Would appreciate thoughts/comments on new cameras

[Hitch 0]

Update:

 

I spent a while this morning with the Axis Chat and then on the telephone with them. For some reason, everything incoming goes directly to my Synology. No matter what they entered from there side, the incoming connection went to the Synology. I seem to recall that there was some option on the Synology to do the port forwarding. While trouble shooting with Axis, they had me delete another port-forwarding setup/rule that I had. Despite that, it's still working. Hmm, maybe I'm on to something. Or, maybe I'm crazy.

[voip-ninja 0]

Update:

 

I spent a while this morning with the Axis Chat and then on the telephone with them. For some reason, everything incoming goes directly to my Synology. No matter what they entered from there side, the incoming connection went to the Synology. I seem to recall that there was some option on the Synology to do the port forwarding. While trouble shooting with Axis, they had me delete another port-forwarding setup/rule that I had. Despite that, it's still working. Hmm, maybe I'm on to something. Or, maybe I'm crazy.

 

If you put your Synology IP into the DMZ of your router then all unidentified internet traffic that comes in will be forwarded to the Synology IP.

 

Normally the way you do these things is you set up specific port forwarding rules for each service on each device on your network. For example, I've forwarded specific ports to Synology for Surveillance Station, admin terminal, file station, etc. If I wanted to be able to access my cameras with the Synology app then that's all I need to do and I can access my cams and recordings from the Synology app on my iPhone.

 

If you want to forward other ports for direct camera access on the Axis camera, or for Axis Companion, then you need a list of those ports and you will need to enter individual port forward rules for each and every one of them.

 

I just use Synology camera app on my smart phone when I want to remove access my cameras... rather than using a viewer like IP Camera Viewer Pro... primary reason being that most apps don't allow for event review, but the Synology app does.

[Hitch 0]

Thanks. Something is definitely off. I believe I used one of the two programs that came with the Synology - either EZ-Internet or just the Router Configuration. They both use UPnP to send the port forwarding information to the router.

 

When I look at the port forwarding settings in the Apple Time Capsule, there is no indication of the port forwarding which was sent by the Synology. However, it is clearly working as I can access my Syno from work. Interestingly, the port forward that I had set up before I got the Syno is still there, but the all of the numbers except the IP address are blank. For kicks, I deleted it when I was working with the Axis guy. However, I am now at work and I can still access that device from work.

 

The guy I spoke with from Synology said that I should just manually configure the port forwarding on the Time Capsule. I will need to figure out how to delete all of the current settings and then re-configure all of it.

 

I wonder if the Syno app put the Syno in the DMZ?

[voip-ninja 0]

Thanks. Something is definitely off. I believe I used one of the two programs that came with the Synology - either EZ-Internet or just the Router Configuration. They both use UPnP to send the port forwarding information to the router.

 

When I look at the port forwarding settings in the Apple Time Capsule, there is no indication of the port forwarding which was sent by the Synology. However, it is clearly working as I can access my Syno from work. Interestingly, the port forward that I had set up before I got the Syno is still there, but the all of the numbers except the IP address are blank. For kicks, I deleted it when I was working with the Axis guy. However, I am now at work and I can still access that device from work.

 

The guy I spoke with from Synology said that I should just manually configure the port forwarding on the Time Capsule. I will need to figure out how to delete all of the current settings and then re-configure all of it.

 

I wonder if the Syno app put the Syno in the DMZ?

 

If Time Capsule is not showing you a breakdown of exactly what is forwarded via UPNP then anything is possible.

 

You might want to clear the router out and set things up manually.

[Hitch 0]

If Time Capsule is not showing you a breakdown of exactly what is forwarded via UPNP then anything is possible.

 

You might want to clear the router out and set things up manually.

Yes, that will be tonight's project.

[voip-ninja 0]

If Time Capsule is not showing you a breakdown of exactly what is forwarded via UPNP then anything is possible.

 

You might want to clear the router out and set things up manually.

Yes, that will be tonight's project.

