After some pain and suffering, I was able to set up three Foscam FI8910W IP cameras so that I can connect wirelessly and remotely (3G) via an app called Foscam Pro. I would like to use iCam instead because iCam has better features for motion detection and notification.
However, with iCam, I'm getting a "source connection error" when I try to connect from outside my home network. The thing that seems odd, though, is that I can get motion detection notifications outside my LAN no problem. Is that odd, or are they two completely different things?
My workaround is to open Foscam Pro whenever I get a notification from iCam. I also have iCam source set up to save recorded motion events to a Dropbox folder (which I can view remotely with my iphone). This works, but it's clumsy, at best.
My router supports UPnP and NAT. Both are enabled. I have also manually forwarded ports for the three cameras. I'm using dyn/dns for static IP addresses. I've tried clicking "auto-config router" in iCam source. My router firewall is disabled. I've allowed iCam through my software firewall.
I'm the OP. Just wanted to follow up to say that a couple days ago I moved some things around with my network because I was having wireless problems. I added hard wiring, and to make a long story short, I logged on to icam via 3g today, and it worked. It's not super fast, but it is working. I'm not prepared to retract all the bad things I said about Hughesnet, but I think at least some of the problem was with my router.
Yeah, Hughesnet sucks. Not only that, but you pay $500 up front for the equipment and installation, and then you are committed to a 2 year contract. I used to complain sometimes about Comcast, when we lived somewhere else. I didn't know how good I had it. Unfortunately, we have no other options (rural).
But I digress...
The Dropbox solution works perfectly: I run multiple cameras, get instant notification, and then log in to Dropbox and get the photos, which are even automatically set up as thumbnails, so I can just go right to the one I want. And on top of all that, I realized that I don't need to give up the convenience of being able to enable and disable as I'm getting in an out of my car, because, if I'm in the driveway, my wifi automatically connects and I can use iCam to log in. Perfect! It took me three days of head scratching, but now I have a security system with all the features I wanted, and I only had to buy two apps and a USB extension cable.
Ok, well, I did a bunch of stuff and none of it worked. I'm not especially tech savvy, but it seemed weird that I could not forward ports. So I googled port forwarding and hughesnet. I don't completely understand what I read, but there's a slew of other people with the same frustration. it did seem clear enough that the modem hughesnet supplies is the problem. That is, it is unconfigurable, and I think it somehow renders anything I do with my Linksys router irrelevant. In any case, this whole thing was really just a "nice to have" sort of deal. I'm going to rethink this and just set up some cameras that sense motion, take pictures, and email them to me. I suspect I will be able to do that pretty easily. Thanks for the offer of remote assist, but I think this is where I refocus my efforts.
Hi, thanks. Well, I guess I'll investigate port forwarding and setting up static ips. Frankly, I almost always end up making a stupid mistake when I'm doing that sort of stuff, and I don't discover it until I've been at it for 17 hours. I still wake up with nightmares over setting up my wireless network with security. The suggestion to try rebooting the router is a good one. Thanks. As for Hughesnet, I do plan to complain, but, based upon what I've seen, they are well aware that they aren't delivering what they promise. There is a class action in CA right now, I believe.
Thanks for the reply. Picture is clear and and shows no delay viewed on computer. iCam source utilizes about 30% of resources. If I stand in front of of the camera, looking at my iphone on 5 bars 3g connection, the delay is about 20 seconds. I have a lousy satellite connection (Hughesnet) which rarely (never) supplies advertised speed of 1.6 mbps download. Just now tested and upload speed is 0.13 mbps, while download was 0.50 mbps. Nevertheless, when I got fairly good live video on the other app, I thought there might be something specific to iCam I could change.
So, here's where I am now: Since I posted this thread, I've adjusted my expectations. I suspect that my poor internet connection is too a big a limitation. I've pretty much given up on the idea of live video feed, and I don't actually even need it. What I want is motion detection, notification, the ability to remotely view recorded pictures of the detected motion, and finally, the most convenient feature, offered only by iCam, as far as I can find, is the ability to enable and disable recording and notifications from my iphone.
But...after saying all that, I actually have a new problem. Two days ago, I checked everything out and it worked fabulously. I was able to connect to two cameras on two separate computers on my home network, OR two cameras on the same computer. No issues whatsoever, except the delay mentioned above. As of yesterday morning, I would get source connection error every other time I would try to connect via my iphone (on either wifi or 3g). As of yesterday afternoon, attempting to connect with more than one camera immediately crashes iCam Source (I get connection error, then I go to the computer and see iCam Source has crashed). I managed to get things back to the point that I could connect to a single camera attached to one of my computers.
I'm using the latest beta of source (1.4.2.6), but NOT checking the box to automatically open a port works, while checking the box seems to cause problems. I have uPnp enabled on my router, but I haven't explored manually forwarding yet. Since I am able to connect to a single camera on both 3g and wifi, I'm assuming this means that the problem is probably something other than port forwarding. I've tried disabling my firewall, and shutting off any programs that have anything to do with internet.
I'd really like to have multiple cameras. If you have any ideas what might be causing the source connection error and subsequent crash when attempting to connect to more than one computer on my network (each with a camera), I will investigate further.
I want to use iCam as part of a security system. I have been comparing iCam to another app (jumicam), by connecting over my home network, and the other app is providing almost completely smooth, almost instant video update, whereas the iCam video is considerably more delayed, and there are large gaps (Is this what is called "dropped frames"?). I'm not concerned about resolution or quality of the video. I just need to be able to distinguish a cat from a person. What happens now, when I view on my iphone, through iCam is this: If someone walks across the camera's field of view, on my iphone, I typically see nothing, but if they they go very slow, a leg or torso might appear, floating in the middle of the room and then quickly vanish. As I said, this doesn't happen with the other app.
I would like to figure out a way to improve the video because iCam is perfect for my circumstance in every other way (push notification of motion events, ability to activate and deactivate remotely, audio, multiple cameras...). The other app doesn't do any of these, just the video. I think I may be asking for contradictory things, though, since increasing the frame rate may be the only solution, but this would only make the problem worse, correct?
Nevertheless, I figured I would ask because the other app seems to be doing something different with the video since I'm able to see it live, without much delay, and without any gaps. If there is something I could do differently, I'm all ears. Lower resolution webcam, for instance? I've already tried turning off audio in iCam Source, in order to reduce the amount of data being sent, but it didn't make any difference in the video gaps.
Thanks
iPhone 3G with OS4 (will be upgrading to iPhone 4 soon) Windows XP, latest service pack Pentium 4, (dual 3 Ghz), 2 GB RAM Logitech Webcam Pro 9000 Linksys WRT54G wireless router
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