Help: Port Forwarding to view IP Camera (before I go insane!)

[Black Panther]

My head is hurting! I've done the port forwarding exactly as per instructions. I made sure that the settings inputted of the camera, ie port and IP address are correct and match. Yet as soon as I remove the network cable the camera goes offline!

Is there some setting I'm missing out?

(PS the camera's wifi isn't faulty because it used to work on my previous modem which didn't need port forwarding).

The camera is an Eye4 VStarcam and my router is a Technicolor TG589vn v3

 

[Kursah]

Can you take screenshots of the camera IP config for WiFi and the router's port forwarding rules?

What port do you need to forward for the IP Camera to work?

Did you set a static IP for the camera? If not, I would start there....but regardless a lot of home-grade routers with DHCP use a longer-term lease, or even no expire so devices don't change IP addresses as often...but still static settings are the best way to go.

Can you ping the camera when the network cable is unplugged? Do you need to reboot it once you've removed the Ethernet cable in order to reinitialize wifi? Can you verify that WiFi on the camera is working even when Ethernet is plugged in? Maybe reset the device and re-enter all configuration items.

 

[dorsetknob]

wireless Mac address allowed in firewall ?

edit
wired and wireless IP both probably different
You might have to assign the ip for the wired to the wireless for it to work then bind it
look in your router config for mac and ip binding

 

[rtwjunkie]

Did you set a static IP for the camera? If not, I would start there

I agree to that. Setting a static IP is the way to go with anything like this. I also go into the port forwarding menu to then list the port to be forwarded from the router.

 

[jboydgolfer]

my guess would be JUST for a moment , to test it, forward all ports, and see if its the port issue, or elsewhere. Doing so would certainly remove the forwarding as a possible cause of the problem, also make sure that the port is forwarded for BOTH TCP&UDP. i used this method when i had an issue with the Old Teamspeak server I hosted for TPU, and it helped a lot, but as im sure you know forwarding all ports should be undone as soon as troubleshooting is finished,

also, router make/model would likely be as or even more important than the Cam.**scratch that, i just saw you already added it in the OP, my bad.**

 

[Sasqui]

Network topology? Had a problem with a qnap NAS, turned out I was behind 2 NATs, set the Comcast router to bridge mode and it worked. Just 2¢

 

[Black Panther]

Firewall is disabled so that's not an issue.
I can't ping the camera with network cable unplugged.
It reboots automatically after inserting or removing the ethernet cable.
I don't know how to verify that wifi is working with network cable plugged in, but the camera wifi worked when I had another router, so it's not a camera wifi problem.

Here are the router settings:

And the camera settings (don't go snooping if it works )

 

[Kursah]

Your Wireless Lan card has a different IP...and your port forward rules are to .125, your wireless is to .67. Fix that and you should be good.

Unless I'm missing something it appears that either your static config is only for Ethernet at the moment. Can you access the camera from .67 to reconfigure over WiFi?

Edit: Nevermind, that appears to be a config program you're running from your PC which has an IP of .67... at least that's what my eyes are seeing.

How about after setting static config, reboot the device? Run a constant ping from our PC...open CMD from start, type Ping 192.168.1.125 -t

Does it respond? Some IP camera's don't respond to ping...but most I've used do... Have you tried a different port to confirm another program/process isn't conflicting with that port?

 

[Black Panther]

Your Wireless Lan card has a different IP...and your port forward rules are to .125, your wireless is to .67. Fix that and you should be good.

I thought in the port forwarding I had to write the IP address of my camera not that of my own pc?

Anyway, I tried your suggestion.. sadly didn't work either.

 

[Kursah]

Ya I edited my above post after re-reviewing your screenshots. Port Forwarding should forward specific ports to specific IP addresses.

How about the things I suggested in my edit above?

 

[Black Panther]

Ya I edited my above post after re-reviewing your screenshots. Port Forwarding should forward specific ports to specific IP addresses.

How about the things I suggested in my edit above?

Totally missed your edit, sorry.
Yes it pings, with network cable attached though.

 

[Kursah]

That's the thing, I want you to configure it, double-triple-quadruple check you're configuring the wireless adapter...many IP cams I've configured have a separate NIC and WiFi adapter setup stage...different MAC addresses also since they're different pieces of networking hardware.

I am almost at lunch at work I'll see if I can research more.

But anyways until then, I'd say reconfigure all network settings available, maybe make the wireless adapter .126 and leave your camera's NIC at .125 so there's no network confusion. Does the camera use a built-in wireless adapter or an external adapter?

Also try a different port, try something random in the 40,000-50,000 range. Just to make certain we don't have a conflict blocking the data stream.

Is there a reset button on the camera? Where's the config page where you set it up for SSID and configuration that way? I didn't see that in your screenshots.

Edit: No lunch break today.. So I can't take extra time to research your hardware, so hopefully someone else can. But I have a feeling we have a Wireless NIC configuration or option issue here...maybe a limitation or failure...but we'll soon find out!

 

[Black Panther]

There's only this (see pic below). I make the camera search for wifi (while wired obviously - it was the same even with the other router). It does see my wifi, I press ''Set'', it asks me my wifi password, tells me everything is OK, to remove the network cable, and that the camera will work in a minute. When I do so it says the camera is offline... :/

 

[Kursah]

How long have you left the camera unplugged?

Have you manually rebooted the camera after finishing this configuration? I'd make sure its configured as above, then cut power, power back on and test. You probably already have though...

