WiFi IP Camera recommendations for Sighthound & macOS?

[hepcat72]

Hi,

This might not be the best forum to ask this question since the site doesn't seem to work in Safari or Firefox on my mac, but I really need help selecting a compatible camera. I've ordered and had to return 2 now to replace an ailing Foscam camera (IR emitters started going on the fritz).

My requirements:

1. Works via 2.4Ghz WiFi
2. Works in macOS (Safari, ideally) web browser WITHOUT need to install a plugin
3. Does not require online account setup
4. Works with sighthound video
5. pan/tilt
6. IR emitters for night vision
7. Indoor use (i.e. I do not need outdoor)

I have tried Amcrest & Foscam (R2C). The Amcrest's browser plugin has a known flaw and WILL NOT WORK on a mac, period. Their tech support admitted this and that there was no remedy currently. I just spent hours wrestling with the Foscam R2C and finally gave up. Unless I change my network name (and numerous device connections) to not contain a single quote in the name, the Foscam camera cannot be configured for WiFi. So they have a bug too!. None of my other many network devices have a problem with the network name.

Plus, both cameras required a browser plugin be installed, which neither of my old Foscam cameras required, nor does either of my old axis cameras (though they don't have night vision).

There's a sighthound video post in their forum that recommends Axis, Dahua, or Ubiquiti. Those are rather expensive. My original foscam cameras were totally adequate and met all my requirements. There's got to be something out there that can do this at an economical price. Any recommendations?

 

[TonyR]

The Amcrest (rebranded Dahua) IP2M-841 is a terrific performer and the only one of your 7 points I see that might not fit it is #2: The August 2019 firmware update (and continued with Dec. 2019) allowed the webGUI to be accessed using Google Chrome with no plug-in or extension, but I can only attest to the Windows version of Chrome, not sure how it'd work with Chrome for Mac O/S.

IIRC, you could view the webGUI and change settings BEFORE the f/w update with Chrome but you had no cam "live" view.

Otherwise, it's a terrific cam, I've installed 6 of them in 3 years and not a single issue. I use 3 myself with Blue Iris and since they're ONVIF, and have RTSP with Blue Iris and VLC- viewability I'd be very surprised if they did not work with SightHound.

Buy it at amazon and if it doesn't work out, send it back. It''s hard to beat at $45, IMO.

 

[hepcat72]

Amcrest was the first cam I tried. According to their tech support, it currently could not be viewed in any browser in a Mac due to a bug in their required plugin. I tried Chrome, Firefox, and Safari. Also, their setup procedure required I create an account on their website, which gave me the creeps. Also, it ran REALLY hot. I had it plugged in for maybe an hour and it was super hot to touch. My old foscams run all day and they’re barely warm. I had to send it back to Amazon.

 

[ipOsX]

#2 is an impossible ask since there are currently zero IP cameras which work properly with Mac browsers of any flavour. Your workaround, should you choose it, is to install Parallels on your Mac, then Windows 10 and from there download and install the Internet Explorer browser which will prompt you to install the web plugin - after which everything will work fine…and switching from MacOs to Parallels Windows is instantaneous - just like switching between Mac applications.

 

[hepcat72]

#2 is an impossible ask since there are currently zero IP cameras which work properly with Mac browsers of any flavour. Your workaround, should you choose it, is to install Parallels on your Mac, then Windows 10 and from there download and install the Internet Explorer browser which will prompt you to install the web plugin - after which everything will work fine…and switching from MacOs to Parallels Windows is instantaneous - just like switching between Mac applications.

