How to Set Up a FOSCAM webcam with an SMC Router
I recently set up a webcam so I could remotely monitor the construction of my pool. I purchased a FOSCAM F18918W wireless camera and set it up on my wireless network which uses an SMC SMCD3GN router. The process was long and frustrating due to my lack of knowledge and the less-than-great instructions. This article will go through the setup step by step in the hope that I can save someone else the pain I went through. This setup was done using a Windows laptop.
Camera Hardware Setup
1. Screw the antenna to the back of the FOSCAM. [image 1]
image 1
2. Connect the network cable to the camera and the router. [image 2]
image 2
3. Plug in the camera to an electrical outlet.
4. Connect a network cable from your laptop to your router. (This step was omitted from the product instructions giving me an extra hour of frustration because the camera can’t be found if your laptop is connected via wireless.)
Software Installation
5. Insert the CD into your computer, find the folder “For Windows OS” and double click on IPCamSetup.exe.
6. Install the software per the instructions. The software will as to restart your computer.
Log in to the Camera
7. Double click the IP Camera Tool icon on your desktop. [image 3]
image 3
8. This will bring up a window which looks like image4 except instead of webcam, it will say Anonymous. [image 4]
image 4
The listing of your camera “should” happen automatically but make take a minute to show the camera. If it doesn’t:
9. Try to see your camera login screen in a Firefox or Chrome browser using the IP address shown in the IP Camera Tool window. [image 5]
image 5
10. Click on Login under “Server Push Mode”. This will bring up the camera app from which you can set up the camera or view the live video. [image 6]
image 6
11. Click on “Live Video” and make sure the camera is working. Click the various buttons on the left to make the camera move around. Pretty cool! [image 7]
image 7
Camera Setup
12. In the camera app in your browser, click on Device Management. [image 8]
image 8
Let’s walk through the settings using the menus on the left.
13. Alias Settings. Change Anonymous to whatever you want to call your camera.
14. Date&Time Settings. Select your time zone.
15. User Settings. Add an Administrator user and password and if you want others to be able to see the webcam feed, add a visitor user. A visitor can view the feed only. Add an operator if you want someone to be able to operate (pan and scan) the camera but not have full admin rights.
16. Basic network settings. The IP address is the one shown in the IP Camera Setup Tool (image 4). Get the subnet mask and gateway from your router. (See step 22 below for more router details.) If you don’t plan to create a domain name for viewing from the internet, put the gateway IP in the DNS Server field. If you do plan to use a domain name, the domain provider will give you the IP of the DNS server. HTTP port is 80. Network Lamp? I don’t know what this is but it was checked so I left it that way. [image 9]
image 9
17. Wireless LAN Settings. You need these settings if you want to run the camera wirelessly. Click the Scan button to list the available networks and select yours. Check “Using Wireless LAN.” Select your encryption (I use WEP) and fill in the appropriate values. Hopefully you have your WEP value written down somewhere. [image 10]
image 10
18. ADSL Settings. Skip. If you’re using dial-up, upgrade to the 21st century.
19. UPnP Settings. Check the box if you want to view the camera via the web.
20. DDNS settings. Use this if you plan to create a domain name for viewing via the web. It’s not required to do so so see the camera via the web.
21. All the rest… These are optional features you won’t need to get started. Skip them for now. The log will tell you if your visitors have accessed the camera and from what IP number.
Router Setup
22. Log in to your router. Mine uses address 192.168.0.1. If you’re using an SMC SMCD3GN the default login is:
username: cusadmin
password: password
When you log in you will see a status screen which shows your WAN IP (IP from the internet), your WAN subnet mask and gateway (you need these for the camera setup in step 16).
image 11
Let’s walk through the menu items that you need.
23. System. Make sure Enable uPnP is checked. Click on the Password Settings link and give your router a new password. This is critical if you plan to give any visitors the IP number to view your camera feed. If your IP number is known and you do not change your router password, you will be wide open to hackers who can change your router settings.
24. NAT –> Port forwarding. This is critical to ernable you to see your camera from outside your home network via the internet. If you type your WAN IP into a browser, you will see your router setup. To see your camera, you need to use another port. The default web port used in a browser is port 80. So if you go to a web site such as Google, http://google.com is the same as http://google.com:80. The browser assumes you want port 80. Because the assumed port is 80 and that port is reserved for your router setup, you need to pick another one for your camera. I used port 8000. In the Port Forwarding screen for your router, add the values shown below in image12 using YOUR IP number for your camera (from image 3) and the Public Port you chose to use. You will be able to see your camera feed in a browser at http://WAN IP:public port (http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:8000).
image 12
25. Firewall. I left everything here as is — firewall enabled.Setup is done. However, when you’re inside your network, you will not be able to access the camera using your internet address — the http://WAN IP:8000 address. You need to test from outside; perhaps call a friend and have them test for you using the visitor account you set up on in your camera settings.
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