FOSCAMHome Security Camera, R2 Full HD 1080P WiFi IP Camera with Real-time 1080P Video at 25FPS, Pan Tilt 8X Digital Zoom, Motion Detection & Alert, Optional Cloud Service Available, White

UPDATE 9/11/17THE FIX:TL;DR - If you're having problems with this, or other Foscam cameras, where your network speed starts out full and over time goes down until it's barely dialup speeds, then the problem is related to uPnP. Disable it. Set static ports in your router and the camera and call it day. There seems to be an issue with this camera and uPnP where it constantly keeps talking to the router about what ports it wants. Disabling it and setting the ports manually seemed to stop the problem almost instantly. I haven't had an issue since.------------------------------------UPDATE 8/15/17SUPPORT:I have been reluctant to update this because I wanted to have a full amount of time to test the camera. Amcrest is apparently trying to poach Foscam customers, so that explains why I was getting two different support avenues for this problem. After working with Foscam, directly, who are going through their own changes thanks to the distribution split, I was able to get a brand new camera. I had the option to receive a full refund or try a brand new camera. I went with the new one because I believe in second chances and working IT long enough I have learned that some things are just DOA for whatever reason.NEW CAMERA:So, the new camera had the same issue, I found. I believed it might be something I was doing wrong, however, and I was prepared for it this time. I summarized it in the most recent update but effectively it was related to uPnP with the router. For those who don't know, it allows the internal device to request an opened port, automatically, from the router. Basically, the camera asks for whatever ports you want it to use for HTTP and HTTPS access and the router opens it for them. If you change the ports for the camera then it should ask for the new ports from the router, and etc. However, whether a bug or something else, this camera never stops bugging the router for a port until the router is consumed by the constant requests. Bottom line, don't use uPnP with the camera and set static ports.THE VERDICT:At the end of the day I'm giving this camera a solid 4-stars. The loss of a star is based on the web interface. HTTP works on all browsers but HTTPS is not usable in Firefox or Chrome (my default). If you want to use the camera over HTTPS (recommended unless you're on your home network or love when people can see your credentials in plain text) you have to use IE. I am unsure of the reason for this. With previous firmware/plugin versions it allowed you to use Firefox, also, but when I got my new camera and set it up not even that could be used with HTTPS. The interface is also annoying in the fact that unless it's a motion or sound alert, there's no option to record to anything but FTP or SD card. I have a NAS with 2TB of storage space available but no way to write video recordings to that device.This camera is being used as a "cat" camera while my wife and I are away at work and may be a baby monitor in the future but I wouldn't recommend it for constant security recording since the recording-to-location is so limited.------------------------------------I had really high hopes for this camera. A friend told me his older model, Foscam camera has worked great for a couple years now; primarily used as a baby monitor. I was shopping for a camera to keep an eye on the cat room and settled on this one, which received great reviews. However, I've had nothing but trouble with this camera and wished, so much, that I could return it for a refund.PROBLEM:Almost immediately after setting up this camera I started having network issues. Unbeknownst to me, the camera was practically destroying my network speeds. Whenever the camera was connected to my network everything would start out fine and then slowly the WAN connection to the outside world would start to suffer. I normally get 80-90 Mbps download speeds but after about 30-minutes of having this camera on the network my speeds would halve. This would continue until my download speeds bottomed out at 1-2 Mbps. Upload would remain stronger for longer but eventually succumb, dropping from an average 10-12 Mbps to 0.5 Mbps.TROUBLESHOOTING:Here's the exhaustive list of things I tried and eventually landed on the camera being the problem: - I have tried three (3) different routers running different firmware and versions of firmware. They included two Netgear WNDR3700, a v1 and v4, and an Asus RT-AC68U C1. All of them were either running stock firmware from the manufacturers or DD-WRT of varying versions. - I contacted Comcast, my ISP, and had them test my line while the camera was connected or not connected. They even sent a tech to the house, where a dude pulled some fresh coaxial cable from the box in the front of the yard all the way to the home entry point on the side to check for rodent disruption of the underground cabling. He eventually changed some stuff in the attic to see if a direct connection from the outside to the modem would fix it. Line quality did max out but quickly suffered if the camera was reconnected. - I recently wired the whole house for ethernet so I even went into the hot attic to check cables and rework the wiring of them. This did not help and I was drenched with sweat by the time I was done. - I tried using wireless with the camera but the problem persisted regardless of the network connection.SUPPORT:Here's the kicker, Foscam US was apparently just a distribution by Amcrest. They are apparently in the middle of cutting the tie with Foscam and as a result, I haven't been able to get any support. I first contacted the tech support using Foscam US website's technical form. I received no reply back in over 2-3 weeks so I decided to e-mail them directly -- I got married over this time. I received an e-mail back a day later apologizing for the lack of response, citing recent company changes. The guy mentioned a "significant discount" for trade-in of all old Foscam cameras for new Amcrest cameras. I replied back that day (7/17) informing the support member that I would love to take advantage of that. It sucks that I bought this camera on 4/14/17 for $80 (not including tax) and have had it on my network, without issue, for about 2-4 hours combined over the 2-weeks or more that I was troubleshooting it. I doubt the discount would be something like "buy a camera at $80 or less and it's free" but anything is better than nothing, I guess.After waiting almost all week, I replied to the support staff member's e-mail, again, asking him to reply back with more information about this discount and how to use it or to confirm he received that e-mail and didn't get anything in 24-hours. Just before coming here to write this review I e-mailed that same support address again and received an e-mail with the subject of, "FOSCAM US EMAILS NO LONGER IN SERVICE" with the first line in the e-mail saying, "NOTE: THIS EMAIL IS NO LONGER MONITORED. THIS IS AN AUTOMATED RESPONSE." In the e-mail I'm instructed to contact the China-branch via their tech e-mail address or phone. They did, again, mention their discount -- quoted as "a one-time, deep discount" -- so I suppose I'll have to explain the situation all over again and try to take advantage of that. At least this time I have my troubleshooting steps in an e-mail so I don't have to rewrite as much.BOTTOM LINE:I heard only positive stories about Foscam cameras but I haven't had a good experience with them at all. The issue with the network speeds didn't present itself initially but it quickly devolved my network into mid-90s DSL speeds. I am disappointed as the total spent was over $80 on something that's only cost me money and now I have an unknown discount to look forward to which I highly doubt will cover the cost of failing unit. I have no idea if this problem is a 1-off thing but I checked all over the internet and could not find any indication that others had experienced my problem and/or found a solution to it. From what I read, IP camera network issues only present themselves then the number of cameras start to get into the teens. I only had this one camera. Either way, I'm not pleased with this whole experience and I just want a working camera.