 

Yeah, just set static ports for the syno apps you use and forward those manually, no need to have Synology use UPNP to set something mysterious with your router that is borking up other things.

[Hitch 0]

Well, tonight's project was a failure.

 

I did a factory restore on the Time Capsule and manually set the port forwarding for both the Synology and the Axis. For some reason, I can't get it to work for the Axis camera. From my conversations with Axis and Synology, they were both pointing at the Time Capsule as the problem. For some reason, the Time Capsule is very robust in directing traffic to the Synology. I guess that's a good thing for the Syno.

 

I use the exact same steps to set up port forwarding for the Axis as I use for the Synology. No luck.

 

I've tried all sorts of things. I think I did a factory restore 4 times on the Time Capsule. I tried leaving on the port forwarding for the Syno, deleting the port forwarding for the Syno (including powering the Syno down and trying to connect to the Axis while it is off). I can't get anything to work. I just can't get the Axis to be able to register. I remoted into work and typed in my home IP address. From there, I could access the Syno. However, I couldn't access the Axis. I suppose that's consistent with not being able to register the Axis to enable access from the internet. Ugh!

 

My Time Capsule is over a year old, so support from Apple is long over. I wonder if I can pay for some limited support, just to see if Apple support can get the port forwarding set up. It doesn't seem like rocket science, though. I just don't get it.

 

The other option is to just use Surveillance Station, which I am not thrilled about. I suppose there is a third option of just not using remote access. I think that may be worse than using Surveillance Station (even though I agree that Synology really needs to work on it - particularly in the Mac OS environment).

 

Thinking this through, I guess another option is to see if I can hire someone locally to fix this.

 

Maybe Surveillance Station is the best of the bad options?

[voip-ninja 0]

Have you tried to change the port numbers on the Axis camera to different ones (make sure you keep track of them) and then try forwarding those? It could be that the default ports the Axis camera are using are not available for use in the network (something is using them already).

 

What ports for the Axis are you trying to forward?

[Hitch 0]

The Axis started out with 80. I was concerned that it conflicted with a Syno port, so I changed it to 8000. I even tried changing the (local) IP address for the Axis.

 

As of now, I only have two ports forwarding for the Syno and one for the Axis.

 

I mentioned this before, but one other thing that I might look into is this error message:

 

Attempting to configure NAT traversal.

If your AXIS P3364 Network Camera is located on an intranet, you might need to manually configure your NAT router to allow access from the other side.

 

I see that message under Networking > Advanced. I know my Apple router uses NAT, but my camera is not located on an intranet - at least as far as I understand that term.

 

Hhhmmmm. My limited brain power keeps ticking on this issue. I find these types of things about 2 parts fascinating and 1 part frustration.

[voip-ninja 0]

If you are behind a home router appliance then technically you are on an "intranet" which means you are using internal IP addresses vs external IP addresses used on the internet.

[Hitch 0]

I spent some lunch time researching this issue on the internet. I can't figure out what the problem is.

 

First off, in the Axis software, I set the port for the camera as 7000 and I set the address for the router as 10.X.X.X. Then, I went to the router.

 

Setting up port forwarding on the router (Time Capsule) is very straight forward. The program you use is called Airport Utility. Below is a picture. The first picture below is the first screen which you see when you click on "Network". My router mode is "DHCP and NAT" just like in the picture. I have a few DCHP reservations, one of which is the Axis Camera. I have a few entries in "Port Settings", two of which are the Syno and one of which is the Axis.

 

The last picture shows what the port forwarding actually looks like within Airport Utility, when you hit the "+" button under "Port Settings". I added a description for the camera and then added the port number (which was set as noted above) in the TCP blanks. For the "Private IP Address:" I put the IP address which I reserved for the Axis camera.

 

Per Axis, the camera ports are TCP. So, once I just entered "7000" into the 2 spaces for TCP ports. For kicks, I tried it another time by adding 7000 in all 4 spaces (both TCP and UDP).

 

I know that I am using the correct IP address and port, as the Axis Utility software confirms the IP address and if I enter the IP address and port directly into a browser, it takes me to the camera. For example, 10.X.X.X:7000 takes me to the camera.

