New member and have a question about IP WI-FI Cameras

[Larry Ray]

I have had 4 Foscam IP wi-fi cameras streaming wi-fi on my desktop for nearly 3 years. Thought they were getting close to burning out on me, so I started replacing them with Foscam's competitor/partner? Amcrest. Amcrest has a different IP Config Tool, and I noticed that when I would buy and wi-fi install an Amcrest camera, I would lose wi-fi connection with one of my Foscam IP Config Tool cameras. I lost a 2nd Foscam IP wi-fi when I installed a 2nd Amcrest IP wi-fi cmaera. Yesterday I installed a 3rd but different model Amcrest IP wi-fi camera, and then noticed I lost a 3rd Foscam IP config wi-fi camera connection.

I don't think there is really anything wrong with the Foscam cameras and thought I would be able to run both the Foscam and the Amcrest cameras (4 Foscam and 3 Amcrest) on my wi-fi. I disconnected the power from all 3 of the Foscams, brought them inside, connected new power supply units to them, connected a ethernet cable from the Foscam cameras but never could get a video image on my desktop for any of the Foscam cameras, in order to reset them to wi-fi on my network. Evidently I am restricted in some manner from running two different brand cameras or a limited number of cameras on my network.

Being 78 years old I just don't understand networking and IP camera principles. I was hoping someone could tell me why that when I add a Amcrest camera to my wi-fi network, I drop a Foscam wi-fi camera from my network. I now only have one Foscam that will stream to my desktop. Any ideas, answers, or discussions would be greatly appreciated in helping me understand what is happening in my ip wi-fi camera situation.

 

[Dodutils]

Hello,

I do have some difficulties to understand your problem so I do have a few questions :

Which software are you using to connect your cameras ?

Do you cameras have fixed or dynamic IP ?

You said each time you used IP config tool to setup new cam you lots an older one ?

When you say "lost" do you mean that whenever you turn off the new camera the old one won't come back ?

If you turn off new cameras, reset the old ones and rerun old version of IP config Tool, do you see them ?

regards.

 

[nayr]

Wifi can only handle a couple cameras, I doubt you'll get all of those on WiFi.. espically if the AmCrests are a higher resolution than your old foscams.

its a shared resource, the more data and devices transmitting at once the less bandwidth there is overall for any other devices.. WiFi dont scale at all

 

[Larry Ray]

Hi, Dodutils, and thanks for your reply.
I am not certain about the software. I always used the Foscam IP Config Tool and related software to connect the Foscam cameras. I am not certain what dynamic and static mean, but I think my cameras are dynamic as the IP addresses sometime change.

Yes, when I set up a new Amcrest IP camera on wi-fi using the Amcrest IP Config tool, and then try to open the Foscam IP Config tool one of the Foscam IP addresses is deleted. One by one as I add an Amcrest camera one of my old old Foscam IP cam loses wi-fi and disappears from the Foscam IP config tool.

And yes I try to reset the Foscam IP camera by bringing the camera inside my house near my router, plug in a new power supply to the Foscam camera, then plug in a ethernet cable from the Foscam camera to my router. In the past before installing Amcrest IP Config tool, the Foscam camera view would then be viewable on my desktop Foscam software. Then I simply set it up to wi-fi. I would then unplug it from ethernet, unpower the Foscam camera and move it back to its original outside carport, etc., location and plug it in. It would be back on wi-fi.

When I turn on (set-up) a new Amcrest camera and then try to turn on a Foscam camera the missing Foscam will not come back. And I can not reset the Foscam.


The Foscam cameras have a green and orange (blinking) activity light on when I try to reset it (power on, ethernet connect to router), but it only shows a black page on the Foscam software desktop page instead of a live camera view as in the past. It was easy to reconnect the Foscam cameras back to wi-fi until I added the Amcrest cameras and ip config tool.

That is what is so strange and puzzling to me. I now only have one old Foscam showing in my IP config tool, while I have 3 new Amcrest cams showing in the Amcrest ip config tool.Sorry if I have repeated myself.

Thanks again for your reply.

 

[nayr]

Does the foscam software have a camera limit?

