Streaming ReefCam Costs?

WWWD · #1 11-22-2006, 10:56 PM

You wouldn't have a live stream would you? I have a webcam that is setup to FTP an image to my website every 60 seconds.

Im pretty sure that you would far exceed you monthly traffic charges from your isp if you started steaming stuff 24/7. I think the base from Shaw in Vancouver is around 10gigs per month. Downloading a couple tv shows alone will seriously eat into that.

Keana · #2 11-22-2006, 11:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WWWD

You wouldn't have a live stream would you? I have a webcam that is setup to FTP an image to my website every 60 seconds.

Im pretty sure that you would far exceed you monthly traffic charges from your isp if you started steaming stuff 24/7. I think the base from Shaw in Vancouver is around 10gigs per month. Downloading a couple tv shows alone will seriously eat into that.

Again depends on what you have cable or dsl? I have high speed extreme from Shaw with 80 gigs of transfer a month.

Beverly · #3 11-23-2006, 01:57 PM

Keana,

Our service is through Telus.

WWWD,

I'm thinking live stream at this point, though the cam won't run 24/7, only during the 12 hours the tank is lit.

FinchCam ran only during the 12 hours the aviary was lit. But that was years ago, before streaming video became so accessible. A new image was uploaded to the server every 30 or 60 sec., though I can't remember which one. The page was automatically updated with each new image. FinchCam became very popular. Our isp complained that we were using too much bandwidth, so we had to change the page to manual refresh to cut down on people leaving the cam running all day on their computers.

Of course, the streaming reefcam idea is just in the "what if" stages right now.

Keana · #4 11-23-2006, 03:07 PM

I think telus (and almost all electronic stores) sells a Linsys wireless camera that can stream video. It's called something like Home Sitter or something? I think it costs $300 for the camera. That's a bit of money..... But the camera is wireless That would be cooooool. You could put the camera anywhere and it streams to your router and then to the net. Your computer is never involved. The only other problem is that Telus likes to bundle this camera with there service and it is pricey. If you got this wireless camera, and you have a router (may have to be Linksys?), you could then use the free dns.org services to change your ip address to a url and have a free professional web cam stream.

http://www.amazon.com/Linksys-Wirele.../dp/B0002V8KW2

Beverly · #5 11-23-2006, 03:50 PM

Thanks for the suggestions, Keana

I'm going to pass this thread on to my husband who has the technical savvy to put such a system together if we decide to proceed.

DiscusZ · #6 11-23-2006, 09:31 PM

I did this one with m,y web cam and it did not take a lot I had a lot of hits. I used a cheap 3com web cam and it was quit popular. I am tyring to come up with another idea but that is for another thread (dont want to highjack)

You would not stream high quality. Also it depends on the ISP as well. Telus does block a lot of ports from what I remember, so streaming could be out.

Jim

Beverly · #7 11-23-2006, 09:50 PM

Jim,

I would be interested hearing about in your new webcam ideas. They might come in handy for what we're trying to do