Okay, okay. I know that no one else really cares about this. But…the stars finally aligned and I was able to finally get our little security cameras working the way they are supposed to.

For the first time since I installed the first camera in the spring of 2007, I can see what’s happening at home via any computer with internet access, or even my iPhone or iPad, with views from both cameras. The second camera, just installed this past week, can be triggered to play a recorded warning when it detects motion in the room, or it can be used to listen in on whatever is happening in the house. I can imagine that coming in handy at some point.

And both cameras also take photos when they detect movement and upload those to a safe spot on one of my web sites for reference. It was one of those pictures that solved our 2009 break-in.

It turned out that I had just not taken the time to coordinate the several layers of settings–the camera settings, the settings on our Apple Airport Express wireless router, and the settings for the Axis Dynamic DNS Service, which provides a simple address for accessing the cameras. There were instructions, several sets of them, just not all in the same place or from the same source.

Once I had all the parts of the system in mind, it wasn’t hard to make them come together. Some steps took a little trial and error, but I don’t really have an excuse for failing to get it all up and running much earlier.

For those thinking of embarking on a similar exercise, I have two cameras, both by Axis, a model 207MW and a newer model 1031W. The setup was via my MacBook Pro, using Apple’s wireless router.

So I’m basking in the feeling of a puzzled solved. It’s similar to the feeling of wrapping up a complex story. The pieces fit and there’s a sense of order restored.

Whew.