 

[Larry Ray]

Wifi can only handle a couple cameras, I doubt you'll get all of those on WiFi.. espically if the AmCrests are a higher resolution than your old foscams.

its a shared resource, the more data and devices transmitting at once the less bandwidth there is overall for any other devices.. WiFi dont scale at all

Thanks for your reply NAYR. Yes the Amcrest cameras are all higher resolution. Less bandwidth with more devices running seems to be plausible in my old head. So please tell me how some people run 8-10 IP-Wi-fi cameras. Do they use another router somehow or an extender, or maybe the cameras are PoE's? I think the old Foscams will still operate, but how can I use them now with the newer Amcrest cameras gobbling up the bandwith?

Thanks again for your reply.

 

[nayr]

So please tell me how some people run 8-10 IP-Wi-fi cameras.

They dont; physics is a mean bitch like that.. your going to have to start wiring them up w/goold ole ethernet cable.

anyone with that many wifi cameras cannot possibly stream from all them at the same time.. mebe if they only stream from a couple at a time like WebCams, not security cameras that are recording.

 

[Dodutils]

The thing is that wifi or not wifi this do not exlain why you can't see/connect your old cameras again when you turn off the new ones.

But you did not answer to question (or I missed the answer) : which software are you using to connect your camera ? or do you connect directly to each one after the other ? I remember I setup foscam cameras for some friends and IP Config Tool was only here to broadcast a "find me" packet, wait for any camera so say "I am here" then once in the list you simply click on the camera then it open a web browser, is that what you are doing ?

One thing about "network" in general, when you connect a peripheral to a network (Wired or WiFi) think about it as a highway with more or less lanes (well less lanes if we talk about WiFi with a lot of chicken nests on it ;-) don't know if "chicken nests" mean somthing in english (not native langage).

So on WiFi you have rather slow and unstable network (bad highway), the more camera you connect the smaller "bandwidth" will be available for each one if you want to see all their video streams at same time unt il a point were there is not enought bandwidth for each one to stream video correctly (and it also depend the stream type UDP/TCP and the bitrate and type of video flow MJPEG/RTSP, and of course the picture resolution, but this is a bit too technical), but if you watch a few stream only, let say 2 or 3 (depending the resolution/bitrate you choose) then yes you can have 10 cameras online because only a few will be driving on the highway at same time, the other will park (kind of) and also because of those chicken nests (electrical noise, antenna's quality, distance between WiFi router and cameras, objets in straight line between wifi router and cameras, walls for example) this will slow all the speed down (bootleneck, TCP packet resend or UDP packet lost).

 

[Larry Ray]

They dont; physics is a mean bitch like that.. your going to have to start wiring them up w/goold ole ethernet cable.

anyone with that many wifi cameras cannot possibly stream from all them at the same time.. mebe if they only stream from a couple at a time like WebCams, not security cameras that are recording.

Thanks again for your input nayr. I usually don't have but two, sometimes three of my IP cams open. At present I can open and view all three of the Amcrest IP cams and (the only one left showing in the Foscam config tool). I was running a max of 4 Foscams when all I had was the Foscams, and could open and view them all at the same time.

Thing is now I can not configure any of the three disconnected Foscams on the Foscam config tool. When I connect the power, then the ethernet, I can see the configuration data for Fosware, but only get a black picture, no live picture. I never had this problem before With the Foscams getting them back on line via wi-fi. Why can't I see a live pic now on the Foscam before I configure it for wi-fi? That is a most puzzling question.

Thanks for your input.

 

[Larry Ray]

The thing is that wifi or not wifi this do not exlain why you can't see/connect your old cameras again when you turn off the new ones.

But you did not answer to question (or I missed the answer) : which software are you using to connect your camera ? or do you connect directly to each one after the other ? I remember I setup foscam cameras for some friends and IP Config Tool was only here to broadcast a "find me" packet, wait for any camera so say "I am here" then once in the list you simply click on the camera then it open a web browser, is that what you are doing ?

One thing about "network" in general, when you connect a peripheral to a network (Wired or WiFi) think about it as a highway with more or less lanes (well less lanes if we talk about WiFi with a lot of chicken nests on it ;-) don't know if "chicken nests" mean somthing in english (not native langage).

So on WiFi you have rather slow and unstable network (bad highway), the more camera you connect the smaller "bandwidth" will be available for each one if you want to see all their video streams at same time unt il a point were there is not enought bandwidth for each one to stream video correctly (and it also depend the stream type UDP/TCP and the bitrate and type of video flow MJPEG/RTSP, and of course the picture resolution, but this is a bit too technical), but if you watch a few stream only, let say 2 or 3 (depending the resolution/bitrate you choose) then yes you can have 10 cameras online because only a few will be driving on the highway at same time, the other will park (kind of) and also because of those chicken nests (electrical noise, antenna's quality, distance between WiFi router and cameras, objets in straight line between wifi router and cameras, walls for example) this will slow all the speed down (bootleneck, TCP packet resend or UDP packet lost).

