So I got these cheap cameras off eBay and they’re pretty good, for what they are.
Specification Table
| ITEMS | FI8918W | |
| Image Sensor | Image Sensor | CMOS Sensor |
| Display Resolution | 640*480 Pixels | |
| Lens | f: 2.8mm, F:2.4 | |
| Min. Illumination | 0 Lux | |
| Viewing Angle | 70° | |
| Audio | Input/Output | Linear Input/Output, which can realize two-way voice the intercom |
| Audio Compression | G.711/G.726, Audio sampling Bit rate 128kbps ~ 2.048Mbps | |
| Video | Image Compression | H.264 |
| Light Frequency | 50Hz, 60Hz | |
| Image Resolution | VGA（640*480 | |
| Image frame rate | 25fps(50Hz), 30fps(60Hz), Down adjustable | |
| View | H.264 dual streaming | |
| Image adjust | The brightness, contrast, saturation, chromaticity, is adjustable | |
| White balance | Automatic, Indoor, outdoor, is adjustable | |
| Infrared mode | Automatic, manual (on/off) | |
| Night visibility | Φ5mm 11 IR LEDs, Night visibility up to 8 metres | |
| Network | Ethernet | One 10/100Mbps RJ-45 |
| Supported Protocol | TCP/IP, UDP/IP, HTTP, SMTP, FTP, DHCP, DDNS, UPNP | |
| Wireless Standard | WIFI(IEEE802.11b/g/n) | |
| Data Rate | 802.11b: 11Mbps(Max.) 802.11g: 54Mbps(Max.) 802.11n: 150Mbps（Max. |
|
| Support IP address | static IP address, dynamic IP address | |
| Alarm | Alarm detection | The motion detecting, detection threshold Settings |
| Alarm inform | Support& nbsp;Email, FTP etc alarm inform way | |
| Hardware Interface | Memory | / |
| POWER Interface | DC 5V/2.0A (EU,US,AU adapter or other types optional) ， Power Consumption ﹤8 Watts |
|
| Audio Input/Output Interface | One audio input jack,One audio output jack. | |
| Reset Buttons | One Reset | |
| Ethernet | One 10/100Mbps RJ-45 | |
| Wireless Interface | WIFI antenna | |
| Other | Pan/Tilt Angle | Horizontal:300° & Vertical: 120° |
| LED Explain | One& nbsp;SD CARD Instructions，One power Instructions | |
| Environment | Operate Temp | 0° ~ 40°C (32°F ~ 104°F) |
| Operate Humidity | 10% ~ 80% non-condensing | |
| Storage Temp | -10°C ~ 60°C(14°F ~ 140°F) | |
| Storage Humidity | 0% ~ 90% non-condensing | |
| Physical | Dimension(LxWxH) | 110.5*103*127mm |
| Gross Weight | 768g(color box size:200*120*175mm) | |
| Net Weight | 420g | |
| PC Requirements | CPU | 2.0GHz or above (suggested 3.0GHz) |
| Memory Size | 256MB or above (suggested 1.0GHz) | |
| Display Card | 64MB or above | |
| Supported OS | Microsoft Windows 2000/XP, Vista, Windows7, Mac OS, Linux | |
| Browser | IE6 and above version or compatible browser, Firefox or other standard browsers | |
| Certification | CE, FCC | |
| Warranty | Limited 2-year warranty | |
Like most of these things, they are OEM and then someone else makes them popular. Such is the case here – I have Wanscam ones (Model AJ-C2WA-C118 or JW0008 – they appear to be the same), but Foscam are the popular ones at 3 times the price. Go figure.
I wanted to update the firmware, but didn’t want to brick them. Turns out it doesn’t really matter – firmware from Wanscam is branded with Foscam logo. So for firmware or manuals, go to the Foscam site. Firmware for FI8918W (currently loaded 11.37.2.54) works well.
It’s worth noting that the WebUI firmware from Foscam (2.4.18.18.001) is worse than an older Wanscam one (2.4.10.8).
———- Update 27/01/2014 ——–
Just updated with the latest firmware firmware from Foscam’s Australian site, released on Jan 23. Now on Firmware 11.37.2.55 and WebUI 2.4.10.9 (both Foscam ‘official’), both working like a charm.
———- Update 23/06/2014 ——–
Firmware 11.37.2.55 and Web UI 2.4.10.10 are now available on the Foscam site. Both work fine for me. FWIW I can’t seem to find firmware from Wanscan anymore.
———- Update 02/01/2016 ——–
Firmware11.37.2.65 and Web UI 2.4.10.13 are now available on the Foscam site. Both work fine for me.