How Do I Set Up My Home Security Camera?

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Complete Guide To Security Camera Setup

IP cameras are also known as security cameras, surveillance cameras, or baby monitors. IP cameras are affordable, easy to set up, and a great way to keep track of your most important assets – your home, your business, and the people and animals that reside in them.

security camera setup

If you have a mobile phone connected to a working Wi-Fi network you can have an IP camera set up in a matter of minutes. The fantastic thing about it is access to your camera isn’t limited to just your Wi-Fi network. Through the magic of modern digital hocus-pocus, your connection will extend to anywhere you take your mobile phone.

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IP cameras can be accessed in several ways:

  • With an app on your phone.
  • With a cloud-based subscription.
  • With computer-based applications.

Most models allow you to store recordings on an SD card. When shopping for an IP camera try to avoid cameras that limit you to their cloud app and subscription services. You want as much versatility as possible.

The Amcrest Pro HD camera I’m using for this chapter is extremely versatile. It offers connections through Wi-Fi, Ethernet, and POE (Power Over Ethernet.) It allows access through several phone apps, a cloud subscription service, web browser-based access from a local computer or across the Internet, and a computer-based application that can be used for security surveillance systems. 

This chapter won’t be a commercial for the multitude of cloud-based subscription services and their various features and rates.

I’m going to focus on getting you connected with your phone so you can have instant access to your camera from anywhere you have a 4G connection. Then we’ll discuss accessing your camera with a browser from any computer. By “any computer” I don’t mean just computers at home. I mean any computer with an Internet connection. We’ll be using the DDNS service we set up in the chapter on Remote Access to do this.

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IP Camera Types

In this chapter, I’m going to focus on indoor and outdoor IP cameras that can easily be set up in and around the home. Multiple camera surveillance systems, NVR, and DVR systems are outside the scope of this chapter. 

Indoor vs Outdoor Your first major consideration when looking for an IP camera is whether it will be used indoors or outdoors. This may seem simplistic but there’s a difference. An indoor camera may work for a while outdoors, but if it’s not specifically designed for outdoor use heat, cold and moisture will gradually eat away at the internal components and destroy the camera.

IP Camera Types While shopping for IP cameras you’ll notice the wide variety of designs. The reason for this variety goes beyond aesthetics. There are functional reasons for each design. It can be a bit daunting if you’re not familiar with the different IP camera types and you only have a general idea of what you’re looking for.

ip security cameras

Most IP cameras will fit conveniently into one of the following categories.

  • Indoor Cube Cameras – These are usually compact, fixed cameras with Wi-Fi capability. They must be manually pointed in a certain direction. Many have two-way audio which allows you to communicate with pets and family members remotely. They usually have decent IR (Infrared) capability. Recordings can usually be saved to a Micro SD card or cloud-based subscription service.  These cameras are suitable for home or small office use. They usually come with a bracket that allows them to be mounted in a variety of ways.
  • Dome Cameras –  The purpose of the dome is to make it “vandal resistant.” Many dome cameras are weatherproof and suitable for outdoor use. Dome cameras designed for indoors will usually use Wi-Fi to connect. They have built-in IR (Infrared) LEDs designed to pick up images in the dark. They usually offer a choice of saving recordings to a cloud-based subscription service or a Micro SD card.  These cameras are suitable for schools, offices and small shops. They are to be mounted to a wall or ceiling and may require the use of a bracket or junction box.
  • Flat-Faced Dome Cameras –  These are usually weatherproof cameras with built-in infrared capability for night vision. The “flat face” design minimizes glare from the sun and makes it an uncomfortable nesting place for spiders and their webs. The camera lens and IR are usually separated behind the flat glass face. Most offer the option of a cloud based-service, Micro SD cards, or both. These cameras are suitable for homes, offices and small shops. They can be mounted to walls or ceilings directly or with the use of a bracket. They may require the use of a junction box.
  • Bullet Cameras – Most bullet cameras are weatherproof. The bullet-shaped design has a visor to keep the sun’s rays and rain away from the lens. Unfortunately, this also makes them an attractive home for spiders. Recordings can be saved to the cloud or an SD card. IR is usually rather weak in these cameras and shouldn’t be used when night vision is an important consideration. Larger bullet cameras are easily noticeable and can act as a deterrent. These cameras are suitable for homes, offices and small shops. They usually come with a mounting bracket already attached. Junction boxes are optional.
  • PTZ Cameras – PTZ stands for Pan, Tilt, and Zoom. Once a PTZ camera is mounted or placed in its position remote controls can be used to move the lens up and down, left to right, and zoom in and out. Many indoor Wi-Fi cameras are also PTZ cameras. Inexpensive PTZ cameras only come with pan and tilt features which isn’t a concern because digital zoom becomes grainy very quickly. Connectivity for these cameras can be Wi-Fi, Ethernet, or POE. (POE allows current to flow through a network cable and power the camera without the use of a power cord.) These are very popular cameras and are available with a wide variety of features. Smaller PTZ cameras are ideal for home use while larger, weatherproof cameras can be used in airports, car lots, and shopping centers. They usually come with a convenient bracket to mount to walls or ceilings.

