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Using Security Camera systems with No-IP

Overview
Using home and commercial security cameras over the internet has been growing in popularity. The major problem in doing so is that most locations that you want to monitor via a camera system, will only have a Dynamic IP address instead of a fixed IP address. With No-IP.com's services this problem can be overcome with our DNS Plus service.

Typically, when you want to view your camera system over the internet, you enter in the IP address into a browser or into the software client provided by the camera manufacturer. With a dynamic IP address, the IP will constantly be changing and checking your camera system from off site will be impossible. With the No-IP.com plus service we can assign a fully qualified domain name to your dynamic IP address so you will not have to worry about remembering the numeric address. With our software client running somewhere on the network with the cameras, anytime your IP address changes we will know about it.


Example
Lets say you purchase a No-IP plus account for the domain "mysecuritycamera.net". On our website you can add a hostname called "camera1.mysecuritycamera.net". Then you just have to go to the location where the security camera setup is located. You then install our No-IP.com DUC update client on any machine at that location. You then give the client your login information so it will list the host name "camera1.mysecuritycamera.net". You then just check the box for the "camera1.mysecuritycamera.net" and you are done. Now, whenever you want to access this camera system, you just type in "camera1.mysecuritycamera.net" into your browser or software client that is provided by the camera manufacturer.

In the event you have more than one location that you need to monitor, you can just create another host name on our site and install the client at that location as well. On a side note, if you will be using our service to monitor more than one location, we highly recommend you implement the Sub-Account feature that is included with the plus service. You can read about it here



So how do I get started?
Just follow the 8 steps below to get started. You can create an account for free, if you have questions then please visit our Support ticket system.

  1. Create an account
  2. Confirm your account
  3. Login to your account
  4. Add a No-IP Plus domain to your account
  5. Add a host to your Domain
  6. Making it dynamic
  7. Configure your router
  8. Run your services

Step 1: Create and account

To create an account with No-IP.com simply click the "Sign-up Free!" link at the top of the page, or click here. Fill in the required fields on the new account form and click the "Sign Up Now!" button on the top of the page.

sign up link

Step 2: Confirm your account

Once you have entered your account information into the new user form, and have submitted it, you will receive an email to the address you provided. You will need to check that account and look for the email from No-IP.com. Inside the email you will see a link to confirm your account, click this link. (Yahoo and Hotmail customers click here)

Step 3: Login to your account

Login image

Now that you have confirmed your account, you can login to No-IP.com. On the top of the page just below the No-IP logo. You will see an area to enter your email address and password. Enter the information that you signed up with, and click "Login".

Step 4: Add a No-IP Plus domain to your account

You should now be logged into the No-IP.com members section. Here you can add a domain to your account by either going to "Plus Managed DNS" or to "Domain Registration" if you are buying a new domain name. Just follow the activation steps to the checkout area.
add host

Step 5: Add a host to your domain

After checking out, you can log back into your account and add a host to your newly added domain name. Click on "hosts/redirects" on the left hand side and then click on "add a host". Type in a host name, and select your domain from the drop down menu. Then click "Create Host" at the bottom of the page.
add host

Step 6: Making it dynamic

Now that you have a host in your account, you will want to install the our Dynamic Update Client at the location that has the Dynamic Address. This is a free download from our downloads tab at the top of the site.

downloads tab

After installing the Dynamic Update Client, be sure to configure it with your Email address and password that you used to login to this site.

Note: If you are using Sub-Accounts you will want to enter the sub account name with a colon then the email address for the username and the sub-account password.

The client will run in the Tray on windows machines. Be sure to open it and click on the options button and check the box "Run on startup".
duc client

Step 7: Configure your router (optional)

If you can already reach your camera system by IP address, then you can skip this step. If this is a new setup you will have to open some ports up on your router. You may wish to contact the Vendor of the camera system to find out what ports need to be opened. Once you find out what ports need to be opened, you will have to consult your router's manual and look for the port forwarding or virtual servers section. Common ports to forward are port 80 for web, port 21 for ftp, and port 25 for mail. Only forward the ports that you need to use. To verify that your router is setup correctly, visit www.canyouseeme.org.

Step 8: Run your Camera system

With the above configuration in place you can now run your services just like you used to do, but now you can use the host and domain name to access them. You will no longer have to remember the IP address of the machine you are trying to get to. If you run into trouble be sure to check our FAQ and our Tips section for help.

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