Need a brand/model of a IP cam that will do a particular job.

C

Curtmechling

n3wb
Jan 28, 2018
4
0
Basic info: 15 years ago I put up a number of IP cam's on water towers and buildings within my city. Some lasted 10 years. However, back then everything worked the same, namely active x in IE. Needless to say, those days are gone. A few years ago I tried to get back into this and what a nightmare this has become. After buying a half a dozen cams, (all of which might have a good pic but are completely junk in the "practical world", so I simply hope someone on here has been down this road and found a solution that clearly is HIDDEN!

What is needed:
1. IP cam with either pan/tilt or even the new 360 degree cam that levels out the fish-eye look.
2. IP cam that can be logged into via IP address, given a static public IP address, and can be viewed by the public via IP or name translation via assigned sub domain name. example - cam.mydomain.com
3. IP cam that will work on a PC browser without special software. Chrome, firefox,. (one that is able to open in a cell phone browser is also needed but not a deal breaker. (Without APP !!!)
4. (and here seem to be the kicker),,, separate user/pass for guest users and admin. Admin being able to configure the cam, guests can not, AND both admin and guest can move the CAM!
5. Has to be a dome like OUTDOOR cam.
6. price should be between $200 and $500 dollars per cam.
7. Picture quality should be good (1080) but 4k is totally not needed.

Notes: There really IS NOT a need to record video or any other shiny options such as (motion sense, super duper night vision, people tracking, or any other thing a basic "viewer" isn't going to give a sh** about.

If ANYONE has gone done this search road I am on, you know why I am asking. If you found a solution, PLEASE pass it on. :)
 
Curtmechling said:
..
What is needed:
..
3. IP cam that will work on a PC browser without special software. Chrome, firefox,. (one that is able to open in a cell phone browser is also needed but not a deal breaker. (Without APP !!!)
4. (and here seem to be the kicker),,, separate user/pass for guest users and admin. Admin being able to configure the cam, guests can not, AND both admin and guest can move the CAM!
..
Click to expand...

Hi Curt

#3 - should be rather challenging as browser tech is constantly moving and older in-secure tech components are being removed.

Q: Why not just stream the video to something like youtube?
 
Curtmechling said:
2. IP cam that can be logged into via IP address, given a static public IP address, and can be viewed by the public via IP or name translation via assigned sub domain name. example - cam.mydomain.com
3. IP cam that will work on a PC browser without special software.
Click to expand...
Directly exposing most cameras to the internet really isn't the smartest move. Eventually some vulnerability will be discovered and it will get hacked.
The only option for a video stream that will just work in most cases is mjepg. You can proxy it if you want to make it more secure.

If you expose a camera directly to internet, each simultaneous user adds the the cpu and bandwidth load. Total number of viewers before one of those craps out won't be very high for most cameras (some can do more, generally these have a gigabit Ethernet connection).

I think you're better off streaming to youtube live, ustream, or some other similar service.
 
Well, it use to be you could limit the number of users viewing, though that doesn't limit requests. As for getting hacked, I am aware but putting a cam on public IP does have risks but that's what people want.
As for streaming directly to youtube or such, that is an option i guess, though I have never done it before. And that being the case, I don't have a understanding of it enough to understand how someone could control the axis movement via a youtube feed. If there is an open option that someone is aware of, please send me a link and let me take a look.?
 
Curtmechling said:
Well, it use to be you could limit the number of users viewing, though never done it before. And that being the , I don't have a understanding of it enough to understand how someone could control the axis movement via a youtube feed. If there is an open option that someone is aware of, please send me a link and let me take a look.?
Click to expand...

Just thinking out loud here...
Perhaps using an auto track function would not be a bad idea. It would stop multiple people from trying to control the camera at the same time.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Curtmechling said:
Well, it use to be you could limit the number of users viewing, though that doesn't limit requests. As for getting hacked, I am aware but putting a cam on public IP does have risks but that's what people want.
As for streaming directly to youtube or such, that is an option i guess, though I have never done it before. And that being the case, I don't have a understanding of it enough to understand how someone could control the axis movement via a youtube feed. If there is an open option that someone is aware of, please send me a link and let me take a look.?
Click to expand...
I don't think you really understand the risks and how insecure most ip cameras are. You are pretty much GUARANTEED to get hacked eventually (could be a hour or it might take a couple years) if you expose the cam to the net directly. The hacked cam could be bricked or it could be used as a bot to conduct other attacks.

My local government has a similar cam to what you envision, an older axis model.
-The only codec they have working is mjpeg.
-There is a queue for requesting/possessing control of the camera.
-They don't let users aim the camera directly, you can only choose from a list of presets. I imagine they wanted to make it harder for people to zoom in on things like someone's window or deliberately do things that might be physically hard on the camera.

I would consider fixed presets or an automated tour that goes between points of interest.

You wouldn't be able to control a PTZ from youtube. You could embed a youtube live video on a webpage with controls for the ptz (that hopefully go through a proxy or are passed on a private network server side)

There are some other video transcoding services that can convert to HTTP Live Streaming.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mat200
Other video transcoding / hosting services include but aren't limited to:
Akamai, Wowza, Amazon CloudFront or you can setup your own server running something like Nginix

More here: HTTP Live Streaming - Wikipedia
 
Last edited:
Sigh, ok. Well, I can see where the requirement for PTZ in the code could/would make the cam more risky to attacks. Or more problematic. I guess my question would be, would a true 360 cam be a better route since the "picture" is actually one "picture" and the user just moves the perspective. Or, does the interface to "move the perspective" evolve risky code that causes the same problems. Either way, I really have a hard time understanding how a manufacture hasn't managed to find a way to make a IP camera that is locked down enough to where you have to hide it. I mean seriously. A web server is under attack constantly and do more (in the end.)
 
BTW, I found and ordered a reolink 423. (namely cause I was informed the highway state patrol uses them and figured there might be some quality.) It is perfect EXCEPT the only user that can use the PTZ is the admin. Which is ridiculous. But it does meet all the other requirements. I contacted reolink and after 2 days of bumping heads they stated they were not going to release a firmware upgrade to change this. They said there was no demand for it. (No demand to use the PTZ by users on a PTZ camera? Really?)
 
Curtmechling, hope everything goes well. Yes, that's what I heard, the support is almost non existence. Let us latter know about the performance, specially in the dark environment.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom