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Remote Surveillance -- can VPN help?

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Spiffle
Dabbler
Posts: 15
Thanks: 1
Fixes: 1
Registered: ‎23-01-2017

Remote Surveillance -- can VPN help?

Hi -- I've been a happy Plusnetter since modems really were modems, and find myself with a need to tackle a networking problem -- something I'm relatively inexperienced with.

Here's the situation:  my live-in partner has a house which is secure but not yet habitable, and would like it to benefit from a security camera or two which she could monitor from my place.  I have a Synology NAS connected to my broadband router and it has a well-regarded surveillance package available which i would like to use for this purpose.

So we're planning to install broadband at her house, and to connect a camera or two to the router there.  How can we get the video sent over the net to my NAS for storage, analysis and monitoring?  Is this a realistic scenario?  It has been suggested that VPN is the way to go for this...

7 REPLIES 7
Darkfire
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 699
Fixes: 30
Registered: ‎17-10-2015

Re: Remote Surveillance -- can VPN help?

I've done a few CCTV setups recently, 

 

by the sounds of it you have the NAS which is going to be your NVR(recorder) setup in a different location to the cameras and you'll use the internet to transfer to the data to this? most connections won't do well at this as live camera footage can be fairly high bitrate, you'd be better keeping the NVR and cameras on the same local network.

 

You could then use a VPN such as OpenVPN(free) on a raspberry Pi(or even your NAS if it has a VPN server) to VPN into that network from wherever you are to view the footage in real time as if you were on the local network, this increases security from a network standpoint as you don't have your cameras or NVR open to the world, the VPN allows you to connect securely from any of your own devices only.

Spiffle
Dabbler
Posts: 15
Thanks: 1
Fixes: 1
Registered: ‎23-01-2017

Re: Remote Surveillance -- can VPN help?

Thx very much for that helpful reply, Darkfire.  I agree that the asynchronous bitrates of a standard broadband line would be a severe problem if i kept the NAS at my end -- is it possible to setup broadband with an inverted bandwidth split?

I just checked my NAS and it does have a VPN server available -- I am now looking for some documentation on that...

Darkfire
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 699
Fixes: 30
Registered: ‎17-10-2015

Re: Remote Surveillance -- can VPN help?

Unfortunately not, your best bet to go that route would be an 80/20 fibre package if your line can support the higher end of the upload speeds but I'd still tend to stay away from anything going over the internet other than you connecting to view the stream or make adjustments

 

Personally I'd get a bunch of cameras that can be powered by power over ethernet, a good(don't cheap out on this) PoE switch to power and connect them all, the NAS and cameras all go to this switch, with the router attached to that to give external access. Your NAS can be the VPN server then you use VPN client software from elsewhere(your phone or computers on other networks) to connect to the camera network as if you were connected straight to it allowing you to change anything you need.

Spiffle
Dabbler
Posts: 15
Thanks: 1
Fixes: 1
Registered: ‎23-01-2017

Re: Remote Surveillance -- can VPN help?

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OK, I'll give up on the idea of sending live images over the net for storage!  Remote viewing of the live streams will presumably be severely limited but I guess we can't fix that.  PoE cameras are a good suggestion.  Will now check eBay for a cheap Syno box!

Many thanks again, Darkfire...

Darkfire
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 699
Fixes: 30
Registered: ‎17-10-2015

Re: Remote Surveillance -- can VPN help?

remote viewing shouldn't be too bad, as you don't need to view live all the time, and you can transfer the recorded stuff to your local machine over the internet if you need the raw footage Smiley

 

If you have any more questions just let me know 

markhawkin
Pro
Posts: 552
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Registered: ‎17-07-2016

Re: Remote Surveillance -- can VPN help?

@Spiffle

If you have ADSL at the property under surveillance you could have a broadband router that supports inward VPN connections and watch a camera remotely.

A cheap Draytek (such as the 2820 which goes for a few £10s of pounds on ebay) would support inward VPN.

 

 

I am the satisfied customer....
Spiffle
Dabbler
Posts: 15
Thanks: 1
Fixes: 1
Registered: ‎23-01-2017

Re: Remote Surveillance -- can VPN help?

Ooh -- I'm very grateful for that suggestion, Mark.  That is just the kind of thing I need to be aware of and I will check out that idea in general and that modem in particular straightaway.  Since I last posted on this topic I've bought a cheap IPCAM (IUK5A1) to experiment with and am discovering lots of networking issues that I need to get to grips with.  Many thanks...