O2 3G blocking CCTV DVR apps. Any work around?

[fufunks]

Been looking at this for a while now and have read various theories but none with a working solution.

I have a CCTV DVR on a BT wired internet connection. You can access it via web browser etc.. over LAN and WAN via pc/mac/linux box without issue. Port forwarding is all setup correctly...in this case it only needs port 80 (by default). So there is no issue with the DVR or the internet connection or the port forwarding.

On any iphone or android phone i can install various DVR apps. Bubo Bubo, iwatch 2 ( i think they are all versions of each other anyway) and stream single or quad splits of my cctv cameras over wifi via any internet router without issue ever. However once i enable 3G on any phone and try to do it via 3G it stops working.

I know O2 aren't blocking me from seeing the router as i can ping it's ip address or domain name via a ping utility on any of the phones over 3G. I also know this will work as I have previously accessed the DVR for some time over 3G from Australian Optus phone whilst in Australia. My assumption is that O2 are doing some traffic filtering, strange NAT behaviour at firewall, or proxy usage which means that the MPEG4 stream doesn't make it back to the phone unlike the ping replies.

I have previously tried vodafone before coming to O2. I also tried an orange sim in a store all with the same issues. I have tried changing the default port the DVR uses to a much higher one (eg. arbitrary 5555 for testing) to avoid Qos on port 80 to no avail.

Part of my job is a network engineer so I'm across all the technologies in use and know what i am up to. What i can't find (or get from the mobile companies) is what they are doing that stops this working and how i can circumvent it. 

If anyone has any suggestions/advice i'd be very grateful.

[adamtemp64]

I will test this on my swann system when next in 3g coverage.

But it could be to do with the proxies o2 uses and image compression.(just a thought)

[fufunks]

Thanks. I'd be interested to hear how you get on.

I agree with what you say. It will be something to do with proxys or similar. 

O2 say the same issue doesn't affect the mobile broadband dongles, only 3g phones, so they are obviously routing traffic through their network differently dependent on source (phone or bband router) rather than technology (both are 3G after all). The fact they discriminate between types of traffic is bad as it is. It's even more annoying they won't say what they are doing.

[adamtemp64]

I was in 3g area yesterday no joy on 3g yet on o2-wifi at mcdonalds on the m25 it worked fine.

When the 3g microsim on o2 arrives and I am in 3g coverage I will check the ipad as that uses different apn's to the iphone.

[Anonymous]

fufunks you need to set up a static ip via a dns site like dyndns then set up the dvr with the ip, gateway etc. Also try resetting the router to clar the dhcp cache as this has held me back in the past.

The LAN IP's will be fine on a phone but for WAN it needs a static IP as it's mobile and outside the LAN.

Check the ports too as most DVDR's have their own like; 8080 for http:// as 80 is reserved for http:// in the LAN.

[Manda]

If anyone already figured it out then please share your solution.

I've just got the SIM last week, it was work8ng fine for a couple of days then stopped day before yesterday. I called o2 they say it's an app issue, clearly not because it work on WiFi and on other mobile devices with other networks. Any one been able to bypass or find solution?

[djbsuffolk]

I had a similar issue trying to get access to a wifi Arduino module from the internet. The module was a connected to the internet via a MiFi router, and I needed to enable port forwarding on the router to the device - but as much as I try I couldn't get it to work. Turns out it was due to ' carrier grade NAT' - a system to work around the shortage of IP4 IP addresses.

Basically my MiFi router (not O2) had a 10.0 IP address, which is a local network address, and my public IP 4 IP address was shared between multiple users. Basically the devices run on a local network set up by the carrier, then your traffic is translated and routed via the shared public IP address as required. So when I was trying to access my public IP address directly from the other side, as such,  it just came to a dead end - as this IP address was shared between multiplie users on the 'local' carrier network and no indication of where to route the traffic on the 'carrier local network'

So not sure if this is the issue here - but it can be an issue when you are trying to access devices, via a mobile network, via a public, and probably shared IP address. 

[Cleoriff]

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@Manda wrote:
If anyone already figured it out then please share your solution.

I've just got the SIM last week, it was work8ng fine for a couple of days then stopped day before yesterday. I called o2 they say it's an app issue, clearly not because it work on WiFi and on other mobile devices with other networks. Any one been able to bypass or find solution?

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I think you were given an explanation on this thread

https://community.o2.co.uk/t5/Other-Products-and-Services/Can-not-connect-to-my-CCTV-system-via-the-...