IP Camera Lingo

The field of IP cameras has a language all its own.

  • PTZ  – As mentioned earlier this simply means the camera has a little built-in motor with a remote control that allows you to change the position of the camera.
  • Micro SD Card – SD means “Secure Digital.” These are tiny, inexpensive cards with amazing storage capacity for their size. They are also used for storage in mobile phones.
  • POE – Power Over Ethernet. With the use of a special switch or “injector” POE allows electric current to be transferred to devices in remote locations where it may be difficult to find a power outlet. A standard Ethernet cable used to connect a POE switch or “POE injector” to a POE device serves as both a network and power connection. This is a truly great technology.
  • Ethernet/Wi-Fi – Hopefully you’re well aware of the differences between Ethernet and Wi-Fi by now right? Phew! The only important distinction here is that when it comes to transferring pure video and audio on a network Ethernet is always the better, more stable choice. Wi-Fi was originally designed as a convenience to be used where Ethernet wasn’t possible or just too difficult.
  • Optical Zoom/Digital Zoom – Digital zoom simply magnifies the pixels of a digital image. Unfortunately the more it magnifies the grainier the image becomes. Digital zoom is the poor man’s optical zoom. Optical zoom operates the same way a camera lens does. The lenses move back and forth inside the camera. This changes the light being pulled into the camera and the image resizes without pixelization. Of course, you get what you pay for and optical zoom is more expensive than digital zoom. 
  • MP or Megapixel – You’ll often see IP cameras rated by MP or Megapixels. The more Megapixels the more expensive the camera is and the better quality picture you’ll get. An IP cameras MP rating loosely corresponds to standard resolution settings:

1MP = 1280 x 720 (AKA 720p)

1.3MP = 1280 x 1024

2MP = 1920 x 1080 (AKA 1080p)

3MP = 2048 x 1536

4MP = 2688 x 1520

6MP = 2072 x 2048

8MP = 3840 x 2140 (AKA 4K/UHD)

I guess at some point we all have to decide whether we simply want to check up on things or create Hollywood-quality movie productions.  I typically opt for the cheapest option but to each his own.

  • IR – Infrared – Also known as night vision. An Infrared camera detects heat energy and converts it to a digital signal. That digital signal is then converted to a thermal image that can be used to see objects in the absence of light. In case you ever found yourself wondering what those shiny little buttons surrounding the camera’s lens are those are the Infrared LEDs.
  • Junction Box – An inexpensive plastic or metal covering for the base of an outdoor IP camera to help waterproof the camera and protect the cables from exposure.

IP Camera Phone Setup

IP cameras have been around for a long time but didn’t catch on at first. Their recent surge in popularity is due to mobile phone apps that make it easy to connect them to your home Wi-Fi network and maintain that connection over your phone’s mobile network. They can bring peace of mind to parents and pet owners and are cool toys to show off to your friends.

