@Stallion I have one, it’s okay. It’s mostly a visual deterrent. I’ve watched lots of urban wildlife walk past it. Right now a spider is spinning a web in front of it. I park my car in front of it and can’t even read the licence plate, so take that as what you will…
Just updated the event, the 720p dome is new, the rest are refurbished (like the other Foscams we’ve sold). This was listed above, but made it clearer in the title.
I have one of these and could not figure out how to access it if I’m not connected to my wifi. I messed with the router settings and everything. It’s back in the box and getting close to being sold on nextdoor.
@DaveInSoCal Try forwarding an outside port of your choice to the ip address of the camera & inside port 443. Then access the camera when not on wifi using your external IP address and that port you used.
@eric1024 You need to forward more than 443, I think mine was port 88 or something obscure-- I’d recommend putting them on a separate network without outgoing internet access though.
@rmeden I have 6 of the outdoor ones. No case or anything needed as they are SOLID! In fact if you make it easy enough to take down from where you mount it you may be able to use the hardened steel case to beat anyone that tries to mess with it!
What’s with the dark gray foreground on the not quite so dark gray background, Meh? You have a grudge against those of us with aging eyes who appreciate a bit of contrast?
You could watch me while I’m watching Chaturbate… the quality won’t be the highest but watching while watching can be just as fun as watching…especially when you know someone is watching…turn on for some. Ha
We had the catalytic converters sawed off two of our three cars last week - in our own driveway. 1st time anything like that happened in 25 years of living here.
But I don’t think these are the cameras for which we search.
@RedOak They sell those for pennies on the dollar compared to what they cost to replace them. Happened to me too. It was quite the hoopty driving around with no catalytic converter.
@norman8 yep - to scum salvage yards who ignore the law in our state that requires registration and a drivers license to sell used catalytic converters.
Catalytic converter theft has gone down in our state since the law but wheel theft has gone up. (Easy to dump on Craigslist.)
Stealing the catalytic converters is one thing but they more than double the damage cost when they cut the before and after pipes and yank out O2 sensor wiring. Wish they’d at least limit the cut to the catalytic converter body and thus cut the repair cost in half.
PSA: Thieves are bold but don’t make it easier by parking two cars next to each other in your driveway - stagger them if possible so both sides are visible to passing traffic. Bright lighting is good but didn’t make a damned bit of difference in our case.
For the techies out there - these cameras work great with ZoneMinder (Linux based, open-source NVR). You do not need to configure anything but video quality (bitrate, resolution, etc) and then have ZoneMinder use their streams and do all the magic behind the scenes.
@McFuzz Someone even wrote a half-ass control script for them, it gets things done, but the functions and buttons don’t correspond very well at all. The Foscam cgi guide is available for anyone that wants to mess with them. I still use an XP VM for configuring them though since I’m a Linux user.
Does ZoneMinder still use a Web UI? Absolutely hated it last time I used it. I was forced though because I was running it on a headless Ubuntu machine.
@Calsepher1 no you can set them up on free apps for your mobile devices and/or your computer but here is what I have typically found…the free apps are all manual. You need to do the port forwarding and everything on your router. The apps that are a few dollars may not set that up automatically but they will give you step by step directions. Tiny cam is an app a lot of people reccomend. I have not tried it yet.
@Calsepher1 On a PC, I used to use a program called iSpy (https://www.ispyconnect.com/) to monitor and record footage to the computer’s hard drive. I had a cheap dedicated desktop with a 2 TB hard drive that I used for that. Now I have a legit 10 camera 1080p DVR system, so I don’t have the foscams recording to the PC any longer.
I use an Android app called IP Cam Viewer for viewing my foscams on my mobile device.
I’m not sure about each of these models, but mine have the ability to email snapshots when motion is detected. So that’s another way it can be “monitored”.
They all provide motion alerts, remote control from your phone, and other smart-camera-y features
I bought what I think is the cheapest one of these from meh a while neck, and the built-in software sure didn’t detect movement.
Is there an unofficial guide to setting these things up somewhere? I gave in and got a Nest instead a while back so the Russians and Google and I could watch recordings from the cloud and get alerts more easily.
