Sep 2, 2010, 20:55 UTC
 
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 Frequently Asked Questions
 
  1. How can I view the Feeds on my computer?
    When you click on the Feed, it will play in the Quicktime player. If you do not have it installed, you will be prompted to download it.

    To install the player on your own, download the latest version from
    http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/ 

    After Quicktime is installed, close all the browser windows, then click on the Feed again.

    If the Quicktime autoinstall does not work properly, download the Quicktime setup file to your PC and then run it locally.

  2. What is UTC time at the top-right of each TenM3 page?
    The site time is in UTC (Universal Coordinated Time). This is the same as GMT. While setting up any time-based rules (e.g. for Share or Store Feeds), the time in UTC has to be entered.

    A handy converter is available here
    http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html  

  3. What kind of Cameras can I use to setup my Feeds?
    IP Cameras should be used to setup the Feeds. These Cameras are also known as Network Cameras or Internet Cameras.

    The Cameras connect directly to your network and can be accessed at an IP address within your internal network or from the Internet. No other devices are required for operation.

    A list of supported and popular cameras is here www.tenm3.com/cameras . Wide ranges of models are available with features such as – indoor/outdoor, wireless/wired, pan-tilt, optical zoom, audio, night-vision etc.

    The cameras are available at most electronic retailers e.g. in the US – www.amazon.com, www.bestbuy.com , www.frys.com etc

  4. What is my public IP address?
    Click on this link www.speakeasy.net/speedtest .
    Your public IP address is displayed at the right.

    If you have a static-IP address from your ISP, the address displayed will not change over time. If you have a Dynamic-IP address, your IP address may change frequently depending upon the ISP’s policies. Also check the discussion below on “My IP Address keeps changing …”


  5. How do I setup the IP-Camera on my network?
    Most Camera Manufacturers provide simple instructions and software wizards that help setup the IP-Camera on the network. Please check the manuals and software utilities that came with the camera.

    Alternately, the following steps need to be completed. More details on each step are given in the following items.

    1. Connect the Camera – Use an Ethernet cable and connect the Camera to your network. Power up the Camera.

    2. Reset the Camera – Most Cameras provide a Reset button. The Reset button is usually recessed to prevent accidental resets. A pin may be needed to press the button.

      This step ensures that all the settings are at factory defaults and no old configuration is present in the Camera. Old configuration may interfere with the following steps. 

    3. Configure the Camera – Get the Camera’s private IP address and access the Camera at that IP address. E.g. http://privateIPAddr . Then, set the Port number (for the public IP Address) to communicate with the Camera. For a wireless network and camera, also enter your wireless network name (SSID) and WEP or WPA key in your camera. (See next item for more details)

    4. Test your Camera –Use the private IP address from Step C above and access the Camera on your internal network to see the live view. E.g. http://privateIPAddr:portNo

    5. Open a port –If your private network connects to the public network with a router/firewall, open a port on the router (same PortNo as that in Step C) for the Camera to the external network.

    6. Test your Camera –The Camera should be accessible from the Internet at http://publicIPAddr:portNo

      the publicIPAddr and PortNo is also the information that you would need to provide when you setup your Feed in your TenM3 account. E.g. a typical setup for the Camera may look like –
      1. Private IP Address:   192.168.1.253  
      2. Subnet mask:           255.255.255.0  
      3. Default gateway:      192.168.1.1
      4. Public IP Address:     209.233.29.24
      5. Public PortNo:           4052 

                   In the above example, the camera can be accessed from within the network at
                   http://192.168.1.253

                   The camera can be accessed from the Internet or mobile phone at
                   http://209.233.29.24:4052

    7. Wireless Camera –If you are setting a wireless camera on your wireless network, remove the Ethernet cable at this point. If the camera has a wired/wireless selection switch, set it to wireless. Power cycle the camera. The camera can now be used without an Ethernet cable.


  6. How do I configure the Camera (Step C above)?
    Use the Camera Manufacturer’s software wizard, which will help configure the Camera. Alternately, the following steps can be followed.

    Most Cameras by default are configured to get the IP address from a DHCP server – provided by the router on your network. Therefore, when you connect the Camera to the network (or reset it), the Camera will get assigned a private IP address.

    First, locate the camera on the network. The Camera would have a private IP address (e.g. 192.168.1.253). The Camera manufacturers software wizard utility can help locate the camera. Alternately, your routers status window will show this. Any Network Manager utility can do the same function.