In this chapter, we’re going to set up access to our IP camera in several ways.

  • Access it with our mobile phone.
  • Web browser access from a local computer.
  • Web browser access from anywhere using DDNS client we set up in the chapter on Remote Access

Once you get your IP camera configured to this point it should be easy to use whatever other services your camera manufacturer offers such as a cloud-based subscription or any other web-based or computer-based applications they may provide.

Assuming you have an IP camera with Wi-Fi capability we’re going to use the Wi-Fi to get our camera started. If you have an Ethernet or POE IP camera the manufacturer will probably give you a URL to type into your web browser or a utility you can download and use to find the IP address of your camera once it’s plugged into your network. Once you have its IP address you should be able to configure it with a web browser just like you would a router or printer.

camera config tool
  • Your IP camera manufacturer should provide a downloadable utility to find the IP address of your IP camera. You should be able to find the same information by logging into your wireless router’s web interface and looking for its attached devices. 

Your IP camera should include some information on an app you can download to your phone and use to get your IP camera configured and access its features. I’m using an Amcrest camera and the name of the app is called “Amcrest View Pro.”

It’s a simple download and install procedure. I’ll spare you the details.

Once the app is installed you want to make sure your phone is on the same Wi-Fi network you’re putting the camera on. Have your wireless network passphrase handy because the app is going to look for it. Once the app is connected to your wireless network it will look for the camera.

camara qr code

At this point, most phone apps ask you to type in a serial number or scan a QR code to identify the camera.

You’ll give the camera a name and assign it a username and password. Don’t confuse this username and password with your Wi-Fi passphrase. Once the camera is identified and connected it will ask you to change the password to a more secure one.

That’s it! Your camera is set up and ready for use with your mobile phone app. The amazing part is once you have it set up on the Wi-Fi you’ll be able to access your camera on your phone from anywhere you have a mobile data connection. No home Wi-Fi is needed!

Let’s see how this looks in detail.

security camera app
  1. Launch the IP camera app on your phone.
  2. Click “Add Device.”
  3. Select “Wi-Fi Camera.”

The phone app will scan the network for the camera. Once connected the app will copy the network settings on your phone to your camera so you don’t have to enter them manually.

camera app setup
  1. If your camera has an Ethernet port it may ask you to connect an Ethernet cable to do the network setup.
  2. Make sure your phone is connected to the same Wi-Fi network you’re connecting your camera to.
  3. I previously changed the SSID of my 2.4GHZ Wi-Fi band to “Camera” for use with my IP Camera. We’re connected.

Now that the camera is connected to the Wi-Fi the app needs a way to identify the IP camera it’s working with. It will do this with either a serial number or QR code.

enter qr code
  1. The app opens a screen to scan the QR code on the bottom of the camera.
  2. Once the scan is complete the serial number populates in the app automatically.
  3. Give your camera a descriptive name.
  4. Give your camera a username and a password. Don’t confuse this with your Wi-Fi passphrase. You’ll use this to log onto the camera just like you use your admin username and password to log onto your wireless router.

Note: On this particular camera I found out the hard way that it’s best to leave the username and password at their defaults of “admin” and “admin” and change them after set up is complete. Here you see me changing them before the setup is complete. This mistake caused me all sorts of problems and I ended up using the button to reset the camera back to its defaults and redo everything.  All cameras are different and many have annoying quirks.

At this point, most of your network settings have been automatically imported onto the camera. As a security measure, it will politely ask you to manually enter your Wi-Fi passphrase. The phone will automatically populate the SSID of the Wi-Fi network it’s connected to. All you have to do is fill in the password.

camera app setup
  1. Enter your Wi-Fi passphrase. The camera will use this to log onto your Wi-Fi automatically.
  2. If everything was done correctly your camera should be connected and you can start viewing and recording immediately. Click “Start Live View.”
  3. Now is the time to make changes to this particular camera’s username and password.
amcrest camera remote view

“Live View” is displayed. Turning the camera sideways provides a better view.

