Port Forwarding and Address Reservation Information
Port forwarding is something you must do if you want to view or manage your IP camera from the internet. Your router firewall will not permit you to access your camera from the internet and is doing it's job. However if you forward your port in your router, then you can see your camera. If now have given your camera permission to go through your router. When I first started with IP Cameras, it was very confusing. There is not a great deal of information on the internet that breaks it down in easy to understand terms. There is one site I have found that sells a program for Windows (not Mac), that is suppose to help forward the port. I am not sure if it makes it any easier to understand. However, if you wish to tackle this on your own, go to their site at http://portforward.com/ . Here they sell their program, and list many routers to walk you through the process if you wish to tackle it yourself. Buying the program or doing it yourself would be up to you.
If you decide to tackle this on your own, go to the web site above and select your router (many router models may be the same if yours is not listed).
Upon selecting your router, a page will appear. Click on "Click here to skip this advertisement" at the top right of the screen.
The next page asks you to "select the program you are forwarding the ports for from the list below". There are many programs listed and a few IP cameras. I scrolled to the "F" and selected "Foscam FI8908W" because they are one of the few manufacturers listed (all manufacturers have not been listed yet and this list is not up to date). All IP Cameras have the same procedure of forwarding a port for each camera you have on your network.
This next page states you must have a static IP address for you computer first and directs you to another page on "How to setup a Static IP Address" for your computer.
Click on your operating system and a new window opens to explain "How to set up a static IP address on "??What ever Your Operating System is??".
When you have finished, go to the top of the page and start over again by selecting "Router list".
A new page opens and select your router again from the list below. When you select your router, another new page opens and click on "Click here to skip this advertisement" on the top right of the screen.
Again, select the program you wish to forward which will be the "Foscam FI8908W" and a new window will appear and asks you to enter the Static IP Address you have given your computer as seen below.
Do not skip this step!
192.168.1.
Follow the instructions except for when it asks you which port to forward (80), forward which ever port you have available depending on how many cameras you have. Each IP camera needs its own port and forwarded in your router and IP camera software. I prefer ports 4001, 4002, 4003, etc. If I give the port 4001, I give the camera a static IP (fixed address) i.e. 192.168.1.101. So to login to my camera from within my network the address is 192.168.1.101:4001. The colon is put in between the end of your camera address and before the port number. If I wanted to view the camera from the internet, I would need my external IP address (WAN the address your ISP gives you). You can find this by going to www.whatismyip.com. The number displayed is your external WAN address. By typing this in your address bar of your browser, such as 109.33.195.164:4001 should open your IP camera you gave the port of 4001 if you forwarded the port correctly.
Please remember that this site sells different programs (Windows Operating System Only) to assist you with all of this.
Also remember to login to your router and reserve the IP Address for your camera.
Now you can view your camera from the Internet!
If you need any further assistance, please contact us and ask about our "Remote Setup Assistance". This service sets up your router and camera remotely through the internet. There is a fee for this service. Please contact us for pricing.
