Looking for a replacement camera that died Foscam FI9828W

[Little Moose]

I was looking around the internet for a replacement security camera. It's a bit overwhelming since I'm learning all this tech stuff. I'm great at keeping my pets happy, healthy and have a long life or growing 5lb tomatoes, not so much with technology. I'm still learning the terms. My other half was great at it and handled all the tech stuff, but unfortunately he died a little over a year ago. So I've been on a crash course of learning how to keep the network and cameras up. When we decided to put outdoor security cameras up was because of a bad neighbor. they on purpose would damage the fence and/or let/command their dangerous dog charge it, and property would go missing or be damage (egging house), etc. Every member of my family has almost been bitten. For these reasons we decided to document what was going on and at time didn't have much money (I'm on ssi) and the foscam seamed to meet our needs. After the foscam went up, we learned that these neighbors were also selling drugs to high school kids. Luckily, they moved after a year of these cameras being up. Luckily least some of the foscams were working this spring when some people came by around 4am checking all my neighbor's car doors. once they saw my cameras they covered their face and passed by my place.

My security cameras are hooked up to the router/switch which 1 pc controls. The cameras can be viewed by that and 1 other pc, both pc's are wired in the system/network. Blue iris is on a different pc. This system has been working since mid '14.....well when the cameras aren't timed out.....or rebooting themselves. When my other 1/2 set up this system, we decided to keep the wired security system in the network only although these cameras can go online if enabled and they can be either wired or wireless. Wireless seemed unstable. We on purpose made the pc that can't control the router to control the program Blue Iris. either of these pc's can access the camera, but my pc has a easier time finding them. The PC's are using windows 7. The plan was to have the Foscam FI9828W 1.3 Megapixel (1280x960p) 3x optical zoom wireless (mine are wired) outdoor PTZ IP Camera on the corners of the house with some bullet camera like by the front door, gate. We got as far as to get 3 dome cameras up. The only wireless camera is a d-link indoor and its on only at night. It stopped a member of the family from going in the kitchen and eating food with their fingers, and it watches the back door.

I have a foscam that died after about 1.5 to 2 yrs of use. It's a Foscam FI9828W 1.3 Megapixel (1280x960p) 3x optical zoom wireless (mine are wired) outdoor PTZ IP Camera it's hooked up to blue iris that shows/records all the cams. So what ever I get MUST be compatible with it. With the camera that went down, it stopped working about 6 months ago. It was working fine then no lights on, (there are lights on the LAN port) a hard reset and unplugging/plug all connection in the camera doesn't do anything. changing to another outlet and changing the power cord still nothing the camera just sits there not moving. With no power, I can't try any trouble shooting. I think it may be defective, but from what I've read on reviews on the foscam FI9828w..... that cam was on the market for roughly a year when I bought mine. back then the reviews were good. Now days they are mostly bad with any camera over a year old. night vision fails, timeout, sudden dead camera, cameras rebooting themselves. Some ppl who at first gave a 4 or 5 star review came back and gave a 1 star. If these reviews were there to read. I would of never gotten these Foscam cameras; the same problems I have seem to be wide spread, poor quality control.
Ideally I want the same features. eventually I'll be replacing all foscams (as they die), but first I need to find a quality brand that I can get the bang out of the buck.


Any ideas?

Thank you in advance

 

[FrankOceanXray]

I can't read all that. You lost me at 5# tomatoes.You have a question?

 

[Little Moose]

I have a 3 Foscam FI9828W 1.3 Megapixel (1280x960p) 3x optical zoom wireless (mine are wired) outdoor PTZ IP Cameras. One camera died after about 1.5 to 2 yrs of use, and the other 2 are still working mostly. The dead camera is in a dark area along the house pointed towards the street. There are street lights. it watches my chicken coop, gate, a side door, and another camera .

I want to get a different brand camera that's reliable with same features, that will give me many years of service, user friendly, not too pricey, and has to be compatible with blue iris. I'm new to this tech stuff/terms. I'm looking for recommendations so I can replace dead camera quickly.

 

[FrankOceanXray]

What is your budget? What are your goals? Can you install? Can you set-up and maintain? What is your hope for storage? Where are your security concerns?

Dahua or Hikvision are the big two in the routine homeowner's budget I'd venture.Find what camera specs suit your needs and shop for cameras intelligently.

