Foscam FI9831P HD 960P WiFi Security IP Camera with iOS/Android App, Pan, Tilt, Zoom, Two-Way Audio, Night Vision up to 26ft, and More (Black)

I was pretty disappointed with the camera, at least as far as setup is concerned. I don't use Windows on my home PC, I use linux, and I have several Android devices. I had no issue with the "advanced" networking aspects of the install, such as hooking into my router, finding its IP in the routing table and connecting to its built in web interface; I work as a tech. However, I was unable to log in using the default username and password. After searching and using the Reset button multiple times, I finally decided to try it from a work laptop which still runs Windows XP. It wanted a plugin installed after doing so, and only after installing it did it allow me to log on. What?!? Is this 1994? Java, Flash and HTML5 not good enough, Foscam?Trying it from Firefox or Chrome on Android failed as well. You cannot even log into the camera's interface webpage without that plugin, which I guess is for Windows and MAC only (MAC, I assume, based on other comments here).Once I was able to log in from Windows, I changed my username and password, as it suggested. I then closed my laptop and went back to my Linux desktop and tried to log in with my new credentials. FAIL! So, without those special proprietary plugins running, you can't log in and control the camera...you can't even get status or do configuration...So, I had to go back to my Windows laptop to finish the setup, get it hooked to Wifi, etc. Video quality from that webpage looked pretty good, I was able to pan the camera around, etc., but I'm not going to be accessing this from my laptop. So, I installed a Foscam app, but it was the wrong one. Scanning the QR code takes you to a website that is not formatted for fone screens and I couldn't tell where the link to the app was, so I just searched the Play store for Foscam. The app I installed wasn't the official app, I found out, but it was more highly rated. It easily found the camera, allowed me to log in, I could pan around, etc., just as with the Windows browser page. This is a great mobile solution, it's called Foscam Viewer.I then tried the official app. It connected to my camera right away, but the video was only in black and white, and, it did not yet ask me for my username and password! This is a security hole! Alert! Danger! I fumbled around the app trying to get it in color, when I came across a username/password screen. I entered in my credentials but wasn't able to connect ;) I didn't try very hard, at this point, I admit, and closed the app. I loaded up the other app and it connected fine once again with a nice color display.Pros: So far, the camera works physically. It connects to both wired and wireless LANs, pans and tilts properly and has a quality image. It works great in both dark and light environs, though I've only tried it indoors. I haven't tested the audio features yet.Cons: Websites related to the camera suck.* The Foscam website via the QR code in the booklet doesn't format itself for your fone screen nor does it take you right to the app.* The internal camera website only works if you have a special browser plugin, which is a security risk. Who knows what info this plugin is sending, and where? HTML5 is more than up to the task of streaming video...This effectively makes the camera Windows/MAC only.* You cannot configure it fully just from a tablet or smartfone. You need a PC with a browser at least once to set this thing up, which is utterly unnecessary. When you try this from another platform, like Android, it doesn't tell you why the default username and password aren't accepted, it has you thinking that they are wrong or have been set wrong at the factory. It doesn't say, "sorry, unsupported platform!", it just keeps reloading the page, making you think that you've made a typo or something, even though the default username of "admin" and password of (blank) are already there ;)* Even if the plugin facilitates the pan/zoom commands, initial setup should not require a plugin. Logging into an interface with a username and password is rather common.* The "download firmware" button in the internal webpage did nothing. No message saying that it couldn't find a new firmware, or that the version in the cam is current, etc. You click it and nothing happens. I assume this must be done manually as well, there is a browser button to locate the file. Since I'm a tech, I have no problem downloading it on my own, but then why have a non-working button in the web interface?? Just remove the button (or fix it)!* The official Foscam app is crap and connected to my camera once WITHOUT a username and password! Red alert! There is another cloud app from Foscam, the Foscam Cloud app, which requires an account with them which I haven't tried. To be fair, this app is more highly rated and probably works better. They likely want you to use this instead, but I don't want yet another login to yet another service...* It came with a CD, but I don't have an optical drive anymore, and my stacks and stacks of CDs from the 90s are getting dusty. My fone doesn't have a CD slot, iPad's don't have CD slots, etc ;)* Someone should be able to totally configure this thing from an iPad, android fone/tablet, linux, blackberry, etc., whatever they choose to use. This is what I thought I was buying. I don't recall reading that a PC is required, in fact, I distinctly remember the opposite. If I'm wrong about this, I'll edit this.If the camera works well now that it's configured, I may adjust my review, but it will never get above a 3, not until they clean up their interfaces. An HTML5 internal webpage would be all that's required, java or flash would be secondary less desirable options that would also work. There would be no need for CD software, or a PC, no need for special instructions, etc.EDIT: I gave it another star, my original review was 2 stars. The camera is physically great and has very good image quality, even the night vision is too good to get only 2 stars. I understand the need to require a laptop if someone can't use the WPS button/service on their router. I couldn't in my case. However, the camera should still be configurable, in its entirety, without requiring special browser-plug-ins and in the case of those lucky enough to use the WPS feature, they should be able to configure totally from fone/tablet. It should be clearly stated that a Windows/Mac laptop is required to complete the initial install. Got a Chromebook or linux laptop? Forget it.