These are Craptastic cameras-- I don’t trust the embedded software nor the obscure browser plugin for configuring them, but they’re not terrible once setup:
Use a VM or PC you don’t care about for installing the plugin and configuring them
Use the same machine for doing a firmware update, since they’re probably out of date too.
Put them on a firewalled network with limited outgoing communication. i.e. only allow established connections to trusted IPs. Like most IoT devices, these cameras open a bunch of connections to the motherland, each of which is a liability for your network (once compromised could be used for relaying traffic, sending spam, hacking other devices on your LAN, spying on video, etc)
If you want to use the mobile app, use a crappy old android phone.
Setup a NVR software like ZoneMinder to access the RTSP stream. I’ve got cameras on one property, with ZoneMinder running off site at another-- If the power goes out or something happens at the first site, then I have a record at the second. Zoneminder is also pretty good with handling recording only on motion if you have the patience to set it up. (It also has an interface that works OK on a mobile device)
Other tips–
a) Setup the main stream for the most you might want to record/monitor remotely… I find 720P/10FPS/1M seems to work well. I setup the substream for 720P/5FPS/500K which makes the mobile app more responsive.
b) If you set up one of the pan/tilt units indoors, pointing out a window, disable the auto IR feature for nighttime, it’ll just reflect off the window and be useless.
c) If you monitor off site with an app like Zone Minder, you can also drop an SD card in (most models?) and configure the camera’s internal motion detect/snapshot. That way, if you lose internet the SD card is a backup.
d) The 720P units are 1280x720, the 960P units (not for sale today) are 1280x960, which is same width, but a 4:3 aspect. i.e. the extra few degrees of vertical field of view isn’t necessary, stick to 720P.
e) Be careful of the focus of the front element. If you bump it or adjust it, it’ll look shitty
f) The 9831 I received last time has pretty shitty auto brightness. In full sunlight, most of the is washed out, which was never a problem with the 9821.
I recommend the outdoor Reolink cameras. I use 4 of the RLC-410 and the audio and video quality is amazing at all hours of the day. I have had these cameras for 2 years now in weather ranging from -7°F to 110°F (good ol desert) and they never skip a beat.
I only use these Foscam cameras inside and even then I make sure to lock them down on my network.
We’ve got a few of the 9821’s we set up to monitor the cats when we are away. (if your wife is a “cat lady” you’d understand…LOL) They work well for that, and provide the wife with peace of mind that everything is “OK”.
As soon as I get home, they are unplugged, as I’ve read too many stories about the camera’s being hacked. I’m sure the kittah’s won’t care if crazy russian hackers see them. But, I don’t want the internet broken with old people sex…it would ruin the high standards of pron the internet is known for, LOL.
Strange. One unit set up smooth as silk and updated firmware like a dream, the other, like rough, rough burlap and a “IT” nightmare. Finally got a wifi connection, now it tells me the firmware on the is sooooo old, I have to manually update, which means I now need to connect it directly to my computer. Ugh. Work.
Browser Supported: IE8 and above; version;Firefox;Chrome;Safari
Os Supported: Windows,MAC,Android,iOS
Trying to access the camera on a Mac using Chrome or Safari, it requires me to install a plugin. Neither of them worked after the plugin install. It’s like the page doesn’t even realize the plugin was installed and keeps telling me to install it again.
It did work when I used it through VMWare and an old XP image but that’s not fair to consider them Mac compatible if the plugins don’t work.
If you have to use a plugin, why not just have a standalone app? If I want to visit a friend and then view my cameras from his computer, it wouldn’t work and I’d have to go through a whole process to get it working.
One of the two came without a wifi antenna. Worthless to me. I ordered a replacement antenna and then emailed Meh support with the details ($12 on Amazon). I got back a smart ass reply about “is this where we bargain?” for Meh credits. When I said I wasn’t interested in Meh credits they went silent. Last order for me from these turkeys–they think acting cute will make up for crappy service. At least Woot refunded the actual replacement amount when they shipped me a Dyson fan with no remote.
