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Thread ID: 145406 2017-10-26 00:19:00 Cheap mobile phone as IP Camera ? 1101 (13337) Press F1
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1441110 2017-10-26 00:19:00 Has anyone used a cheap mobile phone as a cheap webcam/ip cam sort of thing .
I know theres android apps to do this sort of thing , how well do they work ?

I was considering buying a $20 Vodafone smartphone & using its cam for this sort of thing. Just in house,via wifi, doesnt need to be across the internet
I want to access the stream either on my PC or my Android tablet.
Just to monitor a small machine (3D Printer) from another room

Has anyone tried this sort of thing?
1101 (13337)
1441111 2017-10-26 00:50:00 Nope. Just buy a cheap wireless ip cam from somewhere like Alixpress. Thats what I did. And you can use an app to control it Speedy Gonzales (78)
1441112 2017-10-26 02:21:00 Nope. Just buy a cheap wireless ip cam from somewhere like Alixpress. Thats what I did. And you can use an app to control it

Actually, thats what I first tried .
I bought a cheap wifi cam from bangood. Eye360 compatable app needed
Issue is, my Samsung Tablet has too old a version of Android , & I dont want to put the app on my main cellphone.

I guess I could controll the cheap wifi cam using a cheap $20 smartphone . A better idea ? At least then it wont matter if I run the ph's batt flat .
The $20 ph has a 4.5" screen , a bit small but usable for monitoring ?

I have a definite distrust for the Chinese apps that control those wifi IP cams . Not keen on installing that app on PC or main phone
1101 (13337)
1441113 2017-10-26 04:24:00 Try this free app - https://alfred.camera/ decibel (11645)
1441114 2017-10-26 14:00:00 Just in house,via wifi... Just to monitor a small machine (3D Printer) from another room

Exactly how BIG is your house? Seems like a lot of effort to monitor a printer that you can walk to... is the printer excessively loud or something?

Just saying... I'm not trying to be a smart Alec here.

This is how "Shadow IT" starts... buying tech cos users are to lazy to do anything lol :) :) :)
chiefnz (545)
1441115 2017-10-26 19:05:00 3D printers are reasonably loud I used to run them in the basement. I could here when they were finished and used teamviewer to switch them off when done. I don't have one now as ran out of stuff to make that was actually useful gary67 (56)
1441116 2017-10-26 19:56:00 Exactly how BIG is your house? Seems like a lot of effort to monitor a printer that you can walk to... is the printer excessively loud or something?

Just saying... I'm not trying to be a smart Alec here.

This is how "Shadow IT" starts... buying tech cos users are to lazy to do anything lol :) :) :)

so you are saying, every 5 minutes I should get up & walk to the printer , for up to 10 hours .
hence the term "Monitor" & not the term "see when its done"

This IS me being a smart alec :)

if something goes wrong , it wont stop , it just keeps going, squirting out the plastic
1101 (13337)
1441117 2017-10-26 20:01:00 3D printers are reasonably loud I used to run them in the basement. I could here when they were finished and used teamviewer to switch them off when done. I don't have one now as ran out of stuff to make that was actually useful

for me, the fun is building it & tweeking it to get good prints. I'm enjoying that so far
I know I have b8gger all usueful thing to print . Its just another hobby
1101 (13337)
1441118 2017-10-26 22:21:00 I'm with Speedy, get a WiFi enabled IP-camera.

Most will let you view it from your browser, or just find the RTSP URL details and you can stream it to a local media player on your PC or Cellphone, such as VLC.
Really easy to setup with something like SightHound Video on your PC too :)
Chilling_Silence (9)
1441119 2017-10-27 00:25:00 The cam I got from Alixpress was only 30 or so NZ$. A Saance wireless cam. It can pan, go up and down / left and right. It has infra red as well. The Android app works fine with it. Once you set it up

There is also a Windows 10 app that supports it, called IP Centom. This app can take a while to configure. But it's not free.Only thing I found was if you turn the cam off (since it uses an ip address), it can change.

And when you run the app again, it may not find it. I had to reserve the ip address for the cam, in the modem. So it didnt / couldn't change
Speedy Gonzales (78)
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