How Does the Speco InPro work?

[vin2install 0]

I've always wondered how the InPro cameras work. What port does it use to bypass the router? How does it communicate? Does Speco have some sort of Private DNS server kinda like Dynamic DNS servers that direct you to the correct WAN address? Does anybody know?

[ak357 0]

I've always wondered how the InPro cameras work. What port does it use to bypass the router? How does it communicate? Does Speco have some sort of Private DNS server kinda like Dynamic DNS servers that direct you to the correct WAN address? Does anybody know?

 

I have the same product

just diffrent housings and very diff price

I distribute them in Canada

so far customers love it

very easy to use

PM me if u need more info

[thewireguys 3]

So how do they work?

[Twilo123 0]

sounds suspiciously like UPnP which is common these days on ip cameras

 

http://secprodonline.com/Articles/2009/01/01/QA-From-Product-Managers.aspx

[ak357 0]

sounds suspiciously like UPnP which is common these days on ip cameras

 

http://secprodonline.com/Articles/2009/01/01/QA-From-Product-Managers.aspx

 

Authentication servers ?

[Soundy 1]

sounds suspiciously like UPnP which is common these days on ip cameras

 

http://secprodonline.com/Articles/2009/01/01/QA-From-Product-Managers.aspx

 

Doesn't sound like UPnP... that DOES configure the router. The link above claims that the camera does NOT.

 

Each camera comes with an identification card, a 12-volt DC 1.5-amp power supply, a CD-ROM containing SpecoView software and an instruction manual, a printed copy of the instruction manual and a 10-inch Ethernet cable.

 

The identification card contains the particular camera’s nine-digit ID number and a changeable password. This information is needed to initially locate or connect to the camera. After the initial connection, this information can be remembered by your computer. After the camera is mounted and powered up, it is time to network— plug the camera into the nearest router, switch or available network outlet, and you are finished.

 

Now, it’s time to view your InPro camera over the network or Internet. Install the free SpecoView software onto a PC. It is a small program that will install in seconds. Once launched, you will see a GUI with room for camera pictures—up to 16—and a column to list the cameras that you wish to view.

 

This actually sounds very similar to how programs like TeamViewer work. TeamViewer, specifically, is built on UltraVNC, but what it does when you run it as a host service, or ask it to connect up, is log in to their central server, and give you a nine-digit code and random password (unless you set one yourself). A remote user then fires up TeamViewer, which connects to the central server, and enters that same code and password to connect to your machine.

 

UVNC provides a similar service that we and some others use for remote technical support - you customize a version of the VNC server that runs as a standalone, then run VNC Client in listen mode on your desktop machine (with the appropriate port forwarding if needed). The customer downloads and runs your little tweaked server, and if necessary, selects one of a number of support destinations (I have ours set for our office, and for my home PC). The server then creates the outgoing connection from their system, so no configuration of their router or firewall is necessary. The server never actually installs anything, so once you close it, it unloads from memory, and it's gone.

 

The reason TeamViewer and its ilk are not hampered by routers, NATs, and most firewalls, is, as noted above, because it never needs to initiate an incoming connection. It creates an outgoing connect, in this case to a central "directory server", where support personnel can connect in as well, and establish a two-way link.

 

From the description give, it sounds like these cameras operate on a very similar concept - they bypass the need for port forwarding and router configuration by simply making an outgoing connection to a dedicated Speco server; anyone wishing to access the camere then connects to the server as well with the appropriate access code and password.

 

The beauty of this, with the TeamViewer model at least, is that you never need to know the IP or a DDNS name for the remote system; its IP could change daily, it could even change locations, and all you ever need is the access code, because once the system has an internet connection, it connects back to the server and you access it via that. If these cameras work the same way, they share the same benefits.

 

I would suspect that once you connect to the camera, it actually creates a direct, secure (VPN-like) tunnel to the camera, so all the data isn't flowing through Speco's server.

