720p H.264 Wireless IP Camera - White

Foscam's are excellent network cameras and the new "HD/720P" models give really nice images. For the money there's nothing better, and there may be nothing better, period. For that reason, I rate as a "5". HOWEVER, the instructions are pathetic. If you know your way around internal/external IP addresses, then you can do it quickly. If not, here are a few pointers. 1. You need to start with your Foscam hardwired to one of the LAN (not WAN) ports on your router with an ethernet cable. The router will assign it a "lease" for an internal IP address, probably something like: 192.168.0.nnn, depending on how your router is set up. The trick is to find this address so you can talk to the camera. Once you get that far the rest is pretty easy. 2. Foscam provides software that is supposed to "find" your Foscam using diferent programs for either a PC or MAC. I couldn't get these programs to find my camera on either a MAC or a PC. To make matters worse, the MAC version is compressed in RAR (not ZIP) format, which MAC does not have internal software to decompress, so you have to find a decompression package and run it... only to find after that that the program won't even run on OS10, much less find the camera. 3. Fear not, you don't need the software. Log into your router (usually 192.169.0.1, but not always check your router docs) and look for the active IP "leases" on your router. The Foscam may NOT be identified as a Foscam, mine weren't. Look at the hardware (MAC) address on the bottom of the Foscam and look for the IP address among your router's "leases" that matches your Foscam. Write that down, you're almost there. 4. The other thing you need is the port number. This should be in your Foscam info somewhere. The default for my Foscam was port #88. 5. In your web browser, enter the IP address of your Foscam that you found from your router, followed by ":" followed by port#. For example: 192:168.0.197:88 6. This should get you into the Foscam software and from there things get easier. 7. If you did the above correcly you should have access to your Foscam and you can set it up as you wish. The software is excellent, once you find it! I prefer to give my Foscams a permanent assigned IP address in the reserved "200" range of addresses, rather than having it randomly assigned by the router. ...makes it so much easier to find it later, etc. I would also suggest changing the port number to something other than 88 (or other default value). 8. If you want to access your Foscam from the outside world (of course you do!), then you need to go into your router software and have it assign the new port number to the specific static IP address you've given to your camera. Then, when you enter your external IP address from the outside world followed by (:port#), the router will direct you to the internal IP address for camera. 9. If you don't have a static external IP address for your internet service then you'll need to use a dynamic DNS (DDNS) service to keep track of your changing external IP address. 10. Once you have things set up for a wired internet connection, you'll need to set things up for wireless. The instructions/software are pretty good for this. It basically consists of having the Foscam look for WiFi systems, identify the one that is yours and supply the appropriate pass phrase. Instructions are also given for WPS synching with your router if you want to go that route. Hope this helps! These are great cameras. Too bad the instructions stink. If you're not comfortable accessing your router then you'll need instructions for that, or outside help.