Ethernet webcam .....

[telcotech]

Anyone know of an adapter to connect a USB webcam to ethernet?<p>I see IP cameras and ethernet cams, so an ethernet interface to a camera is possible. What I was thinking was a project that would allow an ethernet connection to a USB device. I see USB ethernet devices that connect ethernet to a computers USB port, I want to go the other direction.<p>Anyone have any ideas??

[Newz2000]

Remember, USB involves a smart master and a dumb slave. The master has to do the work of making a connection and getting data from the webcam. To do that, it needs a driver.<p>Your best bet is to use an old computer that runs an OS that contains a suitable driver for your webcam.<p>As I know all to well, there is no "standard" webcam driver. The ethernet web-cams are designed by the camera makers who have intimate knowledge of the camera hardware. Without that, you're going to be in big trouble.<p>If I were going to do it, I'd check to see if my camera had a Linux driver. If so, I'd find a small computer with a USB port and create some package to combine the devices together. There are a number of web-cam "server" software packages out there for Linux that can either upload still pictures via network/ftp or accept direct connections. Win 98 can also be made to work.<p>[ August 11, 2005: Message edited by: Matt Nuzum ]</p>

[Clyde Crashkop]

In the Microsoft DirectX 8.0 and later SDK there is sample source code for AMCAP.EXE that will capture and display live video from USB cameras. You can get a pointer to its buffer and snag a bitmap copy to do with what you will.

[jollyrgr]

A company by the name of Lantronix makes a device to connect your USB 2.0 devices to an ethernet black box. Basically you give this USB hub an IP address and put it on your network. You then connect your USB devices to it. They call it a UBOX. You can read about one model here:
http://www.lantronix.com/device-network ... /ubox.html<p>I have not personally used this particular device but have used other devices from Lantronix. There devices have excellent uptime. There tech support is top notch. <p>Mostly this device is meant for sharing devices like printers and USB flash drives. But I don't see any reason why you could not use it to connect to a camera. Per the data on the web site, the devices connected to the UBOX will appear transparent to the applications. <p>You will have to install the Lantronix software on each PC to peform the redirection. In other words this software fools the applications into thinking the ethernet device is actually a locally installed hub. The only drawback is it appears as if they only have Windows software available. <p>I hope this is helpful to you.

[telcotech]

Thank you, exactly wnhat I was looking for.

[thesprocket]

This UBOX dosen't seem to be readily aviable. I did find it listed for 497 NZD (about $350 US), which seem pretty steep, for low quality USB video. for that kind of dosh, actually significantly less, i think i would be looking at a fully featured IP based camera