My current foscams And axis cams require nobrowser plugin. The foscam web server has 3 interface modes. The simplest one works anywhere with no plugin and does everything I need to do: pan/tilt, IR, and view the feed. I was a one time web developer for about 8 years and am currently helping in a web interface project. I’ve also coded my own motion capture software for tracking flies in a lab. You don’t need to have a plugin for basic functionality and I’d be willing to be there’s something out there that does it. Axis does it, but their cams are very expensive. There’s no way I’m heavy handing it with parallels. The only reason I’ve ever needed to use that is to test windows software for distribution. It takes up a ton of disk space for those images.You know, I should search github for 3rd party open source cam interfaces now that I think about it. In my opinion, those plugins are only necessary for all the huge amount of feature creep those interfaces have, 99% of which is useless fluff. Do one thing and do it well. KISS

 

[ipOsX]

Trouble is, your Foscams have stood still while operating systems and browsers have allegedly progressed. If they did once work in a Mac browser, they won't now. You could try hunting for an old browser which still loads into your current Os and if you strike lucky, you may get what you want. A few months ago, I found that the archived version 25 of Opera did everything I needed to view and configure my Hikvision cameras. And then Apple sent down an Os security update and that was the end of that. I could keep looking but there are hundreds of old browsers to check and life's too short.

 

[hepcat72]

Not sure exactly quite what you're saying. My 2 foscams and 2 axis cams currently do work in Mojave and in Sighthound. The only reason I haven't upgraded to Catalina is because I have a 32 bit app I still use daily and at some point, I'm going to have to replace the USB dongle it works with (EyeTV - bought out by geniatech, who have put program guide functionality behind a pay wall). But seriously, all that's needed is a video stream and 5 buttons. Everything else for cam config can be accomplished with HTML forms. And honestly, I'd be fine with form buttons to move the camera too (which just wouldn't allow click & hold for continuous motion). None of that requires a plugin, no matter what OS you have.

The likely reason you had trouble with your Opera/Hikvision setup is due to the plugin not meeting security standards. To install a plugin requires some deep(ish) system level access and the security requirements for that sort of access are steeply on the rise at Apple, which is why I've been moving much of my automation to rPi. Even their own automator, AppleScript, and folder actions require manually approved access, even if it's on a cron job. HTML forms don't need any of that. The only thing they could detect is cross site scripting vulnerabilities, but without an open firewall, the avenue of attack would involve clicking a link in an email given knowledge of your network setup.

 

[TonyR]

Also, their setup procedure required I create an account on their website, which gave me the creeps.

Only if you scan a QR code to use their cloud via P2P or if it's one of their new "SmartHome" devices. I've set up close to a dozen of the IP2M-841's and have never created an account of any kind or scanned a QR code or entered a UID number.... I stream directly to Blue Iris with RTSP.

Also, it ran REALLY hot. I had it plugged in for maybe an hour and it was super hot to touch.

Likely a fluke, a bad apple., which can happen from time to time with all kinds of electronic/tech devices, as you know. My experience with the 841's has been excellent for several years now.

Too bad they won't play nice with your Mac.

 

[hepcat72]

Only if you scan a QR code to use their cloud via P2P or if it's one of their new "SmartHome" devices. I've set up close to a dozen of the IP2M-841's and have never created an account of any kind or scanned a QR code or entered a UID number.... I stream directly to Blue Iris with RTSP.

That's reassuring. The setup instructions didn't provide a non-QR/non-web-account alternative procedure. I definitely could have tried to get around it, but it just raised my hackles that this was the standard procedure. It didn't give me confidence that privacy was forefront in their minds when they developed the product. Have you monitored your network to see if it ventures out on the web beyond your network?

Likely a fluke, a bad apple., which can happen from time to time with all kinds of electronic/tech devices, as you know. My experience with the 841's has been excellent for several years now.

I suppose that's possible. Doesn't provide a good first impression though. My rPi 3 runs hot occasionally and I'd been trying to figure it out for awhile. I believe I solved it. We'll see when the summer comes and the ambient temp in the house is up. I think it was from pilight processing background RF. I wasn't really using the receiver for any purpose other than to record codes from new remotes, so I disabled the receiver.

Too bad they won't play nice with your Mac.

Apparently it's a recent new bug. And that's part of the reason why I'm down on the interface being so fancy that it requires a plugin. There's no reason they can't design an additional minimum feature interface that doesn't require a plugin, like my old foscams have, which has 3 interface modes: ActiveX, Server push, and mobile phone. People who don't care about a fancy interface and features up the wazoo will be completely happy.