Engine room camera to iPad display

Jeffrey S said:

It is hard. And the setup is very difficult. You can purchase a webcam made to be an online camera. But in doing that, you're giving up other capabilities typically.

You didn't mention what exactly you purchased - just that you could get it at Amazon. Could you give the actual device name/model?

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The cameras are Dlink units, and they went down in price.

Amazon.com : D-Link Wireless Day/Night Network Surveillance Camera with mydlink-Enabled (DCS-932L) : Webcams : Camera & Photo

The router is a cradlepoint unit.

http://www.amazon.com/MBR1200B-Mobi...F8&qid=1421072299&sr=8-3&keywords=cradlepoint

It can either use WIFI as its LAN, or even easier I took it, and walked into my cellular provider's store and they outfitted me with a USB cellular modem that works on the shared data plan I already have.


As to giving up capabilities using a online camera, at least in the case of the cameras I mentioned that's an untruth. Once the cameras have an IP address, you can put that address in your browser and access them directly, with or without an external network connection.

Again, consumer grade equipment. Cheap, easy.

I am still trying to figure out why people in the "industry" seem to try to make this more difficult than it is. I'm sure there are allot of very complex things in the IT world. Fortunately this is not one of them.

kthoennes said:

I think it's one of those things where if you're lucky with the initial configuration everything might work, but in my experience it is very difficult. Port forwarding, trying to hold a static IP number, subnet mask settings, dns settings, trying to make the IP number accessible or visible from a remote site - it can be incredibly frustrating. And then one power outage and you lose access or some of the settings, or your cam jumps to your neighbor's WiFi signal and you lose access because the ports don't match. In my opinion until cam designers cut through that tech maze, remote access wireless web cams are still not ready for regular people.

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The world of port forwarding is dead, gone forever.

Port forwarding was a PITA, but the world has gone way beyond that now.

See my post above.

ksanders said:

It can either use WIFI as its LAN, or even easier I took it, and walked into my cellular provider's store and they outfitted me with a USB cellular modem that works on the shared data plan I already have.

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It's that "or" there that makes all the difference in the world.

Now the CradlePoint can be making some of that better but for many people who want a total boat LAN that can be attached over high-gain WiFi or cellular (without changing connections on each device), port forwarding is about the only way to accomplish the ability to expose the local TCP port onto the WAN - I can't think of a technical way around it. The moment you give up on the local LAN and use a cellular device, then the whole picture changes because the cellular device is by nature, on the WAN directly and is serving a fully discoverable TCP/IP address. You can fool yourself into thinking that the cellular device like a MiFi might be providing routing but that is much, much different than the requirement, I believe, of a 2015 boat.

Independent of that (and this is getting way to technical and confusing), if that works for you, great. That "or" in the architecture would cause a problem for most of the devices I have connected on my boat.

Jeffrey S said:

It's that "or" there that makes all the difference in the world.

Now the CradlePoint can be making some of that better but for many people who want a total boat LAN that can be attached over high-gain WiFi or cellular (without changing connections on each device), port forwarding is about the only way to accomplish the ability to expose the local TCP port onto the WAN - I can't think of a technical way around it. The moment you give up on the local LAN and use a cellular device, then the whole picture changes because the cellular device is by nature, on the WAN directly and is serving a fully discoverable TCP/IP address. You can fool yourself into thinking that the cellular device like a MiFi might be providing routing but that is much, much different than the requirement, I believe, of a 2015 boat.

Independent of that (and this is getting way to technical and confusing), if that works for you, great. That "or" in the architecture would cause a problem for most of the devices I have connected on my boat.

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Jeff, you are 100% incorrect in your statement. Flat wrong.

The cellular system (at least the ones I've tested) provides a non routable address. There is NO way for an outside device to access your boats LAN using a cellular modem.

Secondly the cradlepoint unit can use WIFI as its WAN connection AND cellular. It can choose a priority. If WIFI is available then that is the primary connection. If WIFI is not available then it will fail over to cellular.

