How to use the RTSP and HTTPS settings on Foscam HD cameras?

Overview: This article will introduce the use of the RTSP and HTTPS settings on Foscam HD cameras.

Method 1: Use of RTSP
RTSP is generally used to stream the live video from a Foscam HD camera. The IPC http port is used and requires no other specially configured port.
Three formats of video and audio are currently available for IPC RTSP; they are
1)videoMain: Main streaming
2)videoSub: Sub streaming
3)audio: Audio streaming only, no video feed
RTSP examples entered on a URL search bar:
rtsp://username:pwd@IP:port/videoMain
rtsp://username:pwd@IP:port /videoSub
rtsp://username:pwd@IP:port /audio
Note: Some Foscam cameras such as the C1, C1 Lite, FI9816P, FI9800P, FI9803P V2, C1 Lite V3, C1 V3, FI9800E V2, FI9800P V3, FI9803P V4, FI9816P V3, FI9821EP V2, FI9821P V3, FI9826P V3, FI9831P V3, FI9851P V3 and FI9853EP V2 Http and RTSP ports are different. When obtaining the RTSP stream make sure to use the RTSP port.

VLC Media Player or some other players compatible with RTSP setups will be able to view the video stream.

After the Network Stream option is selected simply enter the RTSP URL of the camera and click Play.

In this example, the username of the camera is testuser / the password is foscam / IP address is 192.168.1.11 and the default port is 80 follow the examples below for the URL format.
rtsp://testuser:foscam@192.168.1.11/videoMain
rtsp://testuser:foscam@192.168.1.11/videoSub
rtsp://testuser:foscam@192.168.1.11/audio

Note: The WAN IP address can also be used for the URL. If DDNS is used instead the Video Player must support using the domain name otherwise the video stream will not be displayed.

Method 2: Use of HTTPS
Foscam cameras using newer firmware versions to support HTTPS greatly reduce the risk of security issues. The default HTTPS port on our cameras is port 443. Within the configuration settings of the camera the default port number can be changed to something different if the user chooses to change this.
Enter https://IP: port/ directly into a web browser to login to the camera. If you are using the IP Search Tool and double click the address it will login to the camera using the http mode.
Note: double clicking the address opens the default web browser setup on the operating system. Confirm the camera supports that web browser otherwise manually open the appropriate web browser and enter the address into the web browser address bar.
If the default port setting is still 443 and the camera has an example address of 192.168.13.108 the following can be entered the address bar of the web browser as well
https://192.168.13.108 without having to bother with entering the port number.

Technical Notes:
1)Another way to access the camera is to enter the WAN IP address as the URL. If DDNS is used however the Media Player must support domain name resolution otherwise the streaming video will not be displayed.
2)If the camera is to be logged into via https port forwarding on the router must be setup to manually open the https port on the router itself.
3)When using https to access a Foscam camera the browser will display warnings such as the one shown below. This is due to the fact that the web page has a DDNS certificate only, the IP address DOES NOT. Click on the option to continue to the website. If the camera is using HTTPS it is safe the access the camera in this manner. Foscam does not collect user data on the use of their IP addresses. This is the reason why certificates are not issued for each IP address as it is not tracked for privacy reasons.