zoom in and track their every move. Push notifications can be sent to your phone so you can use the 2 way intercom. This is well worth the $ not like other companies that charge you for equipment and monitoring fees. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I’ve installed 3 of these camera’s over the past 18 months and have been very satisfied with them. They are very easy to install, work well and are reasonably priced. I did however have an issue with one – the network connection died after 11 months of flawless operation. I’d read some adverse comments regrading the support so didn’t have much hope, but I’ve got to admit Ctronics did an excellent job. They first assisted me with some fault finding but once we exhausted that they sent a replacement and I was up and running within 10 days (the camera was shipped from China). Its now operating perfectly and I was very pleased with the support I received. I wholeheartedly recommend this camera

I’ve had many PTZ cameras around my house, and this one was definitely a disappointment. The lens is a more zoomed in lens, so it only covers a small portion of my driveway instead of the whole thing. I guess it might work good for somebody who has a huge yard or wants to look over a big field or something, but for just a small yard and a driveway, it barely covers half of it. Also, the app and the website to view the camera are super glitchy and lag big time almost to the point where you get frustrated and just turn it off. Plus a lot of the settings are kind of complicated and not easy to adjust. I never did get night vision to work on it. The only good thing is how far it can zoom in. I aimed a camera down the road from my house and was able to zoom in super super far and the picture wasn’t all that bad. But in general, I won’t recommend this because other cameras that are less money are way better.