@johnelle if you emailed meh support and they said “go buy one on Amazon” that would be crappy support. If you went and bought one then emailed meh, what are they supposed to do?
The warranty for these is covered by Foscam, so that should have been your first step.
@djslack First of all they aren’t covered by Foscam for two reasons. One is that refurbs are never actually from the manufacturer–they come from a little refurb shop that drop ships directly. Second the Foscam brand (new cameras) was sold years ago to another company that tries to upsell you instead of supporting the camera.
Yes I did buy the replacement because I had just been through the same thing with Woot. Neither Woot or Meh keeps stock around so all they can offer is a return/refund on the whole unit. Makes no sense for a missing part so I went ahead and ordered it expecting at least a partial refund. (Woot gave me the whole amount of the missing replacement part cost)
Instead Meh offered to “bargin” for store credits. I don’t want store credits because I am NEVER ordering from these clowns again. I suspect that somewhere in the fine print they say they don’t issue refunds on defective shipments, but I don’t know and don’t care. The alternative sites make things right when they ship bad stuff (happens a lot with refurbs) and Meh doesn’t. Period.
@johnelle these carry a 90 day foscam warranty so they were refurbed by foscam. with meh crap that is how you find out who did the refurb… check the warranty link.
I ordered and received two FI9851Ps; one of them appears counterfeit. The boxes are different and the counterfeit one has what appears to be an Amazon third-party FBA label.
The counterfeit camera does not have a label with the serial number and MAC address like the genuine one.
Anybody else receive a counterfeit camera? Does Meh refund or exchange?
Specs====- Model: FI9851P (720p Dome) - Conditon: New - Sensor Type: 1/4"CMOS - Display Resolution: 1.0MegaPixels(1280 X 720) - Frame Rate: 30fps - IR CUT: - Minimum Lllumination: 0Lux(With IR llluminator) - Lens Type: f2.8mm;F=1.2Optional 3.6mm/4mm 6mm/8mm - Diagonal Angle Of View: 75 - Horizontal View Angle: 70 - Infrared Mode: Automatic or manual - IR Range: 10m (32.8 feet) - Ethernet: - Wireless: IEEE 802.11b/g/n - Wireless Security: WEP,WPA,WPA2 - P2P: - External I/O: N/A - 802.3af PoE: N/A - Power Adapter: 12V/1A - Video Format: H.264 - Multi Stream: Dual streams - Motion Detection: - Scheduled Recording: - Built In Ddns Server: - Browser Supported: IE8 and above version;Firefox,Chrome,Safari - Os Supported: Windows,MAC.Android,iOS - Night vision: - Firewall: Supports IP Filtering - User Acconuts: Three levels user role - 2 Way Audio: N/A - Built In Microphone: N/A - External Speaker Input: N/A - Built In Speaker: N/A - External Speaker Output: N/A - Waterproof: N/A - Dimensions(mm): 93 X 93 X 82 - Power Consumption: <4.2W - Operate Temperature: -4F~140F - Operating Humidity: 20%~85%non-condensing - Certification: CE,FCC,RoHS- Model: FI8910W (480P) - Condition: Refurbished - Sensor Type: 1/5" CMOS - Display Resolution: 300k Pixels - Frame Rate: 15fps(VGA),30fps(QVGA) - Lens Type: f:2.8mm,F:2.4 - Diagonal Angle Of View: 65 - Horizontal View Angle: 60(Your/Tilt angle: H=300,V=120) - External Card Slot: N/A - Wps: N/A - Video Format: MJPEG - IR CUT: - Minimum Illumination: 0 Lux(With IR illuminator) - IR Range: 8m (26.2 feet) - Ethernet: - Wireless: 802.11b/g/n - Multi Stream: Dual streams - Motion Detection: - Scheduled Recording: - Built In Ddns Server: - Os Supported: Windows,MAC,Android,iOS - Night vision: - 2 Way Audio: - Built In Microphone: - External Microphone Input: - Built In Speaker: - External Speaker Output: - Operating