Foscam FI9928 (P?) - Should I buy?

[justamule]

*(1st-time post, please delete if not allowed)

Hi everyone!
I've seen a lot of very knowledgeable people on here and now, I could use a little help too.
I've noticed that the price of a Foscam FI9928 can currently be bought for about $140.00.
I don't know if that's a good buy or not.

I had bought a similar one (in style only - a generic V380) at Walmart for $50 to test, and it worked well enough that I wanted to get a name brand camera, and I
figured it would be easier to find information, updates, firmware, and support if I did.
I put my plan into action and sold the wife on the idea but... (she said) it had to be about $150-$160,

Started researching and I found this Foscam and it "seems" to be an older model (?).
Is this a good buy or not considering the wife's budget limitations.
It's just to view my front yard & driveway (see pic).

I'm completely open to other suggestions in that price range & type, (happy wife, happy life).
I went to the store here, but I couldn't find Foscams, and that got me thinking... should even consider Foscam if it's not supported here?
There are just so many makes, models, and manufacturers to keep up with for a little 2 camera guy like me. So I'm reaching out...

It needs to be a "football" type PTZ (not dome) with LED's & IR night vision (4x optical maybe?) are preferred (just to light up any movement in the driveway).
I don't need a speaker in it either (if that matters). Motion tracking and following, are very important though.
I have ethernet already wired and, I have power at the location.
I would be using it with Blue Iris.

All recommendations and suggestions are appreciated.
Thank you.

 

[mat200]

*(1st-time post, please delete if not allowed)

Hi everyone!
I've seen a lot of very knowledgeable people on here and now, I could use a little help too.
I've noticed that the price of a Foscam FI9928 can currently be bought for about $140.00.
I don't know if that's a good buy or not.

I had bought a similar one (in style only - a generic V380) at Walmart for $50 to test, and it worked well enough that I wanted to get a name brand camera, and I
figured it would be easier to find information, updates, firmware, and support if I did.
I put my plan into action and sold the wife on the idea but... (she said) it had to be about $150-$160,

Started researching and I found this Foscam and it "seems" to be an older model (?).
Is this a good buy or not considering the wife's budget limitations.
It's just to view my front yard & driveway (see pic).

I'm completely open to other suggestions in that price range & type, (happy wife, happy life).
I went to the store here, but I couldn't find Foscams, and that got me thinking... should even consider Foscam if it's not supported here?
There are just so many makes, models, and manufacturers to keep up with for a little 2 camera guy like me. So I'm reaching out...

It needs to be a "football" type PTZ (not dome) with LED's & IR night vision (4x optical maybe?) are preferred (just to light up any movement in the driveway).
I don't need a speaker in it either (if that matters). Motion tracking and following, are very important though.
I have ethernet already wired and, I have power at the location.
I would be using it with Blue Iris.

All recommendations and suggestions are appreciated.
Thank you.

View attachment 82189View attachment 82189

Welcome @justamule

In general: Foscam is not well liked by members

I'd recommend avoiding it, and taking some time to see the reviews the members are posting..

Also I would review if you really need a PTZ.. most of us use 2 or more fixed IP cameras to cover the driveway.


update:
This Foscam I suspect has a very small sensor..
the manual does not even list the sensor size....

https://www.foscam.com/Uploads/usermanual/User%20Manual%20for%20FI9928P_V1.0.3_English.pdf

If $150 is your budget I'd confirm what it is you want to accomplish first...

 

[sebastiantombs]

Interesting that they won't even 'fess up to the size of the sensor, maybe 1/3"? Says a lot about the quality.

 

[justamule]

Vstarcam has some in that price range. Are those any better?

Sorry for the price limation but, do any others come to mind?

 

[mat200]

Vstarcam has some in that price range. Are those any better?

Sorry for the price limation but, do any others come to mind?

HI @justamule

Question: would you buy a YUGO car?

 

[looney2ns]

*(1st-time post, please delete if not allowed)

Hi everyone!
I've seen a lot of very knowledgeable people on here and now, I could use a little help too.
I've noticed that the price of a Foscam FI9928 can currently be bought for about $140.00.
I don't know if that's a good buy or not.

I had bought a similar one (in style only - a generic V380) at Walmart for $50 to test, and it worked well enough that I wanted to get a name brand camera, and I
figured it would be easier to find information, updates, firmware, and support if I did.
I put my plan into action and sold the wife on the idea but... (she said) it had to be about $150-$160,

Started researching and I found this Foscam and it "seems" to be an older model (?).
Is this a good buy or not considering the wife's budget limitations.
It's just to view my front yard & driveway (see pic).

I'm completely open to other suggestions in that price range & type, (happy wife, happy life).
I went to the store here, but I couldn't find Foscams, and that got me thinking... should even consider Foscam if it's not supported here?
There are just so many makes, models, and manufacturers to keep up with for a little 2 camera guy like me. So I'm reaching out...

