IP camera help with settings please

happyhero

Hi I have recently bought a IP camera and have slowly made progress with the poor instructions it came with and the great help on here.

I now have it working so I can access it from my smart phone and remotely using my smartphone or even another PC but I still have things to sort out on it and need some help please.

Firstly it mentions FTP setup to be able to record video to somewhere, what is this, is this space on some site?

How do I get this?

Just curious is Dropbox useable for this FTP thing as I have a fair bit of room on it?

The camera has a slot for an SD card would I be better off using this rather than the FTP thing?

Secondly I now realise that I do not have access to a static IP and it can constantly change although it appears to stay the same for at least several days. So in my last post I was advised that I will need a DNS service, to get by this problem but in my manual it staes the following:- [FONT=&quot]

The manufacturer has established a DDNS system, and allotted a DDNS to every device, the user can view it from remote PC,

Does this mean I have DNS setup already, I seem to have a unique ID under the camera to use for this?

And will this unique ID enable me to access the camera even if my Dynamic IP changes?

Lastly during the setup of this camera it became apparent I could access my router via any remote PC and someone on here advised me that is dangerous so how can I stop access to my router but still keep the camera access working?

Any help appreciated
[/FONT]

kwikbreaks

Most ISPs include some free web space and you could use that to FTP snapshots or short video clips. There will be instructions on the FTP address and login details somewhere on your ISP's website assuming they do offer webspace. The FTP will be for motion detect and tbh there will be so many false positives you may as well not bother with this.

If your camera says it has a dynamic dns account already set up then try the url they give in the documentation when it is connected. It's unusual to get this as most cameras I've seen require you to use a third party service. They way DDNS works is that the camera will update the DDNS account with its current IP and update it on every change.

To make your router inaccessible from the web you need to turn the WAN access option off. How you do that varies from router to router. I thought most had it off anyway by default.

happyhero

Thanks kwikbreaks, I am with SKY, do you know if they offer the space you describe?

Also if the camera supplier offers this DNS service, is this something they may turn off or stop offering at some point? Would this just mean the camera DNS route would not work until I used a third party DNS service or is it more involved than that?

Also does the WAN not need to be on for the camera to gain access in and out (port forwarding I think its called) or am I getting mixed up?

In my WAN SETUP on my Netgear router I have the following setup

Disable Port Scan and DOS Protection this is unticked
Default DMZ Server this is ticked Respond to Ping on Internet WAN Port this is ticked

What should I change from the above?

kwikbreaks

SFAIK Sky don't offer free webspace and I don't think you can use your DropBox for FTP either although I may be wrong on either or both. There are lots of places offer free website hosting and you can use FTP to upload to that space eg - http://www.000webhost.com/ although as I said I think you'll be disappointed with any motion detection as there will be too many false positives if it's an outdoor camera.

If the manufacturer DDNS stops working you can use third party. It would be best to pick a provider that the camera or your router can update but failing that most offer a program you can run on a PC that will update the host account with your IP.

You need port forwarding to direct the port you choose to use to the camera local IP address (eg if you setthe camera to use port 8080 and it is on local IP 192.168.1.120 then you'd direct port 8080 to that IP. It would be best to set the router to always allocate the same IP to the camera. How you do those things varies slightly from router to router so check your router docs.

None of those settings are applicable to being able to access your router admin pages from the internet.

Respond to ping is a minor insecurity and can be unchecked if you aren't running something like the ThinkBroadBand monitor.

I doubt you have anything running in the DMZ which is effectively completely open to the internet. I don't know what is meant by "default DMZ server".

Why do you think your router is accessible to the WAN?

Have you changed the default password to something secure? That will be essential if it really is accessible from the WAN.

happyhero

Cheers kwikbreaks, all very helpful, much appreciated. Sorry I did not respond the other day but I was typing a reply and I changed something on the settings and everything went to pot and my external IP changed about the same time so none of what I typed applied plus it took me ages to get it all working again, anyway I found this but I think you are right about the video and false positives as when I have the email set to email me any detections it sends several through for no apparent reason, probably some ghost detection. But I can live with that as it is not too bad, I just wont bother with video detection I think as the emails and then being able to log in will be enough.

I do have the same IP all the time for my camera although that is controlled by my camera software, not totally sure but it does stay the same.

