Review on Motorola FOCUS68 Wi-Fi HD Home Monitoring Camera - Black (FOCUS68B) by Deron Altman

UPDATE Jan2019: Dropping my rating from 3 to 2 stars after the unit failed during the first multi-day stretch I kept it running (after less than 3 days). Went offline and unresponsive in app, though it powers up fine. Power cycling doesn't help, reinstalling app doesn't help, re-pairing fails despite the camera "speaking" it paired successfully.I didn't go down to 1-star since the optics were nice and I like the mount. I may just have a bad copy, or maybe a firmware issue, or.? Since there's no onboard interface, I can't diagnose further and don't want to waste any more time, so in the e-trash it goes.Being unable to tell why it failed is frustrating, and Motorola and company should realize the poorly tested, poorly integrated third-party products they resell under their well-known brands end up diminishing their brand goodwill.NOT Recommended.Original review follows.---------------------------------A home camera that makes setup (probably) easy, but intentionally cripples local functionality. The software is easy to use but very limited in what it can do, and some things like firmware updates just don't work.The good:* Theoretically easy setup with ad-hoc WiFi from your mobile device (app required).* Punches through NAT with a standard method called STUN. Non-technies don't have to futz with the router.* Pretty good image quality in moderate light.* Lightweight camera and USB power makes it easy to place, and easy to replace the power source.* Pretty decent base/mount, it clicks through the positions it can hold.The bad:* Setup app fails without meaningful diagnostics if your router firewall is blocking any UDP, or either of two specific TCP ports, and you have to redo some of the setup each time it fails.* No networking documentation. Not even a footnote indicating "if you have a firewall".* Image quality very poor in low light. Image quality blows out if view includes bright lights.* Apps wants more permissions (such as contacts and call info) than the free service requires.* Web (cloud) interface is available, but requires Flash, a nearly extinct technology that was always rife with issues.* No recording (other than screenshot) without the pay service.* Power switch is super-clumsy for a slider. You'll have to re-aim the camera after using the slider. Every time.* Odd nightlight feature on the back of the camera. You can turn it off, but why is it even there?The Ugly:* Firmware update fails in all scenarios, website does not offer a direct download option, camera does not have a direct update option. An IoT device without functioning firmware updates is a major liability these days.* No onboard/app-less web access. Although the camera uses several standard-ish technologies to allow the app to function, there's not a simple onboard web server, no documented streaming media URL, no simple way to access the camera directly without the app, although it would be very easy to provide that option.* The app requires cloud access. That also means the camera will be effectively bricked if the cloud service is EOLed.* All manufacturers should provide short, basic documentation for their technical and hobbyist customers.Despite my 3 star rating, this device is a hair's width away from 4-stars-- if only the firmware update worked, or if the web UI didn't need flash, or if there was decent documentation, or the sensor was better, or if I could point a web browser at the device from my local LAN/WLAN instead of having to bounce through the a cloud provider.I appreciate the simplicity of the approach, but it's a tad too simple. It's not the worst camera out there, but needs improvement. Barely-Recommended, with caveats.