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

[IpCamManCf]

I have been able to use the "devicemanage" utility to change the IP address (last year on another win 10 box) from the default of 192.168.1.10 to one that doesn't conflict with other devices on my network and can get it working with BlueIris (with performance issues mentioned), but haven't been able to change things such as fps, I-frame, etc. which can be very useful in multiple ways. I've recently tried to connect to this camera with the newer utilities / CMS provided from the vendor, but was not able to get it to connect with the device for some reason. Maybe its a firewall, elevated admin rights, etc. issue, but haven't further problem solved it... I can connect via web browser (can't do much though due to language translation not working in Chrome past the login screen and even IE 11 in compatibility mode from a Win 10 box doesn't want to fully work either).


I'm open to any tips or suggestions anyone may have and will appreciate the feedback.

 

[IpCamManCf]

you looking for firmware for your camera, right?

Yes, among other tips / suggestions to mentioned configuration fps / i-frame ect. options.

 

[IpCamManCf]

If anyone needs to have a soft gmail works and wifi !!!

General_MHKWIFI_IPC_HI3518E_50H10L_S38_RT3070_V4.02.R12.Nat.OnvifS.20160604_ALL.bin

I see this listed from previous postings but would not attempt to update firmware without at least relatively being sure that it is compatible due to the risk of bricking a device and such... Better to work poorly than not at all. Although language barriers are sometimes a challenge, I can also attempt to communicate more with the vendor too. I'm trying to research it a bit at this stage and take it from there.

If nothing else, I'll reverse engineer (aka disassemble) this cam and maybe use it as a Litter-Robot cam to help monitor the cat's litter box of potential issues! The Litter-Robot (https://www.litter-robot.com/litter-robot-iii-open-air.html / not affiliated or promoting) has a build in LED night light so even if I can't disable the IR-Cut settings and such, I could possibly physically remove the IR LED / photo sensor board as a potential work around... Even if that is possible, I'd really like to be able to lower the frame rate to around 5-10 at most since using 20+ fps would just be a waste of bandwidth and processing power for such a use.

 

[IpCamManCf]

I have been able to use the "devicemanage" utility to change the IP address (last year on another win 10 box) from the default of 192.168.1.10 to one that doesn't conflict with other devices on my network and can get it working with BlueIris (with performance issues mentioned), but haven't been able to change things such as fps, I-frame, etc. which can be very useful in multiple ways. I've recently tried to connect to this camera with the newer utilities / CMS provided from the vendor, but was not able to get it to connect with the device for some reason. Maybe its a firewall issue or something but haven't further problem solved it... I can connect via web browser (can't do much though due to language translation not working in Chrome past the login screen and even IE 11 in compatibility mode from a Win 10 box doesn't want to fully work either).


I'm open to any tips or suggestions anyone may have and will appreciate the feedback.

I may just need to manually or via smart poe switch port control power cycle the camera to get it to start responding to CMS so that I can try to manage the available options (read that it can be finicky sometimes). However, from past memory and from screen shots viewed I don't recall seeing options like FPS, I-frame, etc.

 

[IpCamManCf]

This "Young grasshopper" site level user may start a new thread too since it can't hurt and may help me graduate to the next level faster Just posted here since the camera on topic is in the same chipset family or a similar variant under the hood as the Top-201... wanted to also share my experience with it and learn to potentially get it working at its fullest possible potential.


The camera hardware itself doesn't appear to be that bad and at least in my experience, most of its short comings are related to the firmware or associated s/w so there is much room for potential improvement.

 

[IpCamManCf]

Anybody else using a relatively recent version of CMS with Windows 10? I'm using CMS version 3.1.0.4 (build date 2-18-16) under Windows 10 Pro (build 10586.420 / current RTM ver.).





I rebooted the camera, launched CMS (using "Run as administrator"), attempted search for the camera which fails, and also tried to manually add it and that also fails (see screen shots). This camera is active on my network and is in use with BlueIris, but I would like to inspect the current configuration settings and tweak as needed. It's current settings are all default except the IP address.


(For anyone that may try to hack it, the related public ports are closed (anything ever opened is always encrypted) and it's currently only displaying a utility room and cat box so don't waste your time!!)





If all else fails, I could probably reset the camera to its default settings and start over with it... I've had some devices just become stubborn / unresponsive in certain ways for whatever reason and had to resort to resetting them.

 

[sp9dlm]

możesz podesłać skrina z jego interfejsu??

 

[cyanno]

If all else fails, I could probably reset the camera to its default settings and start over with it... I've had some devices just become stubborn / unresponsive in certain ways for whatever reason and had to resort to resetting them.

@IpCamManCf, are you just informing us what is happening to you or do you need any help with a reset?

 

[IpCamManCf]

@IpCamManCf, are you just informing us what is happening to you or do you need any help with a reset?

I tinkered with it a little last night and actually got the CMS program working after re-installing it from a fully unzipped folder. Installing w/o fully unzipping will work many times for basic programs but not always! Luckily just power cycling the camera made it start responding to network scans and connection attempts so resetting it to default and reconfiguring the network settings wasn't needed. I assume the camera has a reset button on it somewhere, but would have to play with it if ever needed as I haven't seen any English documentation covering those types of things.

Need to play with the CMS program a little more to figure out what options are available for configuring the camera settings beyond just the network settings. Even though CMS was connected to the cam and displaying an image I kept getting "must be logged in" messages and such when trying to find the configuration options.

Although, I've had the camera working with the active x plugin in IE 11 on another computer last year, my attempts to get it working on this one have not worked so far after enabling compatibility mode and tweaking the internet options setting to enable active x plug-ins and such... The file package I received from the vendor contained an IE plugin installer which I installed, but still didn't want to work in IE. If I get CMS to do what I need or at least what optional settings can be changed I won't worry about getting the IE plugin to work...

