Help with new thoughts of what I should do

Hello… Im Patrick - Nice to kinda meet you all…
I am coming here with questions of where I should proceed…
I have been using webcam XP for about 15 years maybe or so - wow long time…
I am currently using webcam 7 and webcam XP…
I have USB - 3 Com Home Connect usb cames and usb logitech Pro cams in most of my rooms at home.
The quality is great and the speed is great - Comcast High Speed…
I have the cams open to the public but I have been eating DATA usage and paying for unlimited Data for a long time so that
a few FRIENDS and a few Family Members can see the cams and check in on my life and my mothers (since I help to care for her since she is 85)… With this being said - I would like to be able to assign passwords to my cams but I know this is a huge undertaking and would take alot of time and effect to know who has what or make sure to always give it out to people and that is kinda a pain…
I am running a computer in every room (via laptop or desktop) and that is what the cams run off of and a router.
IS there a better way to do this - I have tried the passwords before but its kinda a pain because of the giving it out but it helps with the data because it isnt unlimited all the time and to everyone out there… BUT i would also like to know with my current setup is there a way that I can set the software up to only start broadcasting when someone is on it… so that it just isnt there always running live data and sending out data to make me over 2 terabyte a month usage lol.

Any thoughts of where I can go with this please…

thanks everyone sorry I wrote so much …

Patrick

Hi Patrick!
Welcome to the forum after 15 years :slight_smile: I don´t think the forum have been around that long, but thanks for being a user for so long. You must be one of the first to have used the webcam software.

Your primary question or problem is to decrease the monthly usage of transmitted data. But I must say that Webcam works that way today. When someone is watching with the web client it sends data, but when the web client is closed no data is transmitted. If you go to the tab for Web/Broadcast and look at the bottom you have a time diagram where you can see how much data is transmitted during time. It looks like this

There you can see when a web client is connected there is a video stream and no client is connected that is no stream. So the Broadcast is a little misleading. The problem might be that someone opens a connection and leaves it there and data is sent 24/7.

There are a few way to maybe restrict this.
One is to Limit bandwidth. Instead of normal use of maybe 160 kbit/s you set this limitation to 80 kbit/s or what figures you have in your application. This will reduce the data transfer to half, but you have to check the quality of the video.

If someone opens a connection and don´t close it again I recommend to set up user and password. Then you can set a time limit how long a user is connected.


Then each person watching must have its own account.

Another possibility is if it is possible to limit upload speed in the router.

-Henrik

Consider that most browsers will remember passwords if allowed in their settings, and the paid versions of these programs do allow for password clearance before the stream can be viewed. That seems to be the best way to limit your usage. If you lower the bit-rate of the transmitted data, that will likely lower the resolution, which could be a problem if the person you’re trying to care for is motionless, and needs to be looked at more closely.

Another option is to use the security settings to email or FTP photos when motion is detected. Looking at emails is less convenient than looking at live video, but it does cut down on outgoing data usage tremendously, because photos are only sent when someone is moving in the room you are watching. The only problem to watch for there is to make sure there are no limits on the out going mail (SMTP) server, or your setup could be flagged as SPAM by your service provider, for sending too much mail.

Hi,
I think you need to explains where you are going with this. This forum is for Q&A for the Webcam software and nothing else.
-Henrik

It was just some tips for the OP, " Help with new thoughts of what I should do "