FOSCAM4K 8MP Security IP POE Cameras, T8EP UltraHD Home Surveillance Security Camera Outdoor with Two-Way Audio, 66ft Color Night Vision, Human/Vehicle Detection, IP66 Waterproof

The FOSCAM T8EP IP PoE Camera is the latest addition to my family of Foscam equipment. I have about 15 Foscam cameras spread out over two properties.This unit was easier to set up than earlier Foscam cameras. I’m guessing that they have upgraded the setup software in the cameras to make it much quicker to load the operating system and grab the network. You simply plug it in to a PoE network cable and wait for it to prompt you and then go to the Foscam app, click on “Add New Camera”, point the phone at the QR code, and it’s up and running within 30-60 seconds.Resolution is incredible. You can read license plates from a distance, small print on boxes at 20 feet, and identify faces easily across 30-40 feet. I like the ability to do the AI detection within the camera itself instead of having to use a cloud service. That means there are no ongoing fees to use the system.I personally put an SD card into each of my cameras and then if there’s an alarm, the first thing I do is download the videos to my phone for storage. That alleviates the bandwidth hit on the network from continuously streaming videos to a server or the cloud for backup.The only problem I have with this camera is how it’s mounted and aligned. Instead of the usual gimbal arm, this unit has the camera sitting in a two piece mount. You need to align the camera to whatever view you desire and then twist the outer mount portion and secure it with a set screw. Once the set screw is tightened, you can’t move the camera at all. This makes it difficult to do small adjustments if the camera gets out of alignment when you tighten the mount. A minor issue, but easily dealt with if you hold the camera tightly when you secure the mount.All in all, another excellent product from Foscam!

As a retired Tech guy, I am always tinkering with LED lights or IP cameras, much to my wife's dismay.I had an Amcrest camera looking out on the side yard from a window, but the glare made it useless at night, so I purchased this FOSCAM camera to mount outside high up on the exterior wall of the house. The setup was very easy, with a voice confirmation over the internal speaker that it connected successfully. The other thing that was a nice touch was that the dongle had integrated link lights to visually confirm the connection.Because of the roof line and where I needed the camera to point, I purchased separately a universal mount. Not the camera's fault, just the way the house is set up. Very easy to mount with a few tapcons. 640x480 resolution, but very clear on both the computer and iPhone. It has a built in spotlight and color night vision, all great for the price point.All of that being said, I do have a sophisticated Ubiquity UniFi network in the house, with multiple switches, and all of the video is motion activated recording to a Synology Disk Station NAS, although you can record to an internal micro sd card. Getting it all configured requires a basic knowledge of networking. First of all this is NOT a wireless camera. It requires it to be powered via the ethernet port, which means that it must be plugged in to a POE switch, POE NVR, or using a power injector. In short, this is a wired ethernet device sitting on your network.Just know what the parameters are, and if the above description sounds complicated, FOSCAM has a number of cameras that will connect easily to the wifi in your house.

Bought a few of these Foscam POE 8MP IP cameras to test as replacements for my old analog cameras which started failing after 20yrs of service. These cameras have a nice picture at 8MP, decent night vision. They are feature rich with 2-way audio, spotlights, motion and intelligent object detection, etc. After a week or so of playing with them, I ordered 8 more directly from Foscam and installed a total of 12 cameras on my property. All are connected to an NVR for 24/7 recording using Blue Iris software, which I also purchased from Foscam as their recommended software package.I quickly found these cameras cannot handle 24/7 recording operations at full 8MP resolution. I presume they overheat. After frustrating days of troubleshooting, I eventually found stepping them down to 3MP resolved (for the most part) their constant rebooting. Now, my 8MP cameras are 3MP cameras.I've since found they still randomly reboot, just not as frequently Their "features" don't work reliably. For instance, you can "link" the spotlight to the motion trigger, but out of 12 installations, maybe 3 cameras trigger the spotlight somewhat reliably.Their notification of motion or AI object detection is often delayed, sometimes as much as 10 minutes. Hardly conducive for security. The AI detection is spotty, but I kind of expected that. What was really disappointing is Foscam offers no package deal for their cloud and AI detection service for multiple camera operation. Prices starts around $4 per camera per month, which I find expensive given I have 12 cameras installed.I find their customer service is responsive, but not very tech savvy. They respond with canned answers of little actual troubleshooting value. I tried to RMA a few of the more problematic cameras, but received weeks of runaround until I finally gave up, which I suspect is their goal.They are a Chinese company. I've seen no firmware pushes since installing them, and have so little confidence in Foscam now I spent more money upgrading my router to isolate their cameras from my main network.These cameras may be ok for peeking into your home occasionally while away, but that's about it. I do not recommend them for any serious surveillance setup. I would not buy them again, and likely will replace them sooner rather than later. I went cheap and got what I paid for. Don't be like me.