For some time I have had a security camera system comprising a Mac app connected over the LAN to some Foscam cameras. In my time I have had four of these babies, but they come at a cost - they are chinese and not very good quality (despite their 130€ price tag), they are a bitch to set up and the security video app (sold by an american guy) does not like Foscam, so makes it almost impossible to find models which will work with his system. He has a complex about wifi cameras not being as good as network connected ones too, but wifi makes their installation so much more flexible.
You might, reasonably, ask why I have such a tricky installation - well, about
10 years ago, it was the first of its kind I ever saw and installed in a local wine
-seller (and cellar for that matter). I bought the system based on what I had
seen working , so knew it was viable.
I had a couple (ok, three) installed, but then accidentally bought a new one which I thought was the same as my existing ones, but I had transposed two digits in the order and it would not work. It cost me about 25€ to send it back. American guy was proved correct in one respect as they seem to last less than a 2 or 3 years, so the quailty is poor and repair is impossible. His alternatives are nearly all US branded (branded, but still made in china I will guarantee) and cost even more, plus they are not available in europe, so there is the additional transport cost. Not a ot of positives really.
I have, therefore, been on the lookout for an alternative, working on the plan that when the final Foscam drops off its perch (3 gone already) I will implement a more modern and simple system. Just for fun, I bought a QZT camera which was about 40€ - working on the concept that, if it worked I was quids in, and if it didn´t I hadn´t lost much. Well, it didn´t work with the Apple app, but worked stand-alone - and actually had most of the features of the original system. I also had a cunning security wheeze, as these chinese cameras have a bit of a reputation for being insecure (think Huawei), so, instead of putting it on my main LAN I attached it to my VPN service - a separate wifi that thinks it is in Timbuctoo or somewhere like that. All very good, so that one got mounted in the back passage which has always been a bit of a dead-zone (in security terms).
Unfortunately, one of the Foscams on one of the front gates went belly-up recently, so I was reduced to one "road cam" and that has started to be a bit temperamental. Time for Plan "B" (or "Q" in reality).
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