Are there are (cheap) USB webcams better than 640x480? I want to use several for surveillance, but 640x480 is pretty low.

I'm not sure of any cheap ones, but then again, a USB webcam is not neccessarily your best choice: the USB interface limits cables to 3-5 meters. I would imagine your security cameras need to cover areas further away than your 5 meters. Unless you want to attach them to embedded ARM systems on a restricted network, which would be an interesting (though not cheap) project.

I want to use a combination of USB and Ethernet cameras for surveillance.

Actually, yes, some may be connected to an embedded computer. In a spot where 3 or 4 cameras are needed, the single board computer looks cheaper. SBC + 4 cameras= $70 + ($30*4) = about $200. Alternate: 4 Ethernet-ready cameras: $70 *4 = about $300.

You get an Asus wireless router for about $70, which is basically a cheap single board computer with USB, Ethernet, parallel, and wireless. It runs Linux and is reprogrammable.

Also, I am working on a college project where we want a high-resolution USB webcam. This one is ARM.

So the revised question: Does anyone know of any cheap USB or Ethernet cameras better than 640x480? (Or course, interpolation does not count.)

While I'm going to go see what I can find about high res cameras for you, I am curious about which ASUS routers are so reprogrammable. I have really been wanting to get into some sort of embedded systems project, but I haven't found anything to use as a base that isn't... well, expensive. I'd like to find something <$75, so the routers sound good.

Matir,

Here are some links about hacking the ASUS is the WL500G. It's pretty cheap (about $75). I am thinking about buying one to use as a dedicated web server.
http://wl500g.info/forumdisplay.php?f=8
http://wl500g.dyndns.org/
http://openwrt.org/OpenWrtDocs/Installing
http://rotz.org/archives/2005/03/wl500g_usb_stic.html

The hackable Linksys is the WRT54G. Though cheaper (about $50), it unfortunately doesn't have a USB.

I'll definitely need to keep an eye on ebay.

Here's another hackable storage:

Linksys NSLU2
http://www.tomsnetworking.com/Sections-article122.php
http://www.nslu2-linux.org/wiki/Main/HomePage