Review - TOP-201 Super Mini 720P HD IP-Cam (The Cheapest IP Cam So Far !!)

[JDWX]

Nice, just writing my last post reminded that I'd seen the recommendation on amazon review of the cam when I bought it,

This cam:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KA4M4WS?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00

He wrote: "Update: 1/8/2015 I found an even better lens for this camera here on Amazon. It's a 2.5 mm lens, but a much wider Field of View. Also the overall image clarity much better. Well worth checking it out".


Go Pro Lens? Hmmm. Hope it fits, I think I'm going to be trying it.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E1YYSD6/ref=pe_385040_128020140_TE_3p_dp_1

 

[AlpineWatch]

May I ask where you get an "assortment" of lenses to screw into this camera? I am planning to purchase one soon.Thanks,Gerald

It was this assortment
http://www.dx.com/p/2-8mm-16mm-fixed-iris-lens-set-for-webcams-and-security-cctv-cameras-6-lens-pack-15774

 

[Tomasz72]

Hello. I saw this "fixed lens" in internet shop in my country (Poland) for about 1USD (+shipping cost). I ask them about shipping to other countries. I will keep you inform

 

[Phorce1]

Thanks to all who replied.AlpineWatch, were the replacements less "leaky"? I think I'll go ahead and order a TOP-201 from BuyInCoins to play with. They still have the lowest price I've seen.

 

[Tomaxi]

Have anyone solved this gmail ssl error? My camera wont send alarm-emails or nothing, only errors comes up. Everything is set up correctly, i'm sure about that.
I've contacted to the manufacturer and they said that this is a big problem for them now. Said also, that only chinese mail adresses will work, qq, sina, etc.?
I'm getting angry because of this.

edit: My camera is MiSecu 1MP wifi, but the software is the same:
V4.02.R.12.00006510.10010.1403 (1403 because of Wifi-functioning, wont work in newer version.)

edit2: May this or may not be related to ssl sha-1 changing to sha-2 certificate..if the cam is using sha1 and gmail needs sha2...

"SSL: Closing on protocol error 42
sslRead error in sslDoHandhake"

"SMTPD: Mail Connect...
Error 2 connecting to server...
SMTPD: connect mail server failed
SMTPD: connect mail server failed!
ProcessMsg opResult = 0"

t. Tommi from Finland

 

[MistaBeak]

Gave that a try thanks. Couldn't register. Had to use Internet Explorer to even get close to getting to the 2nd page of the reg process. Since jumping into this whole surveillance camera industry since my Sept/15 home break-in, I have become sick and tired of Chinese web sites and their software that doesn't work, can't be understood etc. And an update on my TOP-201 camera is that it has begun to fail. Get what you paid for I reckon. The software that comes with that camera will have you pulling your hair out.

 

[pkm]

Avant browser shows the web interface as intended. I tried a lot of browsers in Win7 to find that.
So you can choose the language and then go to settings and adjust everything, remove the title and the time etc.
You can also change the settings via CMS software or ONVIF Device Manager.

 

[1458]

Hello,

I have one of these cameras bundled with an WiFi module.
Initially I had two problems:
1. The wifi worked only for channels 1-11, but I fix that unpacking the cramfs file system of the cam, put "iwpriv set CountryRegion=5" command in one script file, repacked and flashed back the image, now the cam's wifi module works on 1-14 wifi channels.
2. Snapshots sent to email and FTP are only 720x576 pixels. Is there any way to make it full sensor resolution 1280x720? I tried changing some internal camera config files (CustomConfig/AVconfig changed D1 to 720p) but it did not work. There must be a way to change the snapshot resolution!!! The worst case could be if it is hardcoded in the Sofia app.
Does anyone know the format of the config files in the Json folder of the cam?

Hi, t_i_t_o
1. Could you tell me a useful how-to about repacking cramfs and flashing back image to camera?
2. Which particular files you have changed? Did you notice any changes in camera menus or somewhere else? I'm thinking about modding stuff in CustomConfig too, but i have other hardware (HVR/NVR with similar Sofia-based firmware) and my problem is that i get snapshot menu and able to receive snapshots only in pure analog mode (4xD1). So it would be great if you provide some more details about your changes. Concerning your question about format of the config files i believe they are just plain text multidimensional arrays things and could be easily edit with advanced text editors like Notepad++.

 

[Stef]

Have anyone solved this gmail ssl error? My camera wont send alarm-emails or nothing, only errors comes up. Everything is set up correctly, i'm sure about that.
I've contacted to the manufacturer and they said that this is a big problem for them now. Said also, that only chinese mail adresses will work, qq, sina, etc.?
I'm getting angry because of this.

edit: My camera is MiSecu 1MP wifi, but the software is the same:
V4.02.R.12.00006510.10010.1403 (1403 because of Wifi-functioning, wont work in newer version.)

edit2: May this or may not be related to ssl sha-1 changing to sha-2 certificate..if the cam is using sha1 and gmail needs sha2...

"SSL: Closing on protocol error 42
sslRead error in sslDoHandhake"

"SMTPD: Mail Connect...
Error 2 connecting to server...
SMTPD: connect mail server failed
SMTPD: connect mail server failed!
ProcessMsg opResult = 0"

t. Tommi from Finland

I don't thing anybody has solved the problem of the sha-2 certificate. We are waiting for a firmware update.

 

[djsomi]

Hi Guys,

I'm relatively new in this world and I've an idea but I'm not pretty sure how to start implement it.
I want to change camera parameters on regular basis. Specially I want to change DWDR option and the DWDR limit value because I have several cams which are facing into sun in the late summer time. I found that when DWDR option is set to open the image is pretty well balanced even if there is high light from the sun.
The problem is, that at nighttime it gets tons of noise. So my goal it to turn on / off this option or set the limit value in a pre scheduled way.

Can you please give me a hint how can I achieve this?

Many Thanks
Zoltan

 

[jds580s]

I added three of these little cameras to my collection but have run into what I hope is a simple problem.

Is there a way to send the 720p video feed to more than one location?

I typically just use a phone app, LiveCams Pro, to view the feeds of my cameras, but I also have a QNAP NAS that has been recording 2 of my other cameras in it's Surveillance Station app.
After I shuffled some cameras around yesterday, I configured Surveillance Station to record stream 0 of one of the TOP-201 cameras configured as generic ONVIF.

After doing that I could no longer see that camera in LiveCams Pro until I altered it to pull from stream 1 (the low resolution stream).

Does anyone know if I can send the 720 stream to both?

Thanks!

 

[SpyDog]

Hello everyone and thanks for all the great info. I'm sure that this was covered, I just can't find how to change the ip address on the Top-201. I just received two more camera's (a zoom lens & a wireless, waiting on the pin hole, cant wait to play with that!) Anyway, the new cameras have the same IP Address ,so i tried to change the IP address on the existing camera before I introduce more cameras into my system and could not get it to work. I tried many things with the software that came with it (that horrible CMS badly translated program), is there any program that can be a device manger for all these no-name,same manufacturer but not quit the same software? Back to the point, having troble with changing the IP.Everyone here has allready been such a help with my install, thanks !!

 

[jds580s]

Hello everyone and thanks for all the great info. I'm sure that this was covered, I just can't find how to change the ip address on the Top-201. I just received two more camera's (a zoom lens & a wireless, waiting on the pin hole, cant wait to play with that!) Anyway, the new cameras have the same IP Address ,so i tried to change the IP address on the existing camera before I introduce more cameras into my system and could not get it to work. I tried many things with the software that came with it (that horrible CMS badly translated program), is there any program that can be a device manger for all these no-name,same manufacturer but not quit the same software? Back to the point, having troble with changing the IP.Everyone here has allready been such a help with my install, thanks !!

There are at least a couple ways to approach this. The way I manage the IP addresses for my cameras is to change them all to DHCP, and use my router to assign static IPs based on MAC address.

Before I get to that, if you just want to change the default IP for each one follow the great video instructions here:
https://youtu.be/HS94TLFNIDM?t=28

If you want to use your router, there are a couple more steps. Run the CMS app on your computer and make sure it can see the first camera, click to select it, click on System, then on Remote Config, click on Network, then make a note of what the MAC address is and enable DHCP. Lastly log into your router and tell it what IP address to assign for that MAC address.

 

[SpyDog]

WOW!!! these cameras will shorten your life,LOL. I was able to figure the ip address right after I wrote this blog. I am having port problems now. I cannot access one of my cameras through CMS or browser, etc. Is there any way to hard reset one of these cameras? Anyway, I changed both my media port and HTTP port to the same and now I cannot access the camera at all through CMS. I know the port numbers and I know the IP addresses of the generic mini cameras, and when I input the information into Blue Iris I get no video. I also use tinycam Pro for android so I can see my cameras if Blue Iris is offline. That doesn't work either. If anybody out there knows the URL path for these cameras for tinycam Pro and Blue Iris, I would greatly appreciate it. Again, if anybody knows a program that can communicate with these cameras, or if anybody can invent a program that can communicate with these cameras, I will gladly donate. I am old school with camera systems, I like the IP capabilities and versatility, but if it is going to be this much of a PITA, I think I might go back to RG-56 with a multiplexer, lol! Thanks everyone for your support and assistance. If I can help out anybody with knowledge I have, I will definitely be of assistance.

