Foscam fi9800p review - Reviews 2024

The prestigious brand of IP cameras returns to the scene, in this case with the Foscam FI9800P. Behind this name hides a fairly complete surveillance camera and especially with a very solid design. The camera includes a 720p (1280 × 720 pixels) resolution sensor, infrared mode for night vision and support for wired 802.11n (at 2.4Ghz) network. Will it pass the tests in our laboratory? Do not miss our review.

We thank Foscam for the loan of this camera to carry out its analysis.

Foscam FI9800P technical characteristics

Unboxing

The Foscam FI9800P is presented in a cardboard box of medium dimensions, on the front we see an image of the camera some of its most important characteristics while on the reverse some of its functions and characteristics appear in more detail.

We open the box and we find the camera duly protected and accompanied by various accessories such as the power supply, a detachable WiFi antenna, an Ethernet network cable, a quick start guide, the warranty card and a sticker to warn that our premises are protected by a surveillance camera.

Foscam FI9800P

We focus on the camera and look at a unit with a very robust design based on a high-quality aluminum chassis, it has a weight of 380 grams so it is not especially light, although it looks very resistant in return.

First, we focus our view on the front where the CMOS sensor capable of recording video at a resolution of 1 megapixel and a maximum framerate of 30 fps is located. This sensor has an f / 1.2 aperture so it is capable of capturing a lot of light in low light conditions to improve image quality. Next to the CMOS sensor are numerous infrared LEDs to provide the Foscam FI9800P with night vision, in this way we can always use it even when we are in complete darkness. The camera is IP66 certified so it is waterproof and we can use it outdoors.

The sides have a very clean design in which we only see the brand's logo and a small black stripe located very close to the front.

The Foscam FI9800P has a joint to adjust its angle once we have fixed it to the wall, a small screw is in charge of blocking the inclination so we will have to loosen it to be able to adjust the camera to our liking, fortunately Foscam provides us with a small allen key for this purpose. At the foot of the camera we have two holes through which to fix it to the wall, Foscam has also thought for us in this case and provides us with the necessary screws.

We continue to see the details of the Foscam FI9800P and we come to the thread that makes the connection for the detachable WiFi antenna that the manufacturer attaches to us, very useful to use the camera without the need to connect it to our router with a cable.

Finally we come to the connectors of the camera, we find the port for the power supply cable, an Ethernet connector, a reset button to the factory settings and two connectors for external audio.

Camera setup via Ethernet cable

First of all we are going to see how to configure and use the camera through a wired Ethernet connection with our router. To do this we first need to connect the power supply and obviously the Ethernet cable that connects the camera to the router.

Once the camera is prepared, we install the “Foscam Client” software that is attached to the CD on our PC and run it, it will ask us for a username and password, but all we have to do is leave the default options.

Once the software is open, we go to the configuration section by clicking on the third icon at the top, the one with a gear shape and select the “search cameras” option to find our camera, it will only take a few seconds.

We return to the first icon at the top, the one that has a camera shape, click on “default” and click on “FI9800P” to start receiving the image from our camera. A little further down we have the options to take snapshots, start / pause video recording and activate / deactivate sound recording (does not include integrated microphone). At the bottom left we have several menus to adjust different parameters on the camera image and night vision.

Camera night vision operation detail:

One of our quality video recording in various light conditions:

Setting up the Foscam FI9800P in wireless mode

Of course we can also use our camera wirelessly without the need for a cable to connect it to the router. For this we will need the Firefox browser since Chrome and IE are not compatible with the extension that we will need to download, I do not know if it works in other browsers such as Edge and Opera.

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First of all we go to www.myfoscam.com and log in, if you are not registered you need to register, it is very fast. It will ask us to download and install an extension for our browser, once installed click on "Add new Device".

When registering, they will send us an email to confirm our account and within it we will find a QR code to download the application to use the camera from an Android or iOS smartphone or tablet. In the case of Android we can also find the "foscam viewer" application from Google Play.

We will start a very simple wizard that will guide us in all the steps, in reality we only have to take into account selecting "Network Camera", making sure that we have the camera connected to the current and with the antenna on, selecting the "Scan" option Lan ”, click on FI9800P, log in as the user admin and leave the password blank and finally connect the camera to our WiFi network.

After this we will already have our Foscam FI9800P working via WiFi.

Final words and conclusion

The Foscam FI9800P is a surveillance camera with an excellent design that denotes a lot of quality and the care that the manufacturer puts in all its products. It is a unit intended both indoors and outdoors thanks to its resistance to water and its night vision system to operate even in absolute darkness.

The camera offers us the possibility of working wirelessly via WiFi connection or wired, so each user can choose the option that is most interesting or most practical. As for the quality of image and video recording, it is more than correct although it is not the best we have seen in a camera of this type.

The Foscam Fi9800P has a sale price of approximately 95 euros including shipping costs, of course it is a great option for users who do not want to spend a lot of money.

ADVANTAGE	DISADVANTAGES
+ QUALITY DESIGN	- WITHOUT REMOTE TILT CONTROL
+ WATER RESISTANCE IP66	-WITHOUT INTEGRATED MICROPHONE
+ WIFI AND WIRED MODES	-DOES NOT HAVE AN INTERNAL MEMORY TO STORE VIDEO / PHOTOS
+ INFRARED LAMP WITH GOOD RANGE FOR NIGHT VISION
+ ADJUSTED PRICE
+ VERY COMPLETE SOFTWARE AND FULL OF OPTIONS.
+ MOBILE APP