 

[Black Panther]

How long have you left the camera unplugged?

Have you manually rebooted the camera after finishing this configuration? I'd make sure its configured as above, then cut power, power back on and test. You probably already have though...

Yes, I've been trying to make this work all afternoon, that's why I said I feel like going crazy. I'm cursing the moment when I decided to change ISP, since the camera didn't need any port forwarding with the other ISP's router, I just plugged it in, did the one-time routine of setting up wifi as per my last screenshot and it worked.

Now it works only if I keep it connected by network cable to the router, because the router is apparently blocking its wifi.

I hope I can solve this quickly, I need this cam because I use it as a baby monitor

 

[dorsetknob]

Did you try binding the camera's IP and mac in your router ?
and then enable wireless mac filtering with the camera mac bound ?

 

[sneekypeet]

@AthlonX2 does a lot with IP cameras, maybe he has a simple fix for you.

 

[Black Panther]

Did you try binding the camera's IP and mac in your router ?
and then enable wireless mac filtering with the camera mac bound ?

ok this is embarrassing, but how do I ''bind the camera's IP and mac in my router''? I went through all the menus of the router, can't find anything which sounds similar.

 

[Potatoking]

I do IP cams for livining, so I may offer some advice.
the camera has LAN and WIFI?, you wanna use wifi?
Does the camera have web interface? can u acess it on both lan and wifi?
What ip is the camera using when on wifi?
why are you forwarding port 3777? we usually just leave port 80 and forward it to 3777

to test open ports I use this tool:
http://www.yougetsignal.com/tools/open-ports/

 

[Kursah]

Depends on if your router allows it.

Many do so I'd assume it should. You should be able to check your connected devices (sometimes combined...sometimes separately land and WiFi) and verify IP and MAC address. You should also be able to find out the MAC address of the device by looking in software and/or for a label attached to it.

With that information you should be able to find manual/static IP assignments/management and add an IP address...it should have you assign that IP address to a MAC address of the device.

This would be forcing a static address through DHCP. Usually go to DHCP and scroll down, look for the static or manual assignments section if you're allowed.

I would say also look in your router for connected devices. You should hopefully see it. You might also see it taking a different IP address.

If your router doesn't have such a feature...download Advanced IP Scanner and scan your network...see if you can locate what IP that camera is taking from DHCP if its ignoring the IP config from your app. It could very well be connected and we just need to validate what IP address its on. Does the camera keep an error log you can review?

 

[Black Panther]

I do IP cams for livining, so I may offer some advice.
the camera has LAN and WIFI?, you wanna use wifi?

Yes.

Does the camera have web interface? can u acess it on both lan and wifi?

I'm not sure if I'm understanding but I don't think so. This camera works with a type of cloud system ie once I manage to get it connected with the router I can access it using only username and password, with no IP configurations, from any computer even from abroad.

What ip is the camera using when on wifi?
why are you forwarding port 3777? we usually just leave port 80 and forward it to 3777

The default IP of the camera had been 192.168.1.68 but then I changed it to 192.168.1.125 to test when it didn't work.
Its default port had been 81 but my router wouldn't accept port forwarding to port 81 and when I contacted my ISP they told me that port 81 wouldn't be available. So I tried plenty of other ports, the last screenshots happened to be those of the last port I was using ie 37777.

@Kursah would the mac address look like 48-02-2a-03-87-dd or would that be something else?

Whenever I asked my ISP they always quoted these instructions which I followed to the letter:

1 - Open a web browser and enter the following URL - 192.168.1.254
Login as advanceduser with password advanced.
2 - Click on 'Toolbox' and 'Games and Application Sharing'.
3- Click on Configure at the top right corner
4 - Select 'Create a New Game and Application'
5- In tab “Name” enter a description for the required port forwarding (example if requests on port 80 are required
to be forwarded, enter the description port_80)
5- Select “Manual Entry of Port Maps”, and click on “Next”
7 - Select the required Protocol (TCP, UDP or Any)
8 - Enter the port required for forwarding under “Port Range”
9 - Click on “Add"
10 - The port forwarding entry is then listed as shown in figure 12. Select “Assign a game or application to a
local network device” under “Pick a task…”
11- Under “Game or Application” select from the drop down menu the port forwarding entry that has just been
created
12 - Under “Device” select the entry <User-defined…>
13 - the dialogue box which appears under “Device”, enter the private IP address of the PC / server to which
port forwarding is requested . Click on “Add”

I tell them it didn't work and they'd send me the same instructions once more!

 

[dorsetknob]

yes the physical addresss is the Mac address
ie 48-02-2a-03-87-dd

 

[dorsetknob]

Some where in your router settings you may have a IP and Mac binding page (settings)

mine says ARP Binding enable /disable button ( Enable it )
then add the mac address ip address enable it and save

in your wireless 2.4ghz settings
enable wireless mac filtering then add the camera Mac physical address
save enable save

You can possibly check it by checking your ARP list

 

[remixedcat]

Does it work over a VPN or cell connection?

Some routers and ISPS don't support reverse NAT

Does your router also have a 1:1 nat setting?

 

[Potatoking]

For cloud you should not need any port forwarding.
I tried this from different manufacturer and it worked but not great.
If you have static public IP adress, i would suggest using it instead of the cloud
Can you ping the camera when on wifi?
If not use advanced IP scanner to find camera IP when on wifi.