Readers’ Tips

Set up dynamic DNS to access cameras remotely

I loved Issue 565’s Cover Feature on advanced ways to master your Wi-fi network, but here’s one idea you missed out.

When your router connects to the web, it’s given a temporary address by your service provider. The reason it’s temporary is that there aren’t enough addresses to go around. They need to be recycled for use by other people when you don’t need them. This can be a problem if, like me, you’ve got a security camera set up that you need to monitor when away from home, and there’s no app to access it.

The solution is to use a dynamic DNS (DDNS) service, which gives you a unique web address with which to access your home network. The DDNS service is notified by your router every time its temporary address changes. It then updates your DDNS web address, so no matter how many times your router’s address changes, if you type your DDNS web address in a browser you’ll be taken to your home network and, in my case, the security camera that it’s hosting.

You need to check which DDNS services work with your router. I found this out on my BT Home Hub by clicking Advanced Settings, then Broadband, followed by Dynamic DNS. Just select the service you want to use from the dropdown menu, then sign up for an account. Return to your router configuration pages and

provide the required details (on the BT Home Hub this would be your username, password and the hostname you’ve just chosen).

Once you’ve applied the settings, switch to your router’s port-forwarding page (think of a port as a virtual doorway through which remote computers can connect). On my BT router, I access port forwarding by clicking Advanced Settings, followed by Firewall. My camera uses port 80, so I’ve created a port forwarding rule with 80 in the Start and End boxes under both Internal and External 1 and set the protocol to TCP/UDP 2 . I’ve called the rule Camera 3 , and set it so it’s forwarding to my security camera 4 . This lets me access my camera from any PC simply by entering my DDNS web address.