Edited January 30, 2013 by Guest

[voip-ninja 0]

Unfortunately you've run me out of ideas. I don't have an Airport/Time-Capsule so not sure what in the config might be causing trouble.

 

I do have a thought though. You could direct connect the Axis camera to the internet (plug it in directly behind your cable modem and bypass the router), and, assuming you can get into the cable modem and determine what IP it has (an internet routable one) you can test it with your time capsule out of the way, which would prove if the trouble you are having is with your router, the Axis camera, or potentially even your work network causing problems.

[Hitch 0]

Well, Voip, you are an awfully good guy for following through all of this with me. I appreciate it. The good news is that it is now fixed. The bad news is that I had to pay my local ISP a few bucks to do it.

 

When I called Axis for support yesterday morning, the guy tried to remote into my PC. The problem was that he wanted to check the router - he thought that I hadn't properly set up port forwarding. However, I had the Airport Utility installed on my Mac and the Mac OS is not friendly with the Java program - or part thereof - that he wanted to use to connect to it. Connecting to my PC would not have enabled him to check the router settings.

 

The evening, it hit me that I could install the Airport Utility on my PC. So I did that and called Axis. I ended up with a less enthusiastic rep. and all he did was confirm that it wasn't working and told me to call my ISP. He said I needed to ask them why the port was not open, which I didn't really understand. If he would have remoted in, he probably would have seen the issue pretty quickly.

 

So, to make a long story longer, I called my ISP and after a few CSR's that didn't know how to check ports, I found out that they would assist me for a few bucks. I ended up on the phone with a tech and he looked at the port forwarding configuration and said it looked fine. So, I showed him the IP Utility were you can go into the TCP/IP settings and he immediately saw that I had not filled in the "Default Router" under the "IP4 Address Configuration." Ugh!!!!!!!!!!

 

Oh well, it's now working and my (limited) knowledge of this stuff has been dusted off and improved.

 

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Now I need to figure out what app to use on my iPhone.

 

Also, how do you change the "horizon" of the video from the camera? Instead of being from, say 9:00 to 3:00, it's more like 8:00 to 2:00. Is there a way to change that?

 

Again, Voip, thanks for hanging with me.

[voip-ninja 0]

Not sure what you mean by horizon? Do you mean you need to level the camera so that it's parallel with the horizon line?

 

If that's what you need to do, it's a pretty easy thing. With the P33 you just loosen the same screw that allows you to rotate the camera and then just twist the little assembly at the front of the lens, that actually moves the lens and board and adjusts the angle.

[Hitch 0]

Not sure what you mean by horizon? Do you mean you need to level the camera so that it's parallel with the horizon line?

 

If that's what you need to do, it's a pretty easy thing. With the P33 you just loosen the same screw that allows you to rotate the camera and then just twist the little assembly at the front of the lens, that actually moves the lens and board and adjusts the angle.

 

That's exactly what I needed. Thanks again!

[voip-ninja 0]

So how's it going? Happy? What about PQ?

[Hitch 0]

I'm very happy with the camera! I really need to get up on a ladder and get the camera better directed. It not only needs to be leveled (horizon?), but it needs to be moved a bit to the left. Unfortunately, between work and the weather I haven't been able to get up on a ladder to work with it. I was hoping to get it done tonight, but it's snowing.

 

I'm happy with the motion recording that it is doing and it seems like everything is saving correctly on the Syno. I looked today and I have a bit over 80 Gigs of recordings over 10 days. I am saving in H.264. I didn't count the total number of recordings - or total time - but it is set to record when anything moves on the driveway or front yard. So it gets the cars coming and going, the dog running around the front yard, etc. There's a good number of recordings.

 

I have two sets of lights in the front of my house (four bulbs total) with 5 watt CFL's. They are supposedly the equivalent of 25 watt regular bulbs. Overnight, I leave just two bulbs on. The camera has plenty of light from just two of those bulbs. Pretty amazing!

