Replacing the Foscam FI8918W, the FI8910W is the latest camera from Foscam Digital Technologies LLC. The FI8910W is superior in that it includes an embedded IR-Cut filter which dramatically enhances the picture and color quality by automatically adjusting the lighting exposure via mechanical filter to provide true and accurately colored images that are not washed out. If you previously used a FI8918W you will notice how green colors appear a washed out almost brown or dull gray color. The IR-Cut
$ 180.00
Works very well,
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.
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|Software and manual translations are weak. Fair skill level required.,
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 640×480 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…
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|significant improvement over previous version (FI18918 version),
Owning several of the previous version of this camera (model FI18918) which we like a lot, this new version offers significant, real, and visible improvements in image quality, in particular much more vibrant color rendition, much better low light image quality, and even things like improved frame rate and responsiveness of pan and tilt controls. While the older camera is still available (at about $20 less per camera), the improvements in the newer version definitely are worth the price difference IMHO. So Foscam has made a very good product substantially better. It is still the best low cost wireless IP camera on the market in my opinion. Setup and management are virtually identical to the previous version. The newer version costs about the same as the previous version (they dropped the price of the older version upon introduction of this new version), so this is one case where new really does mean improved.
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