Gotta catch up with technology my friend.

ksanders said:

Gotta catch up with technology my friend.

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You're right. Why would I know anything about this?

I'm glad it works for you - perhaps you should create a full description of exactly how to set it all up and help everyone else do it.

There's an interesting video on that Amazon camera page that shows how the new Dlink "Zero Configuration" simplifies the connections. It looks so simple, I think even I could do it.

Here's another instructional, albeit a little hokie, video.

FlyWright said:

There's an interesting video on that Amazon camera page that shows just how easy the new Dlink Zero Configuration simplifies the connections. It looks so simple, I think even I could do it.

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Thank you Al!

Jeffrey S said:

You're right. Why would I know anything about this?

I'm glad it works for you - perhaps you should create a full description of exactly how to set it all up and help everyone else do it.

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OK

Router Instructions

1. if you want LTE cellular connection go to your providers store and buy a usb modem.
2. Take the router out of the box
3. Locate the router quick start guide
4. Follow the instructions

Camera Instructions

1. Take the camera out of the box
2. Locate the quick start guide
3. Follow the instructions

Does the cellular modem use much data when its aways on? Does it only use data when you access it remotely? The wifi at my marina is total crap. I stopped using it altogether, but a cellular modem that uses minimal data may be the answer to remote boat monitoring.

drb1025 said:

Does the cellular modem use much data when its aways on? Does it only use data when you access it remotely? The wifi at my marina is total crap. I stopped using it altogether, but a cellular modem that uses minimal data may be the answer to remote boat monitoring.

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The Cellular modem does not use any data, but cameras do use some, but I honestly do not know how much data a camera uses.

What I do know is that it does not stream images all the time, only when you ask it to.

OK, so just to review:

Marina WiFi; if it's available you can configure one of these 0 configuration (sounds like an oxymoron) camera's to work. The cost is $0 except for the incidental slip fee.

Cellular data; These cameras will connect to a cellular device like a MiFi unit and work. The MiFi unit would have to be on all the time and presumably data would be charged against your account only when you use the camera.

Kevin mentioned he was able to get a 2nd cellular device dedicated to the boat and have the data used charged against his account. I would be very surprised if Verizon (my cellular data carrier) allowed me to purchase a MiFi unit on e-bay and somehow connect it to my existing account without establishing a new account. That would be like having 2 cell phones with the same number but only be charged for one.
Kevin, is this so?

When I got my Verizon MIFI they asked if I was getting a new one or registering an existing one. I think they just charge a connection fee. $10 monthly?

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Trawler

mbevins said:

When I got my Verizon MIFI they asked if I was getting a new one or registering an existing one. I think they just charge a connection fee. $10 monthly?

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Trawler

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My Verizon MiFi unit has a sim card. Perhaps that's why they asked that question. You can use the sim card in any device that accepts it, but you only get one sim card. I least I thought so. I'll call Verizon.

Are there no Bluetooth cameras out there, with corresponding apps to display on tablets?


(Just did a quick Google search, with inconclusive results...)


-Chris

timjet said:

OK, so just to review:

Marina WiFi; if it's available you can configure one of these 0 configuration (sounds like an oxymoron) camera's to work. The cost is $0 except for the incidental slip fee.

Cellular data; These cameras will connect to a cellular device like a MiFi unit and work. The MiFi unit would have to be on all the time and presumably data would be charged against your account only when you use the camera.

Kevin mentioned he was able to get a 2nd cellular device dedicated to the boat and have the data used charged against his account. I would be very surprised if Verizon (my cellular data carrier) allowed me to purchase a MiFi unit on e-bay and somehow connect it to my existing account without establishing a new account. That would be like having 2 cell phones with the same number but only be charged for one.
Kevin, is this so?

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Yes, in theory you could connect your cameras to your marinas WIFI, but thats not how I would do it.

What you want is a USB type cellular modem. Something like this.



Plug that unit into a cellular capable router. I personally like the Cradlepoint brand units, but there are other brands out there.



