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Reviewing the new Xiaomi Dafang 1080p IP Cam. This is the bigger brother to the XiaoFang reviewed earlier.
The DaFang lives up to its name and is twice as big as the XiaoFang

Includes in the package is a USB power adaptor with Type A flat prongs. Also a long USB Cable. I noticed that the head of the microUSB is rather small in order to fit the XiaoFang and Dafang. If you need to replace it in the future, you got to get back a small size microUSB head in order to fit.

Firmware Versions -
5.5.1.161 - when bought
5.5.1.177 -
5.5.1.197 1st Nov 2017
5.5.1.200 3rd Nov 2017


Bottom view of DaFang -

Setting it up is similar to XiaoFang.
- Download the MiHome app and select Add Device.
- Select the DaFang from the photo list of devices offered by Xiaomi
- Press the Setup button at the bottom of DaFang
- When you hear the voice prompt, click “Wait until you hear a voice prompt” then select “Next” on the app
- Select the Wi-Fi network and enter the Wi-Fi password (it selects the network that your device is connected to. To change network, change it on your device) 5Ghz wireless is not supported. It can connect to Guest network which I used to limit it.
- Then it will take a few minutes to connect.
- The led indicator on the front of DaFang will turn solid blue when it is connected

At My Devices list, DaFang should now show “Device Online”. Clicking this will open up the live view.


Sometimes it cannot connect and it stays at "1/3 Connecting" forever -


If successfully connected, you will see the live feed and also few options to choose from.
Some of them are self explanatory as I already labelled it so I won't go thru them.


Toggle wide or fullscreen
Set video quality High or Low
Manually Take a Photo
Manually Record a Video
Expand View - turn landscape and expand to cover your whole screen
Menus - selecting this opens a new menu with 5 icons (see photo below with explanation)


Live Recordings - Show the live view recordings according to the time. These are save inside the microSD card.
Time Lapse - Recordings of these are saved at the "List of Photo, Video & Time Lapse" menu (see below). There are some settings as well which I havent play with yet.
Tracking Mode - turns On/Off motion tracking
360º Pan - pans the camera every 90º left and right. This function can also work together with Motion Tracking mode. Both must be selected to do this. On mine, I select both Motion Tracking and 360º Pan to be On
Calibrate - moves the camera around like its calibrating itself
Standby - puts the camera on standby mode. You can wake it up by pressing it again.

Selecting the three dots at the top right corner opens up the Camera Setting Menu as below


This post has been edited by idoblu: Jul 7 2018, 07:54 AM

List of Motion Alarm recordings - if you had set the Motion Alarm to On, a list of such recordings are listed here. They need to be downloaded from the server in order to view. Speed seems much faster now than before when I was testing the XiaoFang. Motion Alarm Videos can be viewed and downloaded even when your DaFang is offline.


List of still Photos, Videos, Time Lapse - Manually taken photos and videos as well as Time Lapse video are stored here. Make sure you enable read/write permission for your smartphone before this can work.


Camera Settings - see explanation below

1 - set Auto Record On/Off. You can also set to record at certain time but it doesnt seem to work. You must have a microSD card inserted for this to work
2 - Turns On/Off Motion Alarm Detection. You can set 3 levels of sensitivity and also turn ON/Off Smoke and CO Alarm Detection

3 - Turns on the IR light to Auto, Always On, Always Off. Mine is set to Auto
4 - Turns your Live View to either Widescreen or Fullscreen
5 - If you selected Fullscreen above, then you must turn on this screen justification so that none of the time stamp will get cut off
6 - Toggle Flip Image incase you mount your DaFang upside down
7 - Turn on/off time and date stamp
8 - Status Light Indicator - turn on or off the LED indicator on the front of DaFang
9 - laboratoryView.text.title - selecting this will reveal 3 functions (see explanation further down)

10 - Format card (not shown in photo above)
11 - Video Storage Settings - pressing this doesnt seem to open anything (not shown in photo)


motion detect frame - If its On, a yellow frame will appear around the detected moving object
set pan speed - slide the slider to set how fast you want to manually pan


crazily pan and tilt the camera - no idea what is this for, maybe to test its movement


