IP network CCTV

be sure of the IP bandwidth and static IP address for the son.. we've had some RF interference problems with certain Wi Fi extenders (but we use IP DVR's not the single IP camera..) We've had some good results with wireless analog CCTV's up to 400 feet but beyond that its iffy.

RTS

I was just asked by someone about installing a CCTV camera system ...remote accessable.

Here's the situation. It's in a condo.

Mom lives on second floor in one unit. Daughter lives on second floor unit right next door. Mom has a hired care giver for most of the days during the week. If daughter wants to check on Mom or caregiver she has to run down the stairs from her unit and up the stairs to Moms unit. Daughter would like to check up on care giver and Mom without making the stairway trip. Son would like to check up on mom from work and from his home occasionally and also when daughter is not at home.

I thought that since they were right next door to one another a Wi Fi camera system would work. I'm presuming that an " N " series router with two frequency capability would penitrate a cement brick wall if they were close enough to the wall. ( any thoughts or experience with that)

Has anyone here tried a Wi Fi CCTV system that they could steer me to ....... or away from?

TIA

Re the static IP address. Hmmm ...So, without a mfg provided server, the son would have to know the IP address of moms house ...... right?

I'm not talking about using "IP" cameras. I'm thinking about cameras that use the local residential Wi Fi network.

If mom's house has an Internet connection with a Wi Fi router with cameras attached to it and daughter is on the other side of the ( cement brick) wall using Mom's Internet connection (wirelessly) I'm thinking that would/should work. It might even be possible to drill a hole through the wall for a wired connection. (as long as the landlord doesn't know about it.) ( But I suppose that would break some fire regulations, come to think of it)

Anyone got any thoughts on this?

It should work well. Try and position the router as close to the common wall between the units as possible.

He'd have to have the ISP give him a static IP address, most home services are dynamic and that camera wouldn't be accessible from outside the network after a week or so.

I've got a wireless Axis camera in my garage that's been in service several years however the only way to reliably communicate with it is through Axis's web service, mine's still G not N so no idea how far out it would go.

Depends on the thickness of the wall, I've got a setup at work where the router is inside an old bank vault and I can barely access it half the time from my laptop 50-60 feet away. I wouldn't trust it to be reliable for cameras.

Re the static IP address. Hmmm ...So, without a mfg provided server, the son would have to know the IP address of moms house ...... right?

I'm not talking about using "IP" cameras. I'm thinking about cameras that use the local residential Wi Fi network.

If mom's house has an Internet connection with a Wi Fi router with cameras attached to it and daughter is on the other side of the ( cement brick) wall using Mom's Internet connection (wirelessly) I'm thinking that would/should work. It might even be possible to drill a hole through the wall for a wired connection. (as long as the landlord doesn't know about it.) ( But I suppose that would break some fire regulations, come to think of it)

Anyone got any thoughts on this?

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Jim you dont need fix IP to find the ca,m over the net. you need a domain name..

Just use the service from no-ip.com

they are at :

with that service and a properly configured router, or a client software on a computer on the network you want to access, you will only have to point to a domain name like mom.no-ip.org as the ip adress and the service will point to the mon network..

now just program the router to make the cam available outside the network (port fowarding) if you dont use a dvr and point to the cam directly you will have to point each camera to a different port since they will all be on port 80 (normaly)

so you would need something like cam 1 ip fowarded to port 81 , cam 2 fowarded to port 82..

If the daughter can join the wireless network at Mom's house, she can see all IP devices on Mom's network.

I haven't thought through the configuration for son to connect.

technomaNge

This is a duplex condo. I doubt it's built like a bank vault. :-)

Yeah, before I give them an estimate, I figured that if I could sign on to the network with my laptop as a preliminary test, I could get an idea of the signal strength through the cement wall.

Aren't there applications available that will let you communicate with your computer from a remote location? Wouldn't that work?

With a vault, I'd expect that it would be steel re-enforced concrete (?) Rebar, lath?

Thanks Petem,

Sounds like I should investegate that service. Any idea what they charge?

I'll save a copy of your post for their file for reference for after I get the go-ahead to do the survey.

But ..... I wasn't thinking about using IP cameras but using these Wi Fi cameras. I've never installed one before but I believe they have a converter or server that converts the analog video from multiple cameras and provides a single IP address to the network. Prior to researching it, I don't know how they accomplish it but most of the ones I've seen I seem to remember them saying that they are PNP. and/ or DLNA compatable.

te:

Probably more like the vault in the bank in the town of Mayberry. But there ..... Barney Fife in guarding it.

Aren't there applications available that will let you communicate with your computer from a remote location? Wouldn't that work?

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logmein at logmein.com is one of them

Thanks Petem,

Sounds like I should investegate that service. Any idea what they charge?

I'll save a copy of your post for their file for reference for after I get the go-ahead to do the survey.

But ..... I wasn't thinking about using IP cameras but using these Wi Fi cameras. I've never installed one before but I believe they have a converter or server that converts the analog video from multiple cameras and provides a single IP address to the network. Prior to researching it, I don't know how they accomplish it but most of the ones I've seen I seem to remember them saying that they are PNP. and/ or DLNA compatable.

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they have a free service for wich the only drawback is to reconfirm the ip adress by auatomatic mean software client or propely configured router) if not done every 3 month the domain will be terminated (on my side I do it that way cause my router wont update the adress by itself and my ip almost never change even if its dynamic) but before they terminate the domain name you recive a email with a link to renew the info just by clicking it from the network to wich its assigned..

and they have a 10$ a year service on wich you dont have to renew the info except for when the ip change and like I said before, with a simple router properly configured or a client software on one machine its all automatic.

most router now have a place where you can program some DDNS stuf (Dynamic Domaine Name Service)

for the wireless cams that are not wifi, but wireless you just have to foward the ports used with the appliance (DVR) for there software to work or it can even be just a web apps and you only need to foward port 80 to an outside port of the network.. (watch out most internet home service block the use of port 80 so you will have to port it to someting like 81 or 8080)

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RHC: I'm far from an expert on cameras; however, I have been using some low end DLInk IP cameras for remote monitoring of my home and they work well enough for simple monitoring. They have the advantage of not having to go through all the DYNDNS servers to work, with all the complications of setting that up. They are hosted on Dlinks website (mydlink.com) and work well from anywhere in the world. On top of that, each camera is only about $125 retail. Seems to me, this just might work. Below is the link to a bit of a description on my website....might be worth seeing if this could solve your problem

Go to.....

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I read your report and would expect no more than you experienced. Anything that I would offer to a client I would want to be more impressive. In my experience, after an installation, when you show a client a new CCTV setup, they respond very positively about how good it is. However, once they watch it for a while, they begin to see all the short comings and that's when you get ...."The Telephone Call from Hell" ..... like .... My brother in law bought a camera system from Radio Shack for half the price you charged me and it looks twice as good as "yours" ..... ( now, all of a sudden ... it's "mine")

This is why my sales "pitch" for CCTV usually consists of a half hour of listing all the things it's NOT going to do..... which obviously kills most of the sales. It's also obvious that most of my competition has no such qualms about selling their customers hardware that can't do the job and then having to explain why it doesn't. I'd just rather lose the job then get the bad press.

I'd love to answer you, but for some reason you don't see my posts.

No he wouldn't. He could use the DDNS that comes with the camera or DynDNS or noip.com to "phone home" the current IP as much as 15 minute interval time (in the case of noip.com's resident program). The router may even support Dyndns, FreeDns, etc..