List Price: $299.00
Sale Price: $160.00
Today's Bonus: 46% Off
We were considering either this or a package that included four cheap cameras and a network DVR, but what tipped the scales for us was the built-in wireless and the pan/scan capability that let us get away with fewer cameras and an easier setup.
I expect the network configuration stuff, port-forwarding, etc will be the biggest technical hurdle for some (especially if you want to access from the internet or your cell-phone w/o being on the home wireless). If you are already comfortable with port-forwarding/dyndns then it's all very standard stuff. The camera feed works great in all browsers we use (Chrome, Firefox, IE). It also worked on my Android and my wife's iPhone with free (ad-supported) apps. IP Cam Viewer Lite for me, and Net Cam Viewer for her. It may just be me, but I had trouble swiping to reposition the camera on her iPhone app when I tested that, but this isn't a review for that app's interface. I'm happy with the pan/tilt control available with IP Cam Viewer Lite. Enabling the microphone only seemed an option in IE with the ActiveX control.
There was a software install CD that came with the camera but it isn't necessary. We first plugged it directly into the network, used our home router's web interface to determine what IP address the device picked up, opened a browser to the camera's built-in web server, and set up the wireless and other camera options from there. Defaults are DHCP, port 80, and admin with no password. The CD also has a more detailed configuration manual than the printed quick setup guide, but you can download it online if you want more information about each of the configuration options available with the camera.
The camera has been very reliable so far and easily connects to the wireless network without issue. Night vision works well and there is a pretty good range of motion except that it can't point all that far "down." There is a mounting bracket included which we haven't used yet, but may for better positioning. It would be nice if it didn't have the soft red glow of the night-vision infra-red LEDs, but that's how all these cameras are. There's no "privacy" shade or anything like that, so this thing is pretty much always on unless you put it on a switch or pull out the power cable. All in all the camera is very quiet, even when moving around. The only sound it makes is a short audible click when the infra-red kicks on and off.
You can create users with three levels of access: visitor, operator, and admin. Visitor allows you to watch and "listen in" (if ActiveX). Operator allows all the visitor functions plus pan/scan and IR toggle. Admin allows all that and device configuration. Not thrilled that the wireless network configuration shows the network password in full view to Admin users, but it's forgivable. We use the operator ID now that it is all set up. Do check out the options when doing the initial setup. For example, you may want to disable the range of motion test and reset to center on power-up. There's an option to disable the "network lamp" but it didn't seem to do anything so I taped over the network LED in the back because it was bright and annoying at night.
Price seems very reasonable, plus getting the two-pack knocked off more $$.
Minus one star because the web interface is plain-text HTTP only (no HTTPS), which means possibly a risk for snoopers. I may be more paranoid than most, but there is a genuine risk that someone could pick up your credentials if you make this accessible from the internet. I wouldn't recommend connecting from a coffee shop or anything like that. If this supported HTTPS it would be a 5 star device, no doubt.
Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>
I was conflicted when I decided to review this product that I ordered under my wife's Amazon account. I really like the hardware and attractive design, though the software setup is very obscure and was not for someone who didn't consider themselves technical. The quick start guide was not particularly helpful and I spent a lot of time (more than four hours) configuring it manually. On price point and value I'd give them five but for ease of setup I'd give them one star. A weighted average for me is three stars for technical users. I think for nontechnical users this could be one or two stars, though. What follows is a bit long winded but hopefully a complete and fair review for those who are thinking about buying this camera.To start what I like The cameras are quite good for what they are low resolution color and IR sensitive cameras with 640x480 resolution. The image is crisp at all ranges (2' to infinity) and the outward appearance is a little whimsical I called my two cameras Huey and Dewy because they reminded me of the robots in the classic movie Silent Running. Once they were correctly configured, they worked as advertised, could be aimed and pointed remotely, used to trigger AVI video capture of motion events and I would say I'd buy more now that I understand what is required. I did all the hard work and cloning them into a system is easy after a steep learning curve. The first camera took hours; the second one only took minutes. The list of what I didn't like is much, much longer, but tempered by the fact that the device is quite inexpensive and they do exactly what they are supposed to do once correctly configured all with little thanks to the documentation or setup utilities.
First, the manuals and quick start guide (QSG) would benefit from a major re-write by a fluent writer who understands the technologies involved but more importantly, how little most users will know about them. The biggest issue is that there is no setup wizard that allows you to get the camera working in pure wireless mode even with network security turned off. By default, the wireless is not even turned on. You must absolutely (IN BOLD LETTERS) plug the devices into hard-wired Ethernet router before it will do anything. Status LEDs and a USB configuration would increase the cost but make the LAN setup easier. This should be added in my opinion to make this device Plug and Play (PnP). It is definitely not PnP and I'd pay $50 to $100 more to save the hours of setup time required for a first installation. The IP Camera Tool is extremely minimal and the network must allow the device to join the hardwired LAN before the camera can even be seen by the utility. There is no network discovery in the tool to verify that the device is even alive. This is the biggest miss.
