Mobile Integrated Solutions

Hi Folks,

I received the indoor HD camera from Smarthome and had a chance to investigate. The bottom line is the camera is using an older FOSCAM firmware as the base firmware for the INSTEON model.

Early 2015, FOSCAM released system firmware 1.4.1.9 and in it there were several RTSP errors that were fixed in 1.4.1.10 (confirmed in the 1.4.1.10 release notes from FOSCAM). Unfortunately the INSTEON indoor HD camera is still using 1.4.1.9.

I've captured all the technical details and sent these over to Smarthome for their consideration. Hopefully they'll work with FOSCAM to produce a firmware update to fix the broken RTSP stream present in 1.4.1.9.

Wes

I relayed your diagnosis to Smarthome. Here's the reply I got ...

Thank you for contacting Smarthome.

I am sorry for any inconvenience.
We do not directly support Mobilinc integration for the cameras, and at this time do not intend to update to the revision 1.4.1.10 firmware for Foscam as there are other issues with that firmware.
The camera;s can be used on iOS with other 3rd party apps such as Foscam viewer.

Please do not hesitate to contact us again if we can be of further assistance.

Sincerely,

Daniel
Customer Solution Representative
Direct: 800-762-7846

That is an unfortuante response as the 1.4.1.9 firmware is well-known by Foscam to have many errors fixed in 1.4.1.10 over 6 months ago.

The Foscam viewer app doesn't use RTSP. It instead uses a proprietary video/audio stream that doesn't adhere to open standard for streaming. We deliberately choose to implement RTSP as the streaming standard since it's supported by thousands of cameras, DVRs, NVRs, and other video network streamers on the market.

Wes

Thanks for your reply. Have you any idea what the "other issues with that firmware" [1.4.1.10] might be?

No idea. I did load in 1.4.1.10 from a related FOSCAM camera into the INSTEON HD Camera, but it either didn't work or didn't take as I saw similar issues with the RTSP stream from the INSTEON camera.

My guess is that Smarthome would have to commission Foscam to build a special 1.4.1.10 for the INSTEON camera. There also may be other reasons why they can't move to 1.4.1.10 that are hardware related.

All I can report is that MobiLinc works with all FOSCAM cameras that are running the latest 1.4.1.10 firmware. Why Smarthome can't upgrade, I have no idea.

Wes

Wes,
In the past 10 months since your last post on this discussion, do you know if SmartHome has resolved this issue for the 2864-222. I have just purchased four (4) to be used with Mobilinc, and if the problem still exists I will return them before taking them out of the box.

Hi Johnathan,

Their new v4 HD indoor/outdoor cameras work now. What you need to do is go into the camera's settings and turn on ONVIF which enables RTSP. Then, enter that RTSP port into MobiLinc for the camera's RTSP port setting.

Wes

Thanks Wes,
I opened the box and according the name plate on the back the Insteon Outdoor HD camera is actually 2864-232 (as opposed to 2864-222) at is Revision 5.0. So I should be good, but may have more questions as i start developing my home automation and monitoring system. Thanks again.

Is there any workaround for those who own 2864-222?

Hi rst,

It's better to talk in terms of camera version numbers. Look at the bottom of the camera. If the version is less than V4 then please be aware that there are firmware issues with V3 and below that prevent RTSP from working. There is no workaround. The only streaming solution for V3 and below is JPEG.

Smarthome/INSTEON worked with their manufacturer to fix the RTSP issues in V4 of the indoor HD camera and V5 of the outdoor HD camera.

Wes