Temperature: 14F ~ 122F - Operating Humidity: 20%~85% non-condensing - User manual - Model: FI9821P (720p) - Condition: Refurbished - Sensor Type: 1.4"CMOS - Display Resolution: 1.0 MegaPixels (1280*720) - Frame Rate: 30fps - Lens Type: f:2.8mm, F:2.4 - Diagonal Angle Of View: 75 - Horizontal View Angle: 70(Pan/Tilt angle: H300,V=120) - Wps: - P2P: - 802.3af PoE: N/A - External Card Slot: micro SD card - Video Format: H.264, MJPEG - Browser Supported: IE8 and above; version;Firefox;Chrome;Safari - Infrared Mode: Automatic or manual - Firewall: Supports IP Filtering - Dimensions: 117mm x 114mm x 129mm - Power Adapter: 5V/2A - Power Consumption: <8.2W - IR CUT: - Minimum Illumination: 0 Lux(With IR illuminator) - IR Range: 8m (26.2 feet) - Ethernet: - Wireless: 802.11b/g/n - Multi Stream: Dual streams - Motion Detection: - Scheduled Recording: - Built In Ddns Server: - Os Supported: Windows,MAC,Android,iOS - Night vision: - 2 Way Audio: - Built In Microphone: - External Microphone Input: - Built In Speaker: - External Speaker Output: - Operating Temperature: 14F ~ 122F - Operating Humidity: 20%~85% non-condensingUser manual- Model: FI9803P (720p Outdoor) - Condition: Refurbished - Frame Rate: 25fps(VGA),23fps(720P) - IR CUT: - Minimum Illumination: 0Lux (With IR llluminator) - Lens Type: f:2.8mm, F:2.6 - Diagonal Angle Of View: 76 - Horizontal View Angle: 69 - Infrared Mode: Automatic or manual - IR Range: 20m (65.6 feet) - Ethernet: - Wireless: IEEE 802.11b/g/n - Wireless Security: WEP,WPA,WPA2 - P2P: - External I/O: N/A - 802.3af PoE: N/A - Power Adapter: 12V/1A - Video Format: H.264 - Multi Stream: Dual streams - Motion Detection: - Scheduled Recording: - Built In Ddns Server: - Night vision: - Firewall: Supports IP Filtering - 2 Way Audio: - Built In Microphone: N/A - External Speaker Input: - Built In Speaker: N/A - External Speaker Output: - Waterproof: IP66 - Dimensions(mm): 153 x 92 x 86 - Power Consumption: < 4.2W - Operate Temper: (-4F~140F) - Operating Humidity: 10% ~ 80% non-condensingWhat’s in the Box? ====2x IP camera 2x Mount with hardware 2x Power supply 2x Ethernet cable Pictures ====Options480p black480p back720p White720p Black720p Back720p Dome720p Included720p OutdoorIncluded with 720p outdoorPrice Comparison====480p: $167.52 (for 2 refurbished) at Amazon720p: $131.98 (for 2 new) at Amazon720p Dome: $129.98 (for 2 new) at Amazon720p Outdoor: $99.68 (for 2 new) at Amazon
Warranty
90 Day Foscam
Estimated Delivery
Friday, Dec 19 - Monday, Dec 22
Deal!
I always feel like somebody’s watching me.
@yakkoTDI Like the NSA?
@yakkoTDI Well that was some serious lag.
When meh is so broken not even the error screen shows up
Site went down for a second there.
Thanks for reminding me of the last two cameras I purchased from you that I still haven’t put into use. Refurbished and more expensive
.
@norman8 lol same here. Oh and recently there have been some security issues with Foscam cameras. They have the update patches on their website.
" Leaving your youngest child at home while you take a Christmas vacation"
@mfladd I’ve got to get around to seeing this at some point…do I really?
@norman8 One day when you are really bored, give it a watch for entertainment purposes.
I was thinking “Wait, Meh takes Labor Day off??”
Too bad those outdoor cameras have crappy reviews or else I would have been in for some.
@Stallion I have one, it’s okay. It’s mostly a visual deterrent. I’ve watched lots of urban wildlife walk past it. Right now a spider is spinning a web in front of it. I park my car in front of it and can’t even read the licence plate, so take that as what you will…
@Stallion they are decent once installed and setup
This is kinda turning into Kmart.