Thanks for the response.

 

[IpCamManCf]

Even if I can't change things such as FPS, I-frame, etc. I would at least like to be able to enable / disable or tweak the onscreen "CAM01" label, date time stamp, and such.

 

[IpCamManCf]

For some reason when attempting to select "Device config" in CMS (as done in the video demo) the option is not available on the menu...

 

[IpCamManCf]

możesz podesłać skrina z jego interfejsu??

I converted this to English and got

"You can litter skrina with its interface ??"

Are you talking about using with a litter box? I mentioned possibly using the camera to provide a video stream view of a litter box if that is what you are referring to.

When removing the PIR style shell case on my camera it will probably look something like this.



The camera I have is http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Indo..._2&btsid=69c96c60-54d3-4e2a-8cc3-837255f4b5a3​

 

[IpCamManCf]

This "Young grasshopper" site level user may start a new thread too since it can't hurt and may help me graduate to the next level faster Just posted here since the camera on topic is in the same chipset family or a similar variant under the hood as the Top-201... wanted to also share my experience with it and learn to potentially get it working at its fullest possible potential.


The camera hardware itself doesn't appear to be that bad and at least in my experience, most of its short comings are related to the firmware or associated s/w so there is much room for potential improvement.

This "Young grasshopper" has now graduated to "Getting the hang of it"

 

[cyanno]

I would simply advise to reset the camera with the ResetTool.exe (on the cd). Note that the Top201 has no Reset button!
The ResetTool will ask for the actual IP (192.168.1.x). Once you have reset the cam pls. use a ping to see if the camera is reset to 192.168.1.10 or to the former 192.168.1.x.
Then go to the IE, http://192.168.1.10 (or x) and the browser will open Netsurveillance, change your settings in Device Cfg.
Afterwards you can use the normal CMS.

btw, the setting of my ports:
Media: 34567 http: xxxxx onvif: 8899

regards
cyanno

 

[Tomasz72]

I converted this to English and got

"You can litter skrina with its interface ??"

​

PL:możesz podesłać skrina z jego interfejsu??
EN: could you send me screenshot of his interface?
I think "interface" is not piece of hardware. Probably he want to see how program looks like.

 

[IpCamManCf]

I would simply advise to reset the camera with the ResetTool.exe (on the cd). Note that the Top201 has no Reset button!
The ResetTool will ask for the actual IP (192.168.1.x). Once you have reset the cam pls. use a ping to see if the camera is reset to 192.168.1.10 or to the former 192.168.1.x.
Then go to the IE, http://192.168.1.10 (or x) and the browser will open Netsurveillance, change your settings in Device Cfg.
Afterwards you can use the normal CMS.

btw, the setting of my ports:
Media: 34567 http: xxxxx onvif: 8899

regards
cyanno

Thanks for the tips on the resetting method. I certainly now won't waste time trying to look for a reset button that doesn't exist!

I won't be able to work on it for a bout a week and a half but will certainly read / respond to any postings when time allows. As recommended, I may reset the device if I'm not able to get it to respond like it should. I have the camera working in BlueIris doing what I need it to do so the minor problems encountered are not a show stopper and would just like to adjust a few configurable settings when possible.

 

[IpCamManCf]

PL:możesz podesłać skrina z jego interfejsu??
EN: could you send me screenshot of his interface?
I think "interface" is not piece of hardware. Probably he want to see how program looks like.

The incorrect Google Chrome translation of the returned word "litter" was throwing me off a little there!

In the previous posting #932 I added a screen shot of the CMS interface where the menu is missing the option of "Device config". Maybe the camera is not responding correctly and just needs to be reset / reconfigured or maybe the installed firmware on my camera is not compatible with the relatively recent version of CMS I'm attempting to use. I may dig out the CD that came with the camera, install the older version of CMS, and see if that works. If I can confirm that an updated version of firmware is compatible with my camera I may attempt to update the firmware as well.

Thanks

 

[Stef]

[Quote = Stef; 108425] Próbowałem go i rzeczywiście ma zarówno WiFi i wsparcie SMTP gmail.
Nie byłoby aktualizować przy użyciu interfejsu IE, ale współpracuje z CMS.
Czekałem na ten firmware przez długi czas; Nie wiem skąd masz go, ale wiele tak dzięki sp9dlm. [/ Quote]

I'm glad that I could help you

Where did you get it?

 

[mct75]

Hi everyone! First time poster.

I recently got one of these IP cams. It was labeled a "JSK-720p" and sold as Banggood Product ID: 1047878.

Anyway, I got it and plugged it into a PoE splitter which was outputting 12.39V, and the camera worked great for about an hour, then just died. It's a board version BLK18E-OH22_33X32_S. It looks like there's a switching regulator "MP1470" that is running quite hot, with a Tcase of over 90C, right after connecting power. This doesn't seem normal, maybe there's a short somewhere?

Has anyone rooted around these things to troubleshoot them at the board level?

Here's some pics:

 

[LittleScoobyMaster]

The TOP-201 utilises UPnP, and it actually works (unlike many Foscam versions) making for a no fuss set up if you choose to have UPnP enabled on your network.

Does anyone know how to disable UPnP on the TOP-201? I've looked under network services, etc. but I don't see a location where UPnP can be disabled.

I thought maybe they just call it Cloud. Anyway, I have made sure the following has been disabled, curious if I missed anything or where that UPnP setting lurks:

DDNS
EMAIL
NTP
PPPoE
ARSP
FTP
Alarm Server
Cloud
PMS