HOWTO: Dynamic DNS with Panasonic’s Viewnetcam.com
To access your camera over the Internet you need to know the IP address of your external Internet connection this is known as your public IP address. Most domestic ISPs will provide you with a dynamic public address which means every time you connect to the Internet you will get assigned any available IP address. This means that it will regularly change. So to keep track of what IP address your Internet connection has you need a dynamic DNS service.
All Panasonic IP camera models starting with BB and BL come with free registration to Panasonic’s Viewnetcam dynamic DNS service which is regularly updated by your camera. The Viewnetcam service then provides you with a domain name to link to the current IP address of your Internet connection allowing you access to your camera.
This HOWTO guide walks you through setting up the Viewnetcam service with a Panasonic BB or BL IP camera. The screen shots taken in this guide are of a BL-C131 but are going to be pretty much identical for most of the BB and BL range of Panasonic IP cameras.
Step 1: Camera settings
Login to your camera and click ‘Setup’ on the top tabs and then click ‘Dynamic DNS’ from the left (some cameras may say Viewnetcam.com depending on model/firmware)
Select Viewnetcam.com and click ‘Next>’ button (cameras with the Viewnet.cam selection will not have this screen)
Leave everything as default and click ‘Save’ button
A box will pop up to confirm setup click OK
Next screen will say success, click ‘Go to Vienetcam.com page’ button
This won’t take you to the Viewnetcam website but return you to the previous webpage. Here click ‘Your Account Link’ which will open a new browser window and take you to the viewnetcam.com website.
Step 2: Registration with Viewnetcam
From the viewnetcam.com website click new registration.
Note: You can only register your camera through the link inside your camera you cannot just visit the Viewnetcam website.
Next enter your details: Email address, password (8 or more characters including both letters and numbers), first name, last name. Uncheck the services box if you do not wish to receive emails from Panasonic and click ‘I Agree’.
Now you get to choose the domain name that you will need to type to access your camera by entering it in the box (must only contain numbers, letters and hyphens ‘-‘) then click ‘Choose’ button.
Now you need to confirm all your details are correct and click ‘Next’.
Viewnetcam will register your camera and details and then direct you back to your camera.
The Viewnetcam service can take up to 30 minutes to become active, but after that you should now be able to access your camera from an external Internet connection using your chosen domain name. This is done by typing into a web browser: ‘your-domain-name.viewnetcam.com’.
Testing access to your camera needs to be done on an external Internet connection. If you try to test it on the same local network it may be blocked by your router by NAT loopback which stops data going out to the Internet and being directed straight back.
If you are unable to gain access to your camera in an external connection it may be down to port forwarding in your router. For more information about remote access to your IP camera see HOWTO: IP Camera Remote Access
how to view in a web browser if i put 5 panasonic camera in 1 area and 1 connection and 1 web address. thnx
Hi Joie,
You would only need to setup one Viewnetcam.com account from one camera. Then you would need to set each camera to a different port number and port forward each camera in your router.
Each camera should now be viewable over the internet by entering your Viewnetcam.com address and port number for the camera (myaccount.viewnetcam.com:8080). If you can see each camera individually over the internet then you can add the viewnetcam.com host name and port number into one camera’s multi-view setup.
This multi-view page will only work over the Internet. If you want to view all the cameras in multi-view locally then you would need to setup another camera with local IP addresses.
Hi there,
My problem is, my camera (BL-C1) assigns a default “Personal (Camera) URL”, like http://camxxxxxxx.viewnetcam.com:xxxxx/, after pressing the “Go to Viewnetcam.com page”, so I’m stuck with it, even if I change the domain in my account. The original URL never updates, and there’s no way to change it in the setup. Any way to do this?
Thanks in advance!
Just a heads-up to everyone FWIW: If you happen to buy one of the many “refurbished” Panasonic IP cams (widely available @ Amazon, Buy.com, etc) you may have trouble as I did registering it at viewnetcam.com. If the original owner of the camera when it was new registered it at viewnetcam before returning it to the store, you will be unable to register it. Viewnetcam.com will pick up the MAC i.d. # of the camera and assume you are the original owner who registered it and will default to asking you for your viewnetcam account password (which you, of course, do not have.) There’s no way to get past this and go thru the registration process as long as the camera is still registered to the previous user. No …pressing “Reset” on the camera doesn’t help — that doesn’t clear the cam’s permanent MAC i.d. # and has no effect on account registration at viewnetcam.com. What you have to do if you run into this problem with a refurbed Panasonic is call Panasonic Network Camera Customer Service (800-272-7033), provide the MAC # and Serial # and they will de-register the camera from the original owner at viewnetcam.com for you. Once it’s been de-registered and the original owner’s account is wiped out, you are then clear to start your own account at viewnetcam. Panasonic Customer Service is very good and very aware of this problem so they’ll know what you are talking about immediately. The bad news: According to Panasonic, the de-registration process is handled in China so be prepared to wait about 3 days after you call before the camera registration is cleared at viewnetcam. After that, go back to Setup > DynamicDNS and everything will go according to instructions as far as setting up viewnetcam account. There’s no way around this if you have a refurbished camera that has been registered to a previous user.
Can I record to an on line dvr so theta I can play back the video from anwhere?
When I try to register, after I click go to veiwnetcam.com page I do not get an account link
Thank you. Your advice and procedure was excellent. I stumbled around with Panasonic and Viewnet for a day before I found your site.
How do you add port info to allow access of camera via specific port? Eg. port 8999
myaccount.viewnetcam.com:8999
I have problems to get the Viewnetcam.com link. After I complete the DDNS setup “Success” page, and it goes back to Setup page (eventhough it says Viewnetcam.com) … I was expecting the link to my account like the screenshots … but no link???
Read that this happens when you get a refurbish because the previous owner already registered. But mine is brand new.
While I also having problem to complete the port forwarding, I think the step to register at Viewnetcam.com is independent. But who knows could be related.
I’m rather disappointed since I decided on Panasonic for its quality and ease of use.
Any takers to help?
Thanks a lot for the post
Hi
in my case I can access internally network the camera but I can´t access trough internet when the windows open requesting the login and password I type both and no go to URL camera allays says the the login and password is not correct, i change several time the password and login and the problem remains , and is weird because before it was working perfectly and suddenly stop to allow access trough internet, any suggestion?
tks
jose
@Jose:
You’re experiencing NAT loopback there. The traffic is being redirected to your router rather than your camera. It’s unwise to test remote access from your home network. Try a friend or relative’s internet connection. See the NAT loopback section in the following post:
http://www.networkwebcams.com/ip-camera-learning-center/2010/02/16/howto-ip-camera-remote-access/
i cant config my camera i need support, the camera its use from my cousin and i cant configure it. his user name was mvargas.viewnetcam.com please help