remote webcam access

I'd like to leave a wireless webcam running at a weekend getaway
that has cable Internet access and a wireless AP.
There is a TiVo also there that might be connecting via the Internet
every 15 mins, so it would keep the connection (IP address) alive,
but I would not want to depend upon that....

Any thoughts about how to leave a remote wireless webcam running,
and be able to access it via the Internet - even with a potentially changed IP
address ?

Also - any suggestions for a specific webcam for this task ?

"P.Schuman" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> I'd like to leave a wireless webcam running at a weekend getaway
> that has cable Internet access and a wireless AP.
> There is a TiVo also there that might be connecting via the Internet
> every 15 mins, so it would keep the connection (IP address) alive,
> but I would not want to depend upon that....
>
> Any thoughts about how to leave a remote wireless webcam running,
> and be able to access it via the Internet - even with a potentially
> changed IP
> address ?
>
> Also - any suggestions for a specific webcam for this task ?
>
>

Yep, What router do you have?
If you can setup dyndns in your router you will be in good shape.
www.dyndns.com

Adair

"Adair Witner" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:P2YIh.3678$(E-Mail Removed) t...
> "P.Schuman" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> I'd like to leave a wireless webcam running at a weekend getaway
>> that has cable Internet access and a wireless AP.
>> There is a TiVo also there that might be connecting via the Internet
>> every 15 mins, so it would keep the connection (IP address) alive,
>> but I would not want to depend upon that....
>>
>> Any thoughts about how to leave a remote wireless webcam running,
>> and be able to access it via the Internet - even with a potentially
>> changed IP
>> address ?
>>
>> Also - any suggestions for a specific webcam for this task ?
>>
>>
>
> Yep, What router do you have?
> If you can setup dyndns in your router you will be in good shape.
> www.dyndns.com
>
tnx - I knew about the various dynamic DNS services,
but never thought the hardware would actually support a dynamic DNS
"client".
Now I'll have to check which version of the router I have sitting out
there...

OK - next research - which wireless webcam,
and I guess I'll have to use port forwarding to go from the router to the
webcam.

P.Schuman wrote:
> "Adair Witner" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:P2YIh.3678$(E-Mail Removed) t...
>> "P.Schuman" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>>> I'd like to leave a wireless webcam running at a weekend getaway
>>> that has cable Internet access and a wireless AP.
>>> There is a TiVo also there that might be connecting via the Internet
>>> every 15 mins, so it would keep the connection (IP address) alive,
>>> but I would not want to depend upon that....
>>>
>>> Any thoughts about how to leave a remote wireless webcam running,
>>> and be able to access it via the Internet - even with a potentially
>>> changed IP
>>> address ?
>>>
>>> Also - any suggestions for a specific webcam for this task ?
>>>
>>>
>> Yep, What router do you have?
>> If you can setup dyndns in your router you will be in good shape.
>> www.dyndns.com
>>
> tnx - I knew about the various dynamic DNS services,
> but never thought the hardware would actually support a dynamic DNS
> "client".
> Now I'll have to check which version of the router I have sitting out
> there...
>
> OK - next research - which wireless webcam,
> and I guess I'll have to use port forwarding to go from the router to the
> webcam.

My WRT54G support dyndns. Works great.

Also in the case it does not, and you have a a pc that can run as a
server, you can usually find a dyndns client that will run on that, such
that it can extract any dynamic IP changes and update your dyndns entry.

On Sun, 11 Mar 2007 21:32:45 GMT, "P.Schuman"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>OK - next research - which wireless webcam,
>and I guess I'll have to use port forwarding to go from the router to the
>webcam.

I like this one, just ordered one for myself:

http://tinyurl.com/ou3ht

(Panasonic BB-HCM331A)

"P.Schuman" <(E-Mail Removed)> hath wroth:

>I'd like to leave a wireless webcam running at a weekend getaway
>that has cable Internet access and a wireless AP.

No problem. Any of the dynamic DNS services should give you remote
access to the image and camera administration. Make sure that the
camera has a static IP address on your LAN (i.e. is NOT assigned by
DHCP). Port forward the view port and admin port on your camera in
the router port forwarding configuration.

Incidentally, is there some reason why you didn't bother to mention
the make and model of the camera and router? In this case it's not
terribly important, but one does tend to get more useful information
if those answering have a clue what you're working with.

>There is a TiVo also there that might be connecting via the Internet
>every 15 mins, so it would keep the connection (IP address) alive,
>but I would not want to depend upon that....

I've often thought that it would be cool to have a TIVO type of
recorder store images for a security camera. I have not seen any
instructions on how to convert a common Tivo into a start/stop frame
based security recorder.

Personally, I've been tinkering with a 4 camera server. See:
<http://www.aviosys.com/ip9100aplus.htm>
About $120 on eBay. I like the NTSC video inputs because I can use
old camcorders and larger CCD cameras, which tend to have a much
better picture.

>Any thoughts about how to leave a remote wireless webcam running,
>and be able to access it via the Internet - even with a potentially changed IP
>address ?

Sure. Any of the dynamic DNS services will do the trick. However,
there are a few complications. Many dynamic DNS clients are not
particularly stable under all conditions. That includes those
embedded inside webcams and routers. I've done better with PC based
clients, which have the added advantage of sufficient code space to
impliment self checking and hang detection. I have a mess of
customers routers and weather stations setup with dyndns.com:
<http://www.dyndns.com/services/dns/dyndns/>
The first 5 entries are free. Any more costs about $10 per year.
Except for some DoS attacks about a year ago, the service has been
perfect.

>Also - any suggestions for a specific webcam for this task ?

Not really. See:
<http://www.networkcamerareviews.com>
and see if anything meets your requirements.


--
Jeff Liebermann (E-Mail Removed)
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

Jeff Liebermann wrote:

> I've often thought that it would be cool to have a TIVO type of
> recorder store images for a security camera. I have not seen any
> instructions on how to convert a common Tivo into a start/stop frame
> based security recorder.
>

Thats why I try to avoid proprietary stuff like Tivo. I built a DVR a
few years ago that is totally open source. The OS is Linux and the DVR
function is MythTV. There is a really active community and doing what
you described is just a matter of popping in a capture card.