Foscam FI8918W Wireless/Wired Pan & Tilt IP/Network Camera with 8 Meter Night Vision and 3.6mm Lens (67° Viewing Angle)

by Foscam

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 4.3 x 3.9 x 4.2 inches ; 14.7 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• ASIN: B00466X9SY
• Item model number: FI8918W
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (206 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #122 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
  • #17 in Camera & Photo > Surveillance Cameras
  • #25 in Electronics > Security & Surveillance
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 15, 2010

Product Description

Replacing the Foscam FI8908W, the FI8918W is this latest camera from Foscam. The FI8918W is a wireless or wired, pan/tilt IP camera solution for indoor use. It combines a high quality digital video camera, remote pan/tilt ability with network connectivity and a powerful web server to bring clear video to your desktop or smartphone from anywhere on your local network or over the Internet. The high quality video image is transmitted with 30fps speed on the LAN/WAN by using MJPEG hardware compression technology. The image resultion is 640 x 480 (300k Pixels). The Foscam FI8918W camera is based on the TCP/IP standard. The control, management and maintenance of the camera is done simply by using your browser to remotely configure and upgrade the firmware. The Foscam FI8918W IP camera can reach up to 8 meters of visibility in absolute darkness with 11 infrared LED's.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

226 of 233 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Way more than I expected!, January 14, 2011

By 

Corey H. Perez (Fairbanks (AK)) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Foscam FI8918W Wireless/Wired Pan & Tilt IP/Network Camera with 8 Meter Night Vision and 3.6mm Lens (67° Viewing Angle) (Electronics)

Where to start...

Well I'll open with.. I'm IMPRESSED! I opted to get the white version of the FI8918W just because it was cheaper than the black version and was identical other than the color. I was first concerned because I got two camera's and the first one was "loose" it seemed (camera from the base). The second seems to be identical so this must just be the way these camera's are. I hooked this up directly to my router as per the instructions and tried to determine a standard ip address without having to use the included software. I wasn't able to so then used the mini-disc on my windows 7 PC. The computer prompted for reboot which I did before I noticed the icon on the desktop. When it rebooted I double clicked the icon and after a brief moment it displayed the ip address of the camera. Note: I'm also using zone alarm and it requested access to 255.255.255.255:10000, which I allowed and it displayed the camera.

When I double clicked the ip address displayed in the software window I was taken to ie which then I put in the user id: admin and for the PW. I don't know if I'm just lucky because I've had so many lessons with my other IP cameras, but this one was very easy (outside trying to figure out why the wireless config wasn't working as expected). One of the other things I was really impressed with was the ease of setting up the wireless. I "scanned" for wireless sources, found mine, clicked it and nearly all the fields were prefilled. I only had to input my security key. Now... The issue I had. I'm currently running 4 different cameras, x2 different Linksys camera's and a trendnet. Those all when setup kept their ip address. This Foscam uses a different one. So after you have it setup I'd recommend re-running their ip software and finding the new ip address after you have removed the cat5 cable. This took me about an hour to figure out.


My camera background:

I started out with x2 Linksys wvc54gca. These were my basis for learning about the IP camera's, the router work required to open the ports and more especially multiple camera's on the same router and how to accomplish that. After moving from the lower 48 to Alaska, we wanted a pan tilt zoom (PTZ) camera and opted for the Linksys WVC210. This camera is a very nice unit, but after getting the new Foscam night PTZ camera, I feel like I wasted a significant amount of money on this one unit, when I believe the Foscam FI8918W is easily a better buy. We also have the Trendnet tv-ip422w and compared to this new Foscam camera, the video is absolutely SUBPAR to the Foscam.