Page took so long to load I thought it might be a fuku. But no, just crappy cameras instead of random crap. Boo
this is a little confusing to me:
2 Way Audio: √
Built In Microphone: N/A
External Speaker Input: √
Built In Speaker: N/A
External Speaker Output: √
do i have to install a microphone to talk to my burglars?
to i need to wire up some outdoor speakers so they can hear me?
THIS
@Yoda_Daenerys Looks like none of the outdoor cameras have pan/tilt or audio support.
Just updated the event, the 720p dome is new, the rest are refurbished (like the other Foscams we’ve sold). This was listed above, but made it clearer in the title.
The FI9821PR (WiFi 720P, etc) is $52.99 on Amazon; c’mon meh - you can beat that :x
They look a tad different but pretty much the same camera… and not refurbished.
@McFuzz for 2 of em?
@McFuzz Right, but that’s for one.
@clonetek and @trimpe - yeah I am blind… my bad… can’t edit my post but I apologize to the gods of meh.
I have one of these and could not figure out how to access it if I’m not connected to my wifi. I messed with the router settings and everything. It’s back in the box and getting close to being sold on nextdoor.
@DaveInSoCal Try forwarding an outside port of your choice to the ip address of the camera & inside port 443. Then access the camera when not on wifi using your external IP address and that port you used.
@eric1024 You need to forward more than 443, I think mine was port 88 or something obscure-- I’d recommend putting them on a separate network without outgoing internet access though.
@caffeineguy Yeah, you can do either one - for these cameras 88 is the default HTTP port, 443 is the default HTTPS port.
@eric1024 I’ll try this out tomorrow and report back. Thanks!
I use security cameras like security blankets… I hold them close when I’m scared and lonely.
it’s not clear which models are pan/tilt. The specs only mention 8219… surely the dome is pan/tilt.
@rmeden I don’t believe the dome is P/T. Well, I believe it’ll be manually adjustable.
Here’s Foscam’s product page for that camera.
@ruouttaurmind yea, I’m pretty sure neither of the outdoor units have pan/tilt or any audio support.
I decided to go with the 821P… I may even put one outside either in an enclosure or a place isolated from rain/wind. Cheap enough…
/giphy reflective-tasteful-steel
@rmeden I have 6 of the outdoor ones. No case or anything needed as they are SOLID! In fact if you make it easy enough to take down from where you mount it you may be able to use the hardened steel case to beat anyone that tries to mess with it!
Deer can’t gambol, they haven’t got opposable thumbs.
@mehcuda67 But can they gyre and gimble?
@2many2no yes, in the wabe:all mimsy where the borogroves.
The local fauna has most definitely been gamboling in my back yard. Little shits fleeced me for over two hunnert bucks!
@ruouttaurmind If you look around the table and you don’t see the sucker…
@2many2no <sigh> Ya, the sucker was me.
What’s with the dark gray foreground on the not quite so dark gray background, Meh? You have a grudge against those of us with aging eyes who appreciate a bit of contrast?
Will these work with Chaterbate? (Asking for a friend)
@Brasssong kind of…
You could watch me while I’m watching Chaturbate… the quality won’t be the highest but watching while watching can be just as fun as watching…especially when you know someone is watching…turn on for some. Ha
Some crappy stuff on sale (again) lately.
Fuku is coming…
We had the catalytic converters sawed off two of our three cars last week - in our own driveway. 1st time anything like that happened in 25 years of living here.
But I don’t think these are the cameras for which we search.
@RedOak They sell those for pennies on the dollar compared to what they cost to replace them. Happened to me too. It was quite the hoopty driving around with no catalytic converter.
@norman8 yep - to scum salvage yards who ignore the law in our state that requires registration and a drivers license to sell used catalytic converters.
Catalytic converter theft has gone down in our state since the law but wheel theft has gone up. (Easy to dump on Craigslist.)
Stealing the catalytic converters is one thing but they more than double the damage cost when they cut the before and after pipes and yank out O2 sensor wiring. Wish they’d at least limit the cut to the catalytic converter body and thus cut the repair cost in half.
