This was a broad question that came out way, making it a bit difficult to answer. We decided to break it down into two categories that we feel are some of the worst camera options we’ve seen thus far (or at least troublesome).
For one, proprietary software. We don’t really have to name a single brand here as many are encompassed into this category. There is nothing more annoying than a simple IP camera that requires it’s own app. Especially if you have already gone through the trouble and expense of building out a network of gadgets that all talk to each other (ie, HomeKit, Zigbee, Z-Wave, etc). Then you come across an IP cam that refuses to work with any of it. Having a seperate app just to control a single or two devices can be a bit annoying, and you may find yourself sending it back in exchange for something that works with everything else. This way you can interact with the cameras and other devices with various scenes and commands.
The exception to this, is if the camera is beyond a normal IP camera solution. If it offers a list of options and features that do a great job of selling it better than any basic camera that would connect with the rest of your stuff (an example would be Ring), then exceptions can easily be made. Ring for example has many selling points like it’s flexibility for sharing your images and video, as well as interacting with neighbors using their app. It would be pretty difficult to build those kind of features into a package that can be work with multiple platforms.
However if the camera is simply a basic IP cam (even PTZ options), and the company doesn’t offer much else portfolio wise, then the segregation of devices is pointless.
For two, reliability when it comes to connectivity is one of the most important attributes of a camera. If you can’t connect to it, well then it’s pretty much useless. We have tested out (and have) all sorts of cameras. Of those, there is one model from Foscam that has always been troublesome in this category. The Foscam C1 Lite cameras are constantly falling offline, forcing you to have to manually cycle power to them to get them to reconnect. We have tested a number of Foscam solutions, and haven’t seen this kind of trouble with the other models, so it seems to be a special characteristic of this one specifically. If we had to pick one camera that constantly gives us trouble, it would be this one. On top of this, it is very picky browser-wise when it comes to accessing its web interface. They require Internet Explorer to properly connect since they require some annoying plugin request. Chrome for example is shot when it comes to using it to access anything. So that’s two major “Uh-Oh’s” for Foscam in a single model sadly.
This being said, the reliability issues only seems to affect the C1 Lite edition, as the regular C1 cameras don’t come with this problem. They still require IE to access them sadly, but they at least remain on the network, ready to connect to.
Both cameras were eventually replaced with the C2 camera by Foscam, but we couldn’t tell you if the issue remains as we haven’t had our hands on one.
Their older models like their 720p models all seemed to function just fine. Cross-browser compatibility and some of the best uptime we’ve seen in some of these IP cameras. Other cameras we have tested have fallen offline maybe once or twice, but nothing comes as close to the C1 Lite. So that would be our final answer!
