Panasonic IP Cameras
For some unknown reason, Panasonic IP Cameras will not get an IP address automatically when you plug them into the network unless you first run the Windows CD that comes with the camera (or setup on your computer an ip: 192.168.0.10 netmask 255.255.254.0 and open a browser to http://192.168.0.253 or http://192.168.1.253 to get to the deafult IP Camera admin page). We can provide no logical explanation for this since nearly every user will want the camera to get an IP address on the network. It is, after all, an IP device. Once you run Panasonic's app and tell the camera to get an IP address, then Vera will find it and will integrate the camera automatically and it will be effortless from then on. The problem is just a one time one of telling the camera to get an IP address. This can be frustrating for Linux/Mac users since Panasonic only has a Windows version of the software.
When you first connect to the camera you need to pick a user name and password. If you enter the username: dceadmin and the password: dcepass then Vera will automatically integrate and control the camera. If you pick a different username/password, then go to the Devices page in Vera and manually add the camera if it isn't there already and provide the username and password.
The camera will be on your home's internal network, so it's only accessible from within the home and not accessible to outsiders on the internet. Therefore you do not need to worry about a secure password to prevent outsiders from gaining access. The password is not secure anyway, so it's only effective in keeping out casual users within your own home. Vera provides a secure solution, though because you can keep the camera on your home's internal network, and Vera acts as a secure gateway letting you login remotely through the findvera.com site using a secure username and password, and the same level of encryption used by banks for online banking. Through Vera's secure gateway you can view and control the cameras from anywhere.
If you buy the camera from Mi Casa Verde, we will use Panasonic's utility to tell the camera to get an IP address automatically, and give the camera a username/password of dceadmin/dcepass. So then the camera will be automatically detected and used by Vera. If you buy a wireless camera, then we will also set the SSID/WPA2 password to match your particular Vera so that the camera works out of the box wireless also.