UPDATED 10-07-2019 - After using the Foscam R2 for several months now, my assessment is that this is a indeed great little camera, well worth the $50 cost. It's very stable, has a great field of view, and is easy to connect (wired or wifi).The form factor and cylindrical shape enables you to put almost anywhere, and it's pretty unobtrusive. I have two connected over wifi and two connected by a wired Ethernet cable, and all four are working very well. (Originally I couldn't get a connection over Ethernet, but that was due to a mistake on my part; they connect just fine on a wired connection.)With a little work they can also be installed outdoors, but it may need some weatherizing to protect it from rain, snow, bugs, etc. In temperate weather you wouldn't need to do anything to use it out doors.In the end, I'd recommend this to anyone who needs an inexpensive security camera.----This is a fairly decent camera for $50. I don't think it's quite as good as the Amcrest IP2M-841, but it costs a little less.I was able to get this working in both tinyCam and Zoneminder using RTSP (see below). This was important to me because I have several different brands of cameras and I didn't want to have to use 10 different apps to view them. If you're only going to use one camera or if they're all the same brand this probably won't be a factor for you.The image is good. It's crisp, it's clear, and the colors seem true/accurate. I haven't tested the night vision but I'll update this review after I get around to doing that.No matter what I did, I could not get it to connect using a wired connection. Setting it up through wifi worked fine for me after a try or two. You'll need to download the Foscam app to do that and to update the firmware (recommended).The Foscam app itself is middle of the road- it's not bad, but it's not great. It works and does what it says. Personally I recommend tinyCam for phones and tablets.The pan and tilt range is on par with other cameras, 300 degrees side-to-side and ~100 degrees vertical range.The Foscam uses an external antenna (supplied) whereas cameras like the Amcrest use an internal antenna. I'd guess that the external antenna would give you better range/reception but I haven't tested that. All other things being equal it should.It does have a micro SD card slot, up to 128G which is larger than most other cameras will take. It'll let you listen and speak through the internal mic and speaker. The sound output when speaking is okay, and the mic is pretty sensitive, able to pick up even faint sounds.Would I get another one? Probably. Overall the camera is fine, it has good specs and seems to work well. For ~$50 I'd say it's a pretty good deal.---------------Using Zoneminder and tinyCamFor use with tinyCam, just do a Network Scan in the tinyCam app and it should find it. You may want to set the "Decoding" to "Hardware". It's under "Video Settings" in the main Settings menu.For Zoneminder, use the following settings (again, your mileage may vary):----General Tab:SourceType: LibvlcFunction: nodect or Monitor (just to get started)Analysis FPS: 5Max FPS: 15Alarm FPS: 15Leave all other settings at the default.----Source Tab:Source Path: rtsp://[YourCameraName]:[YourCameraPassword]@YourCameraIP:88/videoMainRemote Method:TCP (some say to use UDP, but TCP worked for me)Colorspace: 32 bit colorWidth: 1280Height: 720

