Multiple Panasonic IP cameras from the BB and BL range can be viewed together through one camera interface by using the Multi-Camera page. This guide walks you through how to set up this feature for viewing your cameras locally and over the Internet.
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.
IP cameras have the ability to send you email notification on alarm but they cannot send this by themselves. They require an email service or SMTP server to send the email.
This guide walks you through setting up email notification on a Panasonic IP camera with a GMX email account. The shots in this guide are from a Panasonic BL-C131 but should be almost the same for all BL or BB range Panasonic IP cameras.
Perhaps a little known fact about Panasonic’s BB-HNP15 Network Camera Recorder software is its ability to be accessed remotely. By remotely we mean that you can install the software on the main PC (server) and then use another PC (client) to access the software. This can be done on the local network, or even across the Internet.
Here are a couple of points to note before we start.
1. You can only ever have 1 remote connection to the server at any one time. This means multiple people cannot all view the cameras/recordings simultaneously. However, you can still view the cameras/recordings on the actual server while someone is viewing them remotely but some functions may be limited when 2 people are viewing in the way.
2. To set up either a server or a client requires 1 license of the software, so, if you want to set up remote access you will need to buy 2 copies of BB-HNP15, 1 for the server and 1 for the client. For each further client you would require another copy of the software (but remember only 1 remote client can connect at the same time)
The procedure for setting this up is very simple. Here’s how it’s done:
How do you connect to Panasonic’s BB-HNP15 recordings remotely? We are asked this question a great deal and it has a simple answer.
BB-HNP15 does not have a built in remote client, or ‘Smart Client’ like some other IP surveillance recording software. You need an additional license and install BB-HNP15 on the remote PC.
In effect, you install the primary BB-HNP15 normally (consider it as the ’server’) and the remote BB-HNP15 normally (considered as a ‘remote client’). The client BB-HNP15 has full access to the live and recorded footage from the server BB-HNP15.
Panasonic explain the Remote Client Function like this.
We will post more information on setting up a remote client for Panasonic BB-HNP15 later.
Another way to achieve essentially the same thing, of course, is to use your PC’s built in Remote Desktop facility or any of the freely available remote PC access systems like VNC, GoToMyPC etc.
Continuing our series, this article focuses on the consumer range of Panasonic IP cameras, specifically the cameras which have a BL or BB prefix.
These ranges of Panasonic cameras are very popular and sell very well. They cover a wide range of uses from entry-level (BL-C1/C20) up to a professional pan-tilt-zoom model (BB-HCM581) and this guide will work with them all.
This guide is suitable for the following Panasonic cameras:
BL-C1, BL-C20, BL-C101, BL-C121, BL-C10, BL-C30, BL-C111, BL-C131, BL-C140, BL-C160
BB-HCM3xx Series, BB-HCM5xx Series, BB-HCE481
Home security is not a new concept. People have been looking for ways to protect their home for many years and are now beginning to look at new technology to help them in their fight. Traditionally the solution of choice for the home security aficionado would be the humble burglar alarm. This represents a good deterrent but is of little use when it comes to catching intruders in the act or capturing evidence for the authorities (and let’s face it, would normally do more to annoy neighbors than catch crooks).
IP camera technology has, over the years, moved from the realms of a fancy gadget to a serious home security solution and this is no more evident with the launch of Panasonic’s latest offering the BL-C160.
Aimed at the home user the BL-C160 offers plenty of advanced features at an entry-level price which represents great value for money. It is a static camera with a fixed lens offering viewing angles of 58 degrees horizontal, 45 degrees vertical and like other products in the Panasonic’s BL-range of cameras it’s easy to set up and use.
For more information and purchasing please see:
US - Panasonic BL-C160A Outdoor ready static IP camera (available soon!)
UK/Europe - Panasonic BL-C160 Outdoor ready static IP camera
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