I have installed a security camera system in the calving pens of my barn to keep track of momma cows having babies. I have the cameras running to a splitter box that automatically rotates between the cameras and then a wire runs to a plug in USB 2.0 video capture device that is plugged into a laptop with Vista operating system. I have a Netgear WNR2000v3 wireless router and a Motorola modem from Comcast my IP.
I installed Windows Media Encoder 9 and got that set up just fine. I can access the streaming video from other computers inside my home network using Windows Media Player and typing in the IP address of the laptop everything is connected to along with the assigned port.
I have set up port forwarding on the router and opened a Dyndns account to get around the dynamic IP addresses from Comcast. But every time I try to access the broadcast from outside my in home network using my IP address and port number or the Dyndns host account I get the following message: "Windows Media Player cannot play the file because a network error occurred. The server might not be available. Verify that you are connected to the network and that your proxy settings are correct."
The question is, am I missing something here? Do I need something like Windows Media Server 2003 to make this work or will the Encoder do what I need on its own? I have called Netgear, Comcast and been to see the Geek Squad and no one seems to know a thing about this stuff. I am trying to avoid calling a security company because they will want to sell me all kinds of stuff I don't want and I really don't want to get involved in a contract for this service because I only need it 3-4 months a year. If I need something else to make this work I am not 100% committed to Windows Media devices if there is something out there that is free or cheaper and will get the job done that would be great.
Any help will be greatly appreciated. I am no computer wiz but usually I can figure it out but I am at my wits end with this one.
