Advanced Network Setup

HOWTO tackle advanced network setups

INSTALL DYNDNS PACKAGE

- login to vera using telnet or ssh then: ( telnet local.findvera.com )
cd /tmp
wget http://downloads.x-wrt.org/xwrt/kamikaze/snapshots/brcm-2.4/packages/ddns-scripts_1.0.0-4_all.ipk
tar xzvf ddns-scripts_1.0.0-4_all.ipk
cd /
tar xzvf /tmp/data.tar.gz

vim /etc/config/ddns (press INSERT to start editing, to save and quit press ESC then write :wq and press ENTER)

• Note: DynDns package is installed by default for firmware versions 1.0.616 and above

• Note: You can edit the file also from the web interface, go to: Advanced->Net&Wifi->Advanced Settings ->System->File Editor

Vera connected directly to the internet

OPEN PORTS ON VERA

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If Vera's connected directly to the internet and you have your firewall activated you'll need to open port 80 to access Vera's UI.
Go to ADVANCED->Net&Wi-Fi->Advanced configuration
OpenWRT Web UI Will open.
Here you need to go to: NETWORK->FIREWALL
New Rule: 
Accept -> press ADD
Select from the upper drop-down
Protocol: TCP -> press ADD
Destination Ports: 80
Press SAVE
Press bottom 'Apply Changes'

And now you should be able to access your Vera.

Protect Vera UI with User and Password
Right now everyone can access your Vera UI. 
Go to 'Users' tab, check "Require a username and password to access Vera from within my home network." and add a Username. This will prevent unauthorized persons from having access to your Vera web site.

FORWARD PORTS FROM VERA TO Another IP device

In order to setup port forwarding go to:
Setup->Advanced->Net&Wi-Fi->Advanced configuration->Network->Firewall

New Rule: FORWARD -> press ADD
Forward to: internal IP of your camera (i.e. 192.168.81.150)
Port: port of your camera (80 is for HTTP)
Also select from the upper drop down:
    Protocol: TCP
    Destination Ports: Vera external port (i.e. 81)
Press SAVE and then 'Apply Changes' from the bottom of the page.

In this scenario I've created a port forwarding from Vera's external IP, on port 81, to 192.168.81.150 internal IP to port 80. So http://vera_external_ip:81 requests will go to http://192.168.81.150

Note: If you don't know your camera IP and this is dynamically allocated by Vera's DHCP, follow these steps after you note down your camera MAC Address (which should be on the bottom of the device).

-= Identify Camera DHCP IP =-
Go to Setup->Advanced->Net&Wi-Fi->Advanced configuration->Status->DHCP Clients
According to the MAC address you should be able to identify the IP address here.

In order for the camera not to change its IP, you should also set the DHCP server to allocate the same IP every time:

-= Configure DHCP Server leases =-
Go to Setup->Advanced->Net&Wi-Fi->Advanced configuration->Network->Hosts
Complete the  "MAC Address" and the "IP Address" fields from "Static IP addresses (for DHCP)" tab with the current MAC and IP of your camera then press Add, Save Changes and Apply.

Vera behind another router

FORWARD PORTS TO VERA

If you're using Vera behind your router you'll need to forward some ports to it to make it work:

PORT 80 : it's used for the web page viewing, you can secure access by using username and password (go to SETUP->USERS: add an user and check "Require a username and password to access Vera from within my home network." then press SAVE)
PORT 23 : telnet access, not recommended because it can't be secured, anyone can login remotely
PORT 22 : ssh access, it's enabled after you set a root password and then telnet access is disabled.

If you don't know how to forward ports from your router have a look here:
http://portforward.com/

===  VERA NETWORK SETTINGS ===' '

You've mentioned that your router can't assign the same IP every time. You can overcome this by setting a static IP to vera.
Go to SETUP->ADVANCED->Net&Wi-Fi
= IP Address =
How can I connect to the Internet? = STATIC
Set an IP from your class ie: 192.168.81.2
Subnet Mask 255.255.255.0
Gateway: 192.168.81.1 (your router IP)
DNS: 192.168.81.1 (and your provider's DNS server)

Firewall

Since you already have other router in front of Vera, set firewall to 'No Firewall - bridge'.

Lan

 
Since you have another DHCP server, set Vera's DHCP to 'disable'.
Note: I've noticed that your Belkin router has the same IP address as Vera's internal lan: 192.168.81.1. If you're using Vera in 'Bridge' mode you should change Vera's LAN IP to an address different from your Belkin router's IP. (i.e.: set it to 192.168.8.1 )

==References==