Live Reef Camera

revhtree · Sep 3, 2011

I got a wireless camera to check on my reef while I am out of town and I have it set up and working fine with my iphone.....but it's only working when I am at home on the network.

So I used my dyndns account that my apex is set up on and tried to set up the camera but i can't seem to get it working. Can someone walk me through it? I think I am missing something with my router that I can't figure out.

Thanks.

revhtree · Sep 3, 2011

BUMP I need some quick help!

florida reef · Sep 3, 2011

No help here but I am interested in setting one of these up. Bumping along for the ride!

ToXIc · Sep 3, 2011

Please give more info.

Like camera; pc program; iPhone app etc.

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revhtree · Sep 3, 2011

Ok Camera is a Foscam F18918W.

The app will work fine once this is set up. I have everything working but the actual remote feed. I should be able to type in the camera IP and log into the camera but that's what I can't figure out.

ToXIc · Sep 3, 2011

Do you have it setup using a specific port

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pumarjr · Sep 3, 2011

rev, is the camera an Ip camera?

pumarjr · Sep 3, 2011

try your ip @ :8080

pumarjr · Sep 3, 2011

lol, sorry for the quick posts, you can delete them when we are done. is your camera running thru a router? if so, make sure that you are allowing remote access.

ToXIc · Sep 3, 2011

Essentially you'll want to set it up just like you did with your apex just with another port number.

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revhtree · Sep 3, 2011

I didn't set up my apex! LOL! My apex is running through port 80 so I should just use another number like 81? The camera is an IP camera and I am using a wireless router. The camera is wireless as well.

pumarjr · Sep 3, 2011

you'll want to keep it running thru port 80. make sure that your apex is set to the dmz on your router so that the firewall will not interact with it.

btkrausen · Sep 3, 2011

revhtree said:
I didn't set up my apex! LOL! My apex is running through port 80 so I should just use another number like 81? The camera is an IP camera and I am using a wireless router. The camera is wireless as well.

If you can change the port that the camera will listen on from 80 to whatever, then yes, you can change to 81 if you want. There is no benefits to keeping it on 80 if you can remember that you changed the port to something other than 80. From the outside, you should be able to hit it using your external IP appended with the port number, like this: 8.8.8.8:81. The :81 at the end of an IP address designates the port number you want to connect on. When using Internet Explorer or another browser, the default port is 80, which is why you don't have to type it in.

You'll need to setup your router to forward traffic to the IP address of your IP camera and tell it the new port number. For instance, in my Linksys, its a Applications and Gaming area. You put in the IP of the camera, probably a 192.168.1.? address, and then the new port.

Dr.Venkman · Sep 3, 2011

As an alternative I use icam from the app store. Think it was 4.99 maybe. Then downloaded their program to a old laptop. After thats on the PC it pushes feeds to your iphone through the app. It supports multiple webcams, have been really happy with it so far.
I travel alot and now when I get the "It's your fishtank again" calls ,I can visually guide the wife through fixing it.

btkrausen · Sep 3, 2011

Dr.Venkman said:
As an alternative I use icam from the app store. Think it was 4.99 maybe. Then downloaded their program to a old laptop. After thats on the PC it pushes feeds to your iphone through the app. It supports multiple webcams, have been really happy with it so far.
I travel alot and now when I get the "It's your fishtank again" calls ,I can visually guide the wife through fixing it.

I'm planning to do the same thing

One of our local guys has like 4 pan/tilt cameras on his equipment, so if he gets a water leak notice or whatever, he can look around the room to see whats wrong.

revhtree · Sep 3, 2011

I have an app where I can pan and tilt the camera but are you saying with the app you are talking about I will not have to go through the extensive set up?

ToXIc · Sep 3, 2011

revhtree said:
I have an app where I can pan and tilt the camera but are you saying with the app you are talking about I will not have to go through the extensive set up?

Yes with icam it's very easy to setup. No router config and stuff.

Their website has a nice tutorial.

But not sure if icam supports pan and tilt.

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btkrausen · Sep 3, 2011

revhtree said:
I have an app where I can pan and tilt the camera but are you saying with the app you are talking about I will not have to go through the extensive set up?

Even with an app, you'll probably still need a way for the app to communicate with the camera, which would require the IP and port forwarding.

_sludgefactory · Sep 3, 2011

You could always just vpn in to your home network from ur phone. Android had vpn capabilities, not sure about icrap... I mean phone. Lol. If u set up a vpn tho u would have access to ur entire network like u were at home connected to it.

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Dr.Venkman · Sep 3, 2011

For whats its worth I don't remember it being difficult, icam auto detected any webcams that were attached to the old laptop next to the tank. Its a two stage dealy, the app on the iphone, and a program(free) you download from their site that sends the feeds to your phone. I have two running on it now covering different angles. Guess I'm being cheap as the pan and tilts are probably more expensive. I think it can handle atleast 4 cameras. Haven't really dug into it too deep since it was easy and done what I needed so far. Only complaint is my data usage has gone up, not terribly but I do find myself checking to make sure the fish aren't plotting on me.