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[muffin]

I can see the Sentinel from a remote computer using MyHouse but efforts to pan, tilt or zoom it are mostly futile.  It will accept about 1 out of 30 commands using the arrow buttons and the zoom buttons in MyHouse but with a very long lag......30-60 seconds if at all.  I have DSL to connect to the internet on the remote computer and Hughesnet satellite on the home computer.  Can operate the camera fine from the home computer.  Anyone know what is going on here?

[tjdavj]

I can see the Sentinel from a remote computer using MyHouse but efforts to pan, tilt or zoom it are mostly futile

When running on the remote computer, watch the two segmented bars under the viewing window. These are the send and receive data indicators. (next to the date/time display). The top bar indicates receiving data and the bottom bar indicates sending data. Also, Once you send a command on any kind, the video feed will be stopped until the command is executed on the host computer. This can be verified but watching the My House Status Monitor.

As an example of command lagtime, I have a DSL connection with a solid 1Mb uplink. It can take 15-20 seconds for the command to complete, and longer still for the updated video to be displayed.   I would expect your satellite uplink is considerably slower, so the lagtimes will be considerably longer. Just be patient.

You may be able to improve the performance by lowering your capture resolution to 320x240 and dropping the quality slider to 50% (This can be done on the remote pc.)

Lastly, this system should not be considered a "real-time" system. While it will provide adequate live motion video (given there is adequate uplink bandwidth), the interuption of video when a command is send leaves a lot to be desired. Case in point: Say you are viewing remotely and you need to zoom in to recognize someone walking across the backyard. By the time the camera receives the command, zooms in, and sends the video to you, more than likely the subject will be out of frame.

[tjdavj]

Forgot to mention that lowering your framerate (frequency), will help with your bandwidth issue too..

[muffin]

So this does not function very well for surveillance, right?

[tjdavj]

So this does not function very well for surveillance, right?

I quess it's all relative. The Sentinel camera with AHP, iWitness, and MyHouse is probably the best system you can get for the money, especially if you need the Pan Tilt, and Zoom capabilities. If local surveillance is the main objective, then you should be fine, but "remote" surveillance is another kettle of fish.

If I'm correct in assuming that your Satellite uplink speed is typical. (approx. 56-128kbps), then you can forget about ANY system offering remote "real-time" surveillance capabilities. There's just not enough bandwidth available.

I've used a few systems, including IP Cameras, and more expensive networked PTZ cameras. unless you have a T-1 or larger, they experience the same issues as the X10 products.

I'm not sure that this answers your question, but I hope it helps.