 

At work, I have not been able to get IE 8 to work with the camera (we have XP Pro computers). For some reason, it won't take my password. I tried to work on it today, but didn't have any luck. Fortunately, Chrome works fine for Live View. I haven't been able to figure out a way to watch recordings remotely. Axis has a program that is supposed to work with IE, but since I can't get IE to accept my password, I can't try it out. For iOS, I have just been using Safari to migrate to the webpage. Setting Live Stream to MJPEG works fine. I do intend to try out the Apps. I've researched some, but haven't tried any yet.

 

I would like to hook the camera into the Syno Surveillance Station. However, I'm a bit gun shy at the moment. Spending as many hours as I did trying to get the Axis software working correctly.....well, it's still a bit too recent.

 

To the extent that I have a complaint, it's that the ZyXEL PoE switch makes a good bit more noise than I anticipated. Course, it's really just a fan running but it's not very quiet. It's currently on my desk. I'll see how I feel about it going forward, but I may end up moving it. The problem is where I would move it to.

 

The bad news is that I seem to be coming down with a bit of the "I-need-another-camera-itis." I find myself checking Amazon for prices.....everyday.

[Hitch 0]

Well, I went ahead and bought another camera - from the same Amazon seller. Hopefully this one won't have to be traced by the shipper... I think I'll put this one in the back yard. I suspect it won't be the last one I buy.

 

I still haven't bought/tried any iOS software. Whenever I want to check it, I just use a web browser. I'll probably get one some day, but paying for apps that aren't rated all that high isn't all that appealing to me.

 

This weekend, I was able to get back up on the ladder and get the existing camera directed better. I also used some of that low expanding foam to seal up the space between the camera and the soffit (should keep the bee's out). Anyway, the camera was sort of pushed to one side of my yard and the horizon was off. It's now better directed.

 

The only issue that I've had so far is that the motion recording was somehow turned off. I wanted to show my wife how it records after sensing motion and it hadn't recorded in a few days. Turning it on again was no big deal, but I'm not sure how/why it was turned off.

[voip-ninja 0]

If you were playing around with different apps it is possible that another application sent a command string to the camera turning off motion. In my case I let Synology turn the motion detection on initially then I just get into the camera to set up the zone coverage areas, etc. I do have to make sure that on the Synology end I adjust the sensitivity and such or when Synology reconnects it will blow out any settings I put on the camera.

 

Since you have a free 1 cam license on the Synology you really should give surveillance station a try. It's pretty easy to set up and the iOS app will let you review recordings and live video, even over a 3G/4G connection. I imagine it will work in conjunction with Axis Companion.

[Hitch 0]

Voip - I just saw this post over on the Synology forum. The person who posted this claims to have received this from a Synology representative:

 

We are aware the current workaround still needs to be improved for Mac users. At present our Surveillance team are working on a providing a long-term solution which completely removes Java from the equation. We hope to make this available as soon as possible, however, our Surveillance team is still working on this.

 

Again, we are well aware of the inconvenience caused to our Mac users, and are working on a solution to no longer depend on Java.

Hope that's true, as it would address a significant issue with Synology.

 

It looks like the Amazon seller used a different shipper this time. Hopefully the new camera will arrive faster than the first one did.

[voip-ninja 0]

Good news, I will go over to their forums and check it out. I pestered them on their Facebook page about why it was taking so long to take care of Mac users.

 

Honestly, the Synology app for the mobile devices at least is a pretty good way to keep tabs on your cameras.

[Hitch 0]

Thought I would provide an update about my progress and ask for some more help/suggestions on my next purchase.

 

As of now, I am running two Axis cameras. They are both the P3364-VE (6mm). I am also using a ZyXel PoE switch. Both of the cameras are saving the recordings to my Synology server. Although I have a time limit (or, day limit?) set to delete older recordings, none of the recordings are being deleted. I'll have to research that issue some more, but I've seen some posts on the Axis forum where others are experiencing the same issue. Now that I think about it, one of the cameras is reporting an error. One of these days I'll need to get home from work while Axis is still open and get some help from them on that. The error, however, hasn't seemed to alter my use of the camera. Other than those minor issues, I am very happy with these cameras. They each took me a long time to install but have worked very well. I am quite happy with them.

