The Sensors
There are several models of the Watchport sensor; all of them look similar, but each detects different environmental conditions. They sell for about $200 each.
| Model | Force or Conditions Detected |
|---|---|
| Watchport/H | Humidity and Temperature |
| Watchport/P | Proximity and Distance |
| Watchport/T | Temperature |
| Watchport/W | Water |
| Watchport/A | Acceleration/G-Force |
| Watchport/V | Not a sensor, but a webcam |
Each of these small sensors has a Category 5 Ethernet cable coming out the back. This means that you can use repeaters, hubs or switches to increase the distance between a sensor and its monitoring station.
The sensor also comes with a converter, which changes the Ethernet signal into USB. One drawback is that each sensor can only be used with the converter that came with it - but they all look the same, so it is very easy to plug a sensor into the wrong converter. If you get only one sensor, this is obviously not a problem. If you buy ten, things could get ugly.
From a single computer, up to 10 sensors or cameras can be monitored simultaneously. Another restriction is that you are limited to four sensors or cameras of the same type.
Let's take a closer look at the two of the sensors: the proximity sensor and the water sensor.
