How to set up and connect to a camera from neihbors home

[nbstl68]

Hi
I use BI.
We have a need to set up a camera at a neighbors house outside pointed at an abandon house in view across the street. We want to keep an eye on it for possible vandalism concerns.
Besides a decent outdoor camera with good night vision and 200ft of cat 6, what do I need to be able to view and capture 24/7 recording to my Bi server and how do I set that up?
Could someone walk me through what additional equipment may be needed at the neihbor's house and how tos for me to connect to it please?

If I use a POE camera and connect it jnto a port on his DSL modem, how can I access it from there and make it accessible for my BI server to connect and record?
P.s. yes, we have permission from the neighbor and the board to dl this, so legal is not a concern.

 

[DavidDavid]

You want to connect the camera to their network, then record the video onto BI on your network? I'd have to guess you'd have to open a port on their router and then connect that way. Just a guess though. Although you'd need a separate way to power the camera since i highly doubt their DSL modem has POE. Also, you'd be using a lot of their bandwidth for constant streaming.

You mention 200ft of cat5 cable... Another way (and maybe this is how you mean) would be to just run a cable from a switch at your house over to their house underground or whatever to the camera. Then you wouldn't need to do anything extra because the camera doesn't care if it's screwed into the side of your house or theirs as long as it's hardwired to your network.

 

[SyconsciousAu]

If you go the DSL route make sure you have local recording. Wireless bridges are also an option.

 

[nbstl68]

So, yes, I basically want to connect the camera to their network, then record the video onto BI on my network Using a POE camera. I'd have to provide a small POE Switch for the power in their house then connect it to their network via the modem ports.

But I am unclear from there how to access it. The whole open a port thing I could figure out but then connecting to it from there...is it as easy as knowing the IP address assigned once the port is opened?

Good points on power and bandwidth use.
The host house is not close enough to do a run from mine.
I'd thought about just a large on-board memory card recording, but for example if a a vandalism occurs and they see\ take the camera then I have nothing.

So maybe a combo of on-board card and some low cost basic POE DVR left at the host house if an affordable one exists. (I don't have to have 24/7 access to the recording...the point is just to have evidence available if something does occur.) I do not want to sink a lot of $$ into this one off project.

 

[DavidDavid]

Get an individual poe injector... Much cheaper than an unnecessary poe switch in this case.

Opening ports on the router is frowned upon.

Do they leave a computer on all the time you could record to? Or do they have a WiFi router with a USB port you could write the video to? Local storage would probably be the best option, especially considering (im assuming) they likely have crappy upload speeds and you certainly won't be able to stream full resolution video outside of the LAN.

SD card recording is probably going to be your best bet unless you can talk them into installing their own cameras then get an extra camera for this case.

 

[bp2008]

A little Ubiquiti wireless bridge set to minimum output power is the easiest way to get the camera onto your network. Connect the remote end straight to the camera because with your apparent level of networking knowledge you don't want to link two home networks together.

You could use the internet instead, given enough available bandwidth, but it would be highly inadvisable to port forward to any camera because it will be hacked if you do. Use a VPN instead. But really the best way is a dedicated connection to the camera.

 

[bp2008]

2x: http://a.co/a1A95EB

airMAX - How to Configure a Point-to-Point Link (Layer 2, Transparent Bridge)

Be sure to use WPA2-AES with a long key to secure the wireless network.

Use minimum output power on both ends and the smallest possible channel width (5 MHz). This will provide more than sufficient speed while minimizing interference with other devices that also use 5 GHz radio (e.g. you and your neighbor's wifi).

 

[nbstl68]

Wow, some great input...thanks!
I really did not want to mess w opening ports on someone else's comptuer anyway so these other scenarios sound much better.

To summarize...
Option 1:
Cheap POE injector in host house -> connect POE injector between CAT to camera and CAT to DSL AP\ router Ethernet port -> Capture video direct on host home's computer 24/7 (on-board camera SD as backup)
> I would need a DVR software to capture the video to host home's computer. What is a cheap \ free option for the 1 camera?
I would not need anything fancy or lot of features for this.

Option 2:
Ubiquiti nano wireless bridge -> one connected directly to camera, (it says it includes a passive POE to power it, so that would be connected between CAT to camera and CAT to router inside host home to provide power, correct?) -> another Ubiquiti would be needed sticking out my window or on outside of my home somehow in the general direction connected to my switch via CAT -> connect and record video 24/7 via my BI.
Does this sound about right for this option?
> I have a 48V POE switch...so not sure how to use the Ubiquiti nano on my end with my switch since the nano is 24v proprietary.

