4G and 5G Routers for CCTV
Using a 4G or 5G Router for CCTV / IP Camera / DVR Installation For Remote Access
The Simple Tried and Tested Way
If you use a 4G/5G router with a Fixed IP SIM Card you will have a router, with an Internet connection with a fixed, public IP address.
Just like any router with an Internet connection with a fixed, public IP address you can now connect to the router from anywhere on the Internet and use port forwarding to connect to your devices on the LAN.
All you have to do is decide mow much inclusive data you will need per month, decide whether you want slower 4G or faster 5G Internet speeds and determine which mobile network has good coverage in the location that you intend to install your router and Fixed IP SIM. Give us a call when you have decided and we can send you the contract to complete and return and you will receive your SIM card within a few days.
Then choose your 4G/5G router (most customers will use something like the Proroute H685) and add to basket and checkout online and get next working day delivery for hardware ordered by 3:00PM.
That’s it – when you have your SIM card and router, insert the SIM, make a few configuration settings to get your router connected to the fixed IP mobile network and configure your router security and port forwarding settings and you have access to your CCTV DVR and Cameras.
The biggest question we get asked is how much data will be used – that will depend upon the codecs and streaming quality configuration set in your CCTV DVR equipment and how often you use it and whether it is on demand or whether your DVR updates content to a central server – your CCTV hardware provider should be able to give you some advise about how much bandwidth the equipment will use per hour of video streaming and you can work it out from there. You can increase your data allowance during your contract term but can’t decrease it and any increase only takes effect the following month. You will get free access to the SIM Portal so you can monitor usage and set email alerts but the fixed IP SIM will not automatically cut-off when a data limit is reached – you will just be charged for the extra data usage.
4G and 5G Routers for CCTV
However…….
It is not just a case of purchasing a router and inserting a SIM card because in most cases a normal mobile data SIM card purchased directly from the UK networks will not enable you to connect remotely to your router or the attached CCTV equipment.
Remote Connection To 4G/5G Router
How Can I Remotely Connect To My 4G / 5G Router?
In order to connect to your 5G/4G router over the Internet you will need to know the PUBLIC WAN IP address of the router – however this is not always as easy as it sounds
1. Use a Fixed IP SIM Card
This is the easiest way to connect to your router and connected devices because the router is allocated a FIXED IP ADDRESS from your mobile service provider – in most cases fixed IP SIM card services are only available from an MVNO (Mobile Virtual network Operator) who have interconnect services with the main mobile networks and offer the Fixed IP element as part of their service.
THIS MEANS THAT YOU WILL NOT NORMALLY GET A FIXED IP ADRESS IF YOU OBTAIN YOUR SIM CARD DIRECTLY FROM THE FOUR MAIN MOBILE NETWORKS IE. VODAFONE, O2, EE & THREE
There are two types of Fixed IP SIM card services available
1. Public Fixed IP SIM – This means that you can connect to the router and connected devices from any computer connected to the Internet providing a convenient and easy to use service.
2. Private Fixed IP SIM – In order to access your router and connected devices you will first need to create a VPN from your PC/network to your Fixed IP SIM card provider and only when the VPN is established will you be able to access your router/devices.
2. DYNDNS (DYNAMIC DNS) / DDNS)
Many 3G and 4G router users would like to use DYNDNS to access their routers because this means they can take advantage of low cost data plans direct from the main UK mobile networks – however most mobile networks now use CG NAT (Carrier Grade NAT) to provide IP addresses which means that the WAN IP address allocated to the router is a PRIVATE IP address on the mobile operators internal network so the Public IP address that you might see when you visit www.showmyip.co.uk will be one of the mobile networks public IP addresses but the mobile operator will have hundreds of devices using each public IP address which is why you will be unable to connect to your device. You can research this further by searching the internet for “4G CGNAT”.
THE MAIN 4G NETWORKS DO NOT PROVIDE SINGLE PUBLIC IP ADDRESSES WHICH MEANS DYNDNS WILL NOT WORK
ONLY THREE MOBILE PROVIDE PUBLIC IP ADDRESSES BUT ONLY ON THEIR 3G CONNECTIONS AND THIS IS NOT A GUARANTEED SERVICE
3. VPN
Once you realise that you can’t use DYNDNS after researching CGNAT you might not want to use a Fixed IP provider and want to explore alternative ways of connecting to your router.
As long as your 5G/4G router has built-in VPN services then you can configure the router as a VPN CLIENT so once it has established a 5G/4G connection it will then connect to a VPN SERVER which could be your router at head office which would enable you to create a WAN (Wide Area Network) – this would enable you to connect to your router and devices over the VPN – this solution might be fine for a couple of remote locations but once you start to have tens or hundreds of remote locations then you would need to ensure that your VPN server is capable of managing the WAN infrastructure.
YOU WILL ALSO NEED TO ENSURE THAT YOUR VPN SERVER CAN BE CONFIGURED TO ACCEPT INBOUND CONNECTIONS WITHOUT A FIXED IP ADDRESS – because your connection will have a different router WAN IP address to the router PUBLIC IP address – (remember the CGNAT).