Second, the setup was not particularly easy and the software developers decided to make the device Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) dependent by putting the most useful functions in an ActiveX component that ONLY runs in IE. This was a very bad choice in my opinion. I never use IE and think a Java applet would have been better maybe this was a performance driven decision. The instructions for launching IE are terse and there is a confusing dual login at the main screen. The screen shots are lousy and require interpretation. If you don't use the IE/ActiveX component, most of the cool functions (multiple camera view, for instance) simply won't work. You won't be able to record or alarm and write to a file because this is all done by the ActiveX component. I don't know what this camera/software does on a Mac. There was a Quick Installation Guide for both PC and Mac.
Third, once the hard-wired mode is completed, the separate wireless setup requires too much knowledge and should look more like network attachment process of printers and other devices that start the installation through the USB port. The user has to go to a lot effort to get to the wireless setup screen first hard wiring, and plugging a lot of values into various HTML forms. Once there, if you are informed about the various security modes, you are there. I was only able to get it to work under the lower-security WPA2-PSK [AES] and not WPA-PSK [TKIP] + WPA2-PSK [AES] which is required for my work computer's VPN. Maybe it works and I didn't futz with it enough. I got tired of messing about and used weaker security than I wanted.
Fourth, the use of 3rd party web sites to setup remote access from outside the LAN was just brutal. This is functionality that the Foscam people should contract for their users on a trial basis to avoid the frustration of the side trips to set up the necessary redirection. To access the camera from outside one's LAN requires considerable knowledge about port forwarding and network name resolution and poses potential security/privacy issues. It is not a difficult thing to figure out for technically oriented people, but the average home user would be frustrated doing this without a turn-key service. The free service they use would not let me finish my registration for a variety of reasons, and after realizing that I was headed toward a permanent payment-for-service option, I couldn't cancel. Unfortunately, even though I got to checkout, I wasn't fully registered in their opinion so my email address was locked out when I tried a "do over". This made it difficult to back out and get to the free service. Using another email account, I got through three steps to set it up, only to find after giving a lot of personal information to a 3rd party, I had to renew every 30 days by sending them an email to keep it working. The Terms of Use (TOC) are downright offensive and I balked at the TOC's details. Maybe most people don't care about privacy but use of this service didn't look safe and you sign away a bunch of legal rights agreeing to resolve any legal issues in Nevada or Federal court. Because I'd partially registered, I couldn't log back in with that email address which seemed to be permanently embargoed with no "Reset" option. I elected to bypass this and just use my dynamic IP address.
On a separate but related point, in my opinion there just is no good free service out there that accommodates this dynamic IP DNS resolution problem such a service should be, but isn't, part of the basic internet service of Comcast or other providers. Why not? Beyond me. Even a lame URL like .Default..com would be preferable to having none. I recognize that this is not Foscam's fault but their web cam solution doesn't address it well. This point is just unforgivable for any consumer-oriented technology.
Fifth, the whole manual and especially the port forwarding discussion is written by a non-native writer of English who knew too much about the technology themselves but had no idea how to give that information to a native English reader who didn't possess it. Let me quote the Quick Start guide with all the fractured grammar, word errors, capitalization and punctuation problems (page 10).
"How to do port forwarding within the router: Firstly, login the router, goes to the menu of Port Forwarding or Port Trigger (or named Virtue [sic] Server on some brands of router). Take Linksys brand router as an example, Login the router, and goes to Applications & Gaming->Single Port Forwarding. Secondly, Create a new column by LAN IP address & Port No. of the camera within the router showed as below." AND so on, throughout the manual starting at page one and ending at page 11.
The picture and the instructions are tied to a browser view of one model of the Linksys/Cisco brand of routers. This is like giving oil change instructions for a specific model of car showing pictures of that car and only that car, never talking generically about the steps required in changing oil as a generic concept. Now imagine that you are a casual computer user unless you have an Information Technology or Software Engineering background, the above quoted text is gibberish. Your router will definitely be different. Here's a solution bundle the product with a pre-configured router OR, warn people that they will need the services of a person who has considerable savvy in setting up networks to help get the web cam operational outside the LAN.
To conclude, the product is a good value if you have the patience, persistence and technical wherewithal to set it up. I think I barely passed muster and, yes, I can now add up to nine cameras, all visible from external sources provided I know my current IP address for my WAN connection to the internet. I like what I got but pity the poor person who imagined one Saturday morning at 8am that they would be able to view their dog's every habit on their smart phone by 10 am of the same day and send the link for this to every Facebook friend. There were a gazillion applications in the Windows directory created by the setup disk and I think some of these might be parts of the cobbled application, but others may be Easter eggs that were thrown in for good measure. Nobody home-brews every part of their software anymore so what we get today is bloated, poorly documented, and often requires some tinkering. You definitely will test your IT skills and for some people it will be fun and challenging. I don't think that is what most people are looking for however.
