Problems with Siemens Gigaset WLAN camera
I have been trying to get a Siemens Gigaset WLAN camera to mail snapshots via an smtp mail server at 1&1 Puretec which requires authorization (i.e. an account name and password).
The upload to the account always fails with “SMPT upload failed”. Also, any attempt to set the time on the camera also fails ” NTP server: Unknown NTP server.”. I can access the mail account using the same parameters from Apple’s Mail program without problems and can set the time on my Mac using the same timeserver that I want to use with the camera. So I don’t think I have a port closed on the DSL router which should be open.
The camera model is new (came out in March this year) and I haven’t found any newsgroups reporting problems / solutions for the camera, so I am putting a note here, which will publish to Google – if anyone has an idea what the problem or the solution could be, I’d appreciate a reply (in German or English) here. As we are going to be away for a couple of weeks shortly, it may be a little while before I respond, but I will appreciate any ideas others may have. I suspect the problem could lie in the firmware, in which case I will have to wait for an update.
May 26th, 2005 at 19:05:23
It may have a problem resolving names via DNS, because it says that the NTP server is unknown. I suggest you set the parameters to IP addesses instead of FQHNs.
May 26th, 2005 at 20:05:07
Thanks, vowe, I’ll try that later and report back on whether it helps!
And sorry, I haven’t found a fix to the not preserving the comment info
May 26th, 2005 at 20:05:15
OK - that was the problem for the NTP server. Thanks VERY much! I found one at 195.13.1.153 and it updated fine. Also for the smtp server. Super! Now all I need to do, is decide where to finally mount the camera while we are on holiday… It has the big advantage that you don’t need to leave a PC running the whole time, as it talks directly with the WLAN router.
May 26th, 2005 at 21:05:25
i’d suggest you send the photos to a gmail account. if the camera goes berserk, you are not trashing your real mail account.
May 27th, 2005 at 06:05:49
The account I’m using is one that I never used up until now anyway!
May 27th, 2005 at 08:05:37
So you plan to leave the WLAN camera running at home whilst you are away…
So what do you do when you look at the camera from holiday location and see that the plants are drooping for lack of water or worse the local Penner are squatting in your living room?
May 27th, 2005 at 09:05:31
Well, this is what started me thinking about setting up a webcam originally. Although we live in the country, there has been a series of break-ins over the last few weeks, so I thought I’d kill two birds with one stone – get me a new toy, that might also be useful! If the only thing it films is wilting plants, I’ll be quite happy, and if the the worst happens, we might have a souvenier to help track down the bad guys.
June 10th, 2005 at 21:06:07
Question on Mac OS X Tiger and the Ggaset WLAN CAM. Set it up via my PC, and it works, now want to view images on my bedside Powerbook and get this funny icon with a LEgo like little icon with questionmarks on it. How can I view on my Mac? Thanks for any help
June 11th, 2005 at 14:06:40
@Philippe – Siemens only support the Windows Media Player format, which means you need a player for the Mac which will play that format. I haven’t found a player which works really well with the files from the camera, but I am using MPlayer OS X at the moment. If you find a better player, I’d be interested to hear from you.