My Foscam Went Haywire- Buy At Your Own Risk

Bungoma20 thought this was worth mentioning said Wed, Oct 19th 2016 at 8:47am ET

Used a Foscam baby monitor for almost two years to keep an eye on my infant, then toddler, daughter. We had a cheaper model, one without wifi connectivity, and the signal only worked up to about 100 feet from the base.

This spring, after about 20 months of use, I glanced at the monitor to check on my sleeping child while my husband and I were watching TV late one night. The camera was panning back and forth and up and down. It was seriously the scariest thing I think I’ve ever seen. I shot up the stairs, put my hand over the still moving base, and ripped the cord from the outlet.

My first thought was that we had been hacked. Then I remembered that ours doesn’t even have wifi. It. Was. So. Creepy.

I called Foscam a few days later to ask what had happened, and they said “oh, you must’ve had a power surge.”

Power surge or not, I was entirely too weirded out to use it again. Sold it on eBay the very next week.

Buyer beware! ☠️☠️☠️

6 comments, 7 replies
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therealjrn said Wed, Oct 19th 2016 at 10:10am ET:

@Bungoma

Your home isn’t built over an old burial ground is it?

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Smitty2525 said Wed, Oct 19th 2016 at 11:44am ET:

I blame the internet of things

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carl669 said Wed, Oct 19th 2016 at 11:48am ET:

@Bungoma20 this is actually normal if the camera loses power. when the camera gets power back, it runs through a self check where it pans and tilts through its entire range of motion.

i have 2 foscams (one bought from meh) and this is a normal thing.

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- @carl669 That’s good to know. I don’t remember a power outage or even a flicker that night, but who knows.
  
  Bungoma20 said Wed, Oct 19th 2016 at 12:17pm ET
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- @Bungoma20 Oh I know, clearly your house is haunted.
  
  therealjrn said Wed, Oct 19th 2016 at 12:22pm ET
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- @Bungoma20 yeah. sometimes they seem to reset for no apparent reason.
  
  carl669 said Wed, Oct 19th 2016 at 12:29pm ET
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- @therealjrn
  nah, but it was still spooky.
  
  Bungoma20 said Wed, Oct 19th 2016 at 12:33pm ET
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Barney said Wed, Oct 19th 2016 at 12:28pm ET:

You don’t happen to live near my Mom’s house, do you?

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- @Barney
  yes, I do!
  
  Bungoma20 said Wed, Oct 19th 2016 at 12:33pm ET
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- @Bungoma20 LOL That means you live close to me. Have you seen any lost marbles roaming around?
  
  Barney said Wed, Oct 19th 2016 at 12:35pm ET
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- @Barney
  
  And it is even purple
  
  Also searching the internet - yours might be in here:
  
  You’re welcome.
  
  Kidsandliz said Wed, Oct 19th 2016 at 8:02pm ET
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cattylaq said Wed, Oct 19th 2016 at 2:11pm ET:

/giphy haunted house

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miko1 said Thu, Oct 20th 2016 at 12:25am ET:

Ain’t nobody got time fo dat.

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