techno

[hedgerow pete]

this is a couple of question to the clever ones

bee hive security? is it just me being very thick or why does no one else see how fantastic an I.P. camera from maplins that connects to the web and sends images to my computer , why have these not been taken up every where to at least tape criminals at work ?

I f i brought a £50 pentium four computer how do i turn it into a server as to run my simple web site and what sort of programes do you need for it to run as a server and do you need to do anything to the insides?

lastly what are the costs of running a simple server and web site what do you look for and what are the costs involved ?

 

[East Yorks New Bee]

Do you have internet connections at your apiaries Pete or are you planning on running mobile internet at the apiaries?

 

[BKF Admin]

Pete what sort of thing do you want to do on the website ?

Having a landing page and a few different pages of text added on on is very different from streaming video having a gallery etc.

 

[hedgerow pete]

the only thing we want the web cam for is security all it needs is batteries and no other cables if we are correct, and as for the server and web site we reckon on around six pages with three links from the last page to other websites, so very basic stuff realy, thats why we were told about making our own server, if the worse thing happens and it is hacked into all they will find is a simple dumb computer with no other purpose or connections and to remove any hack soft ware all we have to do is re format the drives and reload the security copy of the web site, correct ?

 

[Nellie]

Cheap Laptop/barebones PC, Web Cam(s), cabling, mobile internet card/usb Dongle and sim. Obviouly you've still got to get power to the bee shed/laptop but that's your basic requirements at the hive end. That old PC sat under the stairs running a copy of linux would be more than powerful enough.

You can make your own server but you'll probably find that most ISPs will do their utmost to make it difficult to host a website from a home PC connected to Cable or ADSL. Again, that old PC under the stairs with a Linux (or even windows for that matter, but you'll need to pay for a few things) installation will be more than capable of running a basic website.

In honesty though, if you want a website then paying £10 a month or whatever the going rate is nowadays for a basic package is going to be a lot less hassle than trying to bodge a webserver on a standard residential ADSL/Cable package. Not looked into it, but I dare say that if you get a business deal instead you can probably get a static IP and more scope to host your own website on your own server if you really want to go down that route.

If the idea of tinkering with Linux doesn't appeal to you, I'd really recommend getting a basic web host package instead, at least then the basic security, backups, availability etc is all taken care for you and you aren't going to have to continually keep restoring from backups because you forgot to install the latest security update and your server is now part of a botnet or just has "hahaha, hacked by a script kiddie" as a front page every 10 minutes.

 

[hedgerow pete]

thanks nellie but iam under the inpresion from the 8 year old shop assasistant in maplin this camera was just as small as my web cam on the computer and it had a base plate about 120mm round that contained the batteries and the inernet conection devices he said we did not need any computer dongle thingy or wire or wifi, just an IP camera, thats why it seemed so simple that we could not believe that for £100 no one else had considered them for for bee hive security before we can just buy this thing stick batteries in it set it up to switch on from a sensor and record information and send it to my email or web site for free, so again iam i being realy thick or has no one else seen these things and have started to use them ??

 

[Nellie]

Probably more likely the shop assistant. There has to be some mechanism for it to get the photos/video to a computer/web address; Whether that's a cable, wi-fi or a mobile network it has to communicate somehow and I'd be more inclined to believe that it has inbuilt wifi than a mobile connection but I'm willing to be proved wrong. Even if it comes with inbuilt GSM/3G capability you'll still need a sim card but at least in that case it may well be possible just to directly email/upload the photos to a website depending on the software it comes with.

 

[hedgerow pete]

this is the camera i was looking at there are many others but all are the same internet based security camera no wires or computers needed




View your property via the internet from any where in the world
Easy ''Plug ''n'' Play'' IP camera
1/3 inch Sony CCD
Nightvision up to 20 metres via the 28 IR LEDs
Simple ID and password setup
No more DDNS settings
IP66 Weatherproof- Using unique camera ID and password to connect cameras anywhere
Video management software provides control over up to 16 IP cameras
Each camera has a web server so that you can access it over the web
Live viewing and recording from any PC in the world
MPEG-4 video compression
High resolution up to 720 x 480 pixels
Email / FTP notification for motion detection
Up to 5 users can view simultaneously
RTSP supports viewing on 3G mobile phone
Provides the easiest way to install. Just connect to the internet, and it''s all done. With the highly implemented software, there is no problem connecting up to 16 IP cameras, recording video, and receiving motion detection notification. 3G mobile viewing is supported as well.


Back to Top

 

[BKF Admin]

If you just want some pages of text and pics I would be happy to host you on the forum server for free.

