Foscam Setup

These are the (general) steps I used to setup and configure my Foscam camera.

1. Initial connection to camera:
   1. Press Soft AP button for 3-5 seconds.
   2. Use laptop to search for camera wireless network. Join it.
   3. Launch Foscam-compatible web browser (e.g., Firefox) and connect to 192.168.1.1:88 on Soft AP network.
   4. Set new login id and password (from admin/).
   5. Do basic setup: name, time, wifi parameters, and manually configured address and http port.
   6. Press Soft AP button for 3-5 seconds to disconnect, causing connect to production wifi.
2. Secure camera:
   1. Install Foscam desktop software to find camera, then update to latest firmware using browser. Firefox seems to work well (Chrome does not).
   2. Change default login id and password of administrative account.
   3. Disable these network features: DDNS, UPnP, and P2P.
   4. Allocate a static IP address and set a random 4-5 digit port number.
3. Optional adjustments:
   1. Name the camera.
   2. Update stream settings to be consistent with network bandwidth, e.g., “Smooth Mode”.
4. Update router:
   1. Ensure IP address assigned to camera is static.
   2. Open firewall to map the random port number to the camera.
5. Create an account at DuckDNS, getting a subdomain of duckdns.org.
   1. Configure a cronjob on a local computer to update DuckDNS periodically.
   2. Linux, Mac OS, and other OS instructions are available.
6. Configure applications (smartphone and tablet) to connect to camera.
   1. Owlr seems to work well.
   2. Use duckdns.org subdomain and assigned port number.
7. Can also configure VLC with rtsp://LOGIN:PASSWORD@MYSUB.duckdns.org:PORT/videoMain. See Foscam instructions for details and more options.