Web Browser Access

Hey, don’t get me wrong – being able to pull out my phone and check up on my apartment and my cat from anywhere is great. Playing with the pan, tilt and zoom controls is fun too but I find mobile phones too small and even a bit cumbersome to use. I’m much more comfortable using a PC or laptop than a mobile phone. That’s why I opted for a camera that allows viewing and controlling the camera from a web browser.

If you feel the same way make sure to look for keywords like “Browser compatibility” and a list of compatible browsers when shopping for your IP camera.

So how do we go about viewing and controlling our camera with a web browser? The same way we accessed our wireless router, printer, NAS, and just about every other network device with a web browser interface – with the IP address.

Earlier I mentioned that your camera manufacturer may provide a downloadable utility to find your camera’s IP address. That’s fine if you feel like doing a web search, searching for the file, and downloading it. There’s a much faster and easier way – your wireless router. Any decent wireless router will provide a built-in utility to display the clients connected to it and their IP addresses.

connected clients

It shouldn’t be hard to find on your router. Many times it’s prominently displayed on the first page of the interface. On my router, it’s simply called “Clients.” It should be something very similar on your router. Click on “View List.”

attached clients

A list of all the wired and wireless devices connected to our wireless router is displayed along with the IP and MAC addresses. This is very useful information. The IP address of our Amcrest IP camera is 192.168.1.110. The reason it says “static” is that I previously set it that way. We’ll get into that in a moment.

Now is the time to remember the username and password you created for your camera when you set it up. You wrote it down right? No? Good! You don’t want pieces of paper with usernames and passwords scribbled on them floating around. They can get lost or stolen. It’s best to store them in a text file and keep it in a secure place like Google Drive or a USB stick.

image 157
  • Enter your camera IP address into your favorite web browser and log in.
ip camera remote view

Let’s have a look at the menu, settings, and control sections of the web interface.

remote camera view
live camera view

The web interface offers camera controls that allow you to pan, tilt, and zoom in and out. In the upper right corner are the controls to take a snapshot of the current view and turn the microphone on and off.

The speed control allows you to adjust the speed of the camera’s movements.

security camera playback
camera recording playback

The Playback section allows you to watch previously recorded videos by, first, selecting the date and then the exact time frame recorded. This camera is set to record for 10 seconds whenever it senses sound or movement that exceeds certain thresholds.

I won’t be getting into this too much but most IP cameras offer a cloud-based subscription service.

secuirty camera cloud storage

For a monthly fee, you can access your video feed from the cloud. You can also store your recordings and configure various alarm settings to alert you of certain events. My experience is the performance of these sites is sluggish because of the high volume of traffic.

It’s up to you if you want to pay a monthly fee for something you can set up at home for free. The obvious advantage is if something happens to you’re home, your camera or the device you save recordings on you can always access them from the cloud.

The storage methods we’ll be covering in this chapter are saving to a Micro SD card and our NAS. Not all IP cameras have the ability to save to a NAS but most can save to an SD card. Try to avoid cameras that try to corner you into using their subscription service only.

Let’s take a look at this ever-important setup section. This is we find all the important configuration settings for our camera.

camera setup

The camera section is audio and video settings that will differ according to various circumstances and your taste. True, settings like these are interesting to play with but this is a home networking course so we’re not going to get into those settings here. 

camera network settings

The TCP/IP section looks like good a place to get details on how our IP camera is set up on the network.

camera network settings

This is where we can view and make changes to our camera’s IP settings. Earlier I mentioned I changed it to a static IP address of 192.168.1.110. It was set to a DHCP address of .108. It was a simple change to make. All the other settings such as Subnet Mask, Default Gateway, and DNS servers were imported from the phone which is set to DHCP. The camera virtually configures itself by connecting to the phone. Cool huh?

ip camera network ports

Remote Access Without A Cloud Subscription

Now we get to the cool stuff. Well, if you’re a geek like me it’s cool. Most people will click right past this and have no idea what it means. The “Connections” section gives us the important information we need to access our IP camera remotely using port forwarding.

