It is almost 13 years now since the first release of IP Camera in 1995. However, this kind device does not obtain family user's attention even there are so much improvement such as
- End users are getting more computer knowledge related training
- Support is eay to obtain from internet community
- Broadband internet connections are preveiling
- WiFi and AP are matue
As a great potential product, however, IP Camera does not draw enough attention from family users. The reasons are many, but the following 2 are dominating:
- Dynamic IP. Most family users connect to internet with a dynamic IP address. When the IP changes, the camera become accessible. The working around is to use thrid part service, such as, DDNS. The DDNS clients in desktop are pretty reliable, but the counterpart in embedded system are very loose.
- Portfarding. A big challenge for regular user to configurate IP Camera with port forwarding function is almost un-overcomable. The UPNP functions are doable way to go, but the implementation is so loosely that there is no tool can handle all routers. Even an experienced user probably finds it not so strightforward for some routers.
- Router configuration. Except for portforwarding, there are some other issue making IP Camera difficultly accessible from outside, for example, some router block all http request from outside by default.