Looking to REPLACE outdoor Foscams!!!

[MikesCams 0]

Hi everyone. For the past several months I have been installing Foscam 8905W's at my home to only have to swap them out within a month. So far I have returned 4 out of 5, with the 5th one on its way out the door. I'm sick of the instability of these cams. If it's too sunny, you can't access them, if the brightness on the cam is too high then they reset, the infrared stays locked on, etc. It's one thing after the next with Foscam and I'm ready to move on. The price of these cameras is about $100 each (you get what you pay for). I'm looking to swap out a couple of my Foscams for something more stable and reliable. I don't mind spending a little more money on them either, at this point I'm just sick of climbing up and down the ladder every couple of weeks. All camera's in my home are on the latest firmware and are hardwired with cat5e cable.

 

Can anyone suggest a solid replacement for under $250'ish?

 

Thanks!

[JoeLansing 0]

For $250 you can get something way better than a Foscam. I looked at them, and then looked at their support forum. That scared me away very fast. Try something like this http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Free-shipping-Original-Gun-Hikvision-waterproof-IR-IP-Camera-DS-2CD2032-I-IR-20m/939322172.html Anything by Hikvision or Dahua would be a huge step up. Here's a review of the above linked Hikvision with samples of day/night stills/video. This site has good reviews of many other cameras also. http://www.networkcameracritic.com/?p=1791

- Joe

[MikesCams 0]

For $250 you can get something way better than a Foscam. I looked at them, and then looked at their support forum. That scared me away very fast. Try something like this http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Free-shipping-Original-Gun-Hikvision-waterproof-IR-IP-Camera-DS-2CD2032-I-IR-20m/939322172.html Anything by Hikvision or Dahua would be a huge step up. Here's a review of the above linked Hikvision with samples of day/night stills/video. This site has good reviews of many other cameras also. http://www.networkcameracritic.com/?p=1791

- Joe

 

Thanks! I just ordered a couple

[JoeLansing 0]

Ack! I'm not a camera god. Don't order because I told you to...LOL I ordered 2 of the domes about a week ago from China. Expecting them in soon. I also got an 8 port TrendNet? GB POE switch from NewEgg for $119 or so. It can do 4 ports 14 watts to each port. In other words I haven't even seen one yet. I did my research though. I have a Swann crappy 4 camera NTSC (not IP) system now and wanted to upgrade. First Wanscam, then Foscam, then I realized they were the same, and both were flakey and painful. If nothing else the Hikvision cameras don't have people yelling "it doesn't work" like the Foscam junk. I ordered my 2 with a 4MM lens on one, and 6MM on the other. No special reason for the lens choices except I'll be putting them in different areas and wanted to have options. They don't come with power, so get a POE switch or something if you don't have power. For the $250 a cam price you were looking at you can get 2 of these, a POE switch, and Blue Iris software. I may end up there. I bought WHS 2011 from Newegg for $35 and will try and just record to that with the built in camera software. If that isn't so good I'll buy Blue Iris. I'll be under $500 for 2 3MP cams, POE switch ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833156419&Tpk=TRENDnet%20TPE-TG44G ) wire and Blue Iris. And adding 2 more cameras will be just the camera price.

- Joe

[MikesCams 0]

Ack! I'm not a camera god. Don't order because I told you to...LOL I ordered 2 of the domes about a week ago from China. Expecting them in soon. I also got an 8 port TrendNet? GB POE switch from NewEgg for $119 or so. It can do 4 ports 14 watts to each port. In other words I haven't even seen one yet. I did my research though. I have a Swann crappy 4 camera NTSC (not IP) system now and wanted to upgrade. First Wanscam, then Foscam, then I realized they were the same, and both were flakey and painful. If nothing else the Hikvision cameras don't have people yelling "it doesn't work" like the Foscam junk. I ordered my 2 with a 4MM lens on one, and 6MM on the other. No special reason for the lens choices except I'll be putting them in different areas and wanted to have options. They don't come with power, so get a POE switch or something if you don't have power. For the $250 a cam price you were looking at you can get 2 of these, a POE switch, and Blue Iris software. I may end up there. I bought WHS 2011 from Newegg for $35 and will try and just record to that with the built in camera software. If that isn't so good I'll buy Blue Iris. I'll be under $500 for 2 3MP cams, POE switch ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833156419&Tpk=TRENDnet%20TPE-TG44G ) wire and Blue Iris. And adding 2 more cameras will be just the camera price.

- Joe

 

Funny because I actually ordered them yesterday. After doing some research and posting on a few other forums I was pointed to the came cameras. However the one's I ordered were shipped within the USA so I should receive them by the weekend I already have a Trendnet 8 port non POE so I ordered this to go with it flark.it/poe

 

I did the same thing you did. First I used my friends Wanscam, then I bought several Foscams and am looking for stability now. The indoor Foscams have been decent enough to play around with but I have returned all of the outdoor FI8905W's.

 

Currently I am running Blue Iris on a dedicated machine that is on 24/7. It records 10 cameras with hopefully more coming soon.

 

I really appreciate the information and great advice! Thanks for taking the time to help.

[MikesCams 0]

Happy to say that I swapped out the Foscams with the Hikvisions and am very happy so far. The picture quality is amazing and the FOV (Field Of View) is much bigger.

 

Thanks for the advice and help

[joseph.chen0312 0]

D-Link also offer excellent units