I recently purchased two Foscam wireless network cameras (fi8918w) and had problems getting the wireless working until I came up with this easy solution.
The solution is in the type of wireless security you have configured which I’ll explain further down the page.
I spent a lot of time on this, researched a ton of forums and found the following suggestions which did not work:
- Use Mac Address Filtering and no encryption – Bad idea! This is NOT a proper way to secure your wireless network.
- Buy a bigger antena for the camera – not necessary as the stock antenna works just fine.
- Hire a company to do the set up the Foscam network camera for you – sure, if you want to toss your money away.
- Update the Foscam firmware to the latest version. Won’t solve the problem (I updated one of the two and both behaved the same (no change on wireless side).
- Disabling Upnp – won’t make a difference.
I originally had set up WPA using basic TKIP for my wireless security, but when I changed it to WPA2 Personal (TKIP + AES) and also made that change on my router, everything worked fine.
I set the foscam wireless network camera to use a static IP address and the DNS set as the same as the router’s IP address.
The lens I am upgrading and to a 2.1mm lens from DealExtreme that I purchased for $6.
I did notice so far that you have to click Scan twice to get the list of wireless networks from the fi8918 wireless camera and that if there is a power spike of any kind, the foscam doesn’t come back on-line itself – you’ll need to reboot it.
If you’re not using IE for this but instead something like firefox and want to hear sound, then it’s suggested that you connect to the camera from VLC player pointing to camera_url/videostream.asf
FOSCAM FI8918 DETAILS
Foscam FI8918 Wireless/Wired Pan & Tilt IP Camera with 8 Meter Night Vision and 3.6mm Lens (67° Viewing Angle) cost me $220 with next day shipping.
- WIFI – no wires needed but you can use network cable if you like.
- Ability to hear sound and speak
- IR for night vision
- Motion detection with the ability to send captured images
- Stand alone and live video can be accessed from the web – great for home surveillance
- Can write video files
- Built in application for viewing and configuration including user access control
Overall – an awesome deal for a wireless network camera that can be used for home security, baby monitor or motion detector for cell phone alerts.