HIKVision IPCamera connected via IPCamera Binding not accessible from Remote using myopenhab

I’m running OpenHab 3.3 (5.15.32-v7+ #1538). I’ve connected several HIK-Vision DS-2CD2010F-I (SW V5.4.81build 180203, DSP V1.0 build 180110) via the IPCamera Binding.
As long as I’m in the LAN I can see the pictures the cameras on a page in the BasicUI (oh-image-card), in a Sitemap (image widget) and in the MainUI/browser. The same is true for the video stream (oh-video-card).

But when I 'm accessing OpenHab from remote via the myopenhab account, neither the page in the BasicUI nor the sitemap shows the camera pictures. First I thought the reason is that the Item connected with the “imageUrl” channel of the camera Thing has the local IP address in its state. But the MainUI shows the camera pictures of the sitemap in the browser even if I’m connected via myopenhab.

Is this a limitation of the oh-image-card/oh-video-card or the image/video widget in the sitemap or is there a specific setting I missed?

Thanks for any hint!
Norbert

This is a limitation of the free openhab cloud as it does not proxy camera streams to keep the load/traffic low on a free service. I am not sure what happens if you setup your own cloud as that requires a lot of effort to do. I personally believe your best setting up a wiregaurd connection so that you show up inside your network and then everything works the same way as it does when you are home. I was hoping other people would reply on how they have solved it.

Securing Communication and Access | openHAB

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I don’t know what hardware and OS you’re using on your system but I can recommend trying PIVPN to set up a Wireguard VPN on a Raspberry PI or Debian VM behind your router.

I use Wireguard on my OPNsense firewall/router which allows me to use OH via my mobile and laptop when I’m outside of my LAN. It works great. I can use OH and also the Hue and Zoneminder apps on my phone.

Thanks for your responses! I tried to access my OpenHAB via an DDNS service instead of the OpenHAB Cloud but there the images are not shown either. For the time being I’ll accept the limitation. But it’s good to know that it is a limitation and no failure on my side. Concerning wiregaurd I guess I have to read a lot before I can use it. Thanks again, Norbert

No actually it is meant to be easy, if you read about how it works or the many ways it can be setup then yes it will appear hard. @higgers posted a project that can set it up for you and there are heaps of youtube videos showing how to set it up. Openhabian has an option to install it as well.

openHABian | openHAB

I like wireguard based solutions because it is optimized for video streams, which is why it was created.

Once the setup is done with wireguard then it is a matter of connecting and you show up inside your network and everything just simply works, not just openHAB, you get everything with no extra work needed and no need to fault find why some stuff does whilst other stuff does not. You also get the added benefit of being able to do internet banking and other tasks safely on a public wifi network, that otherwise would be risky. You have to weigh up if the long term gains outweigh the short term learning curve. My opinion is yes its worth it because you get more then just openHAB and it does not cost anything.

I would like it if the free/demo of myopenhab cloud did work, however it is not optimal to send high res video packets from your home, to another server that may be on the other side of the world and then return to you on your mobile, having to travel all the way back around the world a second time. A VPN or reverse proxy removes the need to send data long distances and the packets will go direct from your home to your mobile device.

More people are expecting not just a single low res stream, but wish to do 8+ cameras with 4k resolution all at the same time. At some point it becomes unrealistic to expect this from a single server that is supplied for free and has thousands of users that do not want the speed of their traffic slowed down. Also please if anyone is using the cloud please consider donating via the non profit foundation.

openHAB Foundation

It would be great if others posted what guide they followed to setup their solution and what they thought of the process.

Thanks all for the information about wireguard. I succeeded installing it on my PC and the raspberry but unfortunately could not install the linux headers as I’m running the 64bit kernel and the linux headers do currenly do not exist for 64bit. I hope this will change in future.

You can use the older non video optimized VPN called openVPN. That should have better support but I am no expert on this.

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