I believe previous FOSCAM's had a "hidden" jpeg URL that could be used with iCam....I seem to remember seeing a mention of this URL somewhere in this forum. Might be worth checking out.
iCamSource Pro does process H.264, I believe...I think he just posted to the wrong forum. iheefz, you should post to the iCam Pro forum, not iCam forum.
Sounds like you'd be using a different modem/router on Google Fiber vs. what you're using on AT&T DSL. With that being said, your issue is almost certainly related to the configuration of your router on the Google Fiber network. In my personal experience, I've had rock-solid connections after I properly set up manual port forwarding on my network. I never need public or private proxies, and I never fail to connect from anywhere.
Wow, you dug up a REALLY old post. lol SKJM released an app to turn iPhones into expensive network cameras. I believe it's called "ipCam". I've never used it, so I don't really know much about it. Hope this helps point you in the right direction.
When I had double-vision, it was because I lost Internet connection (when rebooting modem or router)...and it only lasted for a few minutes. iCam uses a broker server to assist in making the network connection between your phone and your computer running icamsource...so when a connection is lost/re-established, it seems as if it takes a few minutes before it purges the older connection data or something...resulting in the double-vision. At least that's my theory.
Now that you say that the other app is also unable to view the cameras (occasionally), I'm guessing that some/all of your problems are caused by your complex network setup and/or the strength of wireless connection between the access points and the cameras. Most network cameras (especially the cheaper ones) have relatively poor wireless range. If I remember correctly, I read some reviews of some cheaper network cameras and some people were saying that they had WiFi connection problems even with the camera sitting within feet of the wireless router/access point. Combine a poor connection with a constant stream of data, and you're going to notice interruptions frequently. I hard-wired all of my cameras so I wouldn't have to worry about wireless performance. Also, the constant stream of data over wireless generates more heat than a hard-wired connection does...which could make cameras more prone to freezing up and requiring a reboot. And as I said before, the same can happen to the wireless router (some are much more prone to overheating than others).
If I were you, I would consider running a test with a much more simple setup...one router connected directly to the Internet...your computer (running icamsource) connected to that router, and one network camera connected (wired) to that router. See if it works. If no issues, add another camera to the router (preferably the one that tends to lose connection the most often)...wireless connection for this one, approximately the same distance it would be from an access point when installed. Test the system again and look for problems. If all is good, add an access point and connect another network camera to the access point (wireless) and test the system. If issues arise at this point, then it's likely the configuration of your network (router and/or access point) that needs work. If the issue presented before the access point and 3rd camera were added, then your issue is likely the crappy wireless networking capabilities of your cameras. If all is good after adding the access point and 3rd camera, add a 2nd access point and connect a 4th camera to it. If possible, you do probably want to make sure that the cameras are connecting to one specific access point and not bouncing between two.
It could be that the energy saving feature is switching off the wireless network card (WiFi), which would cause you to lose connection to the network cameras, but not the USB camera...at least in terms of recording motion events. Are you unable to connect to iCam (on your phone/iPad) and view all of the cameras during these times when the network cameras are offline? If so, that would confirm that your computer is turning off WiFi to save energy.
SKJM posted the following in regards to a FOSCAM camera. Wansview looks like a FOSCAM knockoff, so this should work for them as well. If this doesn't work, you can likely change the frame rate in the camera's settings.
You can adjust the frame rate of a Foscam camera by adding a parameter to the URL (in icamsource).
Dealing with multiple routers/access points can be a real pain. There are multiple configurations possible, and I'm not personally familiar with Apple networking. My guess (and it is only a guess) is that your network is configured properly because everything is working (with the exception of icamsource, which I believe is likely a processing power issue...not a network issue). Once you modify the camera feed URLs (in icamsource) for the network cameras so that they are pulling between 2 and 5 frames per second (icamsource won't record more than 2-3 per second, so it's kinda pointless to exceed this), you should notice your processor usage drop significantly. With that being said, it might still be relatively high because you are also using the built-in webcam. You can't limit the frame rate of webcams...and if it's a HD-camera, icamsource is having to do a ton of work to resize each of the images (30/second) to 640x480 so that it's compatible with iCam. icamsource is constantly resizing images, comparing the current image to the previous one to see if there's a significant change (i.e. motion), etc. The more pictures/frames it has to analyze and the bigger the picture from the camera, the more it has to work. I used to use a webcam, but monitoring it alone was using 20%+ of my processor. I now monitor 4 network cameras and it uses 20% total for all of them. If I can find the post that explains how to modify the camera feed URL, I will post it.
