IP Cameras

Revision as of 20:06, 21 April 2011

If you buy an IP camera from Mi Casa Verde, we will pre-configure it to work with Vera right out of the box. If you get the camera yourself, and it's a model that is 'Plug and Play' compatible with Vera (see 'Supported Cameras' below), then you should be sure the camera is configured to get an IP address automatically, and that the username is set to: dceadmin and the password is set to: dcepass. Vera will add the camera automatically and fill in the settings. (Specific info for users of Panasonic IP Cameras)  When adding a camera that is not on the supported list, see the section 'Manually adding a camera' below.

Supported Cameras

Cameras that work

Cameras that don't work

Manually adding a camera

Manually adding a camera

In Vera's setup page click Devices, Luup plugins, Install/uninstall plugins, and click 'install' next to either the 'Generic IP Camera' plugin, or, if you see a plugin for your particular camera, such as 'Panasonic IP Camera with Pan/Tilt/Zoom' use that instead.

If you have more than one camera, you can click "install another" to have multiple instances of the plugin.

In most cases, IP cameras have a URL method for obtaining a SNAPSHOT or JPG image from the camera. If your camera supports this method, you can then use it with Vera and the FindVera.com service can archive these snapshots over time for security purposes. Most IP/Network cameras made in the past few years will have a JPG Snapshot mode. Some examples from Linksys are WVC54GCA, WVC200/WVC210.  D-link, Trend-Net, and many others make similar cameras.

If your camera is not a 'Plug and Play' model or not on the supported list, you need to specify the settings for the camera by going to the 'Devices' tab on Vera's setup page, adding the camera if it's not already there, and clicking the '+' icon to edit the camera's settings.

You will need to specify:

1. the IP address or domain name of the camera
2. the URL or path to retrieve the current image from the camera as a JPEG file
3. any username and password to retrieve the JPEG file

The URL (your camera's manual may denote this as "path" or "snapshot address") needs to retrieve the actual JPEG file, not just an HTML page that has the JPEG file somewhere on it. For example, if you can view a JPEG file from your camera with this URL: http://192.168.81.5/Snapshot.JPG?Quality=Standard, then put in these settings:

IP Address: 192.168.81.5
Path: Snapshot.JPG?Quality=Standard

and be sure to provide the username/password if one is needed. After you specify this information, click the red 'Save' button, and then you can see the camera by clicking the 'View Camera' option.

Configuring the Panasonic IP camera to connect wirelessly to Vera

The Panasonic IP Cameras have a switch on the bottom: WIRED/WIRELESS. In order to connect your camera wirelessly to Vera, you'll need to follow these steps:

   - set the switch to WIRED
- connect your camera to Vera's LAN port using an Ethernet cable
- turn the camera on, confirm Vera's LAN LED turns orange, and wait for the IP Cam LED to turn green
- wait for the camera to be detected in Devices -> Unassigned Device
- assign the camera to a 'Room' and click 'Save'
(for the camera to be detected it should have the default username/password: dceadmin/dcepass and listen on port 80)
- confirm that you can see images from the camera
- click on the "+" sign near your camera and note its IP address (e.g. 192.168.81.200)

   - connect your computer to the same network as your camera
- open your web browser and type in: http://camera1_ip (in this example, http://192.168.81.200)
- login with the default camera username: dceadmin and password: dcepass
- go to Setup -> Wireless and set SSID, Cipher and Password to Vera's wireless settings
which can be found an the bottom of Vera. (default Cipher is WPA2-PSK)
- click 'Save Settings'
- turn the camera's bottom switch to WIRELESS and reboot your camera by cycling its power

Your camera should now connect wirelessly to Vera. If you change your Vera's wireless settings you'll have first to update them on your cameras, so you won't lose connection to them.

Example of using a Linksys WVC54GCA or WVC210 camera with Vera

For example, if you can view a JPEG file from your camera with this URL: http://192.168.81.5/img/snapshot.cgi, then put in these settings:
Domain or IP: 192.168.81.5 (or YourDomain.MyLinksysCam.com if remote access is enabled)
Path: img/snapshot.cgi
A username and password must be used unless all users are allowed in the USERS section.

• If you have more than one camera, you will be using the PORT as part of the URL. If your second camera is on PORT 1024 and the IP is 192.168.81.6, you would use 192.168.81.6:1024 or YourDomain.MyLinksysCam.com:1024

iCAMView and some Lorex network cameras

For iCAMView based cameras, including a few Lorex-branded ones, the path would be:
showimg_pda.cgi?cam=1 for the first camera
showimg_pda.cgi?cam=2 for the second camera

Older models may require slightly different path:
pda.cgi?cam=1 for the first camera
pda.cgi?cam=2 for the second camera

Other parameters would be the same as above.

Axis IP Cameras

Path: axis-cgi/jpg/image.cgi (or lastshot.jpg depending of the model)
More information here:
Axis live_snapshots
Axis techoverview

Trendnet IP camera, TV-IP110W

Path: /cgi/jpg/image.cgi

VistaCam

VistaCam by Mi Casa Verde is a compact Indoor IP camera that supports both wired and wireless installation. Mi Casa Verde Technical Support Team pre-provisions each VistaCam so it works right out of the box with Vera! Set-up doesn’t get any easier. Whether for Home, Business, Facility surveillance, or just for fun, the VistaCam easy to install and has all the features users need at an affordable price!

There are 2 basic ways to setup the VistaCam to work with Vera in wireless mode. Here is what you need to do:
A) if you have a main router in the house and Vera and your computer are connected to it (we presume that Vera has been already configured)
1) connect the vista Cam to the same router;
2) on Vera install the plugin for generic IP cameras from the MiOS Marketplace zone on the dashboard 3) after a minute or so Vera will auto detect the camera and you should be able to see an image when you press the little wrench key from the camera's icon on the dashboard;
4) go to the Settings tab and scroll down to the last option, IP;
5) copy that IP address and paste it into your browser's address bar and hit the Enter key (it will open the administration page for the camera);
6) on the camera's administration page go to wireless options and set up the SSID and the password (the SSID is usually "Vera_xxxxx" [where xxxxx is Vera's Serial Number]; you can find the Serial number and the password on the back side of Vera[password is WiFi pass or Home ID]) and Save;

Note: The password should be listed as 'Shared Key' under the 'Security' section.
7) remove the Internet cable connection and power cycle the camera;
8) go to the dashboard and check for image from the camera.

B) if by any reason you can't see the camera after you connect it to your main router here is what you need to do (we presume that Vera has been already configured and the plugin for the camera has been installed):
1) go to Advanced > Net & WiFi tab and select the Through another gateway on my network. MiOS is a switch option and then Save and apply from the bottom of that page;
2) connect your camera to the ETH2 port on Vera(now Vera should "see" the camera and you should be able to see pictures);
3) go to the Settings tab and scroll down to the last option, IP;
4) copy that IP address and paste it into your browser's address bar and hit the Enter key (it will open the administration page for the camera);
5) on the camera's administration page go to wireless options and set up the SSID and the password (the SSID is usually "Vera_xxxxx" [where xxxxx is Vera's Serial Number]; you can find the Serial number and the password on the back side of Vera[password is WiFi pass or Home ID]) and Save;

Note: The password should be listed as 'Shared Key' under the 'Security' section.
6) remove the Internet cable connection and power cycle the camera;
7) go to the dashboard and check for image from the camera.