Wi-Fi camera on Windows/Apple computersUpdated a month ago
Purpose of The Guide
This guide will show you the process for performing the initial setup of your WiFi bird box camera using a computer rather than a smartphone or tablet.
Before You Begin
If you wish to user the camera for recording in the future insert your SD card in to the camera before connecting it to the power.
Connect your camera to the power using the included power supply.
Make sure you have a Windows or Apple computer available that is connected to the same internet network that you intend to connect the camera to. This program is not available for other operating systems.
Make sure that your computer or laptop can connect using Wi-Fi.
Download and install CMS5 (for Windows) by clicking on this link or VMS (for Mac) by clicking this link.
If installing on a Mac, make sure to drag the application file onto your desktop instead of into the applications folder. Mac computers may also stop the program from being installed because it is an unrecognised developer, see this article to allow the installation: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/mac-help/mh40616/mac
Background
If you own a smartphone or tablet it is usually easier to configure the camera using the mobile app so consider doing so. Click here to see how to do that.
Let's Get Started
Before we begin we need to find out a bit of information about your Wi-Fi network. Make sure that your computer is connected to your network using a Wi-Fi connection.
Finding The Default Gateway
If you are using Windows
Open the start menu and search for Command Prompt. Open this and you will be presented with a black box on the screen. Type in IPCONFIG and hit enter and you will be shown a lot of information about the network. The relevant section will look something like the image below.
Make a note of the Default Gateway.
If you are using a Mac
Make a note of the Default Gateway and follow this guide
Adding the camera to CMS5/VMS
Now we can move on to the process of setting up the camera itself
First we need to connect your laptop directly to the cameras Wi-Fi. If you look at your Wi-Fi settings on the computer you will see a network that begins with IPC or BEYE as shown below. Connect to this network, when asked for a password enter 1234567890.
If this network does not appear please reset the camera by holding the white button down for 30 seconds.
Now open CMS5/VMS, and when presented with the login screen simply press Login, then go to Device Manager. If you are using a Mac and it does not allow you to log in, make sure to drag the application file onto your desktop instead of into the applications folder.
Click the IPV4 search button and you should see your camera appear in the list.
Tick the box to the left of the camera to select it and press Add.
Next we need to navigate to the WiFi settings so click the Home button to return to the Main Menu, then click on Device Config followed by Network under the General Config header before going to the WiFi menu at the top of the screen. You will now be presented with a screen that looks like the image below.
You will probably see that your list of WiFi networks is blank at this stage. Tick the Enable box and press Search and any available WiFi networks should appear in the list.
Select your home WiFi network from the list, enter your password in the PPPoE Password box, enter the Default Gateway that you noted down earlier in this guide and finally we need to enter an IP address.
What IP address we use will be determined by your gateway. The first three numbers need to be the same and the final number can be anything from 1-254, so long as it does not conflict with any other devices. Your Wi-Fi router will usually have an IP address ending in 1 or 254, so don't use those. In this example we will use 192.168.10.120.
So for example our Default Gateway in the image above is 192.168.10.254 so we use an IP address of 192.168.10.120. Finally click the Apply button in the bottom right corner of the screen. Most peoples Wi-Fi routers will have an address like '192.168.1.1' or '192.168.0.254'.
The camera will now attempt to connect itself to the WiFi network that you chose. We will know if this process has been completed correctly because after a few moments the BEYE/IPC network will disappear from the list of networks available to your computer. If this does not happen please go back to the previous step, double check that you were using the correct password and if you were then try using a different IP address. So if you were using 192.168.10.120 before, try using 192.168.10.121 for example.
The final step is to make sure that the camera is successfully connected. Click the Home button in the top left corner then go to Device Manager again. If the connection has been a success the camera will be showing in the list as below with a status of connected.
Once you have connected the camera to your network it is easy to view. You need to return to the Home screen for CMS5/VMS, click on Monitor and then double click on the camera from the list on the right hand side of the page.
If you wish to add the camera to any mobile phones or tablets after this please make a note of the Cloud ID at this point and proceed this this guide and follow the relevant section.
Need more help?
If you need help with anything else please check out our other guides or get in contact.