This post has been edited by idoblu: Jul 7 2018, 08:45 AM

General Settings -


Device Name - you can name your device
Manage Locations - shows you which wifi SSID you are connected to and also lets you put your device in a Group ( in this case they called it Rooms)
Share Device - lets another smart device to use the cam. They must have their own Xiaomi account unless you want to share yours. Btw you can use your ID to login to two devices or more.
Automation - haven’t test
Check for firmware updates - mine is 5.5.1.177 (i read one YouTuber says not to update if possible)
Additional Settings - set password
Add to Home Screen - for Apple users to add an icon to their Home Screen. Actually does the same thing as the MiHome App
Remove Device - delete this device from your MiHome app

This post has been edited by idoblu: Jul 7 2018, 07:43 AM

reserved - final thoughts (later when I test it some more)

- if you have older firmware than 5.5.1.177, please do not update until you tried all the functions and are happy with it
- can use power bank to power DaFang
- cannot manually take still photos anymore (i think latest firmware took away this feature)
- cannot manually take live videos (firmware?)
- cannot set when you want to start and stop recording (again I think because of latest firmware)
- ran it whole day and overnight with motion tracking and 360º panning on. It doesnt seem to heat up the cam or the power adapter. Both cool to the touch, not even a little warm
- runs quietly. You can't hear the motor unless you are sitting right next to it. The sound is mostly from the whirring of the motion tracking movement. Panning is almost silent
-

This post has been edited by idoblu: Oct 21 2017, 12:18 AM

Sample Videos

At night with lights turned on. First only 360º Panning was turned on. Then Motion Tracking was turned on for you to see the effect.
Please note that this is what you would see on your smartphone and not the saved recordings made by DaFang




Now with the lights off. DaFang is using its IR led to recording in the dark



This post has been edited by idoblu: Oct 21 2017, 12:06 AM

The motion tracking is really cool... I'm also testing the Dafang now... Much better than the Yi Dome cam...

This post has been edited by blurjoey: Oct 20 2017, 12:04 AM

Nice and detailed review. Certainly looks professional and will be useful to those who show interest in either the Xiaomi Dafang or Xiaofang.

It would be good if there is a short comparison on the differences between the Dafang and Xiaofang. So far we can see the Dafang is a larger box than the Xiaofang. WHat are the other technical differences between the two, for example Dafang can take clearer photos or videos, have better features etc. or other differences.

can consider them the same spec but Dafang has pan and tilt plus auto track. forget about xiaofang. almost the same price, better get dafang

great review, will help me in thinking if i should get 1 in the future, currently using xiaofang.


i always face this with my xiaofang with unifi, but if i use data, no issue. maybe unifi slow to china server? my locale is mainland china.

did you try night mode? so far how is it?

and dafang is almost same price with xiaofang? where did you buy?

https://shopee.com.my/search?keyword=Dafang
bought it here for 98 with 3 months warranty

yes wait for my night mode video soon.

This post has been edited by idoblu: Oct 21 2017, 12:43 AM

this camera hangs a lot. i have to keep rebooting it. already updated to the latest firmware. more than 15 restarts since 3 weeks turned on. wonder can it be flashed like the previous gen to support in NAS

what do you mean by "hang"? cant connect or ? cam stopped panning?

cannot connect the blue light keeps blinking after some time it is on. the only way to reconnect is restart it

Looks like this cam is damn buggy

Thanks for the videos. Much appreciated. Just watched the 480p and it's good enough - clear images which are most important.

Good to know that the Dafang will be the one to get.

I agree you get what u pay for.

night mode seems good, but macam got connection error?

looks like some of the menus has been changed today. app looks a bit different now.

my 2nd unit came in today with firmware 5.5.1.161 - it doesnt look or do anything different. just some minor changes

5.5.1.161 -



5.5.1.177 -


This post has been edited by idoblu: Oct 24 2017, 09:33 PM

Thanks so much for the detailed explanation of the set-up menu. It has helped me tremendously. i was struggling for the last few weeks trying to set this up correctly. My camera was zooming left and right and I really didn't know what to do. A million thumbs up for you !!!!

