Webcam Technical advice
 

I am stumbling my way through setting up a Foscam webcam at my place on Sebago. I can view the cam on my phone but since my IP address is not static, I lose the ability to view it remotely nearly every day. I could go the dns route but I need to log into my router to achieve that, so here is the question. Has anyone had any luck logging into their router with an Iphone or Ipad? My laptop is a dinosaur with Windows XP on it and is very slow and frustrating. Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks!

BT

Dynamic DNS
 

To deal with the changing local IP address issue, you need to configure Dynamic DNS (DDNS) on the camera. I have one and got it to work.

I searched "Foscam DDNS" and found a post with some instructions. These are different than what I did, so I don't know much more.

It's a bit tricky to get going, so if you aren't tech-savvy, you might want to ask someone.

Good luck!

If you're not concerned about a live image, and just want to see a recent (~ last 5 minutes) pic I have something that can help you out.

If you want a live image and easy setup, I'd return the Foscam and go with Reolink, QSee or EZViz.

As you may be aware you can solve the problem by getting a static ip address. Unfortunately internet providers charge extra for this. With some the charge is reasonable. If you have Metrocast however, they only offer a static ip if you sign up for a business account for big bucks.

Or you can get a DYN/DNS account and they will manage your IP address for $40.00 per year. http://dyn.com/remote-access/

I use them for my service in Gilford where I have Metrocast and it has been 100% reliable!

Just please don't ask me how it works or anything technical about the service as I am as tech savy as a box of rocks when it comes to this stuff!!

Dan

I switched to no-ip.com after DYN discontinued their free DDNS. No-Ip.com is free for their basic service. I use it for remote access to all my webcams and routers. If you install their tool on one of your computers on your network it will keep the IP for your hostname up to date.

By the way, if you leave your router on you should keep your IP. Even if you turn it off and on you should still have a "lease" on that IP. I'm not sure why the OP keeps getting a different IP every day. I don't have a static IP at home but my router has had the same IP for a year or more. The last time it changed is when I replaced my router.

Dial-up is different. You'll get a different IP every time you connect.

My IP changes at least once per day and often times multiple times a day. I never shut the router off. Its a Fairpoint issue. When I had a TrendNet camera on it, I set it up to email me when the IP changed. My inbox was buried some days and it's just an overall PIA to keep logging into the router to get the new WAN. I'm fairly certain I'm going the DDNS route but my original question remains. Can I log into my router using my Ipad? Do I just put the router IP address into the Safari browser?
Don, this Foscam camera is one of the ones you used to use as a Weirscam I believe. I can't seem to get it to work wirelessly with the router.

Thanks everyone for your responses!

Yes, you can enter your router IP (often 192.168.1.1) into Safari as long as it is connected to the router's network.

The WeirsCAM was never a Foscam. It was mostly Stardot Netcams with one attempt to use an unreliable Axis camera. I do have a Foscam at home and several at work. You probably already found this out, but you need to setup the Foscam using a wired connection. Once you put in your wifi settings you can disconnect from the wired network and when you restart it it should connect to the wifi. Look at the LAN status on your router and you can see if it got an IP and what it is.

Thanks Don. My mistake but I knew you had recommended the Foscam at some point....

For some reason, Fairpoint DSL likes to reassign IP's every few days or more often. Cable providers, not so much.

Still struggling...
 

I've set up the cam using no ip I've got it working wirelessly but only on a LAN. I have the port forwarding all set up. I can't view it from the Internet (WAN) when I log in using my no ip host name I get the router log in screen. Any ideas?
Thanks

Sounds like a port-forwarding issue, your router and camera are both responding on Port 80 (default port for web pages/interfaces).

Typically you set things like cameras to something other than 80 when setting up remote access, then you enter the URL with the new port specified, like "http://www.mycamera.com:8088"

More importantly, your router shouldn't be setup to show the admin page to remote access users. There are security issues associated with doing that, not worth getting into here, but I'd suggest disabling remote admin/config access on the router. Doing that might also solve the port-forwarding problem because now the router won't try to respond to Port 80 for remote requests and should pass that through to the camera if everything else is setup correctly.

Thanks. I had set it up changing the port from the start so I've got a random port number all set up. Looking at my ddns options in this modem it appears that I can only use dyndns or something called TZO. I was hoping the port forwarding with be a go around. I'll check the remote access as you suggest. Thanks again.

You really need to do both.

Port forwarding is part of how the incoming requests know where to go.

Dyndns/etc. is for keeping your random/changing IP address associated with a known/fixed hostname.

Yes. Thanks. I don't think my router supports no-ip.com. Appreciate your help!

Thanks everyone for the advice...
 

After messing with this on and off for a week, I called Fairpoint and asked for pricing on a static IP address. $4 month extra. DONE! Everything seems to work great. I think my setup was fine all along. It might be my router having issues with the two ddns servers I tried. Screenshot of my view....