 

[FrankOceanXray]

And for consideration, and I am guilty of the same only learned after install, look at a recent thread about a car thief that is on many cameras but not a single piece of valuable intelligence is garnered because of poor placement, sub-optimal settings, bad lighting and terrible clarity (pixels per foot, PPF).

 

[Little Moose]

What is your budget? What are your goals? Can you install? Can you set-up and maintain? What is your hope for storage? Where are your security concerns?

Dahua or Hikvision are the big two in the routine homeowner's budget I'd venture.Find what camera specs suit your needs and shop for cameras intelligently.

My budget is tight. I'm on fixed income and saving for a camera, so far I have 150 saved up

my goal is to least 4 maybe 5 PTZ dome cameras at the corner of the house. that will move to pre-set spots. In the future there will be other camera types between them, and hopefully by then I'll understand what I just read without looking it up. I was originally thinking bullet type, but after reading on here maybe something that doesn't attract as many spiders. My front pouch is small and has lots of spiders. I keep my garage lights on during the night which helps those cameras, but the backyard is dark. the side of the house is dark but there are street lights. I have some old cameras that are analog. they where plugged in a vcr

I helped my other half, when he installed the foscams and think I could manage. I can follow direction for set up and for maintaining them when a new patch is released I usually wait a few days and read to see if its messing other people's camera. that might be just a foscam thing though.

I use Blue Iris. I go through the clips delete or save (2 different locations). I do have 3TB external hard drive but its full. another is of my list to get another one that is what I was saving the money for, but I hate blind spots.

My security concerns are to keep an eye on this property. my ex has stalked me for nearly 20 years, has attempted to run me off of the road countless times, sabotage my vehicle (stays in garage at night), etc. I've some really rotten neighbor. I'm glad they moved. lately there have been more car break ins/theft. my current cameras did catch them and 1 of them spoke, but they covered their faces. least they decided not to go on my property. I also like to keep an eye on my hens at night. I used to have a dog, but he died this summer (old age).

what camera specs suit my needs.That is a great question. The cameras will be connected to my router or switch, so if I understand the terminology right that would be the IP? the current cams use a static ip addy (doesn't change). I know I need night vision. the camera that is being replaced will need PTZ. I like this feature, I use move the camera when the sun is at wrong angle for me to see. as a minimum 1.3 Megapixel (1280x960p). I'm still learning what this means. 3x optical zoom is nice but would be nice to be able to read the plate or have a good image of the person if something does happen.

 

[tangent]

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Original-Dahua-4MP-IPC-HDBW4421R-IP-Camera-HD-Network-IR-security-cctv-Dome-IP-CCTV-Camera/32468184582.html

If your budget is limited focus on good fixed cams in good locations before you worry about PTZs.

If you can't get over your PTZ fixation: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Original-dahua-DH-SD29204S-GN-IP-2MP-Mic-built-in-Network-Mini-PTZ-Dome-4x-optical/32667686587.html

 

[FrankOceanXray]

And no domes for outside due to glare issues. Bullets or turrets.

150 is more than enough to buy a decent camera for your needs. From my limited experience, I think the Dahua 4431C would be perfect. I got a few from eBay and AliExpress for about 80 each.

See if you can sell your foscams to fund another camera.

PTZ are pricey. If you are OK with multiple fixed cameras, thry will serve your desire for constant and wide coverage.

With more cameras means more runs of ethernet, power needs and good planning.

You have a lot of reasons to record. 3TB seems a decent amount. Do you have BI set to rewrite the old? Have it set to flag motion? How are you recording and what is your criteria to keep/delete it?

Id say if you are good with BI keep it but running a lot of cameras will need a lot of processing power. Consider a 16 channel NVR and add a camera at a time? Im finding even building a budget system adds up.

100-200 per camera.
600 for a computer with an i7-6700..
160 for a refurb 6TB WD Purple.
200 for a reel of Cat6 and tools.
POE switch (already outgrown 4 ports) 50.

 

[FrankOceanXray]

Also, look into landscape lighting. A well rlot yard and hime can be appealing, attractive but also a warning,discouragement to those who meam harm. Thry also allow cameras to get better quality images.

 

[Little Moose]

I have BI set to flag motion. the most cameras that have been on BI was 3 so far, but I plan on having more. I go through the clips and if I see anything of worth...my ex, people up to no good, etc...the clip is protected and saved. For example, One of my neighbors is a police officer and their house is in the background, back in April some people tried getting in to their vehicle, 2x in 1 night. they have a motion detection light which set off some my cameras. the light didn't phase the would be thief at all, in fact he used the flood light to see what was in the vehicle. I showed and gave my neighbors a copy of it. they asked when we put the cameras up to be in view.