    Second, access the camera at this private IP address (e.g. http://192.168.1.253). Then, configure the camera with the Port Number.

    If it is a wireless camera, which will operate on a wireless network, configure the camera with the Wireless network parameters (wireless network name, SSID, and WEP or WPA key).


  7. How do I open a Port on my router (Step E above)?
    Router/Firewalls provide a Port Forwarding feature. Use this to open a Port Number associated with the private IP address of the Camera. Once the Port is open, the Camera can be accessed from the Internet at the publicIPAddr:PortNo. E.g.
      1. Private IP Address: 192.168.1.253
      2. Public IP Address:   209.233.29.24
      3. Public PortNo:         4052
      4. The camera can be accessed from the Internet or mobile phone at http://209.233.29.24:4052

        Note: A unique Port No is required for each Camera.
        The privateIPAddr of the camera should be a Static address and not part of the DHCP pool, else the camera’s IP address may change each time the Camera is powered off and the camera will no longer be accessible at the old IP address.

        Example steps to open a port on a
        * Dlink router
        * Netgear router

                                                                               
    8.                                                                                                          
  8. My Camera is not detected on my network?
     If the Camera is configured with a IP address on a different subnet than the router on your internal network then the Camera will not be accessible e.g. Camera, is 192.168.1.x while your network is at 192.168.0.x. Both are on different subnets.

    Using the software wizard that came with the camera, configure the Camera IP address to match the subnet of the router. E.g. in the above example, the Camera IP address should be 192.168.0.x.


  9. How can I check the status of all my Cameras?
     Your routers status window will show all devices connected on the network. Alternately, use a Network Manager utility, which will provide you a view of all IP devices (including all the Cameras) on your network including their IP addresses. There are several Network Manager utilities available on the Internet (e.g. networkmagic)


  10. Which routers can be used?
    Any of the popular home routers (e.g. Dlink, Linksys/Cisco, Netgear etc) which support port Forwarding can be used. Routers with integrated Cable or DSL modem (e.g. 2Wire etc) can be used as well. Note: some older router models (e.g. Linksys/Cisco) either do not support port Forwarding or have the functionality broken. Please upgrade your router if this is the case.

    A router supporting UPnP is preferable, as that will make the configuration process easy. 

    For Enterprise use, any of the popular Enterprise routers can be used.


  11. My IP address keeps changing. How do I configure my network?
    To access your Cameras, TenM3 needs to know the IP address and Port number of your Camera or a DNS URL and Port No, which uniquely identifies your Camera.

    If you have a dynamic IP address that is changed frequently by your ISP, then you would need to register the Camera’s IP address with a Dynamic DNS service (e.g. www.dyndns.org ) and select a HostName for the camera (e.g. mycam) The camera can then always be accessed at this URL e.g. http://mycam.dyndns.org . (In the background, as your public IP address changes, the Camera communicates this info to the DDNS service. The DDNS service maintains a map of the HostName with the current IP address). In this case, you would need to provide TenM3 with your DDNS name (e.g. mycam.dyndns.org) and PortNo.

    There are several free DDNS services available on the Internet (e.g. www.dyndns.org , www.viewnetcam.com etc).

    Some ISP's provide a long lease time (e.g. 7 days) with the Dynamic IP. As long as you have Internet traffic within this lease time, your IP address will remain the same.


  12. What steps are required to register my IP address with a DDNS service?
    1. Create an account with the DDNS service (e.g. www.dyndns.org).
    2. At the DDNS service, select a HostName (e.g. mycam) for your Camera and provide your current public IP address.
    3. On the camera, program the DDNS service selected (e.g. dyndns.org), HostName (e.g. mycam) and UserName/Password set at the DDNS service.

      Once activated, the Camera can be accessed at the URL (e.g. http://mycam.dyndns.org)

      TenM3 would need to know the DDNS URL (http://mycam.dyndns.org) and port number of the Camera.


  13. Why does my IP address keep changing?
    ISP’s provide Static or Dynamic IP addresses based on the plan that you selected.

    Static IP address is fixed and does not change even if you power off your modem or you momentarily lose the connection to the ISP etc.

    With Dynamic IP address, the IP address may change frequently depending upon the ISP’s policies. If your modem is powered off or your Internet connection is otherwise lost (e.g. due to poor line quality), the ISP may assign you a new IP address when you connect the next time.

    In most cases, if your line (Cable or DSL) quality is good and your modem is constantly powered up, a connection between your modem and the ISP is always established and your IP address is not likely to change.