[Twilo123 0]

actually it does sound like UPnP. UPnP does not require to configure the router. it is just the easiest implementation of it. you can use it to 'phone home' so to speak instead. it is just a method of registering devices automatically. it doesn't care where it registers. that is up to the developer to decide. it has an open API so it can be developed into any flavor you can think of. so i beg to differ. i still think it is a flavor of UPnP. also could be flavors of zeroconfig, bonjour, etc. they are all similar. i'll see if i can get some more info on it.

[Twilo123 0]

i ran into this which may be the same thing. has the same unique id/password combination that inpro uses.

 

http://ipvideomarket.info/report/starvedia_202_ip_camera_test_plug_n_play

 

http://www.starvedia.com/solution.html

[thewireguys 3]

sounds suspiciously like UPnP which is common these days on ip cameras

 

http://secprodonline.com/Articles/2009/01/01/QA-From-Product-Managers.aspx

 

Doesn't sound like UPnP... that DOES configure the router. The link above claims that the camera does NOT.

 

Each camera comes with an identification card, a 12-volt DC 1.5-amp power supply, a CD-ROM containing SpecoView software and an instruction manual, a printed copy of the instruction manual and a 10-inch Ethernet cable.

 

The identification card contains the particular camera’s nine-digit ID number and a changeable password. This information is needed to initially locate or connect to the camera. After the initial connection, this information can be remembered by your computer. After the camera is mounted and powered up, it is time to network— plug the camera into the nearest router, switch or available network outlet, and you are finished.

 

Now, it’s time to view your InPro camera over the network or Internet. Install the free SpecoView software onto a PC. It is a small program that will install in seconds. Once launched, you will see a GUI with room for camera pictures—up to 16—and a column to list the cameras that you wish to view.

 

This actually sounds very similar to how programs like TeamViewer work. TeamViewer, specifically, is built on UltraVNC, but what it does when you run it as a host service, or ask it to connect up, is log in to their central server, and give you a nine-digit code and random password (unless you set one yourself). A remote user then fires up TeamViewer, which connects to the central server, and enters that same code and password to connect to your machine.

 

UVNC provides a similar service that we and some others use for remote technical support - you customize a version of the VNC server that runs as a standalone, then run VNC Client in listen mode on your desktop machine (with the appropriate port forwarding if needed). The customer downloads and runs your little tweaked server, and if necessary, selects one of a number of support destinations (I have ours set for our office, and for my home PC). The server then creates the outgoing connection from their system, so no configuration of their router or firewall is necessary. The server never actually installs anything, so once you close it, it unloads from memory, and it's gone.

 

The reason TeamViewer and its ilk are not hampered by routers, NATs, and most firewalls, is, as noted above, because it never needs to initiate an incoming connection. It creates an outgoing connect, in this case to a central "directory server", where support personnel can connect in as well, and establish a two-way link.

 

From the description give, it sounds like these cameras operate on a very similar concept - they bypass the need for port forwarding and router configuration by simply making an outgoing connection to a dedicated Speco server; anyone wishing to access the camere then connects to the server as well with the appropriate access code and password.

 

The beauty of this, with the TeamViewer model at least, is that you never need to know the IP or a DDNS name for the remote system; its IP could change daily, it could even change locations, and all you ever need is the access code, because once the system has an internet connection, it connects back to the server and you access it via that. If these cameras work the same way, they share the same benefits.

 

I would suspect that once you connect to the camera, it actually creates a direct, secure (VPN-like) tunnel to the camera, so all the data isn't flowing through Speco's server.

 

 

Video Insight uses this for their support.

[Soundy 1]

UVNC provides a similar service that we and some others use for remote technical support - you customize a version of the VNC server that runs as a standalone, then run VNC Client in listen mode on your desktop machine (with the appropriate port forwarding if needed). The customer downloads and runs your little tweaked server, and if necessary, selects one of a number of support destinations (I have ours set for our office, and for my home PC). The server then creates the outgoing connection from their system, so no configuration of their router or firewall is necessary. The server never actually installs anything, so once you close it, it unloads from memory, and it's gone.

Video Insight uses this for their support.

 

I know, that's where I first discovered it. It was such a pain having to put VNC on customers' machines and set up their routers for it, or worse, having to walk them through setting it up so I could do remote support. So the first time I used this with VI, I had to find out how they'd done it!