FOSCAM Home Security Camera R4S 4MP WiFi IP Camera,Wireless Baby Monitor with AI Human Detection Sound Detection 33ft Night Vision 2 Way Audio Camera Compatible with Alexa Black

I’ve been using Foscam cameras for years. When my kids were very young, I would keep them in their rooms as a monitor. Now I use them throughout my house as security cameras. They still work, but there are many limitations given their age – close to 10 years old in some cases. But they do, indeed, still work. With this mind, I reached out to Foscam support to see if there were some firmware upgrades now which might overcome some of the limitations like modern browser support and platform support other then Windows (eg, Mac). Because I was a long time customer and agreed to write this review, they provided me a free unit to test. So here it is.I will be comparing the current (Aug 2020) model, R2C 1080P to the older models I have, the FI8910W and FI8918W. The new model offers the following improvements:• Higher resolution (1080p v 480p)• No dependence on ActiveX controls• Full control from Windows and Mac using browser other than Internet Explorer• Control via mobile app• Ability to record without application running on PC• Improved interface for scheduling motion detection• Better color reproduction• Slightly smaller and more sleekI am using the new model to record on a schedule and using motion detection. Both work well. The ability to schedule is much improved in the browser app as you can just drag the mouse across a series of time blocks to activate. The old camera allowed you to active a full hour at a time, but if you wanted it on the half hour, you’d have to click to deselect. So, setting a schedule at 1230a means I activated 12a to 1a, but then Id have to click 7 days of blocks representing 1200a and 1215a. With the new camera, the mobile app just uses a slider to set the time, and the browser interface allows you to drag to deselect. Nice.I never used the email settings or the FTP settings on the old cameras. I tried setting up the FTP today on the old camera, and I never got it to work. With the new camera, I wasn’t going to use FTP or mail, either, but then I thought about this: why do I need an app running all the time to capture motion detection? The old models required Internet Explorer open to capture the video. Shouldn’t the camera just capture it and store it or send it somewhere? Well, in fact, the new one does. There’s no storage built into the camera that a user has access to, but it does have the ability to either use a micro SD Card or FTP. With the SD Card, the file is stored on the card. With FTP, it’s sent to an FTP server. Since I don’t have a spare Micro SD card laying around, I decided to use the FTP server. Windows 10 has an FTP server built in, but it’s not turned on by default. There are numerous places you can find on how to setup the FTP server. Once you have it setup such that you can access from another computer on your local network, you just use the same parameters for the camera. Put in the IP address (or hostname), the user name and password, and you’re good to go. You don’ t NEED to buy cloud service if you can setup the FTP server. If you can’t, then perhaps you should look into buying the cloud service to store your images and videos. In the end, it’s nice to know I can turn on the camera and have it FTP over my files to my PC (which is on all the time) without having to keep an app running on my PC. You may think I’m splitting hairs since leaving my PC on 24x7 with an FTP server is the same thing, and perhaps I am. But if you have storage connected to and an FTP server running on your router, which stays on all the time, you won’t need your PC left on 24x7. I already leave my PC on 24x7 so it’s a no brainer for me.I was wondering how well the IR light would work since the old camera had a ring of IR lights around the camera, and I can’t see any on the new one. The new camera has a better picture, of course, and the IR lights are not as obvious, but they’re there. Picture quality at night is very good.The color reproduction is clearer and more accurate on the new camera. The video produced is really nice and not as grainy as the old ones. It will never replace your DSLR for video quality, but in terms of security it works.I can use Chrome now to access any feature I want. The old cameras required I use Internet Explorer utilizing ActiveX if I wanted to record videos or use voice function. ActiveX is 25 year old technology full of security risks, so it’s nice to see I don’t need it any more. ActiveX only runs on Windows, so Mac was out. Now it’s not. Yay!There are lots of feature I’m sure I’m missing, but this covers what’s important to me. I have the old cameras which do what I know, and now I have the new one which has improved on the old ones in many ways. If it lasts as long as the other ones, this is going to be an excellent camera!

I've never left a review on Amazon, but would like to write my first one for the Foscam camera because it is so amazing!! FYI, I've used this camera for a month.I am a nest camera user, for 8 months. We received it as a baby shower gift and have used it since my son was born. It works OK. We monitor his sleep, his activity in the crib, and his crying as well. It has the night vision; although not quite clear, but just OK. But it is expensive, which costs almost 200 bucks.Now my son starts to crawl and I need another monitor in the living room, so that I know what he is doing when I cook in the kitchen. I did some research and knew I won't spend 200 bucks to buy a non-moveable nest camera again! I came across this Foscam camera and would like to give it a try because of its wonderful reviews. So I ordered one via Amazon Prime and cannot wait to install it when it arrived.The installation instruction is very clear. My husband spent only 5 minutes to have it properly installed. I downloaded the Foscam app, set up an account, and began our Foscam journey. The app's interface is quite straightforward. You can add more cameras if you'd like, which is quite similar to the Nest app. When you clicked the "living room" camera as shown below, you can have a live view of our living room. I love the "navigation" feature, that you can turn the camera left or right, up and down. That's exactly what I am looking for. It also has the "recording" feature, which is important for us to capture the precious moments of my son's development!Anyway, I am pretty satisfied with my order, and have recommended this camera to my mommy friends. I felt so sorry that I bought a motorola baby monitor for my friend last year, when I don't even know whether Foscom existed or not. She had much trouble using that camera because it interfered their home WiFi. If she has a second kid, I'll definitely buy a Foscam camera as a baby gift!