    Note: A single public IP address needs only one DDNS URL e.g. If you have multiple cameras at the same location (which have the same public IP address), they can be accessed with the DDNS URL:PortNo. In this case, all cameras will have the same DDNS URL. They will each have a unique PortNo.  


  14. How can I ensure the best quality Feed?
    The quality of the Feed is influenced by the available upload bandwidth, compression algorithm used by the camera, amount of data to be transferred and the lens & sensor quality.

    To ensure best quality, each of the above factors should be optimized.

    1. Higher upload bandwidth helps improve the quality. If you have a choice, select an Internet plan that provides the highest upload bandwidth. To measure your upload bandwidth - upload a large file (e.g. greater than 10 MB) to the Internet and measure the time taken to upload. Upload bandwidth = FileSize/Time.

      2. Sites such as www.speakeasy.net/speedtest also provide a measure of bandwidth available to you. Note: However, such tests are run for a short duration may not give a true picture of bandwidth that is available to you over a longer time interval.

    2. For a given compression and bandwidth, lowering the Feed resolution e.g. 320x240 instead of 640x480 will help improve quality.

    3. Select the highest quality compression available for your Camera (e.g. H.264 is better than MPEG4; MPEG4 is better than MJPEG).

    4. MJPEG delivers very good quality but, requires an upload bandwidth that is 2 – 4x more than MPEG4. e.g. a 640x480 video with a high Framerate (FPS) in MJPEG would require ~ 3 Mbps of bandwidth. A similar quality video with MPEG4 can be delivered in ~800 kbps of bandwidth.

    5. Select a camera with the highest quality lens and sensor for the price range.


  15. On TenM3, what do the DATA and STORAGE Units represent?
    DATA-TRANSFERS include all (video) data transferred in and out of your account -- FeedIn, FeedOut, Store and File downloads. If you share your Feed with others, the Viewing of your Feed by others also counts towards your DATA usage.

    1 STORAGE Unit represents (video) data stored for 1 month.

    To use the service, select the number of DATA-TRANSFER units that you would like (e.g. 5 Units). Once selected, TenM3 keeps track of the usage. The usage information is also available within your account (SETUP Plans plage). Once the Data-Transfer balance nears 0, we send you an alert to recharge the account. Once the Data-transfer balance reaches 0, the account cannot be used. Therefore, to use the service, please make sure that you always have a DATA-TRANSFER balance in your account.

    To Store the Feeds, select the number of STORAGE units that you would like and the number of months. We send you an alert when the Storage time or amount is expiring (as explained below). Once the Storage expires, Feeds cannot be stored any longer. All Recordings are done within the STORAGE units selected. The Storage is treated as a circular buffer i.e. when the Recording fills up all the STORAGE, it will continue Recording from the beginning.

    If you do not wish to Store the feeds, you can select Data-Transfer units together with “0” Storage units.


  16. How can I estimate my Data-Transfer and Storage requirements?
    The best method is by using the service for a few days under your typical usage and checking how much of the resources are used.

    The actual number of bytes received/transmitted by TenM3 is used to measure Data-Transfer and Storage.

    As a rough estimate – a Feed sending data at a constant 512 Kb/s for 1 hour will consume
    = 512 * (60*60*1)/(8*1024*1024) = 0.22 GB/hour

    Data is only transferred when a Feed is being viewed and/or stored.

    To check average bandwidth available to you - Upload a large file (e.g. greater than 10 MB) to the Internet and measure the time taken to upload. Bandwidth = FileSize/Time


  17. How is the Total Storage used?
    The Total Storage available is shared between a Buffer for storing the Feeds and Archive storage.

    The Buffer provides a temporary storage for the Live Feeds. It is shared amongst all the incoming Feeds in this account. Data is stored starting at the beginning of the buffer and continued till the end. Once the end is reached, then the Feeds are again stored starting at the beginning (overwriting the previous info stored there). The clips are stored as Files.

    Live Feeds generate a lot of data. The Circular-buffer provides an efficient mechanism to store these Feeds. Once an interesting clip is found, the User can move these over to the permanent storage (Archive) or download it.

    Archive provides a permanent storage for the Files. The Files in archive are not overwritten by the Live Feeds. As long as the account has a Storage balance, the Files will continue to be stored. To remove a File from the Archive it needs to be deleted.