PSA: Thieves are bold but don’t make it easier by parking two cars next to each other in your driveway - stagger them if possible so both sides are visible to passing traffic. Bright lighting is good but didn’t make a damned bit of difference in our case.
For the techies out there - these cameras work great with ZoneMinder (Linux based, open-source NVR). You do not need to configure anything but video quality (bitrate, resolution, etc) and then have ZoneMinder use their streams and do all the magic behind the scenes.
@McFuzz Someone even wrote a half-ass control script for them, it gets things done, but the functions and buttons don’t correspond very well at all. The Foscam cgi guide is available for anyone that wants to mess with them. I still use an XP VM for configuring them though since I’m a Linux user.
Does ZoneMinder still use a Web UI? Absolutely hated it last time I used it. I was forced though because I was running it on a headless Ubuntu machine.
Nit pick:
s/to/too/ (well, for the first to, at least).
@wd5gnr I got another one: “Then we recommend: The 480p pan/title cameras”
No power over Ethernet, no deal.
@j8048188 Get yourself a pair of shitty passive cables; Problem solved.
/giphy wild-turkey-parade
Do I have to buy another app or service when I buy these to monitor them?
@Calsepher1 no you can set them up on free apps for your mobile devices and/or your computer but here is what I have typically found…the free apps are all manual. You need to do the port forwarding and everything on your router. The apps that are a few dollars may not set that up automatically but they will give you step by step directions. Tiny cam is an app a lot of people reccomend. I have not tried it yet.
@Calsepher1 On a PC, I used to use a program called iSpy (https://www.ispyconnect.com/) to monitor and record footage to the computer’s hard drive. I had a cheap dedicated desktop with a 2 TB hard drive that I used for that. Now I have a legit 10 camera 1080p DVR system, so I don’t have the foscams recording to the PC any longer.
I use an Android app called IP Cam Viewer for viewing my foscams on my mobile device.
I’m not sure about each of these models, but mine have the ability to email snapshots when motion is detected. So that’s another way it can be “monitored”.
@drumcorp69 thank you!
@medz thanks!
My order shows “QUANTITY: 1 720P OUTDOOR (FI9803P) @ $58”.
So am I getting one camera or two for my $58?
@davidMarchetti two
@davidMarchetti You’ll probably get a pair of LED Lanterns.
I bought what I think is the cheapest one of these from meh a while neck, and the built-in software sure didn’t detect movement.
Is there an unofficial guide to setting these things up somewhere? I gave in and got a Nest instead a while back so the Russians and Google and I could watch recordings from the cloud and get alerts more easily.
/giphy Russia
I don’t need any more LED Lanterns.
These are Craptastic cameras-- I don’t trust the embedded software nor the obscure browser plugin for configuring them, but they’re not terrible once setup:
Other tips–
a) Setup the main stream for the most you might want to record/monitor remotely… I find 720P/10FPS/1M seems to work well. I setup the substream for 720P/5FPS/500K which makes the mobile app more responsive.
b) If you set up one of the pan/tilt units indoors, pointing out a window, disable the auto IR feature for nighttime, it’ll just reflect off the window and be useless.
c) If you monitor off site with an app like Zone Minder, you can also drop an SD card in (most models?) and configure the camera’s internal motion detect/snapshot. That way, if you lose internet the SD card is a backup.
d) The 720P units are 1280x720, the 960P units (not for sale today) are 1280x960, which is same width, but a 4:3 aspect. i.e. the extra few degrees of vertical field of view isn’t necessary, stick to 720P.
e) Be careful of the focus of the front element. If you bump it or adjust it, it’ll look shitty
f) The 9831 I received last time has pretty shitty auto brightness. In full sunlight, most of the is washed out, which was never a problem with the 9821.
Actually-- it seems I might have missed the “Outdoor” setting when configuring my camera-- Options are 50Hz/60Hz/Outdoor.
@caffeineguy Sooooooo Muuuuuuch work.
I recommend the outdoor Reolink cameras. I use 4 of the RLC-410 and the audio and video quality is amazing at all hours of the day. I have had these cameras for 2 years now in weather ranging from -7°F to 110°F (good ol desert) and they never skip a beat.