This gives you a network on your boat. You can even program the router to use your marinas WIFI signal as its preferred connection if you want, saving you cellular data charges.

Once you have a network on your boat, then everything connects to the network. Cameras, laptops, tablets whatever you want. Even your new TV can connect directly to your network so you can stream HULU TV for example.

Your cellular provider does not care, or even know about how many devices are plugged onto your router. They are in the business to sell data connectivity.

mbevins said:

When I got my Verizon MIFI they asked if I was getting a new one or registering an existing one. I think they just charge a connection fee. $10 monthly?

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Trawler

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Yes, almost everybody has or has access to a group data plan. I am with At&T. They charge me $10 per device, so my boat network costs me $10 a month.

Thanks Kevin, that explains a lot.

For my boat network, I use an AT&T wireless air card, a Pepwave SUS-AGN1 wireless router and two (2) D-Link ECS-5010L cameras.

At home I can access these cameras via the internet, cellular modem or my iphone using mydlink+ software.

When I look at my AT&T usage, it shows that every three hours I use about 500 kb even though I have not accessed the cameras. Not sure if it is the air card polling occasionally for connectivity or what.

When I access the cameras, my D-Link program tells me the cameras are operating at 3 to 4 fps, the bit rate is around 942 kbps and that I have audio streaming (which I can turn off). After accessing both cameras (one at a time) and look at each video for approximately 20 seconds and later go and look at my AT&T usage it usually shows that I used about 10 to 12 MB.

The months that we are not on the boat and if I access the cameras every couple of days our 10 GB plan is plenty. However, when we are on the boat for part of the billing cycle and using our other devices we have to watch ourselves that we do not go over.

The router and camera work fine, but I do have problems with the resolution (640x480). I have one of my cameras looking at my AC/DC distribution panel and have problems reading the gauges as there always seems be a glare on the glass of the meters no matter where I have the camera located. It is worse when in the night mode

Thanks, Jerry

OK guys I tried something today.

I bought a new cradlepoint mbr1200b on amazon.com

I grabbed a USB cellular modem provided by my carrier (AT&T).

Plugged the USB modem into the brand new out of the box router.

Plugged my laptop into the router.

Turned the router on and waited 5 minutes.

Then without doing ANYTHING ELSE came went directly to trawler forum and posted this message.

Gentlemen, it does not get easier than that!

OK, I was wrong. D-Link filled a need in making their webcam simple to connect to a router. Great for them - it's the essence of business to find needs like that. I wasn't aware of it at all having used regular, dumber webcams over the last few years. I probably need to get away from my helm and keyboard every once in a while to see what else is new out there.

Correct me if I am wrong, but there are still issues to overcome if you want to remotely access the camera using most public/marina wifi on the boat end, correct? We have a router on the boat, which we use to connect all of our devices, and it in turn connects to the marina wifi for internet access. We do it this way for simplicity, to be able to use our chromecast with the TV, and most importantly because we can locate the router in the pilot house where it gets a much stronger wifi signal than our devices in the cabin. With this system in place, my understanding is that we would still be unlikely able to access a camera on our boat network unless the marina gives us access to or makes changes to the wifi amin set up on their end. Am I missing something? Would love to be able to pull up a camera to check on the boat, particularly in winter, but I don't want to spend the money on a camera if it is unlikely to work.

Jeffrey S said:

OK, I was wrong. D-Link filled a need in making their webcam simple to connect to a router. Great for them - it's the essence of business to find needs like that. I wasn't aware of it at all having used regular, dumber webcams over the last few years. I probably need to get away from my helm and keyboard every once in a while to see what else is new out there.

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Jeffery, we all work together to make things easier for everyone.

If you ever need any help with networking please feel free to send a PM. I'm always happy to help.

timjet said:

My Verizon MiFi unit has a sim card. Perhaps that's why they asked that question. You can use the sim card in any device that accepts it, but you only get one sim card. I least I thought so. I'll call Verizon.

