Foscam FI8910W Wireless IP Camera Review
Foscam is known for their affordably priced, yet relatively good quality day/night cameras for home surveillance needs. The Foscam FI8910W provides an extra IR filter that makes the colors of the pictures as accurate as possible, as otherwise the colors tend to be distorted. Another major improvement over the previous model is the possibility of manually adjust the IR illuminators, meaning that you’re able to point the camera towards illuminated reflections, like windows for example, without the fear of obscuring the pictures.
The maximum resolution is low-ish 640×480 VGA, with built-in microphone and speaker to record any possible audio as well. The audio quality is not exactly anything to give a good remark of, but it gets the job done. Picture quality has still improved a lot from the previous model, especially during daytime because of the improved color accuracy, but the sharpness still lacks behind many other makes and models. In complete darkness the IR illuminators tend to have the flashlight effect – also called the hot spot – in the middle of the picture, which while noticeable, is not enough to bring in any real issues. There are no settings for white balance or exposure time.
Pictures can be set to be sent either via email or FTP on motion detect, and with the only setting to motion detect being the sensitivity, it obviously lacks more sophisticated elements which some consumers might find essential. Motion detect videos can also be saved, and the playback is possible without any extra software – Windows 7 Media Player is sufficient for this task. But one quite big drawback is the fact that the camera control interface only seemed to work with Internet Explorer, which is not the browser of choice for many, especially more advanced users.
The management and configuration interface is still quite sleek, and it allows the user to easily control the camera in real time. It’s possible to set the camera to have a fixed IP address and forward the different port for easy access, with no need to constantly check if the IP address has been changed. Some Internet providers might be blocking ports like 25 for SMTP protocol based email delivery, so it’s nice to know that one can set it to their liking, thus ‘circumventing’ these restrictions placed by their ISP.
All in all, if you’re in a need of a simple and affordable surveillance camera, the Foscam FI8910W is a perfect match for you. The setup might be a bit too technical for users who are not very familiar with port forwarding or email access configuration, especially since the terms are not laid out in easy to understand format. However, with a little initial help, managing the camera is a breeze. Image quality has been worked on compared to the last model, and it can be classified as ‘decent’. The pictures are of a low resolution, but they proved clear vision of what’s happening, and who or what is in the picture. Another thing worth of mentioning are the built-in IR illuminators, which help greatly both in day and night time conditions, to provide the best picture quality possible.
While it has it’s flaws, the Foscam FI8910W is a good overall wireless IP camera. To learn more about this Foscam or to purchase it, Click Here.
