Due to recent vandalism at my cabin in Maine, I decided to add a video camera to watch the entrance area. A friend gave me this Foscam FI8904W IP camera and an older Verizon Mifi 2200 hotspot. I activated the hotspot for an additional $20 on my current account, sharing our 8gb data plan. In order to route outside traffic to the camera, I am using a Cradlepoint CTR35. The CTR35 connects via USB to the Mifi, powering the Mifi at the same time.
The system is going to run from my solar power system. I already have a 150 A/h bank, but need to add additional solar panels. My calculations show 105W of solar is needed for my location; I’ll add 200W to cover other use. The total load for this entire system varies from 9.5W to 11.5W depending on whether the IR lights are on or off. It should also go higher than this when sending an image. The amplifier itself draws ~5W so if I can get by without it, I’ll leave it turned off.
Image viewed through the free Foscam iOS app on my iPhone
Cradlepoint CTR35. I have the Ethernet port configured as a LAN port, which connects to the camera via a cable. I didn’t care to use the Wifi function on the Foscam camera. If I add additional cameras, I can put a switch here. USB cable is going to the Mifi. Power is to the 12V solar battery bank.
I have this Wilson cellular amplifier that came with my truck when I bought it. It uses ~ 5W of power, but I think I’ll need the boost at the cabin. Cell service is generally poor out there.
I have everything terminated in Anderson PowerPoles to make connection easy once I get to Maine and do the installation. It also makes it easy to disconnect devices during troubleshooting.
The Foscam camera requires 5VDC for power. I picked this DC-DC converter up from Amazon.com for $8. So far it does the trick; we’ll see how long it lasts!
The Wilson cell booster. This device uses an external antenna (I’m using a Yagi), and provides a local hotspot to the cell phone cradle.
http://4wdx.com/
Banjo Hangout
4 Comments
HI there,If using sensr.net, does this allow the FOSCAM camera to send video to sensr.net upon moiton detection using FTP, without the need for the computer and web browser open?If so, will it work for the FI8904W which is the camera that I have?
So far this has been working great! The mifi doesn’t support port forwarding. Try to find a cradlepoint on ebay or Amazon. Once you plug the USB charging cable from the mifi into the CradlePoint, the Mifi sorta disappears from the equation, and passes all traffic to the CradlePoint. The CP picks up the Verizon (or whoever) WAN IP address. All my cameras are setup with DYNDNS so I don’t have to worry about the WAN IP changing (which it does several times a day). I do have a static LAN IP for the cameras, so that I always know where they are on the network. The port fowarding in the CP is pretty straight forward.
How is your security camera working out? I am going to attempt a similar setup for a trail camera.
Nice I have the same problem at my cabin in NY trying to figure out how to Run a IP camera from WiFi .
None of my midi have a port to connect USB to the only thing on them is a charging port
What model hot spot do you have .
Do you have any suggestions on how I can make this work .
Running into road blocks with port forwarding with midi and IP camera