Foscam FI8916W Wireless IP Cam Review
Sunday, July 29, 2012 at 7:18PM Here's a video demonstrating the Foscam FI8916W. The camera was supplied by Smartcamdirect - and is available from their ebay store for £74.
There are many uses for a wireless camera like this - let me give you one example of what I'll be using this for …..I work 35 miles away from where I live and in winter snow rarely falls at the office. Snow can however come down quite heavily at home. Therefore the other year I set up a webcam to stream direct to my phone for the sole purpose of monitoring the amount of snow on the road outside my house. The idea was that if it started to get too deep, I'd catch an earlier train home so that I stood a better chance of driving home from the station. Using a webcam for this had some significant drawbacks - I needed to leave a computer on all day and the webcam wire could only stretch so far away from the PC. This winter, things will be a lot easier…I'll be using this wireless IP camera instead.
Although I managed to get most of the functions of this camera working I still think that the manufacturers have an massive amount to learn about simplifying the user interface and set-up process. I know many people who are competent with computers that would really struggle setting up an IP camera for remote viewing. So unless you are happy configuring static IPs, and port forwarding on your router then you may find that setting up an IP camera can be a very frustrating and confusing experience.
I fear that now I've put this video out, I may get inundated with requests for help from people who are unable to get their IP cameras working properly. Unfortunately, but understandably, I'm not really enthusiastic about providing IT support in my spare time.
Reader Comments (23)
Another brilliant review :) and a pretty good camera too.............
Techmoan. Your reviews are first class and delivered in a way which suits ludites (such as me), as well as the more initiated 'Techie'. I purchased this model from Smartcam as I had been very impressed with the Smartcam car cam I had previously purchased. Not being very technical, I was surprised I managed to get it working remotely in about 12 minutes!! This is a personal record. I downloaded an iPhone App (Pro Surveillance), which immediately found my camera and has been running for two weeks continually. The software I am using allows me to connect upto 100 Foscams across multiple sites and select them at random. I will be trying 4. I also plugged in some small powered speakers and a microphone. Whilst the 1 second delay would be frustrating for video conferencing, it is definitly 'fit for purpose' and has been a great source of amusement with our labrador.
Clarification on my last post. The software I downloaded for my PC allows 64 concurrent cameras (not 100), and allows me to mix and match different IP cameras. Its called (IP Camera Super Client).
My first post didn't appear. Probably coz it was too long. In summary, brilliant camera, took me 12 minutes to install and running for two weeks, brilliantly! External speaker and Mic work first class and source of great fun with our Labrador. iPhone App 'Pro Surveillance' highly recommended. Thanks Techmoan for another first class review.
@David That's weird, because I got your first post delivered by email. Thanks for the comments. Did you get you motion activated email working?
Wow that's strange, I was going to send you a link to a Foscam on ebay to review, but you beat me to it.
I have an older version of a Foscam, it works well.
I managed to set up the motion detection using the FTP settings, it uploads a few new images to a webserver every time motion is dtected. Works well for me, although I couldn't setup the email notification so I just have to keep an on the webserver uploads.
The only raison why the network cable is there, is for configurating the cam. Thats why he is so short.
The movement for the first time is that he is scanning his whole range he can move for calibration.
If you want to look out in the garden at night, you have a problem. There is no button to turn the infrared leds off. So now they will
shine like a big torch against the inside of your window and you will see nothing outside.
I cut a piece of cardboard and covered them up. So ask them for a softbutton to turn them on and off.
Is it also possible to set the new software of your cam online..mine looks dated.
greetz Kasper
Haven't tried the motion detection or e-mail. Will give it a go and let you know.
Success! Set the email notification up for motion detection. Took me less than 10 minutes. Got the smtp settings from
Yahoo mail help, put in my user name and password and it works excellently. Also set up on iPhone App but must ensure it is setup on host pc first. PC doesn't need to be on once set up as long as the router is on (obvious when you think about it). If I'm not careful, I may become technically minded.
