ip camera help please

happyhero

Hi I just got myself a IP camera, a WANSVIEW NCM625W and I have managed to get it working but I can only view it from my home and would like to be able to view it from my smartphone and also the internet when out, ie maybe a fiends PC etc, can anybody help me set up this part please?

I have seen mention of DNS online but the videos etc must be out of date as they mention free sites for this which when I go to the site are charging even for basic personal stuff, and I may need help setting this part up.

Any help appreciated.

paulofessex

I'm certain someone with clearer knowledge will be along soon. In the mean time, my understanding is that you have to change settings on your router, you need to know the IP address of the camera and add that into the correct box in the router setting so when you go to your PC IP address it re-routes to the camera IP.

happyhero

I do know the camera IP and can access the camera through a browser or even my phone using wireless but that is only local access, as soon as I leave home I cannot access the camera either through my phone or by another PC, so something else is needed to reach it from a distance. I am no expert but I think I am right in saying everyone has IP addresses that can be the same so you need something to separate you from the rest, probably explained that badly.

closed

you'll probably have to open up the port it's streaming on, and change the (default port for security reasons, and default passwords), portforward.com has some guides for different routers.

You need to access it via the external ip (not the 192.168 address) address, which can be found either from the router, or from ipchicken.com

if your isp gives you a static ip address it makes the process easier, the easiest way to find out is to go to ipchicken, then unplug the router a few times to see if it obtains a different external ip address.

happyhero

I get my broadband from Sky, not sure if they can or will give static IP addresses, as for the other part I could not find port forwarding as keeps being mentioned on the net but after a bit of googling I think I have achieved the same thing, in my Netgear router. I went to Security and then the Firewall Rules and added the camera on outbound services and inbound services, is this right?

I also went to services before this under security and assigned the camera a port.

closed

you may have static already, check with ipchicken, switch off router, switch on again, check with ip chicken

its probably just an inbound service you need to add as outbound is allowed automatically, lan server ip address is the local ip address assigned to the camera

the services setting is used to give your chosen port a name, which is then used in the inbound firewall rule

to reiterate if you leave default ports and passwords set, don't be surprised if your camera (seemingly) starts moving of it's own accord sometime, it's open to the internet and google, which means others can potentially control and watch it too.

happyhero

the ip seems to have stayed the same, is that enough to say its static?

from what i just read it can stay the same for ages and still be a dynamic one, is this true?

closed

it could change one day, you'll soon find out if your remote camera access stops working. If it does change regularly, you'll have to either make a note of the new ip, or explore dynamic dns options, but for now, assume it won't change.

happyhero

ok so what do i do to access it from the net?

Also just noticed it works only from IE, if I try firefox or chrome the screen comes up disconnected, any ideas on that part?

Is the dns path too complicated?

neilwoods

As far as I am aware, Sky don't actually any form of static ip address. So would suggest looking for free Dynamic DNS server

happyhero

do you know a good free one please?

and is it easy to set up?