Anyone use an ip cam (foscam, etc.)

[slackerinabox]

I'm thinking of using an ip security cam as a baby monitor (mostly to make sure the toddler's not beating up the infant she'll share a room with), and reviews are all over the place. Anyone have one? Care to share any experiences, especially the set up process. Some say it takes minutes others say there's a ton of advanced networking settings to deal with. I'm also using a mac, if that changes anything.

Thanks!

 

[Squeetard]

Don't know about a mac install but I have 2 Wireless Trendnet IP cams. One in my Garage, one in my main room (open living, dining, kitchen) I love them. resolution is not great. I have IP cam viewer lite (free) on my tablet and galaxy. Tap a button and you can check everything out. Think I left the garage door open? Tap, nope.
The one in my main room is the motorized version, $169. I've got 3 presets on it so I can pan the room. The middle one points at my fish tank. I was on vacation for 2 weeks and I could log in at 4pm and watch the auto fish feeder feed my fish.
Setup was too easy. Plugged them in wired at first to my router and set a static address n my network and set the wireless password.
You can also get fancier with the software, such as motion detect to auto notify your phone if something moves. It will start recording to your phone and alert you.

 

[railer]

I've got one of the $60 Foscams from Amazon. It works great over my phone...has a microphone too so I can hear whats going on. I'm not a network engineer and I had no issues setting it up. As cheap as they are I'd say go for it.

 

[Cerpin Taxt]

I have 6 D-Link DCS-932L cameras posted throughout the interior of my house. The proprietary software is ok, I guess. I don't really use it. I run Zoneminder on my server instead.

 

[Eug]

I have a Trendnet TV-IP312W, and it works fine over Ethernet. I've tried a couple of different cameras over WiFi, and I found them to be unreliable. This camera is just VGA + night vision + audio. Good enough for a baby cam. I also use a Vivotek IP8332 for a deer cam, but this is too big for a baby cam. Too expensive too, as it's an outdoor HD cam.

Also, for software, I use 3rd party applications on iOS and Android. Note that it's really hit and miss. Some apps are unstable so after an hour it will crash. On iOS I use LiveCams Pro. On Android I can't remember off-hand but I think it is IP Cam Viewer Pro.

In terms of Mac compatibility, it's tougher, since a lot of computer apps from these IP camera companies don't support Macs well if at all. Y-cam supposedly has great Mac and iOS support, but they also cost more.

The other thing you have to remember is to turn off auto software update on iOS and Android. Cuz if you don't, the software will occasionally auto-update during use, and that restarts the app, without relaunching the video stream.

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I really value having both audio and video, and these IP cameras (with a tablet or a mobile phone) generally work much better than the dedicated baby cams, at least at reasonable price points. The problem with the dedicated setups is you have to buy the video monitor as well, so that really inflates the price. The cheaper models have lousy signal and tiny monitors.

I don't bother with two-way voice, as it's not necessary. In fact, some may argue the video part is optional. Really of #1 importance is audio, and #2 is video. Two-way audio should not be high on the list of priorities IMO.

 

[Capt Caveman]

Not exactly what you're probably looking for but I use old laptops connected to HD Logitech webcams and use Teamviewer to access them.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I've got the Foscam 8910. It is really pretty easy to set up and get going - just a few minutes. You can get fancier and record to a drive with something like Blue Iris, but I haven't done that yet.

 

[slackerinabox]

Awesome guys - thanks so much! Foscam it is. I have a beater windows laptop for initial setup just in case, as long as there are osx / ios compatible streaming apps.

 

[EPCrew]

I use a Foscam for the same purpose. It was extremely easy to set up. It even provides a free DDNS URL for the first 3(?) years. They could be had for free elsewhere but they do it for you during the initial setup. Free mobile apps for viewing are readily available as well.

Windows and Mac both compatible.

 

[Eug]

Not exactly what you're probably looking for but I use old laptops connected to HD Logitech webcams and use Teamviewer to access them.

My daughter generally ignores dedicated cameras. However, as soon as she sees a laptop, she wants to go and play on it. YMMV, but that might be a factor if there is going to be a toddler in the room.

 

[slag]

I have 6 D-Link DCS-932L cameras posted throughout the interior of my house. The proprietary software is ok, I guess. I don't really use it. I run Zoneminder on my server instead.

I have 4 of the same, inside and outside, and they work fine. I use tinycam to manage them.

 

[tfinch2]

I use a Foscam FI8918W.

I also wrote this code that I use as the client on my Android tablets and phone: https://github.com/travisfinch/FoscamClient

 

[RossMAN]

AwkwardHamster has some great YouTube videos reviewing various Foscam models including baby monitor usage, etc.

 

[Ichinisan]

I've done many such cameras. Lots of experience with port forwarding and the kind of issues you might encounter. I've had to make them remotely-accessible with triple-NAT before.

If your router doesn't have a DHCP reservation feature, set the LAN DHCP range to start with x.x.x.100 and use a manual IP of x.x.x.99 on your camera/DVR. You don't want your port forwarding rules to stop working when your router is rebooted and the camera pulls a different IP...

 

[skyking]

Yes, that one is annoying
I have a couple of dozen IP cams at clients, and I use axis exclusively. It has good image quality and advanced features that integrate with zoneminder.

 

[Gillbot]

Don't know about a Mac but I use a PC with contacam, yawcam and a USB camera for this purpose. I also have a couple cheap ip cameras that I move around to keep an eye on the kids and they work fine. I also use ip cam viewer with them all on my ipad and iPhone.

 

[Hugo Drax]

Foscams are good I have a couple of Foscam FI9821W V2 and the blue iris software I got for 40 bucks, it lets you control multiple cameras, acts as a DVR and will only record if certain events occur (motion detection etc.)

they have been running 24/7 no issues.

And no stupid cloud requirement, I just anyconnect VPN to my home from my ipad and I can view the cameras from my ipad using the blue iris app.