While this is a review about the Foscam FI8918W I want the readers to know and appreciate what this camera does. The Linksys WVC54GCA works perfectly in IE and Firefox (Safari as well). The WVC210 will NOT, repeat NOT work with IE. There is an active X that is required and Cisco must have an issue with Microsoft or something because I cannot force my computer to accept the active X. You can ONLY view this in Fire Fox (FF) or Safari (if I remember correctly), but FF is what we use to view it. These Foscam's work in: IE8, FF and FF on Mac OS-X (Snow Leopard). I haven't tried Safari, but our needs were met in that realm.
Mobile browsing: Both of the Linksys cam's were visible on our iPhone/iTouch. We have now ditched the iPhone (junk) and went with the Samsung captivate (android) and had the same experience. The Trendnet and Foscam units were not viewable on either of our phones. This was an initial HUGE issue, but I've found that on both the itunes and android app store there is an app (android has a free version, apple doesn't) called "IP Cam Viewer" by Robert Chou (android lite version works for free and has a banner at the top). If you use this program use "Add IP" in the settings to add your DNS address you established and go from there. This app also allows "swipe to pan" option.. NICE!!

In setting up, I mentioned that I have multiple camera's. I've resorted to using multiple different port's such as: myipcam,dot,com:1111 and the next is: myipcam,dot,com:1112, and: myipcam,dot,com:1113, etc. You will establish this in your individual camera settings and your router config.


Over all.

I know my setup was based on historical config's I've done with other camera's so I was aware of some of the pitfalls. But I believe these cameras were the easiest to setup. The camera's software/firmware is a little "hokey" and could be improved I believe, but It has everything it needs to have (that I could determine) so I can't fault the firmware (admin) settings/options about that. The actual web GUI (interface) was pretty nice, especially compared to the other camera's I have. I didn't try the multiple setup and accessing them through the internet because one of the two cameras we received will be kept a little more "private" and may have access to part of our bedroom from its location.

The camera is very quiet. I found myself enjoying that with the movement options you can hold down the arrow (on the screen) and the camera will move until you unclick it.

The status LED, which can be turned off, is located on the back. I appreciate that as well.

The only thing I found a little annoying was the IR bulbs are a little too visible. We have one of these in the kids' bedroom and the red glow (obvious) always attracts attention. This is visible even when the IR is turned "off" in the settings.

The package included everything I believe a normal user would require/desire. Camera, base (movable/adjustable which is a nice touch), antenna, screws and anchor, cat5 cable and the power cord.

On the audio, I didn't try/use the included option. I'm sorry that a review of that feature cannot be included. With the amount of camera's we are running we can't support the additional bandwith requirements.

The only problem I experienced was the wireless being a different IP address vs. the wired IP address. I've never experienced this before, but was a simple fix by using the supplied software.


In closing:

I wish I could provide a link so others could see how impressive these CAM's are. But I won't ;) Had I known how great a value these cameras would be I would have purchased at least a couple more, with the possibility of enough to replace / supplement all of our Linksys/Trendnet cam's. I'm leaving for a yearlong military deployment in 10 days so the ease in setup/config was a HUGE help and success on the part of this company. At this point I'd have no issue recommending these to anybody who is looking for an excellent camera. The day time image is excellent, the night vision (as with everything) is less grand, but the IR bulbs completely illuminate our 12x35' room with plenty of light to spare. These camera's are all usable on Win XP (laptop), Win Vista (laptop), Win 7 (PC) (Both with IE 8 and Fire Fox) and Mac OS-X (Snow Leopard) on a Macbook Pro and IMac , ipod Touch and Samsung Captivate (Android) WHEN using the app: ipcam viewer by Robert Chou (free on Android).
I really hope this review helps some other potential buyers as I had a ton of questions, to which few (if any) were answered by other reviews.

63 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A basic pan/tilt IP Cam at an entry level price, November 11, 2010

By 

Michael "Michael" (Coastal Georgia) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Foscam FI8918W Wireless/Wired Pan & Tilt IP/Network Camera with 8 Meter Night Vision and 3.6mm Lens (67° Viewing Angle) (Electronics)

This is a decent IP camera with enough features for most first time users. I was able to configure and use the camera without having to load any of the included software without any trouble, but an average person might have trouble getting every feature working. If you don't know what DNS or FTP means, you are one of these people.