For DMZ Server it says this in my router info:-
[FONT=&quot]
Default DMZ Server [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
Specifying a Default DMZ Server allows you to set up a computer or server that is available to anyone on the Internet for services that you haven't defined. There are security issues with doing this, so only do this if you're willing to risk open access. If you do not assign a Default DMZ Server, the Router discards any incoming service requests which are undefined. This can be a security problem. You shouldn't check this box unless you have a specific reason to do so. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To assign a computer or server to be a DMZ server: [/FONT]

1. [FONT=&quot]Click the Default DMZ Server checkbox[/FONT]
2. [FONT=&quot]Type the IP address for that server. [/FONT]
3. [FONT=&quot]Click Apply. [/FONT]

I’m not sure my router is accessable from the net anymore as I keep trying to access it and cannot get to it, I can only assume as I am not an expert with this that I got muddled somewhere.

What I am not sure about is this, when my IP changes again how will my DNS gain access? At the moment I type the DNS assigned to my camera into the address bar and my camera is accessed and the current external IP is then displayed in the address bar, how will this DNS find the new external IP?

closed

remote management of the router is under remote management, it''s off by default

you dont need to touch anything to do with dmz

192 addresses are local

happyhero

Hi closed thanks again for all your help, so to clarify if I am away wanting to access my camera at home which has a dynamic IP, and the camera maker has supplied me with a DNS service, assuming my external IP will change while I am away as it has over the last few days, do I need to turn remote access on in my router setup?


I ask this because I currently can access my camera with both the DNS supplied and the current external IP even with the remote management unchecked in my router settings.


In my remote management page for my router there is the following:-



TURN REMOTE MANAGEMENT ON UNTICKED

REMOTE MANAGEMENT ADDRESS http://xxxxxxxxxxxx

ALLOW ACCESS BY:-

1. ONLY THIS COMPUTER UNTICKED
2. IP ADDRESS RANGE UNTICKED
3. EVERYONE TICKED

PORT NUMBER XXXX



If your answer is yes to turn on remote management, why am I doing this if I can already access my camera remotely, is it for the DNS part to gain access?

closed

remote management should be turned off, it's not needed to use the camera remotely

the only purpose of remote management is to enable you to alter router settings whilst elsewhere.

you say the external ip had changed, is that after you switched the router off and on?

happyhero

OK thanks closed.

No I have not touched the router for days to switch it on or off and I have had one of my browser tabs permanently set to IP Chicken so that I can click it and refresh the page to see if it changes.

As I was new to some of this I was not sure what was going to happen but I just used this method to keep check of my external IP and at first it seemed to be permanently stuck on one IP despite the fact it was a dynamic one, it didn't even seem to change when I switched off and on with the PC and router but then twice now I was surprised to see it suddenly change whilst all was on, I didn't think it would change in mid use of the PC, I had expected that it would change between on off periods of the PC etc. Also the first time it happened it appeared to change twice in a minute or two, whereas the second time it seemed to only change once. Once it changes it seems to stay the same no matter what I do. But the fact is it does constantly change and when I go away on holiday I want to be sure I can still access it hence the DNS questions.

happyhero

So can anyone answer the question below about what happens if my external IP changes, as it would, how does the DNS service cope, how will it find my camera over the net?

happyhero wrote: »

Hi closed thanks again for all your help, so to clarify if I am away wanting to access my camera at home which has a dynamic IP, and the camera maker has supplied me with a DNS service, assuming my external IP will change while I am away as it has over the last few days, do I need to turn remote access on in my router setup?


I ask this because I currently can access my camera with both the DNS supplied and the current external IP even with the remote management unchecked in my router settings.


In my remote management page for my router there is the following:-



TURN REMOTE MANAGEMENT ON UNTICKED

REMOTE MANAGEMENT ADDRESS http://xxxxxxxxxxxx

ALLOW ACCESS BY:-

1. ONLY THIS COMPUTER UNTICKED
2. IP ADDRESS RANGE UNTICKED
3. EVERYONE TICKED

PORT NUMBER XXXX



If your answer is yes to turn on remote management, why am I doing this if I can already access my camera remotely, is it for the DNS part to gain access?

closed

see dynamic dns section in router settings