CamB

Thanks everyone. What would explain why one location is not accessible over wifi at the office when they use the exact same ports. Only differences are router, hostname, and ISP?

One idea that might work to remotely powercycle a swtich is to attach a Belkin WeMo...which should allow you to remotely powercycle the switch. People use it to remotely turn lights attached to it on and off. Pretty irritating that this camera keeps disconnecting every few weeks. I hope it is not the cable...as i will have to get another installer in. Cameras firmware seems fine.

So, I went home and here is what I found out. Someone, somehow got into my server that is only used for Milestone remote access, video storage...and changed the password and also opened another user profile. The only people with access to this server are myself, the security installer, and his network engineer. I have no reason to believe the installer or network engineer would do this without my knowledge, so my assumption is my system was hacked into. Anyone know best practices to secure a Windows box used exclusively for Milestone? Milestone requires open ports, firewall off, antivirus off...in most cases for remote viewing. I have to believe that I can implement some level of security to prevent my system from being hacked and knowing who logged into my server and when.

Thanks everyone for your input. Sorry if I was not clear as I could have been. VOIP Ninja is correct as far as my set up. I have mirror installations at two sites. Meaning same cameras, same brand of server and Milestone, same open ports at each of the two locations. The only differences are the ISP, modem, and router. Site A with ATT Site B with Comcast Whenever I am at the office and trying to view Milestone remotely, I can view both sites via cellular. Site B will work over wifi, but Site A will not. How do I get Site A to be viewable over Wifi?

No. Different router due to ATT forcing you to use their modem/router combo unit by Pace America.

Thanks. It is worth noting that the cat6 cable was bad on the initial install and the installer had to replace the cable.

I don't know of a good way to do it within your price point, w/o mounting the cameras outside. If you did that, your cameras could easily be vandalized or exposed to weather. This is exactly the reason why I went with a professional vandal proof system mounted outside.

At your price point, I would consider this: http://www.idoorcam.com/. If you want something a bit more commercial...look at aiphone.

Ohh...one more thing. If you have someone else do your networking...make sure they document all of the settings and changes to your router. It will come in handy one day...if something goes wrong...installer is not longer in the business...then what do you do.

Paul, You should re-consider your budget and number of cameras. Your budget seems to only include hardware and software (cameras, server, vms, switch etc.)...but you also need to consider the installation. You can certainly try to do it yourself, but it is not always straightforward for a newbie...particularly when you need to figure out how to network everything from different vendors. It might be better for you to re-evaluate how many cameras you actually need...so you don't have to spend a bunch of money and time running cables, drilling holes through walls, under the building, etc. That exercise can take even longer than setting up the cameras. Just to give you an idea...I purchased a turnkey installation that included 3 Acti Cameras, Milestone, a Windows PC, switch, and cables that ran me $7500. I live in a major city, so labor may be a bit more expensive. I really can't compare the other bids I got as they were all over the map...some cheaper...but wanted to install analog or "Costco" packages. Some were double that when I wanted to go with Axis. Based on my research...the bulk of the costs were labor vs. actual hardware. What I have found is that most "installers" can't do each aspect of a turnkey installation. A contractor is needed to run cables and do any low voltage electrical work and a networking guy is needed to setup the cameras, vms, router, etc. My installer just adjusted the camera positioning...and was more of a sales guy.

I'm not sure where the problem is, but my Acti E73 Driveway camera has shown Camera Connection Lost error twice since I've had them installed in the past month or so. The solution seems to be power cycling the POE switch. Why is this?

I'm looking to buy a UPS for my VMS, which is just a Windows 7 box. Should I get a CyberPort 1500?

I've been visiting this forum quite a bit for the past couple of months as I was researching how to go about having cameras installed at my homes. My intent is to share with forum members my observations, experience, and lessons learned so that others in the same boat can benefit from it. Background I travel quite a bit so want to keep an eye on my house while I'm away, so I decided to get some good quality IP cameras. Spent time on this forum, researching brands, and started to identify installers to come out to do a job walk. Experience Choosing an Installer Was not easy to find an installer. The process was like buying a mattress. Each installer seemed to have 1 or 2 brands they push and that's it. Pricing was all over the board. Turnkey solution for 3-4 cameras ranged from $5,000 to $35,000. The top cameras companies recommended some local installers, but most of these only focused on commercial installs. Then I turned to Yelp to find someone that was recommended by a commercial installation company. Experience with my Installer Really friendly and responsive during the sales process. Not such a good experience after my deposit. Here's why: - Always late (not a couple of minutes late, but like 4 hours late) - Took double the amount of visits to install than quoted. Reasons being (bad Cat6 line, something wrong with the NVR, etc) - Did not provide any training on the system and documentation of how to setup remote viewing if the cameras - Wants to charge several hundred dollars to get remote viewing working again after router was reset by ISP even though I bought 10 post installation service hours Lessons Learned - Start with a good IP camera company such as Axis, Avigilon, Acti and ask for recommended resellers/installers in the area - Check references - Get all software/hardware license information in case you have to go directly to vendor for help - Be very specific in the contract terms about contractor penalties for being late, not meeting deadlines, spell out hours for training, get documentation of wiring, installation, and router setup I'm not sure how I could have prevented some of the problems I ran into with this installer. There just don't seem to be many good options for installing high end cameras at your home. With these small companies, there is not much you can do other than suck it up and hire someone else that can get things working for you.

