Remote Login to my CCTV Cameras

[jaymanek]

Hi All,

i have CCTV at home that im supposed to be able to connect to from work. This worked for all of 2 days after the installer left and havent been able to make it work since.

Im a bit thick when it comes to networks so could someone help me out!

I have BT business b/band at home and have a fixed IP address. There are two PC's on the home network. One is dedicated to the CCTV. The installer guy wreckons all i need to do is give the CCTV pc the fixed ip address - but i have no idea how to do this. I tried playing with the setting on BT hub manager thingy but im not having any joy. I have no idea what DHCP's or Subnets or any of that other stuff means so please HELP!!

 

[dchaddah]

I havnt used something like this for ages but if memory serves me correctly

You have to find out which ports are being used for cctv make sure they are open on router, and make sure that your router is programmed to point to the relevent PC when a incomming request is processed:

1) Outside network IP :--> Pings Router
2) Router then forwards request to internal IP address. (PC)

Your CCTV PC will have an internal IP address not the external one.

 

[masqueraid]

DHCP is basically a way that the router allocates IP address numbers to each device on the network as they are found. This means the numbers allocated may change on a day-to-day basis depending on what is switched on.

To allocate fixed IP's you first need to tell your router to stop allocating IP addresses and then manually allocate an IP address on each device that is directly wired to the router. On PC's you do this via the networking settings in Control Panel/My Network Connections. On other devices like your camera you will need to set these through the setup menu.

Because there are so many routers and cameras on the market it is next to impossible to give specific direction without knowing more about your hardware.

TBH fixed IPs are the correct way to go with this and if your installer left leaving DHCP enabled it's worth trying to get them back to correct this. If you think you may have changed something then we can try to talk you through it here.

The best site I know of for talking you through fixed IP addresses for your router is www.portforward.com. You will need to get the manual out for the camera. If you don't know what you are changing either don't do it or at least make careful notes of the settings before you alter them!

 

[miro]

Hi All,

i have CCTV at home that im supposed to be able to connect to from work. This worked for all of 2 days after the installer left and havent been able to make it work since.

Im a bit thick when it comes to networks so could someone help me out!

I have BT business b/band at home and have a fixed IP address. There are two PC's on the home network. One is dedicated to the CCTV. The installer guy wreckons all i need to do is give the CCTV pc the fixed ip address - but i have no idea how to do this. I tried playing with the setting on BT hub manager thingy but im not having any joy. I have no idea what DHCP's or Subnets or any of that other stuff means so please HELP!!

You need to point the router at home to the CCTV system and then make the CCTV system a non-DHCP fixed lan address.

You can start with Wikipedia on all of the relevant and related user topics to decode the jargon.

 

[GrahamC230K]

Jay,

As above.

First steps are to give the CCTV machine a static IP address on your home range (NOT your static internet address from BT). The best way to do this is a reserved DHCP address, but your router may not support this. This means your router still issues the address by DHCP, but associated by the MAC address of the nic, the pc gets the same address everytime.

Next you need to know what ports the CCTV system application uses - or is it web based?

You need to confiigure your router to forward those ports to your internal static or reserved address.

To access remotley you would use the static BT address you have, but your router will forward to the correct box.

It is essential the CCTV box is patched up and as secure as possible.

Any port scans that your router would normally probably stealth will show any ports you have forwarded most likely as open all the while your CCTV box is on and your CCTV box is potentially accessible to anyone. Don't worry too much, this is very paranoid stuff, just ensure the box is patched up, has a software firewall and you are happy with the security of the CCTV software login. It does have a login right?!

 

[jaymanek]

Ok its making more sense, I will have to print this off and have a go at home.. But what i should have made clear was that the CCCTV system is another dedicated windows XP PC.

He had set up the fixed IP address in the Control Panel, but i took this off and clicked on obtain automatically..

I have given each machine a fixed IP address at home, they both start 192.168 bla bla.

The bit i still dont understand is how does my public fixed BT ip address starting 213.bla.bla match up to the fixed IP address for my CCTV PC at home?

 

[GrahamC230K]

Port forwarding.

 

[jaymanek]

is that on my router settings?

 

[GrahamC230K]

Yes.

 

[jaymanek]

Jay,

Next you need to know what ports the CCTV system application uses - or is it web based?

Hi All,

I am still trying to sort this out... how do i know what port it uses? Its not web based, its installed on a windows XP pc?

Thanks

 

[robert.saunders]

Hi All,

I am still trying to sort this out...

Since December?!