A side benefit of lowering the FPS from the network cameras is that your network might feel a bit faster and it might be more stable. Some routers choke under the constant stream of wireless data from the cameras...but it sounds like yours are performing well, which is great.
Yes, the first 3 sets of numbers need to be the same for all devices on your network (cameras, computers, etc)...so if it came with a static IP address already assigned (192.#.#.#), you will need to change it.
One possibility (and the easiest to test) is that your computer is struggling to keep up with all of your cameras. To test it, first check the processor usage percentage for icamsource. My computer monitors 4 cameras and uses around 20% of the processing power (on average). If it's a much higher percentage, icamsource is having a hard time processing all of the video streams. There is a way to modify the camera feed links so that icamsource only pulls a few frames per second per camera (instead of the 30fps offered up by the camera). I changed mine to pull only 2-5fps per camera...so now icamsource is only analyzing/resizing/transmitting 2-5 pictures per camera per second instead of 30 pictures per camera per second...MUCH easier task! Try using the search box in this forum to find out how to limit the fps (frames per second) by changing the camera feed URL/link.
It could also be related to your network configuration, as it sounds complex. Have you tried either checking or unchecking the auto config router box in icamsource? If so, is there any change in behavior while your viewing device is connected to your home WiFi? Any change in behavior when your viewing device is using cellular data (disconnected from WiFi)?
Personally, I've had rock-solid stability with my setup by assigning all cameras and the computer running icamsource a static IP address in the devices' settings page...and I also enabled manual port forwarding in icamsource and set up port forwarding rules in the router. And, as mentioned before, I modified the camera feed links to limit the frames per second. The only time I ever have issues is when I run other processor-intensive software (video editing software, games, etc) that prevent icamsource from doing its job. Beyond those rare self-caused problems, I have 99.99% uptime.
As rjgvt pointed out, you'll want to be able to remote into your computer using the built-in RDP or some other service (logmein.com, etc). You also want a free Dynamic DNS account if you don't have a static IP address from your ISP...that will provide a link that you can use to remote in instead of having to remember an IP address or not knowing your IP address if you have a dynamic one. Once you have set up the correct port forwarding in the router (if necessary, based on your remote desktop service), create a batch file on your desktop with the following text:
@echo off net stop iCam net start iCam exit
The above text assumes the name of the iCam service is 'iCam". If it's something else, change the word "iCam" in the middle 2 lines to whatever the correct name of the service is. If the service name has a space in it, you might need to put quotes around the name. If icamsource ever crashes, you can remote into your computer and quickly run this new batch file (as an administrator by right-clicking on it) and restart the iCam service.
If you don't already have Google Drive to run as a service, you might want/need to set that up. If the computer reboots for whatever reason, and a user isn't logged in, Google Drive might not run and back up pictures until a user logs in. That would be easy for you to verify before you need to mess with it, though.
If possible, get rid of the USB extension cables...many users on here have had stability issues with those. If you run into this problem, and removing the cables is not an option, you can create a scheduled task to run the iCam batch file above every day or however often you deem necessary. Each time this runs, iCam will be down for 30 seconds or so. You might need to add some other commands to the batch file (such as taskkill) if it doesn't work as expected when used as a scheduled task and/or when icamsource freezes up.
Have you tried setting up manual port forwarding in icamsource, and set up port forwarding for the correct ports (at least 4 per camera) in your router? A couple of years ago, icamsource would crash on me when I attempted to connect with iCam while away from home.
Show Posts