So...after having my ISP come and bring me a new modem/router, I set everything up again, rebooted the router and miraculously, everything just started working. Awesome...

Somehow, my Acti E73 camera in the front porch is still in black and white until 10 or 11am. There is bright sunshine outside and it use to turn to color by 7 or 8am. Any ideas on how to adjust this? Thanks

@jdoggg1 - Don't think I was as clear as I could have been. $15K was to have the same installation at two homes. 3 cameras at each home, server at each home, etc. Cameras show list price of $300-400 on reseller sites, but I'm sure my installer had to mark it up to make some money...which I'm fine with. I wanted to pay a price we were both comfortable with so he would take the time to do a good job and support me when things aren't working. Unfortunately, things didn't turn out the way I had hoped. @buellwinkle - Totally agree that the DIY would have been much cheaper and I would have learned a lot that would help me with supporting the systems in the future. However, because I travel so much for work, I just didn't have the time to be tinkering around with this...so decided to fork over the money for a "professional" to give me a turnkey installation that he would support.

Numb-nuts, I purchased a turnkey installation from the installer. I paid about $15K to have 3 cameras installed at 2 homes. These cameras retail for $300-400 each. Installation included Cat 6 cabling, a desktop used to run as a VMS, VMS software. I paid to have all configuration done, remote viewing, alerts, fine tuning of cameras, and 10 hours of post installation support. - Fine tuning of the cameras is not done. No training or documentation of the system was done. - Extra charge for troubleshooting of remote viewing not working after power outage and setup should not be $500 and any time should be put against available 10 hours of post installation support. - My other router had to be reset when I was trying to figure out why the system went down. Turns out the VMS software was not activated like I was told it was. So that isn't my fault. - Everyone runs late once in a while, but when you are late 2-4 hours, call 5 minutes before you are supposed to come every single time or cancel the night before is just wrong. I have to take time off of work to be there. I don't get a discount if he runs late...causing me to be late for work. I don't think it is right for him to be nickel and diming me when I did not give him a hard time for always being late and wasting my time. I am all for paying a fair price for the work that needs to be done and am a very reasonable person, but I don't like to feel like I'm being taken advantage of. I will get this problem fixed and will pay another installer recommended by the camera company to have this fixed. I would rather pay more to have someone else reset everything up than to give this installer another dime.

Might be a dumb question (since I'm not experienced in computer networking), but it's a genuine question. Even if you take cameras in the "nanny-cam category" such as Foscam and Dropcam...why is dropcam so simple to setup, but foscam so difficult?

How do I get milestone on my MAC? when I go to the server IP address, it only gives me Windows download options. Also, any idea why: - I can't view my cameras from a browser using the dyndns address and port number? - Milestone App works remotely only if I am on cell network vs. wifi (on iPhone/iPad)

I've been happy with the ACTI E73, which is less expensive than Mobitix and Axis equivalents.

How do you view the web client on OSX away from your home network? I use dyndns, but unable to access.

A security installer that has given me a quote for 2 Outdoor 1.3 MP and 2 2MP cameras, NVR, Router, Monitor, and installation is coming in at $5000USD. 3 yr camera warranty and 5 year warranty on workmanship. He tells me that this would be adequate for residential. My questions: - Is this reasonable? - Is IC Realtime a good brand? - Are these good cameras? ICIP-D1300 1.3 MP Dome and 2 Megapixel 3-9mm VF Full HD Vandal-proof IR Network Dome Camera SD and PoE

Vector 18, Great recommendations. However, the installer that I am referencing here and that I was keen to go with seem to be tired of answering my questions and is asking that I just need to trust him and make a decision whether or not to move forward. He explained that he has plenty of business... I understand from a small business perspective, you can only spend so much time with pre-sales...but residential customers that are new to CCTV will have questions. For example, my questions were around why does the new proposal cost $1500 more than the last proposal with 2 fewer cameras and can you itemize each line item. Seems like reasonable questions to me. At this point, I may be back to square one and consider hiring an electrician to run the Cat 6, mount the cameras where I want, and set up the networking myself. It is unfortunate that I am unable to find someone from Axis able to offer me a turnkey solution. $10K for 2 homes...3 outdoor IR dome cameras each seems to be a reasonable budget.

What about Acti E73 vs. Axis 3364 LVE? E73 is 5MP and 3364 is 1MP. Axis camera is 2x more. Installer is recommending E73.

Would an Acti E73 work for you?