Re: Mobile broadband and CCTV

[Tim Hawes <timsyahoo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Nigel, Peter,

Many thanks for the feedback.
I was considering using a USB dongle with a Vigor router and a 3 sim card.
Unfortunately none of the network coverage maps are particularly great the
property's street although 2 roads away has "perfect" coverage...

The other property isn't too far away either so if it only stays up for a
week between reboots that's manageable. It's also only for a few months,
not worth a separate land line, so I will give the pre-paid SIMs a try. 3GB
valid for 3 months for ~=A311, vs a one month rolling contract for =A37.50
=
for
a 1GB allowance.

Thanks again, I'll report back with what I find.

Cheers,
Tim.


On 10 April 2012 17:17, Peter Church <yahoo@xxxxxxx> wrote:

> Hi Tim,
>
> I do just that, so have some experience.
>
> I have a Huawei B260 3G router rather than a dongle, and on the
network I
> have Comfort, a low power Aleutia PC (running my 1-wire stuff and
allowin=
g
> access to WizComfort etc) and the CCTV DVR.
>
> To start with I have to admit that my connection is not good as I am
in a
> very rural area in Ireland and have a booster installed (which I'm not
su=
re
> makes much difference, but it has a smashing blue light!)
>
> So, the minimum data registered on a daily basis is 0.05Mb, which
> presumably
> is just "ticking over".  On days when the PC sends a
temperature update
> e-mail (500kb) this seems to rise to about 1.5Mb (presumably due to
the
> poor
> connection)
>
> As for accessing CCTV - I do not do it very often, and have also had
to
> abort the idea of accessing the DVR directly via a DynDNS server
because =
of
> problems getting the ports to forward correctly over the mobile
broadband=
.
> Instead I use Teamviewer to access the remote PC and run locally from
> there.
> This probably might give a better internet utilisation because
TeamViewer
> adapts the quality to connection speed, whereas the DVR probably
won=92t.
>
> So, in the month when I had just finished commissioning the system and
> returned home and probably used the CCTV the most (about 10 days
visiting=
)
> I
> used a total of 1.2Gb.  Now one day accounts for about half of that
and I
> cannot remember what I did that day to make it so high.
>
> Hope that helps.  When I get my next bill I'll have a closer look as I
kn=
ow
> when I've looked at things most recently.
>
> P
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: ukha_d@xxxxxxx [mailto:ukha_d@xxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
> Nigel Giddings
> Sent: 10 April 2012 15:05
> To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
> Subject: RE: [ukha_d] Mobile broadband and CCTV
>
> Tim,
>
>
>
> I use mobile broadband for my home (and business) but have no
experience
> with CCTV over the link.
>
>
>
> Can=92t comment on the amount of data you=92ll require, I manage to
use 2=
5GB
> plus a month=85
>
>
>
> What I would say is that the typical router with USB dongle can be
quite
> unreliable with the link =91freezing=92 several times a week, although
it=
has
> been known to run for weeks without issue. The problem appears worse
if t=
he
> link is idle for long periods=85 I suspect it is Mobile Network
related, =
it
> could be maintenance activities or some sort of IP allocation issue or
> possibly a firmware issue in the dongles I have been using (supplied
by 3=
).
>
>
>
> If you decide to go this route you may want to consider some sort of
hard
> reset on the power if ping fails, units are available but cost circa
=A31=
00=85
>
>
>
> As I live on site and the router is 300 metres from the house I have
foun=
d
> I
> can reach the router and reboot remotely over the LAN but this
doesn=92t
> reboot the dongle as the power is not disconnected. As such I cannot
> remotely reset the 3G part which usually involves driving up the
garden i=
n
> my dressing gown some mornings to flick the power switch on/off which
the=
n
> solves the issue=85 Yes it typically happen late night / early
morning=85
>
>
>
> I suppose what I am saying is you need to look at a better 3G modem
than
> just a simple dongle if you want it to stay connected for extended
period=
s,
> weeks rather than days. I also believe a number of the latest routers
now
> have a full reboot facility for the dongles because of the
inadequacies o=
f
> the dongles.
>
>
>
> HTH
>
>
>
> Nigel
>
>
>
> *From:* ukha_d@xxxxxxx [mailto:ukha_d@xxxxxxx] *On Behalf
> Of
> *Tim Hawes
> *Sent:* 10 April 2012 14:06
> *To:* ukha_d@xxxxxxx
> *Subject:* [ukha_d] Mobile broadband and CCTV
>
>
>
>
>
> Perhaps this has been covered before, but:
>
> I'm thinking of putting cctv up at (effectively) a holiday cottage.
There=
's
> no fixed line broadband so was wondering whether a mobile dongle would
be
> suitable.
> Obviously how long 1GB a month will last will partly depend on how
often
> you
> dial in and view, but how much of the data allowance would be used up
in
> just maintaining an "always on" connection?
>
> Does anyone have direct experience of "operating" of cctv
over mobile
> broadband?
>
> Thanks,
> Tim.
>
>


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