feinberjcctvforum

I've used both a DropCam and the Foscam fi9821w. The DropCam has better picture quality, but it ONLY works in cloud mode. You MUST continually upload video to their servers, and when you monitor video from the feed you are actually downloading from their servers rather than communicating with the camera. I had no idea this was the case when I bought the camera - I had simply thought this was an option. There are many reasons that one would not want this requirement. I'll give one purely technical reason. The camera saturated my upload capacity of my internet connection. Ouch! Next I tried the Foscam fi9821w. The specs of the camera are excellent, for the price. I used one for 2 months, and then it went into an infinite reboot loop. It would go into its boot cycle (camera spins around), wait maybe 10 seconds, and then go into its boot cycle again. It would keep doing this until I disconnected the power. Apparently this is a known issue, and when this happens the camera is permanently unusable. Supposedly the latest firmware, v1.1.1.13, will prevent this from happening. I have bought another fi9821w and loaded this firmware, so hopefully it will not die. I've also sent the last one back to Foscam, and they have indicated that they will probably send me a replacement. I have been getting this camera to use as a baby monitor, and they are absolutely indispensable. It is challenging to help a baby to learn to sleep through the night. When you need to check on the baby, and you do need to do this frequently AND often, going into the room is of course not helpful. So when the first foscam died, it was money well spent buying another one right away. I am hedging my bets, and buying a third webcam. I've decided to try an older Axis 213 ptz, which I found for about $250 on eBay. If the foscam dies again, then the Axis is next. John F New York, NY