It’s all right there for us – the TCP port number, UDP port number, and in this case (Since we’ll be looking at the camera’s web interface.) the HTTP port number. HTTP is the internet web browser protocol. It has several variants. Usually, it’s port 80 but it can also be “customized” with ports 81 and 8080. This is an important thing to know because as I mentioned earlier you can only use a single port number once. If you want to port forward to several devices with web interfaces you can’t use port 80 over and over again but you can use ports 81 and 8080.

Are some of the things we discussed in the port forwarding section of the Remote Access chapter coming back to you? You may want to do a quick review before we continue. 

Once you’re armed with the ports your device needs you can hop on to portforward.com, look up your wireless router’s make and model and everything will be spelled out for you, including illustrations, on how to set up port forwarding on your wireless router. What a useful website!

Let’s see how this looks on my router. The first thing we want to do is make sure port forwarding is enabled.

port forwarding
  1. Go to the WAN section of your wireless router.
  2. Find a section labeled “Port Forwarding.” It may look different on other routers. This is when portforward.com comes in so handy!
  3. Check or switch port forwarding to enable it.

Going by the settings we found on our camera earlier we’re looking for TCP port 37777, UDP port 37778, and HTTP port 80 so we’ll make a separate rule or “profile” for each.

  • TCP, UDP, and HTTP are “Protocols” so you enter them into the protocol field of each rule.
  • The “External Port” is the port the remote device is looking to connect to. In the case of our IP camera, the external ports are 37777, 37778, and 80.
  • The internal IP address is the IP of the device we’re trying to access.

The first rule (Or Profile) we make tells a device looking for web browser (HTTP) port 80 to connect to the internal IP address of our camera (192.168.1.110.)

ip camera port setup
  1. Give the rule a descriptive name so you can identify which port number it uses later.
  2. Ports can be UDP, TCP, or Both. In this case, we can use “Both” and not bother making separate rules for UDP and TCP.
  3. The external device is looking to connect to web browser port 80.
  4. Our internal device is our camera. Enter your camera’s IP address. Hit “Apply” or “Enter.”

Once you’ve repeated these steps for TCP port 37777 and UDP port 37778 it should look something like this:

camera port setup

That’s it. Once you’re done with the port forwarding section you want to double-check and make sure your DDNS settings are still intact. We did this earlier in the Remote Access section.

image 168
  1. Go to the WAN section of your wireless router.
  2. Go to the DDNS section. This is where we registered our router with the DDNS Service.
  3. Make sure your hostname.domain name is accurate. (Wi-Figuy.zapto.org)

Your DDNS hostname.domain name will be different than mine of course. Mine will be taken down long before this ebook is published. So don’t go getting any funny ideas wise guy. J

Port forwarding to our IP camera has been set up. So how do we access it? We simply enter our DDNS hostname.domain into the web browser of any computer connected to the Internet. This is the same thing we did with Remote Desktop (Port 3389) to our Aristotle computer in the Remote Access chapter.

Basically what will happen is we’ll enter our DDNS service host and domain name into our web browser. The DDNS service will forward the request to our wireless router and our wireless router will forward the request to our IP camera. Thus the name “port forwarding.”

remote camera web access

If entering your hostname.domain names pulls up your IP camera login page you’re good! Entering the correct username and password opens the same web interface we saw on our home computer.

You may remember me mentioning that I don’t recommend using port forwarding because it’s not secure. Well, that’s true but it all depends on the device your port forwarding to. Giving the world easy access to one of your computers is not a good idea for obvious reasons. A good firewall can be a deterrent but it’s not foolproof by any means.