Sorry for the following newbie questions. What's the difference between the turrets and dome cameras? I can tell the dome have the ir around the lens whereas the turrets doesn't. the dome has a cover whereas the turret doesn't. can turret move like the domes? I'm considering getting the turret instead of the bullet type. I have to be able to move the camera view either in the morning or evening. is one more vandal proof then the other?

 

[FrankOceanXray]

Domes have a "glass" bulb over the lens. A turret does not have the bulb. The dahua 4431C is a turret desgin. The bullet looks like a soda can.

Domes can have an issue at night as the IR they put out can reflect off the dome. Turrets and bullets done have that dome there to reflect the light back into the lens.

dahua has a, spec wise, very nice motorized lens turret for sale at about $200. The 4431C comes in 3.6 or 6mm and is fixed lens. Adjusting the camera is very easy, it is like a bone in its joint.

What distances do you need to capture? Then you can decide lens.

 

[FrankOceanXray]

Why moving cameras? May be best to have two cameras watching those areas or re-evaluate the lens.. perhaps capture more in the shot.

Vandal proof? If someone wants to steal, destroy or anything to your camera they could. Up high? Shoot it. Down low? Adjust it, hit it. Spray paint the lens. Etc.

 

[Little Moose]

My house faces east (morning sun) and the backyard faces west. I get a lot of glare. Even with my old system which were bullet cameras plugged in to a vcr/tv. I still have these cameras; they're just not hooked up. with my current cameras I move the view a bit and can see. no one can enter the blind spot without going through either of the camera's view.

The current foscam cameras are 88" (7'-4") high from the ground, the bottom of the dome is 85" (7'-1") from the ground, and 5" away from the house. they are on the corners of the house, and can move to see 2 sides of the house. The plan was to have domes in view of each other (from corner to corner) so if one was damaged it would be recorded along with another type of camera between them. I'm leaning towards the turret camera.

 

[Little Moose]

I think the Dahua IPC-HDW4431C-A would be perfect for my back pouch/backyard.... might even work in a few different spots, if I find the right attachment.

When we decided to put up the security cameras we wanted to put up the most expensive ones done first, the PTZ. I've been reading, and read,... and reading on this site and checking out cameras, or looking up a term til my eyes go blurry, but am getting lots of ideas. I've been more focused on the fascam ptz replacement since it covers my kids windows. They hate it cause they can't sneak out without being caught. no they are not aware its down, but another camera would catch them if they tried.

 

[mando209]

That 4431 seems to be a good seller on ali.people here are happy with that turret.make sure u pick the right lens that u want.


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[Little Moose]

The spot I'm thinking of putting is under the eve and the inside corner so there will be walls on either side. the fence on the left side of where this camera will go is about 27 1.2 feet. Its over 30 feet to the other fence line. the afternoon will hit the camera. if I put high enough it should ok, I think.

for the right right lens, is that what they call horizontal resolution? Sorry still learning. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Original-Dahua-4MP-IPC-HDBW4421R-IP-Camera-HD-Network-IR-security-cctv-Dome-IP-CCTV-Camera/32468184582.html

 

[mando209]

This is an example.



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[Kawboy12R]

Aliexpress uses an old hold over on their site from the analog camera days to allow people to select lens length when ordering IP cameras. The horizontal resolution buttons actually have nothing to do with resolution. They may as well label them a b or c for different choices but that just happened to be built into their site so they keep using it for a different purpose. Saves them a few dollars for redesigning the website.

 

[tangent]

Aliexpress uses an old hold over on their site from the analog camera days to allow people to select lens length when ordering IP cameras. The horizontal resolution buttons actually have nothing to do with resolution. They may as well label them a b or c for different choices but that just happened to be built into their site so they keep using it for a different purpose. Saves them a few dollars for redesigning the website.

I've actually seen a few (very few) ali express sellers who are savvy enough to give you buttons that say the actual lens size not the tvl silliness. So it's more a matter of how adept the seller's are at using Ali. These sellers seemed to be lower volume and may not have been the lowest price, and I probably wouldn't buy from them.

 

[Kawboy12R]

I haven't run across a savvy one then.