"Not allowed to have CCTV " with broadband provider

jimmyging

Hi all would love to hear opinions on this PLEASE....
Live in the sticks and just signed up to new broadband provider ( 6 mb , not bad for here) . I have CCTV and would like to be able to remote access and have gotten a static IP for this . Here's the snag , I was told today that they won't support CCTV and will know if the line is being used for CCTV due to higher bb usage ie 300 GB/ month as opposed to 20-40 / month with regular usage . My question is this , would 4 CCTV cameras through a dvr take up this much bb width really as I wouldn't be accessing them regularly ? Has anyone else experienced this ? Sorry if this has been asked umpteen times already ...

GreeBo

is there a CAP in the contract?
If not then ignore them

jimmyging

No cap .it just states that they don't support 3rd party devices incl CCTV .i was also told today that if they suspect CCTV usage that the line will be "throttled" until CCTV is taken offline ... Does CCTV eat up that much data and can they really tell or are they just saying this ???

advertsfox

jimmyging wrote: »

No cap .it just states that they don't support 3rd party devices incl CCTV .i was also told today that if they suspect CCTV usage that the line will be "throttled" until CCTV is taken offline ... Does CCTV eat up that much data and can they really tell or are they just saying this ???

No it doesn't so don't mind them. CCTV is all internal network unless you request to watch / view it online (like viewing a webcam on demand). You will be fine.

jimmyging

Thank you advertsfox , I just wonder would they be actually be prepared to put it in writing as it seems like it would be very hard to back up that kind of policy .

White Heart Loon

jimmyging wrote: »

Hi all would love to hear opinions on this PLEASE....
Live in the sticks and just signed up to new broadband provider ( 6 mb , not bad for here) . I have CCTV and would like to be able to remote access and have gotten a static IP for this . Here's the snag , I was told today that they won't support CCTV and will know if the line is being used for CCTV due to higher bb usage ie 300 GB/ month as opposed to 20-40 / month with regular usage . My question is this , would 4 CCTV cameras through a dvr take up this much bb width really as I wouldn't be accessing them regularly ? Has anyone else experienced this ? Sorry if this has been asked umpteen times already ...

Is your DVR at another location? If it's in the same building as your cameras there will be no bandwidth used to recore, only for monitoring, you can access a lower quality stream for viewing remotely. Do you want to remotely view continuously?

advertsfox

jimmyging wrote: »

Thank you advertsfox , I just wonder would they be actually be prepared to put it in writing as it seems like it would be very hard to back up that kind of policy .

What I'd would love to know is how they would monitor this kind of traffic - its not like its comparable to P2P or website hosting, its bizarre. There will be just a basic web interface on the DVR (I've setup a few, port forwarding will be required) that you can login to via a web address, quite simple.

jimmyging

White Heart Loon wrote: »

Is your DVR at another location? If it's in the same building as your cameras there will be no bandwidth used to recore, only for monitoring, you can access a lower quality stream for viewing remotely. Do you want to remotely view continuously?

No the dvr is in the same location and No I just need to check it very occasionally .

White Heart Loon

jimmyging wrote: »

Thank you advertsfox , I just wonder would they be actually be prepared to put it in writing as it seems like it would be very hard to back up that kind of policy .

All providers cover themselves with an acceptable usage policy, even the ones who advertise as unlimited. Neither Comreg nor the Advertising standards authority do anything to stop this.l

Boskowski

cctv streaming over the internet would be constantly fairly high usage. I know they say 'flatrate' and 'unlimited' but what they usually mean is 'fair usage'. I guess from a providers point of view 24/7/365 cctv streaming is like leaving the cold water tap on 24/7/365.
It may not seem fair but I reckon when they size their bandwidth especially 'in the sticks' something like this puts a serious dent in their calculation. Whether they have themselves covered in their t&cs I don't know (probably yes) but purely from a technical pov they can detect this and follow through.

White Heart Loon

jimmyging wrote: »

No the dvr is in the same location and No I just need to check it very occasionally .

You'll be fine then so

wheresmybeaver

Boskowski wrote: »

cctv streaming over the internet would be constantly fairly high usage. I know they say 'flatrate' and 'unlimited' but what they usually mean is 'fair usage'. I guess from a providers point of view 24/7/365 cctv streaming is like leaving the cold water tap on 24/7/365.
It may not seem fair but I reckon when they size their bandwidth especially 'in the sticks' something like this puts a serious dent in their calculation. Whether they have themselves covered in their t&cs I don't know (probably yes) but purely from a technical pov they can detect this and follow through.

yeah but this is like your provider saying you can't use Netflix or youtube because they also have the potential to run up huge bandwidth if you "leave them on" all the time. If you were running a public server or public IP cam service (birdwatching cams etc) then yeah this would run up huge bandwidth and they would of course be entitled to throttle you (no service is unlimited as others have said). They can't block a service just based on what you /might/ do.

jimmyging

Thank you all I think I have the answer I was looking for . Boards is great .....

davybaby

Hi Jimmy, Dave here from Usee.ie, all we do is HD CCTV, even higher bandwidth than conventional cctv stream. Utter nonsense what you provider is telling you. Yes, there might be a cap ( normally only see this restriction on microwave ISPs ) but the cap is all you have to worry about. I suspect the warning the provider is giving you is due to a misunderstanding on their part that you may be using the cctv "always-on" which would in fairness be over the top. Connecting to a cctv system using your phone across the web might pull 150 Kb/sec while you are watching but each session on average is normally less than a minute. We find most of our customers use the cctv link a lot when its new ( we call this period the "Santy period" ... new toy and all that!!) but soon after its only for the occasional check on the house or perhaps a pet. So soldier on I say
Dave