[mythtv-users] OT: Webcam as "security" cam

[Nick F]

On Tue, Apr 14, 2009 at 9:53 PM, Bobby Gill <bobbygill at rogers.com> wrote:

> I'd like to setup a webcam or two around the house and my office, and have
> it viewable via the net from any box. Anyone here done this or have any
> ideas? I'm googling of course, but I can't go without asking ye Mythlist
> experts :)


I use an Axis 207W IP cam.  I used zoneminder for about 2 years with it.
Zoneminder is a great program with very good stability - and I think that it
crashed exactly once in two years of using it.  Wonderful functionality in
terms of motion detection and recording 'events'.

In the end I stopped using zoneminder for two reasons.
1. The axis cam I bought had both an ethernet (wired) and wireless
connection.  The wireless connection works well, but the occasional 'glitch'
in the wireless network took the camera offline for ZM. This meant a
ethernet connection going to the camera rather than using the wireless
functionality which limited placement slightly.

2. The axis camera has a built-in webserver with password protection.  So I
reroute a port from my router to port 80 of the IP address of the camera (in
my case I just re-route port 81 to 80) and using dyndns can log into the
camera and get a great video feed using any browser from whereever I am.
Works great with an iPhone and it's amazing logging in from somewhere across
the world on a beach and getting a live feed.  At the end of the day I just
wanted the ability to log in and view what was happening, rather than
worrying too much about motion detection and setting off alarms.  And in
this scenario the wireless works great, there's no load on a server, and as
long as the network is up - it works a treat.
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