 

[Dieselman]

Set the pc and router with the same IP address apart from the last segment. Chose sequential numbers for that segment then fromt he PC use the 'Ping' comand to the other Ip address.

You need the two devices to see each other before they can work over the rest of the network.

The BT provided IP address should be set to work over the BT network.

 

[Shude]

I am still trying to sort this out... how do i know what port it uses? Its not web based, its installed on a windows XP pc?

If the port isn't fixed then there is likely to be a setting somewhere in the app to change the port. If it is a fixed port or you're using the default port number then the help file or the manufacturer's website should tell you.

Once you know which port it is then set inbound TCP connections for that port to forward to the pc it's hosted on using the LAN IP address that you assigned it earlier. This is often under a heading like "special applications" or "local servers" under the firewall section of your router's config pages.

Contrary to what Graham stated, if you are just forwarding the port for the CCTV app you probably won't need any other security patches, unless they are specifically for the CCTV app - every other port connection will be dropped by the router as it won't know where to forward it to.

I wouldn't be surprised if it was port 80 btw.

 

[NiallerS320]

Hi Jay

On the PC Go to your start menu go to the run thing and when it comes up type

cmd

you'll get the black dos window type the following

ipconfig /all

it'll say something like default gateway 192.168.0.1 or something like that

Right, this is the address you type into your browser so you can configure the router, port forwarding/virtual applications or something like that will be the name, more than likely under advanced settings.

In there you'll more than likely see some numbers already configured with port 8080 if it's a web based viewer, now the address this is pointing to ie 192.168.0.2 or 3 is the static IP address you need to put into your pc.

To do this under the start menu you go to settings, then network settings, right click on the local area connection and properties, scroll down to the TCP/IP symbol, highlight it then properties again, click on the button "use the folllowing IP address" and enter the ip address put the number that was on the router that the ports were forwarded to. Subnet will more than likely be 255.255.255.0 and gateway will be the router address ie 192.168.0.1. DNS can be set to the router as it pulls dns info from the ISP.

Clear as mud?

 

[HughJarse]

what a cacophony of information this thread is . All very correct yet mixed up and muddled.

We know you can access the router as you said so. We know you understand IP's - internal and external.

Your external Ip, when typed into a browser or application will allow you to look at your router from the outside world. You need you router to allow this "look" to pass through it and see your PC with a camera attached.
The router needs a door opened in order to see through. This door is called a port.
However your PC with camera may already have a door number (port ) allocated to it.
Thus you need to know this door number.

My question is, is it a commercial system - what make and what software are you using?

 

[jaymanek]

Guys i wish i never started this...

Basically this is for our new work cctv system, i wanted to be able to see it at home.

all afternoon (1-9pm) ive been messing about with it and now ive lost my internet altogether.

I found the port, its 4550-5550.. i set this all up with the aid of some instructions from BT Versatility help desk, all seemed to be ok but ever since they put on the fixed ip this avo, my internet has stopped working altogether... They said turn router off for 2 mins and turn it back on so it picks up the new ip (which begins 89.) but this doesnt seem to be happening...

i reset the router back to factory, checked my login and password etc but still no good...

the bt business broadband helpdesk are a bunch of pillocks... i mean i have their own router (attached to a VOIP phone system) and they cant tell me how to configure it...

Hopefully they will get a BT engineer sometime tomorrow as i cant run my business without the bloomin net...

i really really wish i hadnt had the idea of fixing this today...

 

[Flyer]

Nightmare Jay, clearly you shouldn't be having problems like this. Just nipping out, but this grabbed me:

I found the port, its 4550-5550..

Is it a GeoVision system? Standard port forwarding for a GV system is, 80, 4550 and 5550.

 

[jaymanek]

Yes it is mate, the company that installed it have put their name all over it but im sure i heard them mutter geovision at some point...
good little system actually, much better than the viewmax system i have at home....

 

[jaymanek]

just to update it was officially BT's fault... apparrently they cant get the fixed IP to work properly...so at 14.48 they put me back onto dynamic and all is back to normal...

Now the chap on the phone said that i could still log into my camers externally, even with a dynamic ip... is that correct?

 

[HughJarse]

yes as long as the external "viewer" knows the IP, however if its a piece of software youre using you'll have to change the IP every time your dynamic IP changes.

I appreciate this maybe another thing to contend with, but we have used these before to get around dynamic and static IPs.
This service is specifically for security cameras.
http://www.no-ip.com/support/guides/other/setting_up_security_camera.html


and if you read to the bottom, it even gives you a step by step on how to do it.