 

I've uploaded an updated diagram of my house. The two cameras that I have installed are Cam 1 and Cam 2. I'd like to add two or three more. I got lucky by being able to grab the two that I do have at decent prices. I've been watching (and hoping) to pick up a couple more on a price dip. No luck for a few months now.

 

Cam 1 does a nice job of generally watching the front of my house. Having watched that cam for a while, though, I am more convinced that I would like to add another cam to the front (where I labeled possible Cam 4). I would like it to watch closer to the house - by the front door. Unfortunately, it will have to be mounted high - up under the eave where the roof starts above the second floor. The front of my house is flat, with brick, so there is no good place to mount a camera closer to the ground. From reading on here, I am thinking about the P3367-VE. We always leave two lights on in the front of the house - I think they are 60W equivalents. Sometimes we leave four lights on.

 

Any comments on the P3367-VE for that application?

 

I was also thinking about installing a camera inside the garage - and facing out to the driveway. I would like to stick with Axis, but would prefer to not spend $900 for a camera that is placed inside the garage. I have read about the M3024-LVE and the M2035-VE cameras. I hear they are due out in July and may be in the mid-$500 range. These new cameras seem to have many of the features of the P-XXXX series. It appears that they don't have Lightfinder. Any thoughts on those cameras? Or, others that I should consider?

 

Thanks, as always, for the help!

Edited May 31, 2013 by Guest

[CamB 0]

I am very close to buying a turnkey solution and have a similar situation to the original poster.

 

Based on all the research that I did, Axis seemed like the best option...meaning quality camera, good support, and lots of reviews. The issue has been finding residential installers in the SF Bay Area that can put Axis cameras that are competitive since most installers that Axis distributors recommended focus on commercial.

 

Axis recommended the same exact camera that the original poster got. I am able to get the cameras at a price that I am comfortable with. The installer that I am working with has agreed to install the Axis cameras, but urged me to consider the IC Realtime/Milestone solution that is proposing because I will get more bang for my buck and same warranty. He also told me that the 2MP IC Realtime Dome camera has better picture quality day or night and won't require me to have to buy an illuminator. Milestone will work on a MAC, so I don't have to run parallels for the Axis solution.

[voip-ninja 0]

I am very close to buying a turnkey solution and have a similar situation to the original poster.

 

Based on all the research that I did, Axis seemed like the best option...meaning quality camera, good support, and lots of reviews. The issue has been finding residential installers in the SF Bay Area that can put Axis cameras that are competitive since most installers that Axis distributors recommended focus on commercial.

 

Axis recommended the same exact camera that the original poster got. I am able to get the cameras at a price that I am comfortable with. The installer that I am working with has agreed to install the Axis cameras, but urged me to consider the IC Realtime/Milestone solution that is proposing because I will get more bang for my buck and same warranty. He also told me that the 2MP IC Realtime Dome camera has better picture quality day or night and won't require me to have to buy an illuminator. Milestone will work on a MAC, so I don't have to run parallels for the Axis solution.

 

I would ask the installer to put his money where his mouth is, and put in the Axis and other camera next to each other so you can do a direct comparison.

 

Axis is not the top end camera out there, but the optics and day/night performance on the current ones is pretty good for what they cost.... also, you are more or less assured that they work with every DVR and software package out there.

[Hitch 0]

After doing some more research last night, I thought of another option for the cameras in the front of the house.

 

As referenced above, Cam 1 is currently a P3364-VE. I was thinking about buying a P3367 for Cam 4. If I buy the P3367, would it make sense to install it in the Cam 1 position and move the P3364 to the Cam 4 position? My goal is to have Cam 4 zoomed in close to the front of the house. I am not sure which camera would be better for that.

 

Any thoughts/comments on the selection and placement of Cam4 would be much appreciated. Also, suggestions on a cam for the garage would also be appreciated.