3G Router for CCTV
3G Routers Providing Remote Access for CCTV
A 3G Router combined with a fixed IP SIM card provide an easy, low cost and reliable way to remotely connect to your CCTV equipment using the 3G wireless broadband services in the UK.
Once a Fixed IP SIM card has been inserted into the SIM slot of a 3G router, lets take the proroute H820 as an example, and the antennas connected and power supplied, the router will connect to the 3G network and provide a high speed (up to 21Mbps) 3G connection.
To connect to the router remotely, simply open a web browser and type in the IP address and you can manage the router settings remotely.
Using Port forwarding settings within the router you are also able to connect to your devices on the LAN side of the router, for example if you have a DVR connected and the LAN IP address of the DVR is 192.168.8.100 and the DVR uses port 80 then you would set the port forwarding up to maybe use an external port of 5555 (becuase the router uses Port 80 also so you do not want to use extenral port 80) so when remotely connecting you would enter the IP address followed by colon folowed by the port eg 108.22.34.109:5555, whgen this gets to the router, the port forwarding settings will route this inbound traffic to LAN IP address 192.168.8.100 port 80 so you can connect to your DVR.
The Proroute H685 is a high speed HSPA+ 3G router ideally suited for CCTV remote connectivity over the 3G network.
It's reliable 3G service with Ping reboot and SMS reboot ensures an always on 3G connection which is essential for remote installations.
The compact size and wide input power variable coupled with wired and wireless LAN connections as well as all the features such as remote firmware upgrade, SMS notification of low signal or 3G disconnection as well as its robust metal casing and construction make the Proroute one of the leading products used by the UK CCTV industry for remote management and monitoring.
The Proroute H820 3G Router is ideally suited for CCTV applications where a reliable, always-on 3G mobile broadband connection is required to enable remote management and monitoring of CCTV installations and CCTV DVR equipment.
The Proroute H820 is ideally used with a fixed IP SIM card so the router has a fixed IP address to provide easy connection over the internet to the router, and using port forwarding to the devices connected on the LAN side of the router, such as DVR or IP Cameras. Port forwarding is simple to configure and provides the user with lots of options to connect to multiple devices at a single location.
Some users may prefer to use DDNS (Dynamic DNS) to connect to the proroute H820 and if this is the case then the H820 3G router supports DDNS as long as the service provider you are using provides a public facing IP address. When you have the router connected to your mobile service provider, you can view the router status and check that the WAN IP address is the same as the IP address shoung when you open a web broswer on a PC connected to the router and visit one of the many sites that show your IP address such as www.showmyip.co.uk.
If they match then you should be able to use DDNS, if not then the IP address that the mobile network has allocated to your SIM is on their private network and you will never be able to connect to the router. 3 Mobile offer this type of public facing (but not fixed) IP address as long as you use the APN of '3internet' and users of Orange SIM cards can use the APN of 'internetvpn' and should also be able to get a public (not fixed) IP address.
It is worth bearing in mind that whilst the mobile networks currently offer these services they may be withdrawn at any time and they are not contractually obliged to offer these public IP addresses so if you are planning on multiple installations you might want to consider using fixed IP SIM cards to prevent any unforseen distruptions based upon the mobile networks whims. FYI Orange did actually switch off their access to public IP addresses for several weeks when they did a recent network upgrade which cased alot of problems for companies relying on DDNS.
One feature of the proroute H820 3G router for CCTV applications using DDNS is the ability to send an SMS message to the router (as long as your SIM supports SMS) and the router will reply with a status message which shows your WAN IP address so you could even use the H280 router without a DNS service - ideal for casual users.
You can also use SMS to turn the 3G ON or OFF, preventing overuse of the 3G connection - in this mode you can just activate the 3G connection when required.