How to setup remote monitoring for your SAMi Camera using cellular data or a different WiFi network

SAMi Secure Remote Monitoring

You can monitor and control your SAMi-3 or SAMi-2 camera from remote locations. Normally access is restricted to the local network in your home. Turning on internet access allows the SAMi app to find and connect to the camera from anywhere with an internet connection including using mobile data.

NOTE: The internet access feature uses encryption, but be sure to use a good camera password just in case. 

WARNING: Be careful if you use this feature with mobile data. Additional charges from your mobile provider may apply. The live video uses about 2MB every minute. You will use 1GB in about eight hours. This is only an estimate, your actual data use may be greater.

SAMi Kit Owner INSTRUCTIONS:

SAMi Camera owners who use their Home Wi-Fi already, you can skip straight to step 2.

1. Pair SAMi Camera to your Home Wi-Fi network

1) Reset your SAMi Camera by briefly pressing the reset button on the side of the camera using an opened paper clip
2) Go to camera settings -> remove your SAMi camera

3) Plug one end of an ethernet cable into the back of the SAMi camera

4) Plug the other end of the ethernet cable into an unoccupied "LAN" (ethernet) slot on your home Wi-Fi Router

4) Plug the SAMi camera into a wall outlet near your Wi-Fi router and wait until the light on the front turns from red to green

5) Switch your Apple device to your Home Wi-Fi network

6) Open the SAMi3 app and follow the instructions on screen to add your camera

 

Here is a video demonstrating how to pair SAMi to your Home Wi-Fi:

If you encounter any issues during this process, try reseting your camera using an unopened paper clip (some something similar) and briefly press (2-3s) the reset button on the side of the camera. If you continue to have problems, contact us through our support form for help.

2. Enable Internet Monitoring 

• Start the SAMi app and select Settings -> Camera Settings -> Internet Viewing

• Turn on the switch for Enable Internet Access

The camera will now attempt to configure your router to allow access. If this is successful the Status will report "Online". Once the status is Online you can use the SAMi app from anywhere with an internet connection. Note that the video delay will be somewhat longer when connected over the internet, typically 5 to 10 seconds. Also, if you are connected using mobile data recordings will not automatically transfer. You can still download these manually.

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INTERNET SETUP TROUBLESHOOTING:

If connecting to the internet fails, follow the instructions below based on what the Status line reports. Any time you make a change you can touch the status line to try again.

Potential Error Messages:

No Internet Connection:
This indicates that the camera cannot access the internet. Check that the camera is connected to a router that is connected to the internet and that the internet connection is active. If you using a SAMi router contact us for assistance.

Router uPnP Disabled:
This indicates that the camera was unable to configure the router using uPnP. Use the instructions for your particular router to enable uPnP. For example, here are the instructions for Comcast's Xfinity router:

https://www.xfinity.com/support/articles/configure-device-discovery-for-wifi

Note that uPnP needs to be enabled, but zero config can be off. After enabling uPnP on your router try to Enable Internet Access in the SAMi app again. If you cannot enable uPnP you will need to manually configure the router.

Camera Not Reachable:
This indicates the camera can't be reached from the internet. This should not happen when Automatic Configuration is used, and it usually means that there is a problem with how the router was manually configured or that the manual port number you've entered doesn't match the one assigned to the camera.

 

Ways to connect SAMi Remotely (advanced methods for people with some technical skills)

"Abandon all hope ye who enter here..."
...just kidding, but these instructions  assume a basic working knowledge of networking.

If you cannot get uPnP to work, or you don't want to use uPnP, or if you have a more complicated network, you can manually set up the internet access. Every router is different, so these instructions are just to get you started.

Complete the three steps below:

1. ASSIGN AN IP ADDRESS TO SAMI

Port forwarding requires that the SAMi camera be assigned an IP address on your network that never changes. You have two choices here:

You can configure the router to use a "reserved ip". This is the preferred method. Associate the IP address you want to use with the camera's MAC address. (The MAC address is on the back of the camera.)

As an alternative you can set SAMi to use a static IP address:

• Start the SAMi app and select Settings -> Camera Settings -> IP Address

• Change Configure IP to Manual

• Enter the camera IP address, subnet mask, and router IP address. Choose an IP address that is not in the router's DHCP range, is within the subnet range, and is not in use by any other device. Usually you can leave Configure DNS set to Automatic.

• Touch "Done" to apply the change.

The camera will restart. The power light should turn green and then the SAMi app should reconnect to the camera. Note that if you make a mistake the camera will likely no longer be reachable and you will need to reset it and reconnect it to the router to try again. Once the camera is working with the SAMi app proceed to step 2 below.

2. CONFIGURE PORT FORWARDING ON THE ROUTER

There are two ways to configure port forwarding on most routers. You can enable "DMZ" or you can set up a specific port forwarding rule. DMZ works by forwarding all ports to a single IP address. Use the camera IP address you chose above. Using a port forwarding rule is generally preferred as it is a bit more secure. If your router supports it, choose a random port number between 10000 and 65535 and set it up to forward to the camera's IP address and port 80. Some routers don't allow this port remapping. In this case forward just port 80 to the camera's IP address.

Once the router port forwarding is configured proceed to step 3 below.

3. CONFIGURE SAMI:

• Start the SAMi app and select Settings -> Camera Settings -> Internet

• Turn on the switch for Enable Internet Access if it isn't already on

• Set Configure Router to Manual

• Enter the port number. If you set the router up for DMZ, enter 80 for the port. If you set up a port forwarding rule, enter the random port number you chose (or 80 again if the router doesn't support remapping).

The app will now test the connection. If it fails review that steps 1 through 3 were completed correctly.

 

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