Foscam FI8905W Outdoor Wireless IP Camera

Product Review (submitted on July 4, 2011):

First of all, I just have to say; you need to actually look at the dimensions of this baby. I really expected it to be much small, but then, what would I be able to tell from a picture of just the camera?

As others have said, the pigtail on this thing is VERY cumbersome. The Ethernet cable/Rest switch/Power leads make securing this camera a challenge. I will try to post some pics to give you an idea...

I of course refuse to use the windows software, so this review is for Linux or Mac users.

Once you unwrap the camra and get it set up someplace inside, connect the Ethernet cable to your switch or router then check the DHCP log for the new device. Open Firefox and put that IP into your browser location field. The camera will display a login screen. If you do not get the login screen for that IP, you might need to push the rest button and wait about 1-minute for the camera to reset. Then refresh your browser. Ignore the ActiveX portion at the top and select the Login button at the bottom of the display. You will get a login popup. Enter "admin" for the userid and lease the password blank. This will get you to the device status. You will also see the "Live Video" and "Device Management" tabs which you can Read The Fun Manual for.

One BIG gotcha that took a while and some googling. You can thank me later. The camera works great inside and the night vision is amazing with the Eye of Sauron LEDs shining brightly, but when you take it out into the sunlight, the live image goes totally white. On the "Live Video" page, find the "Mode" button, click on the pulldown selector and select "Outdoor". Poophtah! You have an image again. You may need to adjust the brightness and contrast a bit.

It won't do wireless and wired at the same time. Set up the wireless, unplug the wire, and reset the camera. If you leave the wire attached, it just seems to disable it.

An annoyance: the camera seems to always have a component of IR sensitivity. If you want true colors, don't even bother. Warm colors seem to work, but blues and greens are washed out to a night-vision look. For me, I can deal with it because I plan to enjoy the night vision component for watching deer and raccoons around my LakeShack.

Pros:
Good price
good nightvision
Fairly good resolution
Works with Firefox and Linux
Works with my MiniCam Android App. (You'll need to set up dynamic DNS and a port pass-through on your router...google it)
Supposedly works with ZoneMinder on Linux...Hope to try that.
I tested the FTP portion and it worked fine. (Wish it would let me change the names it uploads like Trendnet cameras)
live video without ActiveX

Cons:
Really big! It won't be discrete
IR LEDs are very red in the dark. Again not discrete
Mounting bracket is barely usable.
Poor color rendering
VERY narrow field of view. Good for distance, not great for covering a wide area close to the building.
Did I say it was big?
Power supply is one of those wall-ticks and it gets really hot.

TL/DR: Good for the price, great for night vision, works without Windows and Internet Exploder.