If you are planning on just sitting this on a window sill and pointing it outside as a 24/7 security camera, think again. It works fine in the daytime, but interior reflections on the window glass make it less useful at night. The IR LEDs reflect back off the window and effectively blind the camera.

Image quality is typical of a low-cost CMOS sensor. Color accuracy and saturation is poor, but adequate for most uses.

It also has several shutter speed settings....a 60hz speed for night/low light, a 50hz speed for medium lighting, and a slow shutter speed for outdoor use. While the camera is able to automatically adjust sensor sensitivity a bit to compensate for changes in lighting, it doesn't have an automatic shutter speed setting. This means that if you have the shutter speed set on the "Outdoor" setting, it works great on a sunny day, but at night is far too dark to be useful. You'd have to manually switch shutter speeds every day if you were using it as an unattended security camera. Leaving it on 60hz setting and trying to view an outside scene just results in a white video image...the sunlight totally overwhelms the sensor unless you use the "outdoor" setting.

The motion detection feature is excellent. You can have the camera automatically email you a sequence of still photos everytime it detects motion. I was pleasantly surprised at how well this worked. You can specify up to 5 individual recipients.

It is also capable of uploading the same still images to an FTP server if you wish to archive them for review later. A date/time stamp on the image would have been a nice addition but isn't a feature.

I did not try the audio features, thus cannot say if they are improved over the old camera. If you are looking to integrate this camera into your DIY home security system, you should purchase the previous model (FI8908W) as this new one doesn't have the RS485 port anymore.

Bottom line, whether you want to use this camera to monitor an interior room, or an outside scene, it's a good entry level camera. Just don't expect it to be able to do both without manually making some adjustments for one or the other.

82 of 94 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Wifi Doesn't Work, Manufacturer Provides No Support, December 7, 2010

By 

Christopher Komuves (Chaplin, CT USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Foscam FI8918W Wireless/Wired Pan & Tilt IP/Network Camera with 8 Meter Night Vision and 3.6mm Lens (67° Viewing Angle) (Electronics)

I haven't had this bad of an experience with a manufacturer in ages!

Foscam outright refuses to provide any support whatsoever for any of their products purchased on Amazon or anywhere else other than directly from them. They do not provide any telephone support. I sent them a detailed email message to their technical support address three days ago, and did not get a response. I just called the only number for themselves that they publish, and the guy who answered said that this was a phone number for sales, and that I should email tech support. When I told him that I did that three days ago, and they did not respond, he HUNG UP ON ME!

Their website talks about how there are several counterfeit versions of their products being sold--that's sad, but not an excuse for not supporting what they sell.

As far as the product itself, it works nicely hooked up via ethernet, as long as you don't need to configure anything differently than the defaults. And the night vision/IR lights work nicely for a normal-sized room. The wifi on the unit I received is completely non-functional. I can't tell whether it's a hardware fault, software issue, or firmware issue, but it simply does not work (I'm a computer professional, and I tried every reasonable method to diagnose and fix this, to no avail). It is unable to detect any wifi network, public, WPA, or WPA2, over 802.11g or 802.11b, even when it is just a few feet in a direct site line from a working wifi router. And manually configuring it doesn't work either. I couldn't try updating their firmware, as they don't offer than on their website, but say you have to email them to get a firmware update (which I did request by email, which they never responded to).

The documentation is sparse and VERY BADLY written. The software to configure it using their web interface is likewise very badly written, to the point where it's really hard to figure out what the non-english-speaking authors intended for various labels to mean. Whenever I updated any parameters using the Web interface and saved them, it would reboot the router and always lose every change I had ever made, except for the "device name", which was retained. That is to say, changing any of the wifi settings not only doesn't work, but it is never really saved.

Do yourself a favor and avoid Foscam. Their stuff has good specs for a good price, but it's entirely worthless when the software behind it doesn't work, and the company doesn't stand behind it.

Needless to say, I'll be returning this tomorrow.