@David I'll have to try it again this weekend. It kept advising Invalid Parameter for all my email accounts I tried. One other thing I've noticed is that when the camera is on some things on my network seem to have difficulty connecting to the internet. It feels like an IP clash, but everything is on a different static IP. I experienced the same issue before with the Chinese Foscam copy. So at present the camera is unplugged.
I have the last generation cam and generally speaking, while the firmware isn't great, the foscam website has quite a lot of FAQ and support available. If you buy it from amazon, they are even responsive to requests for help in reviews. I didn't bother setting up a ddns because that's a bit more work than I'm willing to put up with, but it does have a great little email when dynamic IP changes and yesterday, I got the first IP change notification and it worked. You do have to go through the static IP setup and port forwarding and I actually had to hard reset twice while setting it up (mostly due to a bad router)
But here are a couple of heads ups:
On the login page, you only have to enter the login once. Just click the firefox/active-X button and enter it there. The first page login box only applies to the first button.
The software that you use is just giving you an IP address, once you have it static, you don't need it.
I would disable the UPnP. Last time I checked, UPnP for the foscam was useless.
Kasper mentioned that there is no IR on/off. Actually it's the pair of eye buttons under the pan buttons on the camera page. And yes, I too found that using the IR through a window is like looking at a piece of white paper. it also picks up quite a bit of dust reflecting the IR.
It's possible that the VLC plugin could be VLC player and when you install it, you also instal the browser plugin, but I never tried it, nor do I really care. A greenhouse really doesn't care too much if you shout at it, and plants are rather lacking in conversational skills.
To get the email stuff working, try searching through the amazon reviews or Foscam's own forums. Gmail settings are here: http://board.homeseer.com/showthread.php?t=144950
and
http://www.amazon.com/review/R8E12MH2FFXO/ref=cm_srch_res_rtr_alt_1
Hope this helps a bit.
@Arthur. Many thanks for taking the time to put together this comprehensive and detailed information. When I get a chance to play around with the Foscam some more, I'll have a look at some of the links you provided.
Hi, does it have any mount points on the base?
I'd like to attach it to the roof out of harms way, and possibly be able to flip the video output so you are not watching upside down video, is this supported in the firmware?
Thanks
It screws to the clip I showed and this then attaches to whatever you need. You can invert the video.
Dear Techmoan,
We watched today your Foscam FI8916W technical review and were very impressed with the superb and objective presentation of the product.
We would appreciate your permission to publish a link to the review on our site www.IPCam-Central.com
We are a certified distributor in the USA of Foscam.com out of China.
Thank you
IPCam Central
Please feel free to post a link...it's fine with me.
Maybe this one work http://www.ispyconnect.com/plugins.aspx
Hi Mat,
Now that winter, in the northern hemisphere is half over, I'm wondering how well this camera has performed and whether or not it has allowed you to make an informed decision about leaving work early so as to miss deep snow on your return home.
Cheers,
Mark.
It's been very useful. It's performed very well and I've been able to watch what is going on outside my front upstairs window whilst I've been at work. It's a curtain twitchers dream too...I was able to keep one eye on my ipad screen to check for a delivery truck turning up when I was working in the garage with some power tools. I would have probably missed their knocking if I hadn't seen the truck pull up. The other-half also likes having the ability to see what any strange noises are by looking on her iPad whilst watching TV.
I just came onto your post and found it quite interesting. I am also associated with IP Camera Software, Ruckus Wireless and enjoy to read the stuff on the same as its rarely found on internet. Thanks again for writing such a good post.
Just bought this camera under the name loftek, works great, check om
My car when i am away from home, unfortunatly, night vision lamps reflect in the window with no way to turn them off. Other than that it works great.
Axel. If you have an IOS device try Camviewer
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/camviewer-for-ip-webcams-audio!/id416551665?mt=8
I use this and it lets you turn the light off.
thanks techmoan, I am already using cam viewer, however, my camera is slightly different from yours and does now allow the tights to be turned off. I plan to cover them up to see if that makes a difference.