If you’re looking to get a home-security camera to keep an eye on your property when you’re not around, we’ve reviewed one of the latest in the market to help you in your search.
We tested Jabbakam, an online video surveillance camera and security system which “lets you see your world differently”, or so it says on its website. The camera aids in the protection of your buildings and contents when you are away from the property, it could also help save against your buildings and contents policy.
So what’s different about it?
Well, Jabbakam allows you to manage your camera online 24 hours a day: you can use it to set up alerts so you know when new footage is recorded and it allows you to discuss and share the footage privately or via network forums, like an online neighbourhood watch.
How it works
Jabbakam does appear to approach the whole idea of security cameras in an original manner. The camera in the box plugs into a power socket and an ethernet cable attaches it to your internet router. That’s it. It’s set up and ready to start recording.
All interactions with the camera such as configuring it, viewing clips and so on are done via the Jabbakam website (or via one of the iPhone, iPad or Android apps). Here you can manage your account, change the camera settings, view your clips and even create or join networks of cameras to share with your friends, neighbours or even with people on the opposite side of the world.
However, this does come at a cost. Unlike traditional IP cameras, to make use of the Jabbakam camera you have to subscribe to a monthly package. Currently there are three packages: £5.95, £9.95 or £13.95 per month depending if you want to keep your clips for 14, 45 or 90 days respectively.
This includes unlimited camera recording and email alerts. On top of this, if you want to receive a text message to alert you when the motion sensor has detected movement and recorded a clip then you’ll get charged 1 pre-paid credit (10p). Multimedia messages including a snapshot of what has been captured will set you back 2 units (20p).
So, how does the camera perform?
The first and most noticeable omission is the lack of wireless. This limits where you can position the camera. For this trial I ended up running a 5m ethernet cable across my spare room just so I could point the camera out of a window because of the position of my router.
Secondly, the camera has no low-light functionality.
When set up inside, in daylight or under artificial light, the camera performed as expected albeit with a frame rate of just one frame per second. When pointing out of a window I found the reflections of the glass and the brightness of direct sunlight really degraded the image quality. At night or with the lights turned off the camera recorded nothing but blocks of noise.
The motion sensor worked well, easily picking up cats as they wandered around the room in which the camera was positioned and catching my neighbours’ cars driving past when pointed out of the window. However, you’re likely to get a few false triggers as lights are switched on and off in neighbouring houses and due to reflections in windows.
In the context of home security, I don’t think the Jabbakam goes much further than say, positioning just inside an entranceway to catch visitors entering your property to protect your contents. Even then you need to consider the implications of running cables around your house and back to your router.
You can quite easily buy more advanced wireless, external or night-vision cameras form the likes of Y-Cam and Axis and add them to your Jabbakam service package.
The only decision then is whether or not you think the features offered by the Jabbakam package is worth the monthly service charge. Check Jabbakam out at www.jabbakam.com