    Since the Buffer and Archive share the Total Storage, an increase in Archive Files implies a reduction in the Buffer size. To increase the size of the Buffer again – either add more Storage units or download & delete Files from the Archive.

    We send you an Alert when you are reaching the end of the Storage duration selected or the size of the Buffer has shrunk significantly.


  18. I like the Storage feature. Can I use it to Store Data other than my Live Feeds?
    Currently, the Storage can only be used to store Feeds.


  19. What happens if my DATA TRANSFER or STORAGE is exhausted?
    Once your Storage credits are exhausted, we do not guarantee that any previously stored data will be available. Therefore, to retain important data, always keep a positive Storage balance. This ensures that important data will not get lost. Note: Important data can also be downloaded to your computer.

    Once your Data-Transfer credits are exhausted, Feeds cannot come into or out of the account and no further activity can take place.


  20. What happens it I don’t use my account for a long time?
    If your account is not used for 6 months, the account expires. At that point, no information is retained for your account. Please note – any unused account balance is not refunded 


  21. How do I Search for Feeds?
    Feeds can be searched by any text associated with the Feed e.g.
    1. City, State or Country name
    2. User Name
    3. Popular
    4. My Feeds, Friends Feeds, All Feeds
    5. Text in Feed description

      partial names can be entered


  22. How do I enter multiple email addresses while Sharing Feeds or while setting my Alerts?
    Enter multiple email addresses in the box separated by comma or spaces.


  23. How is the Privacy of my Feeds ensured?
    The Feed data is only accessible by you. It is not available to any one else (including TenM3 staff) unless you choose to share it with them. While sharing with others, you can set time limits such that the Feed is available to them only during the specific time period.

    Feeds that you set as Public can be accessed by anyone on the Internet.

    We take reasonable precautions to ensure the privacy of your Feeds. However, your Feed data comes over the Internet to us. The data is not encrypted. Please use your discretion.

    Also, check our Privacy Policy


  24. How are IP Cameras different from Webcams? Can I use a Webcam?
    IP Cameras operate standalone and do not require any other devices. Webcams always require a PC for providing Internet connectivity and therefore have certain limitations. 

    Webcams provide a different set of operating parameters and could be suitable in some scenarios.

    IP Cameras provide a very rich experience in a low-cost product and can be deployed in large numbers and are therefore preferable.

    Webcam support will also be available in the future.


  25. Can I put a Camera behind a Firewall in my corporate network?
    Yes! In a corporate network, the process to setup an IP Camera is the same as described above. You may need to take help from your IT department to open a port for the Camera.


  26. Please provide a detailed example of how to setup a Camera.
    To setup the camera, use the CD that came with the camera and follow the instructions.

    Or use the following steps to setup a Panasonic BL-C131A camera (other cameras also have similar steps)
    1. Make sure the switch at the bottom is set to "wired"

    2. Connect the camera to the router via an ethernet cable

    3. Power on the camera and RESET it (reset switch at the back)
      This sets all parameters to factory defaults

    4. Access the Panasonic camera at your private IP address http://192.168.1.253

      Note: After reset, Panasonic cameras default to the xx.xx.xx.253 private IP address. If this address is already in use, then the camera will get assigned a different IP address.

    5. Set up admin username/password

    6. While configuring the camera select these
      1. enable wireless
      2. set your wireless network parameters (WEP or WPA)

    7. After configuration, access the camera again at http://192.168.1.253

    8. Select SETUP screen
      1. Under Network (IPv4) select Static
        Set the ‘Max bandwidth usage’ to ‘unlimited’ (this can be changed later)
      2. then set the PortNo for Internet access (other items are optional on this page)

    9. setup PortForwarding (TCP & UDP) for the camera on your router with the above PortNo

    10. Now you can access the camera at http://PublicIP:PortNo

    11. The "Single" tab should show the video

    12. To use the camera in wireless mode
      1. Power down the camera
      2. Flip the bottom switch to "wireless"
      3. Remove the ethernet cable
      4. Once powered up, you can access the camera at http://PublicIP:PortNo

    13. Setup a General User
      1. access the camera at PublicIP:PortNo
      2. ii. Login as Admin again"
        1. under SETUP > General User create a General user and set the UserName/Password
      3. Select the parameters for the General User.


  27. When I click on a Feed I get a Quicktime plug-in error. What should I do?
    If you are using Internet Explorer then you may get a Quicktime ‘plug-in error’ message when you click on the Feed snapshot. If this happens, wait for a few seconds, then click on the snapshot again.
 
 
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