# WiFI Camera for Garage



## Mark Holtz (Mar 23, 2002)

OK, I've had one too many of these issues occur. I leave the house, and then turn around to check to see if the garage door is closed (and it is). What I want to do is mount a WiFi-based camera in the garage and then check from my Android phone to see if the garage door is closed. Any suggestions for a WiFi camera that I can hook into my home network which I can then turn around and access from the Internet?


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## woj027 (Sep 3, 2007)

I have one of these at home

http://www.amazon.com/Foscam-FI8910W-Network-Camera-Two-Way/dp/B006ZPWS4U/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1392821339&sr=8-3&keywords=foscam

Decent cam. I have an iPhone so I can't tell you about android apps. But there are nearly a half dozen aps for iPhone.

they occasionally have specials, but since they've been on Amazon, their overall price (all products) has come down.


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

Ok, so here's a question, regarding the door. So you say that you check that it's closed, then at some point it's open?

Depending on the opener, particularly if it's an older one, there may be DIP switches or another way of changing the code. I'd do that as well, matching the setting on the opener to the remote.

There is a possibility that someone has a remote on the same setting.


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## jimmie57 (Jun 26, 2010)

I have had the same problem that you have. I finally got myself into thinking "see the door down" before I exit the driveway. Mine is a product of being OLD.

I have been looking at IP cameras to be able to see how my son is doing in his end of the house without having to go see for myself.
I have been looking at these:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/TENVIS-Wireless-WiFi-IP-Camera-Pan-Tilt-Day-Night-Audio-Smartphone-DDNS-JPT3815W-/121209568171?pt=US_Security_Cameras&hash=item1c38a73bab

The problem I am having is almost all of these say they do not run on the Windows 64 bit systems.
All of them ? say they work on the Android and Apple IOS systems. I do have an Ipad I could try one out on.


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## Beerstalker (Feb 9, 2009)

I also have the Foscam 8910, but mine is in black. I use it as a baby monitor for our little girl. I have it mounted on the wall up by the ceiling above her crib. The App we use on our iPhones and iPads is Baby Monitor For IP Camera by Tiny Solutions.

I realize that all that info my not really be relavent to your use, but just wanted to put it out there in case others find this thread.

I am really happy with the camera. The picture quality isnt' the greatest but it works fine for what I am using it for, and should work fine for you too if you are mainly just wanting to make sure the garage door is closed. I don't know that I would recommend it as a security camera as it would be pretty difficult to identify anyone from its video feed unless they were really close to the camera. It is also a bit bulkier than I originally realized, so it would be really easy to spot and avoid if it were used for security. There are other cameras out there with better video quality and night vision if you want to use it for home security.

But as a baby/pet monitor, or just for checking the garage door, I feel it is a great camera especially for the low price. Other cameras I was looking at that were marketed specifically as baby monitors cost twice as much or more, and some didn't offer as good of features.

Edit/

One thing I fogot to mention was that setting the camera up to be able to use outside your home can be pretty tricky from what I have read online. I know I tried a lot of differnet things until I realized that because of the way my ISP works I can't use it unless I pay for a static IP address. Not sure how hard it would have been if I had a normal ISP like cable or DSL (I have to use a WISP). This was about a year ago though, so maybe there are better instructions for that now.


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## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

Three Foscams here. They're cheap (by comparison) and reasonably reliable.

As far as remote access, you'll have to deal with port forwarding and DNS issues, but I believe Foscam has a user site now to help with that.

IP cameras have gotten fairly cheap and plentiful now.


You should also be able to find a module to make the opener IP accessible so you don't have to go back home to close it.


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## dennisj00 (Sep 27, 2007)

If there's some reason it doesn't always go down, that's a small problem. 

If it goes up randomly (?) during the time you're away, that's a Bigger problem!


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## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

In fact, I seem to remember an opener with a status indicator you could check over the web that would tell you open or closed. Can't remember where I saw it though.


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## TheRatPatrol (Oct 1, 2003)

Get a Garage Door Butler.

http://www.garagebutler.com/


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## Mark Holtz (Mar 23, 2002)

The root cause is that, on several occasions, we think we forgot to close the door, and rush back to check. 95 percent of the time, it is closed, but it is that element of doubt.


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## armophob (Nov 13, 2006)

If you had OCD like I do, you would not have a problem.
I get out and knock on the closed door three times before leaving the driveway.


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## Yoda-DBSguy (Nov 4, 2006)

You'd be the perfect candidate for the following:
Simply get one of the new garage door opener's that connects to wifi. They have an app on the phone that checks the status of the door (open or closed) and allows you to select either state as you desire. 

They make similar hardware & software for door locks as well not to mention setting your security system as well.


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## Mark Holtz (Mar 23, 2002)

When I got my Internet updated about a month ago, somehow, I got a static IP address. Last night, I received a Foscam FI8916W through a discounted price at Woot. It is now installed and is doing what I expect it to do.... give a decent picture of the garage including the garage door.

I'll check out a WiFi Garage Door opener next.


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

I use a PlugCAM (http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?p=PLUGCAM&ss=143828) for this purpose. It was cheap and really easy to install as long as your garage is on the same buzz box as the rest of your house.


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## gov (Jan 11, 2013)

Don't want to make anyone (more) paranoid, but I have one garage door that will 'appear' to go all the way down, but 10 to 15 seconds later, it will go back up.

It doesn't do it very often, and at my house it isn't a big deal (somebody is always home) and I've looked it over a few times and don't see anything major wrong with it.

:eek2:


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## Laxguy (Dec 2, 2010)

Perhaps a naughty neighbor? 
Can you change the code/coding?


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## dennisj00 (Sep 27, 2007)

Check your rollers or whatever they're called. . . I've had some screws get loose and the track binds at certain places and the opener reverses.

I replaced the self-tapping screws with nuts / bolts / lockwashers with no continuing problems.

Edit: Or you may need to adjust the downforce on the opener. . . try opening and closing it manually to see if there are difficult segments.


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## TheRatPatrol (Oct 1, 2003)

Also check your "laser beam sensors" located at the bottom on each side of the door. Same thing happened to my dad and those were the culprit.


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