The BlitzWolf SIC1 Wifi Surveillance Camera is relatively new. Its reasonable price and apparently solid construction that presumably can withstand the rigours of Maritime winters made it attractive. I described my first impressions before (in French).

Like many others, I criticized the software and poor documentation. Earlier today, I returned the camera to factory settings (albeit with the newest firmware at the time: 2.0.531) and set it up again. I tried to record the steps I followed in the hope that this may help others. My apologies for any forgotten steps or errors.

Wireless AP Mode

This is a quick way to check that the camera is working. It will act as a wireless access point and a Wifi enabled device (desktop computer, tablet or phone) capable of running BlitzCam software will be connected to it. In what follows, I describe connecting a desktop computer running Windows in that fashion.

• Disable Wifi in Windows.
• Start BlitzCam software.
  
• Remove any devices already installed in the LAN and WAN tabs.
• Power up camera without connecting the ethernet cable to the camera.
• Enable Wifi in Windows and search for a new Wifi connection. It will have the same name found in the CamID/User field on the label found on the camera; something like E35353535.
• Connect to that access point. Windows will indicate that there is no Internet connection.
• In the WAN tab of BlitzCam, enter the CamID/User name in the User name box.
• In the Password box, enter the access code value found on the label found on the camera.
• Check Save password.
• Click on the Login button.
• After a while, the camera icon should appear in the LAN tab with a blue lens.
• Double click on the icon to see the low definition video feed (sub-stream player). The video should appear in the main window and the lens on camera icon should turn red.
• Right click on the camera icon and click on H264/MPEG4 player to see the high definition video feed (high definition).
• Right click on one or the other of the video windows and investigate the options.

This point to point wireless connexion is not practical if the computer is to be used for other functions that require access to Internet. So, remember to reconnect Window's Wifi to the local area network Wifi router.

LAN Mode - Ethernet

• Connect the Ethernet cable to the camera and then power it up.
• Wait a considerable amount of time for the camera to connect with the router. The green and orange LEDs on the Ethernet connector blink alternately.
• Once the green LED is off and the orange LED is on, the device should show up on the network. Start BlitzCam on the computer.
• The camera icon should appear in the LAN tab with a blue lens.
• Double click on the icon to see the low definition video feed (sub-stream player). The video should appear in the main window and the lens on the camera icon should turn red.
• Right click on the camera icon and click on H264/MPEG4 player to see the high definition video feed (high definition).
• Right click on one or the other of the video windows and investigate the options.
• It is important to update the camera's firmware.
  

By default, the camera uses DHCP to get a dynamic IP address from the local area network router (or DHCP server if it is not on the router). It may be possible to set a fixed IP address; I have not checked because I had already arranged for the assignment of a fixed IP address by the router.

LAN Mode - Wifi

To enable Wifi connexions to the camera, it must be informed of the local network identity (SSID) and password (WPA/...). To do that you must connect to the camera with BlitzCam and use its ability to modify the camera's settings.

• Connect to the camera either in Wireless AP mode or Ethernet LAN mode.
• Right click on the camera's icon in the LAN tab and choose Camera Settings or Device Settings (Réglages de l'appareil).
  
• In Networks settings click on Wireless Setting.
• Check at the top Set Wifi settings, add the local Wifi network name in the Network name (SSID) box and the corresponding WPA2 password in the Password box.
• Click on the Apply button,
• There is a warning that settings will be changed and the camera will reboot.