Does anyone know if we can mount Da Fang upside down on the ceiling?

This post has been edited by hhtoh88: Oct 29 2017, 11:57 AM

hi, i make the update and now don't connect in 3G/4G....

how to downgrade firmare? now have 5.5.1.177

new firmware available now - 5.5.1.197

I cant get in at all with the new firmware update
but my other Dafang with the old firmware is still okay....
if this happens just fully power off and switch back on again.

This post has been edited by idoblu: Nov 2 2017, 07:49 AM

Dear @idoblu,
thank you so much for your work! It helps me a lot with the Dafang!
Even if I can't connect from 4G, I can set up the motion alerts and receive notifications.

I would like to add two other screens that can be used to set up the motion alerts:

https://thumb.ibb.co/eosTTG/884b0392_605b_4...b6b760370f7.jpg
https://thumb.ibb.co/dt5RFw/39fff6ad_bc9b_4...b982fcca96a.jpg

I'm sorry but I am not able to give you a full preview..

.

This post has been edited by idoblu: Nov 2 2017, 07:48 AM

ok i added the screenshot for the motion alarm settings. thank you
no problem connecting with 4G but yes you would need Wifi for Dafang to send you the live feeds

This post has been edited by idoblu: Nov 2 2017, 07:59 AM

try turning it off and on back.

you're welcome

you would need some kind of tripod mount with a flat surface with some holes so you could screw it down to your ceiling. i havent seen such thing though

new firmware available again 5.5.1.200

Has anyone tried the new firmware?

i dare not try. today is not a good day for me...lol
being having lots of network problems

Thanks. I think we can improvise to hang it upside down. I'm just worried if the motor or other mechanism can tahan given that it has to support the weight of the camera.

Is there a xiaomi customer service we can ask?

My cam came with .177 firmware and was working fine on 802.11n with 100% signal.

Updated to .197 and now it mainly fails to connect and it seems to crash if you press any directional buttons...

It also now causes it to fail to do a 360 rotation on startup ( it turns to the right then grinds when it turns to face the power cable and doesn't turn left.

I then managed to update to .200 and so far it seems to be back to normal apart from the startup rotation.

I can rotate 360 manually. So .197 appears to be a bad update but .200 fixes it.


If I update the Mihome app from within the app itself though I seem to lose to ability to see the full cam controls.
It has an "enter device " button that does nothing

To get it working again, remove the app, install Mihome from play store again, clear cache and data ( otherwise it won't work)
Login again , wait a moment the camera will reappear.


Edit: seems WiFi range is terrible unless in same room as router. Other devices in room I want the camera have 85% signal but the dafang camera won't work there.

This post has been edited by crunchie: Nov 4 2017, 07:28 PM

Shopee is cheapest

how you guys hand ontop of wall etc? mind sharing?

Easier to set it on top of some shelves or table
It will probably cost you more than DaFang itself just to get the right mounting gear to hang on ceiling or wall

Hi idoblu i realized many less satisfactory reviews on lazada for dafang vs xiaofang...


Is xiaofang relatively easier to set up than dafang? Or both the same?

On dafang seller page, saw some complaints about complication in setting up the device.


Xiaofang currently RM65 cheapest; Dafang is about RM95
Just need a camera to monitor old family member at home...
Thanks, hope to receive your reply soon.

bos, just get the Dafang. Setting up is the same for both except Dafang can pan and track. I feel Dafang is more useful because of this
Setting up is not a problem - just follow my guide. Problem is connecting. Sometimes it refuse to connect to show you a live view

Thanks for helping out..

Managed to book one dafang rm91. Not sure if the seller will cancel my order or honor it. Let's hope for the best..

you can also get it locally - i bought two from this local seller -
https://shopee.com.my/product/18695082/578373859/

always hang my xiao fang ..any tips? keep showing connecting but not able to view..need to restart then work

I want to use 2 smartphone to view 1 dafang. one from my iOS phone and wife's Android. Will it work?