Port forwarding to a game console or security camera is entirely different. Game consoles and security cameras are hardened devices that are designed for the evils of the Internet. There are virtually no exploits to allow a hacker to gain access to your network through a game console or security camera. All a hacker can access through your security camera is your recordings and if you’re anything like me those are extremely boring and uneventful.

Remote Administration

Of course, if you’re still not comfortable with leaving your security camera open to prying eyes and you don’t want to pay for a cloud-based subscription service you can turn port forwarding off and back on again only when you need it.

You can do this by using secure remote access to your router. This allows you to log on to your wireless router from a remote location and turn port forwarding on when you need it and back off when you don’t. Your administrative connection to your router when accessing with the HTTPS port is protected by TSL encryption which is a more modern form of SSL encryption.

web access

You should be able to find the remote access setting in the Administration section of your wireless router. The HTTPS access port on my router is set to 8448. By entering https://Wi-Figuy.zapto.org:8448 I can access my router’s login page, log in, and temporarily change my port forwarding settings or any other settings I choose.

ddns setup
  • Enter your DDNS hostname and domain name followed by a colon and the remote access port (:8448) into a browser. You can also use your router’s external IP address followed by “:8448” if you happen to remember it and it hasn’t changed.
sign in to camera account
  • Notice the little lock icon and the “HTTPS:” before the web address. This should appear automatically and means the connection to your router is encrypted.
WAN settings
  • Once you’re logged on to your wireless router you can go to the WAN section and enable or disable port forwarding as you chose.

This is sort of like arming your home’s security system when you leave the house and disarming it when you return. It’s not a perfect system but it can help provide a little peace of mind.

Changing Storage Locations

IP cameras offer different ways to store your recordings. Almost all IP camera manufacturers will provide cloud access because they want you to subscribe to their cloud service. You may find the cloud storage option is also the default storage location or the easiest to set up.

To store your recordings in another location you’ll want to navigate to the settings page of your IP camera’s web interface. Once you’re there you should find the storage options your camera offers. The particular IP camera I’m using offers cloud storage, SD Card storage, FTP storage, and NAS storage. Cloud storage is always an option but I prefer to focus on storage options we have total control over such as an inexpensive SD Card or the NAS we set up earlier.

Selecting the storage location you want should be pretty simple. On the Amcrest camera, I’m using you simply go to Settings and then Storage.

camera local storage
  • On this camera, the settings for storage locations are under the “Path” tab. Check all the boxes next to SD Card to save all your recordings to the card.
camera storage settings
  • The SD Card sections allow you to make sure the camera detects your card and allows you to assign permissions and eject it if you want to.
sdram capacity
  • Usually, you’ll find a utility to see how much space is used on the card. When your card becomes full most IP cameras provide to option to delete the oldest recordings to make room for newer ones.

Typically you don’t want your IP camera to record 24/7 because you’ll use a lot of storage space very quickly and most of your recordings will be uneventful. The best way to manage your storage is to set your camera to only record for 10 seconds or so when it detects motion or noise beyond a certain threshold. The result will be a large collection of short video clips that contain only the activity that interests you. 

SD cards offer a limited amount of storage and you have to pay for cloud storage. The next best place to look is either a share on a local computer or the NAS we set up earlier. Synology offers an excellent package called “Surveillance Center” that can track multiple cameras and provides all the features of a professional security camera system but it’s not free. A license for one camera can cost more than the camera itself.

If you don’t want all those bells and whistles and simply need a place to store your recordings many IP cameras offer the option to use a NAS for storage but the setup isn’t always straightforward.

Let’s take a look at how to do that now.

  • First, we need to create a shared folder for our camera on our NAS.
  • Then we’ll point the camera’s storage location to that shared folder.
using a nas as storage
  1. Go to Control Panel on the NAS.
  2. Go to File Services.
  3. Make sure to check “Enable NFSv4.1 Support.” This is the Linux equivalent of Windows File and Printer Sharing.
  4. Click “Advanced Settings to configure NFSv4.
nas storage settings
  1. Make sure “Apply default UNIX permissions” is checked. This gives us a basic set of permissions for the NAS to work with even though we don’t want to learn how to set those permissions.
  2. Click “Apply.”

