Wednesday 5 December 2007, 1:00 PM

MumCam

Posted by Fred Hopper

As more and more of us have home access to broadband Internet connections and wireless routers, possibilities open up for us to do some really useful things with this technology. I thought you may like to know about one use I found and got going.....MumCam.

My mother was recently widowed and becoming more and more frail but did not want to go into a home to be looked after. Honoring her wishes it was possible to set up a care package so that people came in to look after her at points in the day, but this was not full time cover and left her alone at times while I was at work.

What I needed was to be able to keep an eye on her during these periods (from work), to make sure she was OK and had not fallen over or become distressed.

To address this need I decided, with her permission, to install a wireless web camera in her living room so that I could see what was happening while at work. This blog will explain how I did this in case there is anyone else out there who could use this solution.

WHAT YOU NEED

To start with you need an uncapped broadband connection to the Internet. This does not have to be very fast, my provider is Tiscali and on measurement I get a 1MB connection with a 256K up link.

The Tiscali package came with a free USB modem to plug into my telephone socket and I replaced this with a Linksys Wireless - G ASDL Gateway. (Cable users would need the Cable equivalent).

Next I purchased a Linksys Wireless Internet Camera - (I chose a Linksys camera to minimise any potential setup problems with the Gateway). The Important point is that this camera comes with its own internal web server and therefore does not require to be connected to a PC to work.

To set the system up you also need use of a PC or Laptop with an Ethernet port (this does not need to be wireless enabled). Once the system is up and running you no longer need the PC in the home.

SETUP THE WIRELESS ASDL GATEWAY

Set up and configure the unit:
Essentially one connects the PC/Laptop to the unit via Ethernet, plugs the unit into the telephone socket and powers it up. One then opens a browser window on the PC and goes to:
http://192.168.1.1 the setup web page for the Wireless Gateway.
From here, set up the unit as described in the user manual, using the settings provided by your ISP provider where required.

Set the base range for the DHCP service:
This needs to start a little higher (i.e. 192.168.1.105) than the default setting because the Camera needs to be given a fixed IP number outside the DHCP range (i.e. 192.168.1.102) for this all to work.



Set up Port forwarding:
Web servers usually 'listen' and send HTTP/TCP traffic over the Internet on Port 80. This is what the Camera's web server will expect. However we are going to use Port 1024 to connect to this Camera (leaving open the possibility of setting up other Cameras round the house which will connect using other Port numbers). We therefor need to tell the Gateway to forward incoming traffic from the Internet on Port 1024 to the Camera's IP number (i.e. 192.168.1.102) on port 80 - thus:



Set up a DDNS service:
Let me explain - when the ADSL modem connects to the Internet, the ISP supplier gives it an IP number and this number is likely to be different each time you connect.

To get to the Camera in your home from the Internet, you need to point your web browser at your ADSL modem - i.e. its IP number.
If this keeps changing you never know what this number is and to address this one sets up a (free) account with a Dynamic DNS service provider such as DynDNS, then sets up the ADSL modem to use this (a feature built into most Wireless Gateways) thus:



Now, each time the modem connects to the Internet, it will tell this service what its current IP number is.

SETUP THE WIRELESS CAMERA

Set up and configure the Camera:
Essentially one connects the PC/Laptop to the unit via Ethernet, and installs the vendor software to configure the Camera.
One then follows the Camera set up the instructions as described in the user manual.
At the choice of setting a fixed IP address or using a DHCP service, select the fixed option and set the unit's IP address to 192.168.1.102
At the choice of how the Camera is to operate select the 'infrastructure' option (this means that the Camera will only talk to the Gateway rather than directly to other wireless devices)
Place a Log in ID and Password on the Camera's web page so that only family members (who know these) can use the Camera.

Position and test the Camera:
Place the camera in its final location and reconnect the PC to the Gateway using the Ethernet connection.

Using the vendor's utility connect to the Camera and make sure that 'internally' the Camera is working on the house LAN that you have just set up and that the view and focus are correct.

Your MumCam is now ready for use!


USING MumCam FROM THE INTERNET

Now when you are away form home or in the office, to see what is happening at home you just open your web browser and point it at the DDNS service you set up on port 1024 thus:-

http://mumcam.dyndns.info:1024/

You will then have to enter your user name and password to open a browser window containing a view of the room where the camera has been positioned.

You will be able to set up other cameras in your home if needed, giving each of these a different fixed IP number, using a different Port and Port forwarding rule.

I note that some of the more modern Linksys cameras have facilities to manipulate the focus and look direction remotely, however these controls only seem to be available as Active X tools which may limit your choice of browser.

One important point to note - if there are other people coming into that room to look after or visit your relative, you need to tell them that the Camera is there.

While I have not gone into the details of how to set up the Gateway and Camera because that is obtainable from the user manual, there is enough information provided here for you to set up a MumCam service for yourself. I just hope you find this technology as useful as I did - Mum passed away this summer but I was able to look after her at home till the end with MumCam.

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