I will reply back to you later this afternoon...have a doctor's appointment. Thanks for sharing your knowledge with me and I want to discuss your above analogy. I like it and it makes more sense to me.

 

[Larry Ray]

I will reply back to you later this afternoon...have a doctor's appointment. Thanks for sharing your knowledge with me and I want to discuss your above analogy. I like it and it makes more sense to me.

Doductils:

As you said, "The thing is that wifi or not wifi this do not exlain why you can't see/connect your old cameras again when you turn off the new ones."
I thought that not seeing and connecting the old Foscam was related to the "ActionX" add-on that is required for the Foscam. So I read and researched and tweaked the
ActiveX "enable, diable, prompt" options in ActiveX, and I still could only get a black screen after powering up the old camera, and then connecting it via ethernet to my router.
In the past, I would always see the IP in the IP config tool, then double click on it and it would open with the camera viewing. Then I made a few tweaks to get it on wi-fi.

Now the IP address will not stay on the IP tool just a few minutes, then it disappears. I now only have one IP Foscam that stays on the ip config tool permanently. I have lost three cameras from the original list. To repeat myself, when trying to reconnect the Foscam camera, with all of the Amcrest cameras off, the camera I am trying to reset, will only momentarily stay on the ip config tool and then it disappears. A minute or so later it reappears. That camera's IP will not stay on the IP config tool permanently. I don't know why...but all three of the ones that I have lost wi-fi do this when I try to reconnect them.

Your reply, " I remember I setup foscam cameras for some friends and IP Config Tool was only here to broadcast a "find me" packet, wait for any camera so say "I am here" then once in the list you simply click on the camera then it open a web browser, is that what you are doing ?" Yes, you click on the IP address, the Foscam screen opens, you select wi-fi, from all of the options, and then connect it by wi-fi.

After striking out adjusting the activeX I have been thinking that Foscam is no longer doing maintenance to their web pages, firmware, etc..I am going to try and upload a file of the only IP camera that is working for me now to show you what that looks like. This camera is working. The others will have a big black space to the right when I try to connect them using the Foscam IP config took now. In the past they would connect and show camera view. But not now when trying to reconnect the three that I have lost from ip config tool.

 

[Larry Ray]

Doductils:

As you said, "The thing is that wifi or not wifi this do not exlain why you can't see/connect your old cameras again when you turn off the new ones."
I thought that not seeing and connecting the old Foscam was related to the "ActionX" add-on that is required for the Foscam. So I read and researched and tweaked the
ActiveX "enable, diable, prompt" options in ActiveX, and I still could only get a black screen after powering up the old camera, and then connecting it via ethernet to my router.
In the past, I would always see the IP in the IP config tool, then double click on it and it would open with the camera viewing. Then I made a few tweaks to get it on wi-fi.

Now the IP address will not stay on the IP tool just a few minutes, then it disappears. I now only have one IP Foscam that stays on the ip config tool permanently. I have lost three cameras from the original list. To repeat myself, when trying to reconnect the Foscam camera, with all of the Amcrest cameras off, the camera I am trying to reset, will only momentarily stay on the ip config tool and then it disappears. A minute or so later it reappears. That camera's IP will not stay on the IP config tool permanently. I don't know why...but all three of the ones that I have lost wi-fi do this when I try to reconnect them.

Your reply, " I remember I setup foscam cameras for some friends and IP Config Tool was only here to broadcast a "find me" packet, wait for any camera so say "I am here" then once in the list you simply click on the camera then it open a web browser, is that what you are doing ?" Yes, you click on the IP address, the Foscam screen opens, you select wi-fi, from all of the options, and then connect it by wi-fi.

After striking out adjusting the activeX I have been thinking that Foscam is no longer doing maintenance to their web pages, firmware, etc..I am going to try and upload a file of the only IP camera that is working for me now to show you what that looks like. This camera is working. The others will have a big black space to the right when I try to connect them using the Foscam IP config took now. In the past they would connect and show camera view. But not now when trying to reconnect the three that I have lost from ip config tool.

naya, I don't know if Foscam has a camera limit. The most cameras I ever ran at one time was 4.

