You don't have to pay the Earth to get a professional quality network video camera these days, with a growing array of products now available for well under £200. One such device is the Linksys PVC2300, a robust little device with Power Over Ethernet support plus enough bundled monitoring and recording software to enable home and small business users to build their own affordable surveillance system or 'spy' CCTV camera setup.

The PVC2300 certainly looks and feels the part, starting with a robust metal casing plus a small articulated stand to enable the camera to be fixed to a wall or ceiling. It's not weatherproof, but could be mounted inside a protective enclosure if needed, Similarly, although it lacks built-in pan and tilt facilities, the Linksys camera can be used with third-party motorised bases with which it can communicate via an RS-485 interface using Pelco “D” commands, a common protocol used by such accessories.

The lens is a manual, fixed focus affair which meant a lot of trial and error when we first installed the camera. However, it is removable and other CS-mount lenses can be attached to, for example, add remote zoom or wide angle display facilities. There's also a built-in 4x digital zoom option although, as with other digital zoom systems, it's nowhere near as good as the real thing.

Most of the interfaces are at the back, starting with a 10/100Mbps Ethernet port which is also 802.3af Power over Ethernet (PoE) compliant, enabling power to be delivered over the network cabling. Unfortunately a power injector isn't included, so you'll need to factor in the extra cost of this, or a compatible PoE switch, if you intend to take advantage of this option. Alternatively, a small AC adapter is supplied in the box and you can, as we did, use a HomePlug adapter to carry the data over the mains connection.

Wireless isn't supported, but is available on the similarly specified WVC2300 (£198 + VAT) which as well as fixed Ethernet has a built-in 802.11g WiFi interface.

Both models also have a GPIO connector to enable the camera to be connected to an alarm system, motion detectors etc. Plus, in addition to a built-in mic, a couple of jack sockets are provided for external microphone and speaker attachment.

There's very little setup required, the camera encoding the video signal into both MPEG-4 and MJPEG formats, MPEG-4 giving the best pictures while MJPEG minimises the bandwidth required. You can also stream the video signal direct from the camera using IP multicast, RTSP and other protocols and view the output using a variety of devices including 3G phones.

On a LAN, a built-in Web server allows the camera to be configured and the video output to be displayed remotely via a browser. Added to which a separate Windows-based monitoring and recording application lets you select and monitor the video streams from up to 16 cameras. This application also lets you record to hard disk or a network share and make use of the motion-detection facilities built into the camera, optionally issuing alerts via e-mail or instant messaging when movement is sensed.

We found the Linksys camera and software easy to use and were impressed by the level of functionality provided. On the downside we couldn't get the 'export to AVI' option to work and the video output was far from movie quality. That said, it should be adequate for surveillance purposes, even in low light conditions. Add an IR light source and it can even be used in total darkness.

Cheaper alternatives are available, but most lack the features and software bundled with the Linksys PVC2300, making it a good choice if you want to know what's going in your back yard or car-park.

A few bells and whistles have been left off, but with its robust casing, Power over Ethernet support and bundled monitoring and recording software, the Linksys PVC2300 enables home and small business users to build their own affordable surveillance system.