The camera is very nice, but the user interface is nightmarish. I ordered this camera for one purpose, to catch the lowlife who has made a career of mail theft in our community. My goal was to have a high def camera monitoring the front of my home. reading the pamphlet that came with the camera, and downloading and reading the 80 page online user manual made setup seem pretty easy. Getting the camera to operate was indeed easy, but trying to get it to perform it's intended functions was very confusing. BTW: I am pretty tech savvy, so I am used to setting up electronic gear.The first problem I had was the picture saturation when pointing the camera out a window (I know the IR is problematic at night through windows, so I make other arrangements at night). During the daylight hours the picture is totally saturated and you see no details, only a bleached out screen and vague outlines of objects. I solved the problem by placing an amber colored sunglass lens in front of the camera lens. The result was a perfect HD picture. Five days after receiving the camera I had, I thought, everything set up properly. Doing so meant adjusting many settings on the camera's "settings" tabs. Well low-and behold, as I glance over at my monitor (I use 2 monitors, a desktop P.C. and a Tablet) I hear the camera alarm, see a car drive up to my mailbox, and see the driver jump out of his car and grab mail from my mailbox. Well, the monitor provided a good description of the car and driver, but neither video nor snapshots worked through all this... I have since spent several more hours figuring out what settings needed adjustment (VERY confusing). The video works as expected now, but the ONLY way I can get it to take a snapshot is to manually click on the "Take Snapshot" button (which would be fine if you decide to sit and watch your monitor all day). The Good: Very nice High Definition camera Basic setup is easy Overall quality seems very good The Bad: 1. User interface is kind of a nightmare 2. The software has a tendency to just stop working With "timeout" or "Connecting...." messages (I know what they mean). 3. On every settings tab, and with each settings change you have to save the change or the function will not work (easy mistakes) 4. The camera's motion alarm is very loud, with no obvious volume adjustment. That makes subtle alarm monitoring impossible. 5. When you plug the camera in it has a lengthy delay and then starts moving through it's range of motion. That leaves you with resetting the camera direction each time you turn it on (plug it in). You can shut off the start up procedure, but with the lengthy delay I want to ensure that the camera has actually started properly. Bottom Line: Would I recommend this camera to others? With reservations ...

Keeps changing the settings, on.its on ,and needs to be restarted all the times

Functions as advertised. Seller IFI homes is very helpful and polite and helped to install the Cam remotely. Bit slow while viewing through mobile app could be due to connectivity.

Tardo un poco en llegar, sin embargo es un excelente producto para vigilar en interiores o exteriores, cubriendo que no le pegue demasiado el agua en el exterior.

Me encantó super buena y fácil de usar

I spent some time looking for new cameras and decided to go for this one instead of the Foscam FI9826W version because reviews said the zoom didn't really make that much difference and I wanted P2P to avoid having to make any router changes.Good- The hardware itself feels like good quality- Well packaged- Picture is excellent in both daylight and darkness- Functionality like pan & tilt, SD card, two way audio, wireless- P2P (but see tips)- Foscam phone apps- PT is smooth and not noisy at allBad- It's not for the novice user even with the P2P setup which means you should not have to make router changes.- The PC application on screen instructions can be misleading or non nonsensicalSome tips- P2P did not completely setup the camera correctly for me. I could view the camera whilst on the same network but not on 3g or from a different network. The problem ultimately was the camera did not have the gateway set correctly most likely because I went for a fixed IP address straight away. To get your gateway you can open up a command prompt on windows and then type ipconfig, this will give you your gateway address. Then go to the camera setting -> network -> ip configuration. Update the gateway setting with the value from ipconfig.- Motion detection will only work if you have the scheduler set. So I set my schedule to all red. Note when setting the motion detection the red X's are the area's you want to have motion detection on. You can click on the All to save time. To check if motion detection is working you can walk in front of the camera holding your laptop and a red dot will appear in the Live Video feed if motion detection has been triggered and is recording.- If you're using GMail and two phase authentication remember to get and use your two phase authentication password as email will not work with your regular email password.- Its best to use a fixed IP address for the camera- Remember to use a very strong passwordWould I recommend this camera? Yes absolutely, it's great. However, be prepared to persevere getting it work as the software isn't quite the finished article or as good as it could be.