My Home Surveillance Setup

Due to the arrival of our maid and daughter, we have found the need to monitor our house. Here is what I did:

Foscam Cameras



I was a bit tentative about buying this brand but after a lot of searching and reviews, i really found this one of the best value for money cameras in the market. I bought x2 FI8918W (Pan/Tilt) and x1 FI8909W (Fixed). The product site is here. They both have 2 way audio, night vision and are wireless. Best of all, i got them at a steal of$398 SGD for ALL 3 July 11 Promotion.



A bit strange how you buy them though. You basically just send an email to the distributor (Marix) and then they come and deliver it to your door step. I was quite impressed with them as I emailed them on Sunday and they responded almost immediately. I confirmed a day later and got my cam the following day. Professional, quick and responsive.

Here is their thread on VR Forums.

Setting Up

Ok, setting up the cameras is NOT an easy feat. You have to be quite techy to be able to get it. Good thing is that the cameras themselves come with a very comprehensive guide to how to set up the cameras. Just note the following:

- You will need a router and know how to do port forwarding or have uPnP service function (you need knowledge of IP addresses, ports)
- You will need wireless capability if you want to place your cameras anywhere else away from your network cables (you will need knowledge of wireless connectivity/security)
- You will need a static IP or DDNS service if you wish to view your cameras over the internet away from home (you will need knowledge of DNS)
- If you want to record stuff you'll need a NAS or access to a server or cloud servers etc (you will need knowledge of networking, servers, cloud etc.)

Here is a very good thread on hardwarezone by 'Dr_Archer' that helps A LOT in explaining all I have mentioned here, including buying the cameras, software and setup.

One BIG note is that I still have not found out how to make the 2-way audio work for the cameras yet. I can hear the sounds but am not able to make any noise. Currently this seems to be an issue with the software, camera whatever. Anyway it was never a big concern for me so I'm fine taking my time to solve it. I'll update again when or if i solve it.

Software



The IP camera software market is ridiculously expensive. Fortunately i found a really good software called iSpy Connect. And its absolutely free! This software allows you to manage all your cameras and home and set things like motion detection, recording etc. It also allows different brands of cameras to be set up. So far i really like it.




Another option is to use the Foscam software that the cameras come with. Pretty OK for basic control with PTZ (pan tilt zoom) functionality BUT it does not allow you to add any other brand of camera in. My Dlink DCS930 was not able to work on the program. Totally free though.

For the iPhone, I have shortlisted lots of software down to:

IP Cam Viewer (USD $2.99)


Does everything you want it to. Manages multiple cameras etc. I like this one because its PTZ controls are more responsive and generally the interface feels better. There is also a lite version that is free. It actually works better with Android OS as it was originally created for.

Misc

- If your house is under surveillance you SHOULD declare it or risk getting sued if anything is 'compromised'.
- This takes up bandwidth so if you don't have plenty (like me) then take heed.

Ok thats about it, feel free to ask me anything and I'll try to help out if I can.

Edit: I just bought another FI8918W today!