This is a premium product!!The unboxing is really satisfying. I was not expecting this much at this price point.Setup was easy, but with a minor hitch. I put my phone on the 2.4ghz network, plugged in the camera, and scanned the barcode with the foscam app - Normally this would start it pairing and link it to your wifi network, but It just WOULD not work.Here's a tip that isn't in the manual: Press the WPS button on your router.On the side of the base of the camera, there is a WPS button. Press it for a second and it'll say "WPS activated" within a few moments it'll connect to your wifi. THEN the foscam app will work perfectly.Once you scan the barcode and get it connected you will be promted to make a username and password. DO THIS. make it something secure! This is the ONLY thing that stops someone from accessing your camera.The one thing I really like about foscam is that they still allow RTSP streams.What does this mean? It means that the video stream can be used by home security systems, Network DVR's or computer applications like "ispy" which are free ways to track movements, set up alerts.Image quality.Daylight and dusk quality is GREAT.I think my camera has a small defect that I will be messaging foscam about. I have the cheaper, simple C1 and their support was great, so I have no doubt they'll sort this out. At night time, I believe some of the IR light is bleeding into the lense. It leaves a fuzzy grey smear at night. (see pictures)This wouldn't stop me from identifying someone, but isn't a welcome sight either. The setup issues wasn't enough to take off a star, but combined with this, Unfortunately I have to rate this a 4/5 now.Foscam also has a service that does this for those who don't want to go through all the hassle and setup of doing it yourself.overall, I'm really happy with this camera. Considering its the same price as a Nest Cam, but has tilt/pivot abilities, Its really a nobrainer!