I am attaching two .jpgs to show Doductils what the Foscam config tool looks like with the camera ip 120 powered up and ethernet connected and showing on the Foscam ip tool.
Then after 2-3 minutes, camera 120 drops off the Foscam IP tool...disappears.

.jpg no. 3 shows what the Foscam software looks like when I double click camera 120 trying to get camera view. I get a black screen. In the past the camera
would open every time in camera view and I could click on wi-fi and configure the camera for wi-fi.

 

[Dodutils]

OK this is what I remebered about IP Tools Config, when you double click an IP in the list it open a web browser that connect to the Camer'as web interface.

Depending your camera, the web page(s) may contain two main parts, one part is pure HTML, compatible with all web browsers and also a part managed by an ActivesX component (old style, tends to dissapear on newer cameras because only supported by Internet Explorer that even Microsoft will not support much longer). But ActiveX in only available in Internet Explorer not Microsoft Edge can you check that it is Internet Explorer that is launched when you have black screen and not Microsoft Edge ?

 

[Larry Ray]

Another .jpg of what Foscam looks like when I try to add camera 120

OK this is what I remebered about IP Tools Config, when you double click an IP in the list it open a web browser that connect to the Camer'as web interface.

Depending your camera, the web page(s) may contain two main parts, one part is pure HTML, compatible with all web browsers and also a part managed by an ActivesX component (old style, tends to dissapear on newer cameras because only supported by Internet Explorer that even Microsoft will not support much longer). But ActiveX in only available in Internet Explorer not Microsoft Edge can you check that it is Internet Explorer that is launched when you have black screen and not Microsoft Edge ?

Doducktils:
Absolutely I am using IE nver Edge. However with the Foscam camera software, when you double click on the ISP that you want to open/configure to wi-fi from the ip config tool, you get an option of "Active X" (which is for IE), "Push Mode" with which you can open the camera in the FireFox or Google Browser. Regardless Active X, FF, nor Google will open a live video when trying to reconnect the three Foscam cameras I have lost.

1. When I try to reconnect any of the three off-line Foscams, the ISP will not stay permanently in the IP config tool as they did when they were all on line and before I installed Amcrest. It will be seen for 1-2 minutes, then disappear leaving only camera 126 in the Foscam ipconfig tool.
A minute or two later the camera's IP will pop back on the Foscam IP config tool, only to disappear a couple of minutes later.
2. When it is visible I quickly double click the camera I am trying to reconnect, select Push Mode, or Active X mode. When the Foscam interface opens, the area where the live video should be is black...
3. It would seem that I would be able to connect 1-2 of these cameras when I don't have any of the Amcrest cameras turned on.
4. I have tried adjusting the Active X configuration and that doesn't work.
5. Evidently it is as nays states, I have two much broadband service with Amcrest installed, or Foscam software/interface is not being maintained.

I wonder what would happen if I could go to someone else's pc and network, and install the Foscam ip config tool, power up a Foscam camera, connect it to the router with ethernet?
Would it open the Foscam video?

And would adding another router as access point allow more wi-fi devices on your nrework?

 

[Dodutils]

It's weird because you see the IP in the list and open a browser it shows you an interface so the camera is answering its only the video flow that do not work, sorry I have no idea without being able to do some network analysis from within your network.

But this problem is annoying and interesting so if you want we can plan a TeamViewer remote control this week-end (I control your PC mouse/keyboard remotely but you see all what I do) and do deeper analysis.

Send me private message if you are interested.

 

[Larry Ray]

I think I should delete the three .jpegs I uploaded. How do I do that? And how do you private message?

 

[looney2ns]

I think I should delete the three .jpegs I uploaded. How do I do that? And how do you private message?

Top right corner of this window, just right of your user name. It's called conversations here.

 

[Larry Ray]

Thank you sir from an old geezer! Can you tell me how to delete the .jpg uploads that I made please?

 

[Larry Ray]

Thank you looney2ns,
You are most kind to an old geezer who still has the desire to learn...although the speed and comprehension is most restricted.

 

[Dodutils]

Thank you looney2ns,
You are most kind to an old geezer who still has the desire to learn...although the speed and comprehension is most restricted.

to delete your pictures simply "edit" your message(s) look at the small edit icon at the bottom of each message your created. I don't know what time it is in your country but here it's midnight what is your country/city ?