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Actually I tried that just the other day. Put it in my unlocked Nexus 4 . No go, did not work. I was surprised, figured I'd better not ask them why.

Carolena said:

Correct me if I am wrong, but there are still issues to overcome if you want to remotely access the camera using most public/marina wifi on the boat end, correct? We have a router on the boat, which we use to connect all of our devices, and it in turn connects to the marina wifi for internet access. We do it this way for simplicity, to be able to use our chromecast with the TV, and most importantly because we can locate the router in the pilot house where it gets a much stronger wifi signal than our devices in the cabin. With this system in place, my understanding is that we would still be unlikely able to access a camera on our boat network unless the marina gives us access to or makes changes to the wifi amin set up on their end. Am I missing something? Would love to be able to pull up a camera to check on the boat, particularly in winter, but I don't want to spend the money on a camera if it is unlikely to work.

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Looking forward to the answer.

Just be careful with some wireless cameras. I tried one from the stern where running cable is difficult. Both the MFD end and the stern camera end got really hot so I removed the receiver and transceiver units and tossed them in the trash.

I will look at the ones Jeff recommends but having cameras in the engine room as well as on each side walk around make it safer when one is outside and the person at the helm is able to keep an eye on whats going on, totally worth it.

Gerald

Carolena said:

Correct me if I am wrong, but there are still issues to overcome if you want to remotely access the camera using most public/marina wifi on the boat end, correct? We have a router on the boat, which we use to connect all of our devices, and it in turn connects to the marina wifi for internet access. We do it this way for simplicity, to be able to use our chromecast with the TV, and most importantly because we can locate the router in the pilot house where it gets a much stronger wifi signal than our devices in the cabin. With this system in place, my understanding is that we would still be unlikely able to access a camera on our boat network unless the marina gives us access to or makes changes to the wifi amin set up on their end. Am I missing something? Would love to be able to pull up a camera to check on the boat, particularly in winter, but I don't want to spend the money on a camera if it is unlikely to work.

Click to expand...

If your router uses WIFI as its WAN signal then there is no reason you could not have cameras be accessable from outside the boat. The only caveat is if the marina WIFI provider blocks certain types of traffic, like for example cameras.

Cellular providers on the other hand do not block anything.

gwkiwi said:

Just be careful with some wireless cameras. I tried one from the stern where running cable is difficult. Both the MFD end and the stern camera end got really hot so I removed the receiver and transceiver units and tossed them in the trash.

I will look at the ones Jeff recommends but having cameras in the engine room as well as on each side walk around make it safer when one is outside and the person at the helm is able to keep an eye on whats going on, totally worth it.

Gerald

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Hot is not good. The cameras I use are AC powered. Just plug the camera in and connect it to your boats WIFI network.

Dlink even has outdoor rated cameras that work great! A little more money for these but I have several in service and am quite happy with the image quality and the reliability.

ksanders said:

If your router uses WIFI as its WAN signal then there is no reason you could not have cameras be accessable from outside the boat. The only caveat is if the marina WIFI provider blocks certain types of traffic, like for example cameras.

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Well, I went ahead and ordered a Dlink to give it a try. I went with the least espensive day only unit (one step down from the ones you use). If it doesn't work for remote access, it was only $30 and I could still use it for something else. I'll report back once we have tried it out on the marina wifi.

Make sure you don't select DropCam since it requires an active internet connection and will bog down most wifi connections with the video transfer. It has no local storage, and no way to see the camera locally, so if you pull it up on your ipad on the boat, you tax your wifi connection twice, since it sends it to their server (extra cost too), and they send a copy back over the same link...

Stu

Looks like the camera will be delivered today, so I should get a chance to try it this weekend. Gotta love Amazon Prime!

Wireless Camera to My iPad

Is there a camera (wireless) that will talk to my iPad? (Preferably 12v) I don't need to monitor it any where other than when I'm on the boat. This is the ER cam I have now but it is cabled.