 

[erbipjr]

Sorry if I am in the wrong section. I have read a lot past 2 weeks. But still have doubts. I have a Seculink camera (HI3518e module). I bricked it trying to update firmare. I have disassembled the camera and its module is similar to the one discussed here. Below some information and a ipcam module picture.
Sorry, the chip is covered, but I can tell it is a Hisilicon HI3518e + OV9712.
.
Processor : ARM926EJ-S rev 5 (v5l)
BogoMIPS : 218.72
Features : swp half fastmult edsp java
CPU implementer : 0x41
CPU architecture: 5TEJ
CPU variant : 0x0
CPU part : 0x926
CPU revision : 5
Hardware : hi3518
Revision : 0000
Serial : 0000000000000000
--------------------------------
dev: size erasesize name
mtd0: 00040000 00010000 "boot"
mtd1: 003c0000 00010000 "appfs"
mtd2: 00180000 00010000 "rootfs"
mtd3: 00200000 00010000 "ker"
mtd4: 00080000 00010000 "config"
---------------------------------
0x000000000000-0x000000040000 : "boot"
0x000000040000-0x000000400000 : "appfs"
0x000000400000-0x000000580000 : "rootfs"
0x000000580000-0x000000780000 : "ker"
0x000000780000-0x000000800000 : "config"
.
Similar cameras:
JOVISION (JVS-N61-NA / JVS-3158EP) - I am using its firmware for my SECULINK camera
SECULINK (SA-IPC1100HI)
HAREX (HRX-I5024)
Maybe others Models reported by ONVIF as NVT-HI3518EP
.
OK, now I would like to try Top201 firmware. But, as I have a bricked camera, I have to TFTP the file. So, first, I would like to know if I can use top201 firmware. And instruction how to do that. I am new to tftp. I can access the camera (USB2ttl) but do not know kow to flash the bin file.
I have read 'Recovery Firmware' topic and others and still ind doubt. Any help would be apreciated. Thanks in advance, from Brazil.

 

[gordo]

spydog, somewhere in these 58 pages uberoverlord posted a reset tool for this camera. I also put have a dropbox link. hxxps://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/37759044/ResetTop-201.zip

 

[MistaBeak]

dropbox link doesn't appear to work.:sad2:

 

[alastairstevenson]

It seems OK - when you replace the protective xx.

 

[SpyDog]

I finally got all the cameras working! But that did not last long. On the bench, I got all three cameras working. The standard, wireless and zoom. All different companies, or the same company with different middle men/programmers lol. It was a pain and it was worth it for one night. So, the next morning I go to install in the final locations, requiring me to extend the power supply. I unplugged the camera, extended the power supply, and booted up the camera. WORKED!!!! Everything worked, time to install. I was so paranoid to mess with these cameras that I drilled a one-inch hole so that I did not have any variables in the wiring so I was able to shove the power supply and data supply through the hole.

Maybe! I should have drilled a hole big enough for their entire camera, for when I connected the camera it blew. The first thing I did was to grab my meter and test the power supply, the exact same reading that I had on the bench. Note: I did meter the untouched transformer and I received 16 volts, no load. After the camera blew up when I plugged in the power supply, I metered the power supply again and had the same 16 volts, I know that most of the time a 12 volt transformer will put out a higher voltage with no load, but nothing changed. I also have another camera, that just died the same Top-209 but the green light is dim, I tried multiple power supplies 500 ma, 1 amp, 1.2 amp, and 2 amp. Cannot power up the camera.

In conclusion, these are really cheap cameras that are a major PITA to get working, if you can get lucky to get a good one, it is well worth it. I suggest if you are installing these for somebody, with the difference in firmware and time to program and possibility of destroying the camera (charge for at least 2 cameras and if its for yourself, buy 2). These cameras are very vulnerable to failure, the firmware is very badly translated and messed with by Chinese middlemen. If anybody out there knows of a quality camera for twice the price, I would like to know. Much rather have a better product for 40 plus bucks than 20 plus bucks if I don't have to replace it or I would never trust selling any of these cameras to my customers (I would lose my ass on service calls). I still would like to dial these cameras in and have a reliable product for 20 dollars, so I plan on pursuing these horrible Chinese cameras. If I can get it right, maybe I can get in on some action too, when working they really did have a good picture and very discrete. I think if I can add PoE into the system and offer it with iSpy or for a cheap upgrade, give them Blue Iris, these cameras will work out very well. I got two wireless ones on the way, two regular ones on the way, and this new camera I want to check out off of Amazon that is battery operated and a true pin hole camera for I think 40 dollars, free shipping. Anyway, if anyone has answers for me or if I can answer a question for you, I will definitely try to help. Thanks too all, and to all a good night. Happy Holidays!

 

[alastairstevenson]

I know that most of the time a 12 volt transformer will put out a higher voltage with no load

No, not correct, for a regulated power supply.

Note: I did meter the untouched transformer and I received 16 volts, no load. After the camera blew up when I plugged in the power supply,

I do think you need to blame the power supply and not the cameras, if that's what you've powered them with. It's a pretty big overload.