It needs to be a "football" type PTZ (not dome) with LED's & IR night vision (4x optical maybe?) are preferred (just to light up any movement in the driveway).
I don't need a speaker in it either (if that matters). Motion tracking and following, are very important though.
I have ethernet already wired and, I have power at the location.
I would be using it with Blue Iris.

All recommendations and suggestions are appreciated.
Thank you.

View attachment 82189View attachment 82189

Take time to study this attachment

 

[SouthernYankee]

The money you save on a camera, will not pay for the broken car window in your driveway. Saving money on your security system is simply stupid.

The 5442 family of cameras from Dahua have a 1/1.8 sensor, this is the best sensor in the consumer grade cameras at this time.

I do not use PTZ, the general rule is that they will be pointed in the wrong direction when the action occurs. Also normally they are mounted to high. For a driveway, two cameras, one on each side of the garage door, no higher than the garage door, NOT on the soffit. You need to get the door checkers face.

Test the camera at night, have a friend act as a door checker, wearing a hoodie and a covid facemask, If you can not ID them then you need to work on the cameras. If the camera can not send the bad guy to jail, then they are a waste of money.

 

[gwminor48]

My first 2 cameras were Foscams, I would not recommend them, especially if you are trying wifi. Wifi is not a good idea anyway but I found Foscam wifi very unreliable. Check out the links others have posted. I'm so happy I moved on from my Foscam mistake.

 

[mat200]

Vstarcam has some in that price range. Are those any better?

Sorry for the price limation but, do any others come to mind?

Hi @justamule

Please let us know what your functional goal is? We can help more knowing what you want to accomplish.

 

[justamule]

My functional goal: To be able to see down my driveway, at any time it has movement, and tape any activity that may occur in a 270-degree arc.
I'm just a homeowner wanting to see and tape outside but, It seems this forum may not be the place for me. Sorry I can't afford a higher-end camera, but I
was hoping to find good solid advice here so, I'll move on. Thanks to those who took the time to reply. I'm out.

 

[mat200]

My functional goal: To be able to see down my driveway, at any time it has movement, and tape any activity that may occur in a 270-degree arc.
I'm just a homeowner wanting to see and tape outside but, It seems this forum may not be the place for me. Sorry I can't afford a higher-end camera, but I
was hoping to find good solid advice here so, I'll move on. Thanks to those who took the time to reply. I'm out.

Hi @justamule

1) SO, you're upset that the free advice which was provided is not meeting your bias for a camera based on your budget.

2) Sometimes the solution to a problem is not what those new to this topic think it is.

3) If you are willing to take the time you can save yourself headaches and lost money and time attempting to get a poor quality product. ( by going through the advice given, the cliff notes, and the numerous threads which we've invested a lot of time, experiences, and knowledge to share )


So far from your basic functional requirements that you just now shared:

Requirement: view and record video a 270 arc:
Solution: get 3 cameras that each cover 90 degrees.... it will be better than a cheap and not good PTZ.

 

[wittaj]

Wireless and cameras do not go together....add PTZ to it and you will miss a lot...

I have a friend that falls under this "I just want to plug it in and scan a code and it works and is cheap" mindset. Many years ago she bought a Foscam wifi camera to monitor her front door. She plugged it in and pointed it out a 2nd story window and downloaded the Foscam app and scanned the QR code and magically she could see her camera.

A few years later she bought a wifi printer and again, simply dowloaded the app from the manufacturer and scanned the QR code and she could start printing.

One time in the middle of the night, she hears her printer printing a page. She thinks maybe she is dreaming or hearing things, so she thinks nothing of it and goes back to sleep. Next morning she gets up and the printed page says I SEE YOU and a picture of her from her Foscam was below it.

She changes her wifi password in case it was the peeping perv next door that she has caught looking at her from through her window and he guessed her password, which was password because she liked thing simple.

Problem still persists. She goes into Foscam app and changes the password to the camera. Problem still persists. She gets a new router. Problem still persists. She gets rid of camera and printer.

At some point Foscam issues a security vulnerability and issued a firmware update. Based on chatter on forums, basically the vulnerability was something like when logging into the camera with a web browser over HTTPS, the initial login to the site is done using SSL. But then it establishes a connection to the HTTPS port again (for the media service) and sends all of its commands unencrypted. This means the username and passwords are being sent unencrypted. While this was a security vulnerability found in Foscam, I suspect it is in others as well. I suspect this is how my friend was hacked and someone was sending pictures of her taken from her Foscam camera to her wifi printer that she set up using the QR code.

Some times you get what you pay for.

 

[sebastiantombs]

@justamule What you're looking for simply isn't available in the price range you mentioned. If it were, we'd all have lots of them by now. Multiple cameras are a much better solution since they view, constantly, rather than move around and hopefully find a target to follow.

Bottom line is that a decent PTZ with reasonable or good night performance, black and white at night, is more in the $350 price range.