Now that NFS is configured it’s time to create our shared folder.

shared folder
  1. Go to “Control Panel” again.
  2. Go to “Shared Folder.”
  3. Click on “Create.”

We’ve been here before. Practice makes perfect.

nas storage settings
  1. Give the folder a meaningful name.
  2. Give it a meaningful description.
  3. Click “Next.”
nas file permissions
  1. Go to the folder “Permissions” tab.
  2. Give your administrative account “Read/Write” access to the folder.

This section is very important and must be done correctly to allow the camera to access the NFS share we just created. Take your time and make sure everything is correct before clicking “Apply” or you may have to do it all over again.

setup nas camera storage
  1. Go to “NFS Permissions.”
  2. Type in the IP address of your IP camera. Note: Double-check and make sure you’re using the right IP address. If your IP camera is connected to your network wirelessly make sure the IP address you enter here is the wireless IP and not the wired IP.
  3. We want the camera to have “Read/Write” access to this folder.
  4. Linux geeks like to use weird names to confuse normal folks. Just make sure you set it to “Map all users to admin.”
  5. Ensure all three boxes are checked.
  6. Hit “Apply.”
nas file permissions
  1. If you see “Allowed” and “Allowed” here you did everything right!
ip camera folder share
  • Enter \\NameofyourNAS into the search bar or Windows Explorer to make sure the shared folder you just created is visible and accessible.

Now it’s time to hop over our IP Camera and point its location settings to the new share on our NAS. First, we want to specify when our IP camera wakes up and starts recording. We do this in the “Event” settings.

camera storage settings
  1. In the “Settings” section go to “Event” and Video Detection.
  2. Make sure “Motion Detection” is enabled.
  3. Check the “Record” box to make sure the camera records when triggered by an event. If you want you can do the same thing in the “Audio Detection” section.

Now we return to the section where we set up an SD Card as our storage location.

camera storage settings
  1. Go to “Storage.”
  2. Then “Destination.”
  3. Change your storage location from SD Card to NAS.
  4. Make sure to hit “Save.”

Another important section that has to be done just right. Especially Step 4.

image 185
  1. Go the the “NAS” section under “Storage.”
  2. Make sure “Enable” is checked.
  3. Enter the IP address of the NAS server.
  4. This is the ever-important step and it depends on how the volumes on your NAS are set up. If you have only one Volume “/Volume1/Sharename/” should take care of it. If not your “Remote Directory” will be the same as the “Mount path.” Your mount path should be visible at the bottom of the page when you complete the NFS Permissions section above.
path statement to camera
  • If everything goes according to plan clicking on “Save” should cause the camera to create a folder named after your IP camera on the shared folder we just set up on your NAS. It will also add subfolders named by date as time goes by to add your recordings to.
ip camera shared folder
  • Double-check the shared folder on your NAS to make sure the new folder named after your camera is created.

If you don’t specify a name for your IP camera the name of this folder will probably be an ugly string of letters and numbers. To specify how you want your camera to be named go to the “System” section as shown below. Note: You want to do this before you click “Save” in Step 5 above.  If you want to rename the folder you have to delete it and recreate it.

name camera
  1. Go to the “General” section under “System.”
  2. Name your camera.
  3. Make sure to click on “Save.”

You can test your work by walking back and forth in front of the camera a few times to trigger some recordings. Then go to the “Playback” section of the IP camera to view them in the web interface or use Windows Explorer to navigate to the shared folder on your NAS and click on each video file to view it. Have fun with your new IP Camera!

Last update on 2024-11-07 at 23:33 Affiliate links and Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

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Affiliate Disclosure

Jerry Jones (WiFi Guy) is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

“As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.” – Jerry Jones

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