Security NetWorkings by David Engebretson, Contributing Technology Writer PREPARATION FOR NETWORK CAMERA INSTALLATION The First Day of School
Oh, the excitement around the Engebret- son house as our daughter gets ready for her first day of sixth grade. Loading her backpack with the necessary items causes me to wonder if security dealers are equal- ly prepared when they head out to install an IP-enabled security camera or other network device at their client’s location. While some IP security devices are
being installed into the “enterprise” environment where IT personnel are on-site, there are many opportunities for security dealers to install one or a few IP cameras or a DVR/NVR into residential or small commercial applica- tions where no person knowledgeable about the network is readily available. In these circumstances security dealers must function as their own IT person. My daughter’s school provides a
downloadable list of materials that she is to bring to the first day of class. I decided it was time to provide my loyal readers with a downloadable survey sheet to help security dealers gather the information they need to properly pro- gram and install an IP-enabled security device onto a client’s network. Just go to
www.slaytonsolutionsltd.com, and at the bottom of the home page, under the heading “Presentation Downloads” there is a click-through labeled “IP Net- working Installation Survey.” Download and print the pdf, and let’s go through the questions so you understand how to utilize the information you’re gathering. The top of the form lists the basic information, such as location, customer contact phone number, email, etc. The important stuff comes next. Notice the dramatic use of the “bold” function. To be able to program the remote viewing of IP security cameras, most every device requires that someone must program the “port forwarding” in the router and open
the applicable ports in the firewall of the DSL adapter or cable modem. To program these critical issues the user names and passwords of the router and DSL adapter must be available. Security dealers must ask for this information and test that the passwords do indeed work on the router and ISP DSL/cable modem adapter; otherwise, it will be impossible to provide remote Internet access for the client and in some cases might make it impossible to even program the device onto the local network. Moving onto the “Broadband Con- nections” section of the form, dealers should collect all of the pertinent data about the client’s Internet connec- tion, assuming that accessing the to- be-installed IP camera or device from remote locations over the Internet is important. To gather the bandwidth upload/download data, dealers can use
http://myspeed.visualware.com/index. php. Remember that this test must be done from one of the PCs at the client’s location, and that the “upload” measure- ment is the most important, as it will define how much video can be viewed from a remote location. In the “Customer’s PCs” section of the form there are a couple of issues that are very important. Many (but not
all) vendors’ IP cameras may not work with Mac PCs, so it’s important to check that the operating system software of the PCs that might be used to view video from an IP camera or NVR are sup- ported by the particular product(s) you are installing. The “DHCP Server” and “Addresses Issued” are important infor- mation, as we need static IP address- es for our devices, and must select IP addresses that are outside of the range of addresses issued by the DHCP server. This information is usually found in the client’s router/switch, which usually houses the DHCP server. Under the “Existing Network Switch-
es/gateways” heading, knowing the brand and part number of the router/ switch will allow the dealer to download the instruction sheet from the manufac- turer and study exactly how to set the “port forwarding” functions in the router. What makes this a bit tricky is that dif- ferent router vendors will call the port forwarding function different names.” The Wi-Fi information will only be
needed if you are planning to install a Wi-Fi camera or other wireless network devices. Once the SSID, encryption type and code have been collected from the Wi-Fi adapter or combined router/ switch/adapter, it’s critical that security dealers take a careful look at the exact Wi-Fi camera(s) that are planned for this installation and make sure that the camera will accept the specific encryp- tion method used by the client’s Wi-Fi access point.
In certain cases I’ve found that some cameras won’t accept some of the more sophisticated encryption methods. If this incompatibility is determined, the best option for the dealer is to select another Wi-Fi camera that will work with the client’s encryption.
Be prepared. Go to my website at
The bandwidth test will show both the upload and download bandwidth for a particular Internet connection.
www.slaytonsolutionsltd.com and download your copy of this important IP device installation questionnaire.
November 2010 101
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