Edit:...Thinking more about option #2...using the nano would I just plug the included 24v poe into wall outlet anywhere, (is it outside rated) at host home, then CAT from injector to camera and no other connection needed to host home system since I'm wireless bridging to my home?

 

[bp2008]

The way you would set it up is:

Your router <-> 24v passive PoE injector <-> Ubiquiti Nanostation <-> Ubiquiti Nanostation <-> 24v passive PoE injector <-> 802.3af PoE injector <-> Camera

The nanostation radios themselves can and should be mounted outdoors, facing each other with a clear line of sight. The injectors are not weatherproof and should be inside the houses or at least in a weatherproof enclosure of some kind. Each nanostation comes with a passive PoE injector.

 

[bp2008]

Also between the passive injectors and the nanostations, you are supposed to use shielded cable with metal RJ45 connectors bonded to the shielding (this allows static electricity to reach ground without frying the nanostation). This isn't strictly required for them to work, but it is best for long term stability. Here is the cable I would use if I didn't make my own: Amazon.com: Cable Matters Cat6a Snagless Shielded (SSTP/SFTP) Ethernet Patch Cable in Black 25 Feet: Computers & Accessories

 

[nbstl68]

Thanks for all the good info!

 

[molimelight]

Thought I'd throw my 2cents in here. I have two of these operating between my house and workshop (About 140 feet).

TP-Link CPE210 2.4GHz 300Mbps 9dBi High Power Outdoor CPE/Access Point, 2.4GHz 300Mbps, 802.11b/g/n, dual-polarized 9dBi directional antenna, Passive POE (CPE210)

The configuration I am using is as follows:

(Shop) 4 Cameras to TP Link POE Switch to TP-Link CPE210 to (Home) TP-Link CPE210 to Home Router.

They are both powered by their own POE Injectors that come with them. I'm getting throughput that matches what I get on wired at my house. Pretty simple to set up. Comes with nice monitoring and interface software where you can change settings, check logs etc. Weatherproof and have been problem free for a year now. I have never had it go down other than when some mice liked the blue patch cords I was running from one of the cameras and from the switch to the CPE210. The 5 GHz is only $10.00 more if you want to go that route. For the price, I'm sold on them.

 

[Tolting Colt Acres]

Why not buy a camera with on on-board SD card and record to it based on motion detection? IF there is any vandalism, you can retrieve the SD card and view the recordings. Will save a lot of headache running network cables, wireless bridges, etc.

 

[bp2008]

Thought I'd throw my 2cents in here. I have two of these operating between my house and workshop (About 140 feet).

TP-Link CPE210 2.4GHz 300Mbps 9dBi High Power Outdoor CPE/Access Point, 2.4GHz 300Mbps, 802.11b/g/n, dual-polarized 9dBi directional antenna, Passive POE (CPE210)

The 5 GHz is only $10.00 more if you want to go that route. For the price, I'm sold on them.

Looks like basically the equivalent of Ubiquiti Nanostation, except a little cheaper

I'd definitely recommend 5 GHz for outdoor bridges, since in my experience it results in faster links than 2.4 GHz equipment. Higher frequencies don't pass through solid objects as strongly as lower frequencies, so 5 GHz wifi gear should be able to co-exist better with indoor wifi.

 

[Machine]

You could build an IPSec tunnel between your router and the router at your neighbors home. This is what I did to allow BlueIris to monitor/record a camera that was at another location.

 

[bp2008]

That would be the VPN / "streaming constantly over the internet" option.

 

[nbstl68]

That sounds bandwidth intensive...here we have 4mbps up and lucky if we get 0.5 mbps down.
So I dont imagine that could work.

 

[nbstl68]

Why not buy a camera with on on-board SD card and record to it based on motion detection? IF there is any vandalism, you can retrieve the SD card and view the recordings. Will save a lot of headache running network cables, wireless bridges, etc.

I have on board planned as a backup. That alone fails if someone sees and grabs the camera.

 

[Tolting Colt Acres]

I have on board planned as a backup. That alone fails if someone sees and grabs the camera.

Mounted correctly, it's unlikely someone who is interested in vandalizing the vacant house will 1) even see your camera, and 2) even if they do see the camera, is going to be carrying around a ladder to steal the camera prior to vandalizing the vacant home.

Using your logic, you should probably stream everything to a cloud server because the vandals may break into your house and steal your Blue Iris server too.

KISS is my philosophy. IMO you're overthinking this.

 

[nbstl68]

...not MY house. This is for a house down the street. But yeah, technically someone could break into my house, see the cameras, take the time to search for the computer server and take it too....pretty unlikely but I have seen people here who do installsw where the server is in a locked metal box bolted to the floor.

I might just keep it super simple and do a game camera on a tree...
I do like to overthink things...drives my wife crazy.