Remote monitoring of security cameras through the internet.

[Arcadio]

The owner of a business installed all the security cameras. The cameras connect to a dvr recorder, which is connected to a router for local network monitoring. I can access the DVR through the IP address assigned by the router (192.168.0.111) using a browser. The owner wants to be able to monitor the cameras (i.e. access the DVR) from the internet.

What do I need to do to set that up? The Internet connection (DSL) is set up with a static IP.

Thank you all in advance.

 

[14049752]

Port forwarding through the router.
http://portforward.com/

 

[mglipford]

I currently work for a company that sells and installs DVR based CCTV systems. In my experience, most of the manufacturers of DVR's I've seen provide some sort of client software to facilitate the IP connection to the server.

Some brands and models support browser based remote viewing as well.

It's important to remember that you will need a static IP address at the DVR location in order to avoid having to reconfigure your connection settings periodically.

I might could provide some more specific information if I knew the specific DVR platform you were talking about.

Also, as 14049752 indicated above, you will need to do some minor port configuration on your router to allow the inbound traffic to enter the network. The specific ports vary by DVR manufacturer.

 

[LunchBox]

I am assuming that your client also has a domain. Its probably easier to remember the domain name instead of the IP. This is so that your client can go to his PC at home open IE and type either the domain name or IP address along with the port.

 

[frostbyte5014]

If you can tell us what kind of router you have we will help you get it setup.

 

[Arcadio]

If you can tell us what kind of router you have we will help you get it setup.

The router is a WRT54G2 Linksys router. I will check out the port forwarding option...

 

[frostbyte5014]

The router is a WRT54G2 Linksys router. I will check out the port forwarding option...

Linksys is an easy one. Set your DVR to a local static IP like 192.168.1.x. The best thing is to setup the linksys in bridge mode with your dsl or whatever kind of ISP connection you have. Setting the linksys in bridge mode gives it control of the WAN/LAN and make forwarding a bit easier. Under your forwarding you just set your wan ip to forward to the ip for the dvr and provide the port number for the DVR which is most likely 80. Some DVR's use multiple port so you may have to setup more forwards for each port.

 

[Arcadio]

Hopefully your customers ISP allows port 80 inbound.

It's Verizon Online DSL for Businesses in New York. I don't know if it allows that.

 

[purple_minion]

It's Verizon Online DSL for Businesses in New York. I don't know if it allows that.

It was my impression that most ISP's allow anything for businesses, but restrict server ports for residential to force the upgrade to business class. You can always use something like a proxy service or see if you can't change the incoming port to something allowed.

 

[AtYourService]

Hopefully your customers ISP allows port 80 inbound.

Most dvrs ive seen put the port to something other than 80 says like 7000 , but yea port 80 would be ideal if they didnt have a server already on port 80 and they wanted to forward a subdomain like cams.domain.com

 

[LunchBox]

I would say think of this setup as if you were going to setup remote desktop. It works the same way. Although I never tried using port 80, then the question would be how would anything know that you were trying to get into your DVR?

Example. When setting up 2 PC's to do remote desktop you may leave a the default port of 3389 but you have to change the other one to another port other wise how will the system know which system you are trying to connect to.

As for business class or home class internet. Well I am not sure if it matters but here in california I can type xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:3389 and it will go straight to my PC that I setup for remote destkop.

At least this is how I am picturing it in my head from my understanding of ports.

 

[HI-TEKKSOLUTIONS]

I just did exactly what your doing just a week ago for a gas station
with a linux dvr system. they had dsl with a static ip and a linksys router. First
thing did was connect the dvr to there router. Then, i had to go inside the dvr
and manually set up the lan, as far as ip, gateway and dns. If its a windows
based dvr, you shouldnt have to manually set that up. I then had to bridge
the modem "open all ports" by typing the modems ip and configuring it. then i had
to configure the linksys to be PPoE and enter the username and password
the isp gave the store owner in order to connect to the internet.
Last thing was to port forward in the linksys router.
For me i forwared port 80, 9090 and 9192.
I dont know what dvr you have and if you use the same ports.
I hope this helps you out. It looks like alot to do, but its really not that bad.

 

[AgentTech]

Another Suggestion

Also if you have access to DNS for their website domain I would point a subdomain to their static IP address ie. cameras.domain.com It's easy to remember and doesn't have to be located at the same location as their website.

 

[Arcadio]

Also if you have access to DNS for their website domain I would point a subdomain to their static IP address ie. cameras.domain.com It's easy to remember and doesn't have to be located at the same location as their website.

The business doesn't own a domain name, so the owner will just type the IP address of their network and then login to the DVR.

 

[Marius]

If you have a problem with the port 80...Go to No-Ip.com and get a free account there...Im currently running my work server from the shop via NO-IP....At no-ip, just do a port forwarding to 81 ( if your isp blocks 80) and open port 81 on your computer as well as a virtual server

 

[Arcadio]

Success! Thanks to all of you!

BTW, this security camera thing might bring me some extra income. I've never really done any installation or setup of cameras, but it looks easy enough.

 

[K007]

The procedure is similar to setting up XBox to XBOX Live... it cannot be more simple than that. Of course, find out what port is the vcr using.

 

[angry_geek]

BTW, this security camera thing might bring me some extra income. I've never really done any installation or setup of cameras, but it looks easy enough.

It is very easy to do, but check our your local laws considering that. Some states, like the one I'm in, Illinois, require you to obtain a license to install security or surveillance equipment.