Foscam FI8918W

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Digit
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Foscam FI8918W

Post by Digit »

A few weeks ago I started using a Foscam IP camera as a replacement for a broken Axis 206.
So far this camera does it's job quite well, especially considering the price. Picture quality hasn't degraded compared to the former camera.

I did have to invest some extra time to avoid the use of the ActiveX garbage these cameras always need for IE support, but that wasn't that hard after all. You can read more about it here: http://blog.hekkers.net/2011/06/12/foscam-fi8918w/
Bastiaan
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Re: Foscam FI8918W

Post by Bastiaan »

Hi Robert, allow me to make a few extra remarks about this camera (I have several)
The image quality is way less than the Axis camera's due to the lack of an Infrared filter. So don't expect good colors/contrast in the day view but of course it has much better night vision than the 206/207.
This version has new firmware that switches of the IR LED's in day time, saving energy.
When using it wireless it locks up frequently and and I have not been able to find the reason for it. I have an other older Foscam that does not lockup at all. Running it wired is fine.
This model can be ordered with and extra wide angle lens, very nice option for small places.
Like Robert I have very good experience with the IPcam shop, both in delivery and communication. Even when Foscam pulled firmware updates from their site (guess too many people bricked their devices) they kept keeping the updates up.

Robert do you mind telling here how you incorporate the changes you made into the camera? Is it something we can use and upload ourselves? If I remember well, you can install firmware and (GUI)software?
Digit
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Re: Foscam FI8918W

Post by Digit »

Comments always welcome, the more real user experiences the better :)

I use the Foscam inside with not much daylight even during the day, so for me it's fine; I didn't notice a difference between the two; maybe the location is due to that. And yes, night vision is better; at night you used to only see the LEDs and nothing else, now you see a bit more :wink:

I haven't used this camera wireless, so I can't comment on that; but I can say that's one of the reasons I try to stay away from wifi as much as possible, especially with devices that are on 24/7.

I didn't change anything in the camera; the only thing I did was making sure that an IE browser is presented different content compared to all the other browsers, here's the code (refreshing every 200 ms):

Code: Select all

<%  If Request.Browser.Browser.StartsWith("IE") Then%>

<script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript">
  function reload() 
  {
    setTimeout('reloadSnapshot("foscam")',200)
  };
  function reloadSnapshot(id)
  {
   var obj = document.getElementById(id);   
   obj.src = "http://cam2.hekkers.net/snapshot.jpg?user=guest&pwd=guest&t="+Math.random();
  }
</script>
    <td>
    <img src="http://cam2.hekkers.net/snapshot.jpg?user=guest&pwd=guest" name="foscam" id="foscam" width="320" height="240" onLoad='reload()'>        
    </td>
   
<%  Else%>

    <td height="240px" width="320px">
    <img src="http://cam2.hekkers.net/videostream.cgi?user=guest&pwd=guest" />
    </td>    
    
<%End If %>
    
You can also see the difference when you do a "View Source" in IE and the same with (for example) FF.

It's true that these cameras are popular to fiddle with; I've seen custom firmware etc. so there's a lot to explore with these cams.

That's all there is to it :)
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