Best Deals for 2 pack Foscam FI8910W Wireless/Wired Pan&Tilt IP Network Camera
We purchased the set (and now I've recommended them to all our friends having kids) in order to use them as baby monitors. We wanted to be able to watch the baby from the ipad, iphone, computer both in the house as well as outside if we had a baby sitter her. Pretty easy configuration later and it was all setup. The only minor gripe that I have is that if/when we have to reboot our fios router it knocks the things offline until they get rebooted themselves. Thats a wee bit of a pain since one of them is plugged in behind a big piece of furniture and the camera is on top of the big piece of furniture.I found that the best iOS app for monitoring has been Live Cams Pro because it allows for complete control of the camera and supports the 2 way audio.
Honest reviews on 2 pack Foscam FI8910W Wireless/Wired Pan&Tilt IP Network Camera
What a disaster. Unfortunately I waited too long to try to set these things up (2 pack) and can't return them. I'm a reasonably intelligent guy and have set up various electronic items over the decades but this thing is in a class by itself. I've devoted DAYS to it and have been unsuccessful. The basic setup and wireless were easy but the port forwarding aspect is a killer. I read the instructions, their tutorials on the Foscam site and watched the videos. I went through no-ip.com and obtained a static ip address, I got into my 2wire router and did what I needed to do there. I did the "canyouseeme" as described in the instructions and it indicated that it could indeed see the port assigned to the camera but I cannot see it from outside my local network. In desperation I called the foscam tech support number. After one hour on hold a woman answered and took my name and phone number. Several hours later a woman called and I told her what my problem was. She took control of my computer (I'm going to be worried about that) and at the end she said that it was working as it should and gave me the IP address to use to log in to the camera from outside the network. Afterward I noticed that it was the number that I had already used to try to log in. Sure enough it still doesn't work. I could barely understand the woman who was supposed to be helping me. She talked fast with an accent and was obviously in a hurry to get me off the line. If you want to access the cameras from outside your LAN, don't have a static IP address and you have no experience with port forwarding expect a difficult installation.It seems pretty obvious that some of the 5 star reviews praising the technical support were written by Foscam employees. The reviews are similar and the reviewers have written no other reviews. Amazon should take appropriate action.
UPDATE 2DAYS LATER: Well, I finally got the camera to work remotely. After going over virtually all the steps and watching and rewatching the videos and reading the online instructions I gave the no-ip host address to 5 friends and three were able to access the camera. Why the other two couldn't I have no idea. I got just a bit of assistance from Foscam but exemplary assistance from NO-IP, the company that gives the free static IP address to use for port forwarding. I'm paying them nothing and yet the guy who has been helping me, Alex, has responded to my many emails within minutes. So, I'm conflicted on how to rate the camera. I like the camera so it deserves a 4 star review but the setup is SO difficult (with port forwarding) that I have to give it two stars. My advice would be to not rely on the instruction booklet that comes with it and instead go to their site and read the more detailed tutorials and watch the videos. Had I done that rather than relying on the booklet I may have had an easier time of it. As mentioned by others, the instructions should have been edited by someone with a better grasp of English.
After the torture and difficulty in setting up the first camera I was able to set up the second one in about an hour. Things are a lot easier when you know what you're doing.
Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for 2 pack Foscam FI8910W Wireless/Wired Pan&Tilt IP Network Camera
I originally purchased our first set of FI8910W cameras in June of 2012. They worked out so well, we purchased another 2-pack which have been just as solid and as stable.I decided I'd like to add a few more cameras to the network, so I ordered another 2-pack. These cameras shipped with firmware v11.37.2.49, whereas the older/existing cameras are on v11.37.2.44.
We ran into an interesting issue with the new cameras. After successfully configuring the cameras, we noticed they would lock-up when attempting to initiate a Pan/Tilt, or just stop streaming video altogether until powered-off/-on again. We contacted Amazon for an exchange and the second 2-pack arrived.
We ran into the same issue again, so we considered issues with environment/camera location, power supply, and antenna. After multiple resets, utilizing hard-wired Ethernet, trying other power supplies from 'good' Foscams, the issue persisted.
We contacted Foscam technical support, only to find they've encountered this issue with other customers. Tech support walked us through a workaround, which is to switch the cameras from 640*480 to 320*240, click pan/tilt, then switch back to 640*480 and click pan/tilt again. This appeared to resolve the issue, but after we hung-up and about 10 minutes later, the issues persisted.
It appears the latest firmware is at best, unstable. We will be returning all 4 of these Foscam FI8910W cameras and looking at other manufacturers with more-stable firmware. The older firmware has been rock-solid for a year, so it's a shame the latest version appears to not be ready for prime-time. Hoping to see Foscam address this, as they're actually decent little cameras for the price.
0 comments:
Post a Comment