Foscam 9821W - Cannot connect with h.264

ryandenver
ryandenver
edited June 2014 in SecuritySpy
Greetings

I have a 9821W v1 with the latest foscam firmware as well as the latest Security Spy software. I can connect my camera using jpeg format, but h.264 results in continuous connecting messages.

Does anyone know of a solution to this?

Thanks,

Ryan

Comments

  • Ben
    Ben
    Hi Ryan, I'm sorry but we do not support this camera due to problems such as this. The firmware simply doesn't work property to provide a correct RTSP stream. If you search this forum for "9821W" you will find many previous posts on the topic. Some users have managed to get their cameras working OK, others have had too many problems. Please see our list of compatible cameras to see which ones we support - I would suggest you return this camera if you can, and get one that's on our list.
  • ryandenver
    ryandenver
    Ben

    Thanks for the update. The lack of support is disappointing given at one point I believe it was supported and I purchased security spy based upon this. I can't return them at this point and based on your above post, I'd be expected to pay 100's of dollars to replace several cameras.
  • Ben
    Ben
    Hi Ryan, it's true we briefly put this camera on our list, after some initial testing and reports, before we found out that there are so many problems with it. Sorry to hear you can't return them. I do have hope though that these problems will be fixed by a future firmware update from Foscam, and when that happens we will add back support. We have one ourselves for testing and will keep an eye on this situation, as there are other customers who have purchased them too. Sorry I can't be of more help at this time. I hope the JPEG stream is good enough for your purposes (though I know it's not as good as it should be).
  • doodah
    doodah
    I have a 9821W V2 and have had some success with it when I set it up as ONVIF with the latest firmware from Foscam. Don't get me wrong... the Foscam still sucks if you are using their wireless radios.... I took one and plugged it into a wifi access point and the results were much better. But the cost of adding an access point to each wifi camera makes that a highly unattractive solution.
  • Ben
    Ben
    Ryan - I had another thought. It sounds like your camera is set to JPEG mode rather than H.264 mode. With these cameras, they have to be set to either JPEG or H.264 mode before they will provide either stream, and will refuse to do so if set to the wrong mode. So, to set your camera back to H.264 mode, load this URL in a browser:

    http://address:port/cgi-bin/CGIProxy.fcgi?usr=admin&pwd=&cmd=setSubStreamFormat&format=0

    Substitute in the correct address, port, username, and password for your camera (by default the username is admin and the password is blank, as in the above example URL).

    Then try the ONVIF device type and/or the FI9821W device type in SecuritySpy with the Format set to H.264.

    Also, make sure you have not set the camera to use a different port than the one it was originally set to (88).

    If the above doesn't work, try a factory reset of the camera - there's a button on the underside of the camera - hold it down for 5 seconds.

    Any luck?
  • ducriderx
    ducriderx
    doodah,

    What do the settings look like for the ONVIF? I'm trying the SecuritySpy software to see how I like it, but having some issues with the initial configuration. Right now I'm running the following software/firmware versions.

    System Firmware: 1.4.1.9
    Application Firmware: 2.11.1.10
    Plug-in Version: 3.0.0.1

    SecuritySpy: 3.4

    I know that the connection is valid and so are the credentials because I'm able to view the profile list. I don't know if I need to change the input number from 1 to something else, but no matter what I seem to do I don't ever get the video. Do you select to use SSL?

    I could use any help you or anyone else can provide. I haven't bought the software yet, but it's exactly what I'm looking for.
  • doodah
    doodah
    My camera has all the same versions as you for firmware. I have it set to ONVIF and left the ports blank. The format in the device settings in SS are set to RTSP TCP ( video and audio ). It is set to input 1. If I try and get the profile list I get back a pop up with error 32 in it... but it all works. You can also try the setting in SS devices for Foscam FI9802W, FI9821W as I've also had those work... again though you have to change the Format in the device settings to the H.264 setting. I switched over to ONVIF just to see if it worked any better. I am not using SSL. Check the format pull down box in the video device settings panel, it sounds to me that is where your problem is if you are certain about the username and password.
  • xxxx4342
    xxxx4342
    Well i have the Foscam too. and had same problems. but what makes me struggling is that the cameras works on my iphone with the app LiceCamPro which tells me that the problem is not only at Foscam. maybe you guys from security spy should contact the programmer of the app and ask him for help. i think he can help you to get the securityspy software to work with Foscam.
  • xxxx4342
    xxxx4342
    i mean LiveCamPro. sorry
  • Ben
    Ben
    That's a good idea, I've emailed the developers of Live Cams Pro to ask them how they deal with this camera, because from what I can tell, the RTSP stream simply doesn't work very well. I'll report back what I hear from them.
  • Ben
    Ben
    Well I've heard back from the developers of Live Cams Pro already. They have had big problems with this camera too. The camera implements two methods of streaming: industry-standard RTSP (which is what SecuritySpy supports), and the proprietary Foscam "media port" protocol. The media port protocol works the best, but is unfortunately a closed protocol that Foscam does not publish. This is the protocol that Live Cams Pro uses (and it's taken them a LOT of development resources in order to work out how to use it). Even with this protocol, there are problems that Live Cams Pro has to deal with such as frequent corrupt video frames from the camera.

    We would rather focus our development resources on standard protocols, as well as other general software improvements that would benefit our entire user base, so we aren't going to invest the massive amount of development resources required to support this one camera range. I think the only thing that would help is for customers to put pressure on Foscam to improve their firmware so that standard RTSP streaming actually works properly.

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