Shoot me a pm and I will sort it out for you.

 

[Baggyone]

Sounds like it has WiFi built in. Unless you have a router nearby your gonna be stuffed. Running a web server is an absolute piece of urine using a router as a lot of the security stuff is taken up by the hardware.

I used to run a small website under win98 when broadband first came out cheaply with Pipex. Used to stream audio on it too. Its reletivly easy BUT the price of web hosting is rediculasly cheap so why do all the nonsense and run your own leccy bill up too?

 

[Nellie]

Just connect to the internet, and it''s all done.

That's the bit that isn't in the description. I suspect it'll either have an eithernet or wireless connection that can hook directly to a router/PC for the internet connection.

You're obviously getting the specs off the maplin website, can you provide a link and I'll take a look at it and just see if I can confirm what it's needing and see if I can find any opinions of it. If nothing else I'm interested in doing something similar, but have no power and obviously no internet connection up at the apiary but was debating whether I might be able to rig something up under the roof, maybe using solar panels for power.

 

[VEG]

The other thing you need to look at is the battery run time in most of these units they run on 9v battery and will only run for about an hour. make sure you check.

 

[hedgerow pete]

battery s are not a problem we are going to wire it up to a solar panal and a car battery so that sorts that out as for the maplin catalogue i have tried that failed completely so the one we are looking at is






IP-3G ConnectCam153 1000 Wireless Network CCTV Camera with 2-way Audio
only £199.99


Web Only

Order Code: N54GC
In Stock*

 

[peteinwilts]

maplins has a crap choice and is quite expensive compared to many.

I used to play with cameras, fitting them to the chest of a female harris hawk with a 9v battery strapped to her back.
I also wired up the house and garden and have done a few proffesional jobs in schools, colleges and a nightclub in London

I have always found these guys quite reasonable...

http://www.pakatak.co.uk/shop/

Have a browse... you might get a few ideas!

Cheers
Pete

 

[peteinwilts]

BTW.. go for an absolute minimum of 420 lines!

 

[hedgerow pete]

it was suggest to me that with ones own web server you dont have to pay as much to have a web site also as we wanted to improve or exspand it was easier to do

 

[hedgerow pete]

pete in wlits , did you not confess in the bee shed of being a techno sort of person, were am i going wrong with this ip cctv camera, have i got the wrong end of the stick ?

 

[peteinwilts]

I try not to confess such things!

You need two things, power and connection.

Solar power is pretty cool and laptops and IPC's are very low power so should not be a problem.

You main problem will be connection.

Wireless from the allotment to your house, not a hope. It is even too far for an RF or a line of site connection.

3g and Satelite broadband... expensive!!

I also doubt if their is a wifi connection in your area. It is still limited to some shops, pubs and shopping centres although there are promises that it will be more widely available.

It is 'possible' if you have a friendly person within reach with an interest with bees, they may allow access to a wireless router. Alternatively, you could 'borrow' someones wireless connection that is by the side of the allotment. There are many wireless router hacking programs around that could do the job. Most people do not know enough about their routers to protect themselves anyway and most people broadcast their presence regardless.

A wireless connection does not travel far, but the location of the shed or the bee shed is in a good location for finding other peoples connections down the hill as there is little getting in the way. If you get a connection in the shed, but not the bee shed you could pop on a repeater, or just stretch a bit of cat 5 cable from one to the other.

Best thing to do as a first port of call is to take your, or borrow a laptop with a wireless ethernet card and see if you have any connections broadcasting near the shed\bee shed.

.. of course I could not condone such matters!

 

[marklaverda]

Pete you will need a program called netstumbler to do what PIW suggests. NetStumbler (also known as Network Stumbler) is a tool for Windows that facilitates detection of Wireless LANs . It runs on Microsoft Windows operating systems from Windows 2000 to Windows XP.

Depending on the camera you should be able to fit a 12db cantenna which can give you a range of up to 12kms from the allotment to your house. Google cantenna. To make one you would need a pringle container!!

google wardriving for info and instructions on finding wireless access points.

Note well. There have been successful prosecutions against peeps in UK who have been using other peeps bandwidth. I would liken this to someone walking into your house and taking a shower and leaving without your permission!!

 

[peteinwilts]

I would liken this to someone walking into your house and taking a shower and leaving without your permission!!

...Whilst leaving all the doors wide open with a big sign saying 'please shower here'.

Prosecutions have happened. Switch off netbios on your network card to stop you presenting yourself to the hosts computer.

Unless you are unlucky enough to log onto a geeks network, most people would not even know it is happening. Even in the event of landing on such a network, they would find it a challenge and boot you back off!