Reference: Basic WiLife Firewall Requirements

This article applies to the following products:
All WiLife camera kits

This article applies to the following platforms:
Windows Vista
Windows XP

WiLife Firewall Requirements

While firewalls are useful in protecting access to your PC, they hinder the performance of the WiLife Command Center if not configured properly.  In order for you to view cameras in your home or business and for remote viewing access, you need to allow firewall access to WiLife Command Center.  Allowing firewall access typically involves adding rules to allow required network ports, or allowing all network traffic from a specified application. In addition to opening necessary network ports, firewalls and content filters should be configured to not interfere with the networking communication needed by WiLife Command Center.

The WiLife Command Center uses two networks. First, the Command Center software connects to each of your WiLife Cameras on your HomePlug powerline network or other LAN network. When the WiLife USB HomePlug adapter is used for the camera network, the Command Center software will use DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) to give cameras an IP address. This requires you to open port 67 (inbound) and 68 (outbound) for UDP broadcast traffic on the camera network.

Communication between the cameras and the Command Center software also uses UPnP (Universal Plug and Play), which must be allowed.  Some software firewalls use a separate rule to control UPnP traffic. The other ports used for controlling the camera and receiving video are outbound ports that must also be allowed. (Usually, most firewalls don't block outbound traffic).

Second, the Command Center software connects to the Internet to provide you with Remote Viewing access to your video, email notifications when motion is detected, and the ability to automatically check for updates, etc. WiLife Command Center uses two common protocols to communicate -- HTTP and XMPP.  

NOTE: XMPP also happens to be used in some Instant Messaging (IM) software such as Google Talk.  If a firewall is trying to block all IM communication, it will also likely block remote viewing and control.

WiLife Networking Protocols
Description	Ports Required	Network
UPnP Discovery	UDP: port 1900	Camera
UPnP Control	TCP: ports 50000 - 65000	Camera
Video Streaming	TCP: port 22211	Camera
Camera Control	TCP/UDP: ports 5800 - 5821	Camera
DHCP	UDP: port 67 (inbound), port 68 (outbound)	Camera
WiLife Online	TCP: ports 80, 443, 5222 (outbound)	Internet
Relay Remote Viewing	TCP: port 80 (outbound)	Internet
Direct Remote Viewing	TCP: ports 20570 - 20575 (inbound) NOTE: Can also use other custom direct mode port.	Internet
Email Notifications	TCP: port 25 (outbound) NOTE: Can also use other SMTP custom port (ie. 465) for clients such as Gmail.	Internet

The Command Center’s ability to communicate with the Internet also effects the connection with remote viewing, in either direct mode or relay mode.   With relay mode, the video is sent to WiLife servers from which the remote client receives the video. With direct mode, your computer is acting as a server that delivers live or recorded video remotely directly to the client.

Direct mode gives you the best remote viewing experience. However, a computer on the Internet must be able to directly connect with the computer running Command Center. If a UPnP-enabled router is detected, WiLife Command Center will attempt to use UPnP NAT to automatically map a port (between 20570 and 20575) from the router to your computer for direct remote viewing. If you do not have a UPnP-enabled router (or have UPnP control disabled for the router), you can still use direct remote viewing, but only if you manually configure your router.

If there are multiple routers, hardware firewalls and software firewalls in between the PC running WiLife Command Center and the Internet, then they all must be configured to allow the traffic needed for direct remote viewing.  If your setup doesn't allow direct remote viewing, you will still be able to use relay remote viewing.

When viewing video remotely, your system at the remote location might also need to be configured to allow the remote video stream, especially if there is a hardware or software firewall in between the remote client and the Internet.

There are no inbound traffic requirements, but there are some outbound traffic requirements (usually most firewalls don't block outbound traffic).  In addition, streaming video may also be blocked in some business settings.  So check with your network administrator.

Remote Viewing Web Client to Internet
Description	Ports Required	Network
Relay Mode remote viewing	TCP: 80, 443, 554, 1755 (outbound)	Internet
Direct Mode remote viewing	TCP: 80, 443, 20570 - 20575 (outbound) NOTE: Can also use other custom direct mode port.	Internet

By design, firewalls and Internet filters attempt to control communications on both the internal camera network and your Internet connection. This is not a problem if you configure them correctly. Remember, it is common to have more than one software firewall installed on a PC. A router also acts as a hardware firewall in between the PC and the Internet.

Note that the outbound requirements to the Internet would mean that any software firewalls would have to allow the traffic, as well as any and all hardware firewalls and routers on the way from the PC to the Internet.  Outbound traffic to the Internet, in general, is usually not blocked, especially for home users.  (In fact, most consumer routers don't let you configure outbound firewall rules other than filtering out specified IP addresses or ports).  However, in a corporate or business environment, it is possible that outbound traffic is blocked except for specified ports.

Full Firewall Requirements

Here's the current list of firewall requirements, broken out first by inbound/outbound, and then by the connection.

Inbound Port Requirements
Camera Network to PC
UDP: 67	DHCP
UDP: 1900	UPnP Discovery
TCP: 50000 - 650000	UPnP Control
Internet to PC
TCP: 20570 - 20575	Direct Remote Viewing
None	Relay Remote Viewing
Internet Gateway (router) to PC
UDP: 1900	UPnP Port Mapping
TCP: 50000 - 65000	UPnP Port Mapping
Internet to Remote Viewing Web Client
None	None
Localhost to Localhost
UDP: 41110 - 41145	Video streaming
UDP, TCP: 25110 - 25125	Firewall tests
Outbound Port Requirements
PC to Camera Network
UDP: 68	DHCP
UDP: 1900	UPnP Discovery
TCP: 50000 - 65000	UPnP Control
UDP, TCP: 5800 - 5821	Camera Control
TCP: 22211	Video Steaming
PC to Internet
TCP: 80, 443, 5222	WiLife Online. Package includes: -  Remote control - Remote viewing - Video Upload - etc.
TCP: 25	Email notifications NOTE: Can also use custom SMTP port such as 465 for applications such as Gmail.
PC to Internet Gateway (router)
UDP: 1900	UPnP Port Mapping
TCP: 0000 - 65000	UPnP Port Mapping
Remote Viewing Web Client to Internet
TCP: 80, 443, 554, 1755	Relay mode remote viewing (HTTP, HTTPS, RTSP, MMS)
TCP: 80, 443, 20570 - 20575	Direct mode remote viewing NOTE: Can also use other custom direct mode port.
Localhost to Localhost
UDP: 41110 - 41145	Video streaming
TCP, UDP: 25110 - 25115	Firewall Test