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Foscam FI8918W Wireless Camera Review

This has to be one of the coolest gadgets I’ve purchased in a while. I was looking for a camera I could set up in my apartment back in Lebanon so I could monitor my place while I’m here. Originally I had a budget of around $200 and started my search on Amazon. Within a few minutes I found out about the Foscam pictured above which had some pretty good features. The camera connects to your home network over Ethernet or WiFi, pans horizontally 300 degrees and tilts vertically 120 degrees, it has IR-LED for night vision, two way audio, remote viewing via a web browser and most importantly… it cost only $99! There must have been a catch but after reading the reviews I couldn’t find anything wrong with it and I placed an order for one.

The camera wasn’t that difficult to set up, I just plugged it into my network via Ethernet and ran an application that came with the camera that showed me what IP address the camera was using. I double clicked the IP address, it launched the browser and that was it. I could then watch a live video feed or change the settings. First thing I did was create a username and password and then set up the camera to work via my WiFi network. It was flawless.

Another cool thing is the fact there are a bunch of iPhone apps that work with the camera, I downloaded one called Foscam Surveillance which costs $4.99 and allows me to control and view the camera from my iPhone from anywhere in the world. It’s amazing and even the night vision mode works perfectly. It turns on and off automatically depending on the light in the room but you can also turn it on and off manually.

I’m going to purchase a few more of these cameras so I can place them all around my apartment in Lebanon and even in the garden. It can be used as a security camera and has the option to automatically take snapshots when it detects any movement and then email the shots to you. The night vision mode works at a distance of up to 8 meters which is also very cool.

If you’re interested in this camera it’s available for around KD27 on Amazon. Here is the [Link]

54 replies on “Foscam FI8918W Wireless Camera Review”

Great little gadget!

Mark can this cam do someting like a ‘timelapse’ record or something? or is it only a realtime check? Anyway will look it up on web.

But this raises a small question in my mind. What happenes if I spot someone in realtime trespass my property which is say oceans apart and I am over here. Probably won’t be able to stop immediate damage I guess.

Have to think some ‘Plan B’ actions which could be things like request a friend to take a quick look or call the neighbour etc 🙂

I haven’t checked to see if there is timelapse. I saw an option called “Schedule” in the settings but didn’t see what it does, will check and get back to you on that.

Now regarding if you spot someone, as i mentioned in the post it has 2 way audio capability, there is an audio input and output jacks behind the device, i am guessing you plug a mic in one and speakers in the other. You could then hear whats happening on the other side and talk back as well.. but you need Internet Explorer to use this feature.

I set up the camera to email me when it detects movement. It just emailed me a bunch of pictures of my dog so the motion detector thing is pretty cool

This is a great device! I have been using them for a few years now to monitor my flat in Kuwait while I am in the states.

I just want to warn you that you may run into problems with open ports when purchasing more than one. If you want to integrate these into a better security system check out https://www.zoneminder.com/. This is an open source security software that is controlled from a web interface. It has special features built in for the Foscam devices so if there is motion, it will automatically pan/tilt your camera to follow the motion, then return to it’s home position after a set amount of time.

Let me know if you have any questions about it. I have a version setup here in Kuwait and would be happy to provide any assistance to somebody that would like to set something like this up. Just send me a message on Twitter (@spazlon).

Hi spazlon i tried finding u on twitter i couldnt find that username. I have teo of the cameras but have no idea how to install them! I really need help , do u have an installing service?

i’ve dealt with those back in 2007, very nice, but i prefer wired ones, to avoid and wifi joining issues..

and you could configure your cams ports to be various e.g (cam port 80 -defualt-, cam 2 port 81, cam 3 82)

and then configure your router to do port forwarding, e.g

80 to forward to 192.168.1.1 (cam1)
81 to forward to 192.168.1.2 (cam2)
..

and simply configure dyndns service on the router and put shortcuts in your browser

It is never a good idea to have all those ports open. The best plan is to have as few ports open on your firewall as possible. Using Zoneminder you can control all of you cameras, no matter the brand, and add additional features like video recording and only have 1 port open.

Using Zoneminder you would still need to use a different port on each device because it is using the videostream.cgi file.

ThenIt will connect to any type of router. The problem is that you need to connect it with a cable to setup the wifi. If your router has RJ45 (network) ports then it will work.

Whats the point of having these security cameras if you’re not going to be able to do anything about whats happening anyway?

well there are things i can do. For example if i spot someone trying to break in to the house i can play music in my house at a loud volume to scare off the thief. If there is some sort of water leak at home I could tell the janitor to go in and fix it.

Hi Mark,

Need your help with security cameras. I guess you are the best bet here to answer my question as i have not found any suitable solutions on the WEB, nor at the suppliers’s website or support.

I have a Lorex security camera, model LNZ4001i, which i have configured and seems to work fine with the supplied software, “digiconsole”. the browser based software, “digiviewer” displays a blank screen with a red X mark to the top left of the screen when used with IE but work with firefox. I tried re-installing the codecs and activeX controls, but this has not helped me. I am wondering if you have experienced similar problems with web based security cameras and could shed some light on this particular issue.

Really appriciate your help.
Chris

the active X content certificate for the built in website is expired.

lower your security settings in IE, put it all to Low, and in the advanced settings allow everything,

this is the quickest way to make it work,

Hey Mark,

We actually had ordered two of these cameras a while back but unfortunately could not get it to work with our router.
We need to sell these…. they are in great shape (infact 1 of them isnt even opened).. do u know anyone who’d be interested in them….

Hey Mark,

Thanks for the info on your site … really appreciated! Hope you can help with my query …

After setting up the camera & clicking the ip address displayed on the IP Tool application it displays a window asking “A user name and password are being requested by https://xxx.xxx.x.x“. The site says: “ipcamera_000xxxxxxxxx”.

I have tried all possible user names & password without much success 🙁

Any help will be most appreciated!

Cheers!

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