Hooking up CCTV Remotely advice?

jayu619

Hi all,

I'm looking to expand my CCTV service to allow me to access and view the cameras online or via mobile. Currently, I just have them (6 cameras) hooked up to my DVR, which has an ethernet port which I'm not using since I haven't a clue where to start.

I'm currently switching to BT Infinity, where I will have the Homehub 5 when my service begins, and was wonder what steps I should take to get started in terms of ports etc.

Any advice will be very much appreciated!

stef73

Have a look at yawcam and dorgem tutorials on youtube speedline tech, i tried once but my camera had to be inside and at night when light came on just got a reflection

Enterprise_1701C

Just one question - are they actually IP cameras? If not there might be an app for that.

If they are IP cameras then you need to put a static IP onto your DVR and get it into your network.

Some DVRs have the Ethernet port simply to download the information recorded.

You need to look up more information about your system I am afraid.

We are not professionals on this but a little while ago we set up an IP CCTV system for a long-standing client of ours as we were the only ones he trusted to deal with something so sensitive. It had to be all IP cameras on a specific IP DVR.

kwikbreaks

It's unlikely you'd have IP cameras on a DVR so what you need to check is whether or not the DVR itself is network enabled. The start point for any sensible answers are for you to dig out your operating instructions for the DVR and/or find a make and model number if you can.

If it is network enabled you need to set up a dynamic IP. DynDNS have dropped their free service but http://www.noip.com/ still provide one. You will also need to set up port forwarding on your router. None of that is overly hard but the first thing is to checkout the DVR to see if it can do this.

What mobile phone platforms do you use? I can recommend the Android IP Cam Viewer app which supports a raft of cameras and DVRs.

Inner_Zone

kwikbreaks wrote: »

If it is network enabled you need to set up a dynamic IP. DynDNS have dropped their free service but http://www.noip.com/ still provide one. You will also need to set up port forwarding on your router.

But only if the router supports other dynamic IP suppliers, some don't.

kwikbreaks

You don't have to have router support for a dynamic IP service although that is the best option. Most offer an application you can run on your PC which will automatically update their DNS with your current IP. (Here is the Windows app for NO-IP - http://www.noip.com/download?page=win ) Of course if your IP changes and you haven't run the app then remote acess won't work. Unfortunately DynDNS was the service most commonly supported by routers.

As the OP already had a DVR and cameras it won't help him but the trend on recent cameras and DVRs is to support cloud based services which do away with the need to touch the router or have a dynamic IP service at all.