Can use thumbdrive as storGe?? I have plenty or thumb bit no sd cards

No. Anyway you dun even need a microsd card for motion detected videos.

This post has been edited by idoblu: Dec 15 2017, 07:29 PM

This not same?

Oops my mistake 😅

does it requires a strong wifi signal?
does it sound the alarm when motion is detected?

Yes, you can use the same account to login MiHome, or you share the CCTV to your wife's Mi account. I'm using the same account for my iOS and Android. Both phones triggered simultaneously when motions detected.

was trying to install but keep facing connection time out issue

Noooo.. after 1mth + using
My dafang stopped working, always say connection slow connection unstable... Haizzz totally cant view anything

connection problem

reboot modem

Modem rebooted many times la

What version is your firmware?
Mine still working fine

now cannot even scan QR code

5.5.1.161 currently..

I just bought a unit. It's always failed in QR code. Here's what I have done
Choose locale Mainland
Wifi is unifi 10mbps speed with WPA2 encryption
Choose dafang from the list
Press setup and entered wifi pass and scan QR
At around 60% it successes but then it also said failed
It always failed at around 60-70%

I had power off and on many times also.
I had delete mi home app and clear cache.

I am using iOS.

I am not sure firmware version. From mi home app, I click check for updates and it said no updates available.
So I guess I am on newer possible version firmware.

Guys. Any of you had similar problem ?

i had done the same
fail to scan QR code and it always fail at around 80-90% (connection time out)

try using other phone as hotspot. previously bought dlink ipcam & cant setup using streamyx/unifi. but mobile hotspot seems ok. i forgot how i edit my streamyx/unifi router setting that time (more than 10yrs ago liao) but it works after that. just try setup using mobile hostpot to eliminate other factor & determine that streamyx/unifi router is the one causing connection error. good luck!

i manage to set=up already.
i also did a share device with my wife's phone. how come she has control over the cctv as well? i tot she can only view.

Any extra/diff steps that you did compare to mine ?

update the firmware

having one dafang at my home now i plan to install one at my mom's house.

do i need to create a new mi home account?

if i am using 5Ghz wireless which is not supported, how to connect?

Your wifi router only 5ghz?

Rename the 5Ghz channel to something else if the name for the 5Ghz channel and 2.4Ghz is the same.

Updated to 5.5.1.243
Panning now extremely slow and unusable
Keep saying my connection is poor but it’s sitting just next to my router

Forced to update firmware.

seems to work fine now

This post has been edited by idoblu: Jan 7 2018, 03:06 PM

why my current version is showing version 5.5.1.197 and latest version is 5.5.1.200?

I think you need to update to 5.5.1.200 before you can see 5.5.1.243

noted.

having one dafang at my home now i plan to install one at my mom's house.

do i need to create a new mi home account?

hmmm....you shouldnt need to
you just need to setup that new dafang at your mom's place (her wifi)

This post has been edited by idoblu: Jan 7 2018, 05:36 PM

u mean i can view my house cctv as well as my mom's house from the same phone?

i think so, give it a try.
i havent try it myself but logically it should work
i have two dafangs and one xiaofang, - you cant view them all at once but one at a time

i believe your 2 dafang and 1 xiafang was set-up using the same wifi line.


my case is different....2 different wifi, hopefully can work

The app can work using 3G/4G and other wifi network, so I dont see why in your situation it wont work. It wont know which wifi you paired it to after it is setup
Please report back

This post has been edited by idoblu: Jan 7 2018, 05:53 PM

Camera settings > SD card management > recording mode.
Can you guys access to recording mode? I tap on recording mode, no respond.

what is your firmware version?

Mi Home 4.2.5
Motion detected videos also unable to download. Used to be very fast.

