Configuring an IP camera's network settings can be a little more involved as it is network specific. In principle, network settings will include:

• Passwords. There are two grades of password to be configured for a web-camera:
  the administrator account, which gives full command and control over the web-camera's features and, a user level account, which gives limited access to features; such as only being able to view live images and video streams. Often, more than one user account can be created; sometimes with definable access right to specific camera features. Common sense dictates that knowledge of accounts and passwords is restricted on a need to know basis.
• DHCP server. This setting is used to assign an I.P. Address (like a zip code) to the web-camera on the network. Check the option to get an IP address from the network's DHCP Server; this is usualy the DSL router. Pre-assigned IP addresses are only needed if port-forwarding is used. See below. A pre-assigned value might be 198.162.0.100
• FTP server. This is the remote server onto which the image should be loaded. Usually, server name, user account and user password will need to be provided. The target directory is the directory on the remote server where the image is to be uploaded to. Importantly, account name, password and target directory of the remote server may be held in clear text inside the web-camera. So be sure to keep the web-camera's administrator account and password a secret. Most web-camera's connect in passive FTP mode, which overcomes many firewall related issues.
• Upload interval. This tells the web-camera how often to upload the image to a remote server. For a weather web-camera this will be every 5,10,15,20 or 30 minutes. Often these values are computed in seconds; 300, 600, 900, 1200, 1800 seconds.
• Secondary Web Server Port. IP web-camera's contain a built-in web server that is configured to be on port 80. Sometimes another port number is required; especially when port-forwarding is implemented. The secondary port number is usually any number between 16385 and 65535; although it is conventional to use the numbers 81 or 8080.
  A tertiary port number may also be configured for video streaming.
• DNS settings including Dynamic DNS. This feature is used if the web-camera is connected directly to the internet; rather than being connected to a local area network. Having a Dynamic DNS name effectively gives the web-camera its own domain name, so that it can be accessed directly from anywhere in the world. This has significant security implications and is not recommended; anyone from anywhere will have the opportunity to try and log onto the web-camera. Instead, the web-camera should decouple it's identity and upload its images to a third party web-server; such as the disc space on an ISP. For a weather web-camera attached to a local area network, DNS settings go unused.
• UPnP. Enabling the Universal Plug and Play feature allows the web-camera to advertise itself to other devices across the local area network. On a very small network, enabling this feature is nice, but not necessary.

This example configuration uploads the latest image to a file called Live.jpg to the FTP server ftp.myfreespace.myisp.com, which is on (default) port number 21. It does this every 20 minutes (1200 seconds). If the file already exists on the remote FTP server, it is overwritten.

The FTP mode is set to passive which reduces the chance of an intervening network firewall causing problems. A network firewall should allow outbound FTP traffic.



This configuration screen also allows images to be uploaded against a time schedule. With a weather web-camera, the schedule could be timed to upload from dusk to dawn; although the values will need changing throughout the year.

It is important to understand how the file size of the image impacts bandwidth. For example, where an image is uploaded every fifteen minutes, this will tally up to 2,800 images a month.
At 40 kilobytes per image, that's a total in excess of 100 megabytes, which may consume a critical segment of the monthly bandwidth allowance allotted by an ISP.

If bandwidth is an issue, try reducing the dimensions of the uploaded image rather than the quality setting; this can save proportionally more bytes than reducing quality alone and, is less perceptible than a drastic reduction in image quality. Furthermore, big image files take longer for a web site visitor to download. Respect other internet users and aim for the most readable image with the lowest file size.

Curiously, many web-cameras produce larger file sizes at night than during the daytime, even though the image looks black? This discrepancy arises because the noise implicit at low light levels adds extra complexity to an image. This deceives the Jpeg algorithm into creating an unnecessarily large file size. Use the scheduling feature to avoid sending images overnight.

A firewall is a device that controls the flow of internet traffic between networks; it allows legitimate traffic and denies unauthorised traffic. A firewall can either be implemented using software on a computer or, as a physical device on a network. Many home DSL routers have a hardware firewall built-in. There should be no issue with connecting a weather web-camera to a network provided that, the firewall is configured to allow outbound FTP connections; which in most cases is the default. This means that the firewall permits any device on its network, to send FTP requests to a remote server.



Most IP web-cameras and video servers have built-in web servers that allow access to a web-camera remotely. There are potential security nightmares when granting the public direct access to a private network, but sometimes it is nice to have direct access to a web-camera from anywhere on the internet. If access to the web server inside the web-camera is to be granted to anyone on the internet, then the firewall must be configured so that it allows inbound HTTP connections and is set up for port forwarding.

In principle, port forwarding is where a firewall allows incoming HTTP requests from the internet and then, forwards those requests to a specific port number somewhere on its local area network. For a web-camera, the port in question is the one assigned as the secondary web server port number; which is in the range from 16385 to 65535 (or 8080). However, port forwarding generally requires that the device has a fixed IP address on the network, and not the one set at random by the DHCP server. Which means that the web-camera will need to be configured with a fixed IP address. For example, 192.168.0.100



To make the web-camera accessible from anywhere on the internet also requires that the router and firewall are made known to the internet. This requires defining a Dynamic DNS domain name for the router; and not the web-camera. With security implications in mind, the router will have it's own domain name recognisable to any other computer out on the internet. On how to set up a Dynamic DNS name, read the router's manual. Dynamic domain names are managed by third party Domain Name Service companies. Their most basic service, which is providing dynamic domains, is usually free.

Dynamic domain names are called so because the physical IP address of the router as assigned by the ISP often changes; it is dynamic. When a router receives a new IP address, it advises its dynamic domain name service with this information. The dynamic domain name service then knows the current whereabouts of the router on the internet. From a person's viewpoint, there is never any need to know the ever changing IP address of the router, only to remember the never changing dynamic domain name.



In the following example, a router-firewall is assigned a hypothetical static domain name of:

meteometeo.dnsorg.org.uk

To view the web-camera's image called image.jpg on a local area network from anywhere on the internet requires entering the full dynamic domain name and the port number into a web browser:

http://meteometeo.dnsorg.org.uk:64321/image.jpg

Important: if only http://meteometeo.dnsorg.org.uk was entered into the browser, then it is likely that the router would respond with it's own log-on admin screen! Thus, exposing the entire local area network to potential intrusion, especially if the router's administrator account and password were left in their factory defaults. Port forwarding should only be used for private or restricted use. For general public access, images should always be uploaded to some third party disc space.

Configuring a video server is much like configuring an IP web-camera. Once the administrator account has been logged onto, all of the video server's settings are exposed. Although the attached video camera cannot be directly controlled, the dimensions, saturation and Jpeg quality of the output image can. Defining the FTP upload schedule is similar to an IP web-camera.



In this example, the upload interval is quoted milli-seconds. This bizarrely large number equates to an FTP upload initiated every 1800 seconds or, once every half an hour.
The upload when motion detected option is a surveillance feature that initiates an upload when something in-frame changes; such as a car moves in a car park. This feature is unnecessary for a stand-alone weather web-camera, although it could be of value when detecting lightning!

• Installing the IP camera setup wizard is not strictly needed for the network savvy.
• Guard the web-camera's administrator account and password details.
• Firewalls should allow outbound FTP traffic.
• Port forwarding should only be used for private or restricted use.
• Live streaming is unnecessary with a weather web-camera.
• Update the live sky image every five to thirty minutes.
• Experiment with video settings under varying lighting conditions.
• Respect bandwidth and aim for the most readable image with the lowest file size.
• Avoid uploading over night as image noise will increase file size.
• Always read the manual first!