Pasé muchas horas buscando una cámara que cubriera mis necesidades. Tengo un niño pequeño en casa e iba a contratar una niñera para cuidarlo en casa, por lo que buscaba una cámara de seguridad para poder ver a mi hijo desde el trabajo. La resolución de la cámara es excelente en modo full HD, también en HD se ve muy bien. Puedes ver video en vivo desde tu computadora, celular o ipad con la aplicación para android y IOs que es muy fácil de configurar. Obviamente requieres una muy buena conexión de internet tanto en casa como en tu celular o tablet para que la imagen se vea sin retrasos y sin brincos. Tengo configurada la cámara a través del WIFI de la casa y también fue muy fácil de configurar. Puedes rotar la cámara en vertical y horizontal desde la aplicación para obtener la mejor vista de tu sala o habitación. Viene con sus accesorios para poderla montar en la pared. Tiene muchas opciones que puedes configurar desde la IP de la cámara desde tu computadora conectada a la misma red wifi, y otras opciones más básicas que puedes configurar desde la app. Tiene sensor de movimiento, sensor de ruido, cámara infrarroja para ver la oscuridad, y graba en memoria microSD automáticamente al detectar movimiento o en un horario preestablecido de forma continua. Los archivos se van eliminando en la SD de forma automática conforme se llena, borrando los archivos más antiguos. Para revisar tus videos puedes extraer la memoria SD y ponerla en tu computadora, o puedes verlo en internet a través de la IP de la cámara, lo cual es un poco más lento. Lo más cómodo es comprar una membresía en la nube de Foscam que cuesta como $90 pesos mensuales, todas tus grabaciones se subirán de forma inmediata a la nuba de foscam y podrás revisarlas en cualquier computadora en su sitio web o a través de la app. Lo probé un mes gratis y vale mucho la pena. Realmente recomiendo el producto.

Went for this specific model because of FTP protocol support (along with other storage options not requiring subscription). Software utilities take some time to figure out. The camera can be managed locally, through a web-interface provided by Foscam or via a cell phone. Cloud storage plan can be purchased, but is not necessary. I much prefer having my own FTP server act as a remote repository free of charge. Camera can save footage onto a local microSD card, or a network attached storage. Various triggers are available for user notification. E-mail is probably the most convenient. Motion and sound sensors are a bit too sensitive and get triggered frequently even on lower settings, but I'd rather get false notifications than miss out on real threats. Motor operation is silent and smooth. The loudest noise the camera will make when the infrared LED's click on. It will also, by default, inform the user of operation via the buil-in speaker, which can be startling when you're not expecting it. There is some lag when operating the aim controls, but that's unavoidable. The camera is an excellent value for the money and perfect for people who don't want to pay a monthly subscription, but perhaps want to reserve a cloud option when leaving on an extended vacation.The main and only inconvenience comes from the fact the power cord is way too short to mount the system on a ceiling. An extension will almost certainly be needed, or a different power supply all together. The one in the kit is rated at 5V, 2000mA.

This is my 57th Foscam purchase, and must say Foscam just keeps getting better and better. First off the R2 with updated firmware performs like a high end IP camera should. Set up via Foscams Android app was once again easy and a joy to use. Also integrating the R2 with the popular program “Blue Iris” worked flawlessly, and allowed the use of all the R2’s great features. The R2 via Foscams web interface really lets you customize all of the cameras settings and features, making this a great purchase. Image quality of 1080p was very impressive, with sharp detail in normal, and low light IR conditions. A nice feature of the R2 is the concealed IR light, that gives the camera a nice sleek modern look compared to some other models as seen in my picture. A huge plus of the R2 is the super wide angle lens, that really covers a large area of view. The one other thing I also noticed, is the color of the R2 itself is not as white, and more of an off white as compared to past Foscam units, not an issue but something to be noted. The 2way audio of the R2 is a great feature that many other units don’t include built in in this price range, Once again a plus for the R2. Audio quality was up to par given the unit’s size. Wifi connectivity had no issues, even at great router/camera distance ratios. In closing I highly recommend the R2 for anyone looking for a full featured reasonably priced IP camera.

Pros-Videos quality is excellent. 1080/720 at 25fps-PTZ works well-Customer care has been good.Cons-Audio bitrate is very low(syncs perfectly tho)-Setup is ridiculously complicatedsetup for lan access is relatively simple.If you need access over the internet, you need to deal with dynamicdns, port forwarding.If you can get customer care to set it up for you over teamviewer, the video quality is worth it.