This post has been edited by aeiou228: Jan 9 2018, 09:34 AM

not the app but your dafang's firmware version
anyway i cant find those settings in my latest firmware - maybe its no longer supported
looks like with every firmware change, there are some changes to the app. Looks better now

I bought 2 units of da fang before reading this forum. A bit regret.
The connection is poor. Pairing took me 15 times of retry.

Which is the best firmware?
I tested many firmware, basically the 5.5.1.194 is the most stable one. (BTW, i am using digi as internet.)
I even tested the custom hack firmware. End up given up because digi cannot port forward, it is useless to have RSTP.

The another unit is still sealed and leaving there. No mood to touch it anymore.
This Dafang function is much better than my mijia 360, but the realibility is shit.

I am using Mi Home 5.0.9.
Dafang Firmware-5.5.1.200.
Quite stable.Maybe you can try and tested internally first with wi-fi.

Sorry, mine is Xiao Fang, after updated camera firmware to the latest one, I can access the sd card but the 15sec motion detected videos still unable to download.
As for the recording to the sd card, the latest firmware now have new auto motion detect recording mode to replace the time zone selection mode. I like this new feature, it lessen the stress to the sd card.

I tried many version.
Only .194 work best for me.

I don't know either i got a lemon unit or digi problem.

Some period of time, the connection work normal.

Just for sharing.I use YES pre-paid on one of the Mi A1 slots.
Works all the time.

now china also use hipster's language?


Attached thumbnail(s)

motion detected videos are not store on the SD card but in the Cloud
If you meant "download" as in save those videos to your phone or pc - i dun think you can do that
i can view mine just fine. try using a different network - eg if you were using wifi, try using 4G and vice versa (to eliminate if you have a connection problem)

This post has been edited by idoblu: Jan 12 2018, 09:53 PM

I tried 4G, still can't download the short 15sec motion detected video from the cloud.
I have no problem to view motion detected video recorded on SD card via WiFi and 4G.
Now SD card has two options of recording, 24hrs or motion video. Motion recording minimum 1 min and will continue recording if continuous motion detected. Schedule recording no longer available.

you mean this (in red) ?


Attached thumbnail(s)

Yes sir. It's min 1min and continuous motion detection recording can supplement the footage not capture by the short 15 sec motion video and the few min waiting time (I think is around 4 to 5 min ) for next motion detection in the cloud storage.
Also, less stress to the SD card.

I was able to view videos from their cloud but I dunno how to access the videos from the card. How?
Previously we weren’t able to record to card
Every firmware updates seems to have big changes. This guide is useless now haha

This post has been edited by idoblu: Jan 13 2018, 09:01 AM

Tap "Device online" then under the live stream video, look at the bottom right corner for an icon named "Look Back".

I was able to record to the SD card all these while even on old Xiao Fang firmware. Previously it has 2 recording modes which are All Day or Schedule, but the latest camera firmware discarded schedule recording and replaced it with motion detection recording.
The access to the motion video in the SD card is far more easier than the motion alarm in the cloud. Faster playback, can select preferred time zone to view, can scroll back and forth and footage not limited to 15 sec.

thanks

manage to install 2nd Dafang at my mom's house.

Hi, anyone know if the DaFang have motion alarm which alerts our phone as soon as it detects movement when supposingly no one would be at home?

I read through the post and it seems that we have to download the motion alarm from the server. Is there ways to know as soon as the camera picked up motion or is there any other model that has this function?

Just turn motion detect on only
Read the first post la

Hi,

I also have Dafang camera and I am pretty satisfied but I have one issue.
Everything works fine via home LAN....when I am out of home I can access via phone mobile internet(4G) to see the live capture.

The issue is that when I am out of home, I have trouble to access recording to SD card. When I am at the same LAN everything works smooth. But only over 4G is that issue present. Over 4G I can watch live capture, sometime I can even download motions on the cloud(last days cloud works crap)...

I can't access to my recording on SD via 4G..maybe is the issue related to my home xDSL line 10Mbit/1Mbit...maybe is 1 Mbit for upload to little?

Thanks and regards

Mine works fine over 4G so yeah maybe your upload speed too little or maybe your 4G network