I only use these Foscam cameras inside and even then I make sure to lock them down on my network.
We’ve got a few of the 9821’s we set up to monitor the cats when we are away. (if your wife is a “cat lady” you’d understand…LOL) They work well for that, and provide the wife with peace of mind that everything is “OK”.
As soon as I get home, they are unplugged, as I’ve read too many stories about the camera’s being hacked. I’m sure the kittah’s won’t care if crazy russian hackers see them. But, I don’t want the internet broken with old people sex…it would ruin the high standards of pron the internet is known for, LOL.
Seems like a good price for a cat monitor though.
Meh… looking at the FI9851P, and a brand new one is only $2 more on Amazon, with free shipping.
@cajun Got a link? Meh is selling this as a 2-pack. Maybe you found a 1 pack on amazon for that price.
@medz You are correct sir.
/image 2pac tuesdays
Huh?
/8ball is that called cross-pollination?
My sources say no
/youtube the smoker i drink the player i get
Dang it meh don’t make me buy two at once. I finally got all the other ones set up you sold me.
Sensor too big; meh.
Strange. One unit set up smooth as silk and updated firmware like a dream, the other, like rough, rough burlap and a “IT” nightmare. Finally got a wifi connection, now it tells me the firmware on the is sooooo old, I have to manually update, which means I now need to connect it directly to my computer. Ugh. Work.
Trying to access the camera on a Mac using Chrome or Safari, it requires me to install a plugin. Neither of them worked after the plugin install. It’s like the page doesn’t even realize the plugin was installed and keeps telling me to install it again.
It did work when I used it through VMWare and an old XP image but that’s not fair to consider them Mac compatible if the plugins don’t work.
If you have to use a plugin, why not just have a standalone app? If I want to visit a friend and then view my cameras from his computer, it wouldn’t work and I’d have to go through a whole process to get it working.
On of the cameras arrived without an antenna
@thulanya That ain’t right. Contact support: https://meh.com/support
One of the two came without a wifi antenna. Worthless to me. I ordered a replacement antenna and then emailed Meh support with the details ($12 on Amazon). I got back a smart ass reply about “is this where we bargain?” for Meh credits. When I said I wasn’t interested in Meh credits they went silent. Last order for me from these turkeys–they think acting cute will make up for crappy service. At least Woot refunded the actual replacement amount when they shipped me a Dyson fan with no remote.
@johnelle if you emailed meh support and they said “go buy one on Amazon” that would be crappy support. If you went and bought one then emailed meh, what are they supposed to do?
The warranty for these is covered by Foscam, so that should have been your first step.
@djslack First of all they aren’t covered by Foscam for two reasons. One is that refurbs are never actually from the manufacturer–they come from a little refurb shop that drop ships directly. Second the Foscam brand (new cameras) was sold years ago to another company that tries to upsell you instead of supporting the camera.
Yes I did buy the replacement because I had just been through the same thing with Woot. Neither Woot or Meh keeps stock around so all they can offer is a return/refund on the whole unit. Makes no sense for a missing part so I went ahead and ordered it expecting at least a partial refund. (Woot gave me the whole amount of the missing replacement part cost)
Instead Meh offered to “bargin” for store credits. I don’t want store credits because I am NEVER ordering from these clowns again. I suspect that somewhere in the fine print they say they don’t issue refunds on defective shipments, but I don’t know and don’t care. The alternative sites make things right when they ship bad stuff (happens a lot with refurbs) and Meh doesn’t. Period.
And suddenly after posting this I was issued a $13 refund for the replacement antenna. I guess this is what they meant by “bargining.”
@johnelle You should have said the replacement antenna was $100.
@johnelle these carry a 90 day foscam warranty so they were refurbed by foscam. with meh crap that is how you find out who did the refurb… check the warranty link.
I ordered and received two FI9851Ps; one of them appears counterfeit. The boxes are different and the counterfeit one has what appears to be an Amazon third-party FBA label.
The counterfeit camera does not have a label with the serial number and MAC address like the genuine one.
Anybody else receive a counterfeit camera? Does Meh refund or exchange?