Public ip for 4g hotspot modem

[darrterr]

I purchased a 4g hotspot for our summer cottage for the sole purpose of monitoring while im away. Unfortunately telus won't assign a public ip to non business users. What the ........ ? my 200 modem i just purchased from telus is now a brick as the 2 weeks has past for returns although it took longer than that to test it and get back to telus from the cottage and get answers. I just want to advise those that are considering purchasing their 4g/4lte hotspot modem that monitoring equipment, webcams etc will not work on their hotspot modems... not because of thchnology but because they wont assign a public ip to non business users.

[Nighthawk]

I'm surprised you didn't bother asking during the sales process about it's features and capabilities, when you bought the hotspot. You just blindly bought something thinking it'll work for remote access / web cams, etc? Whose fault is that exactly?

You appear to be confusing "public IP" which isn't a real thing with a STATIC IP which is. Business users can get static IP addresses (unchanging). Residential connections typically have no need for them and come with dynamic IP addresses. This is very normal. Telus, Shaw, Bell, TekSavvy, Rogers, etc all provide users with dynamic IP addresses for residential connections. In some cases you can pay a bit extra for a static IP but that is more for a physical home connection and not all providers offer that. I don't know of a single mobility provider that offers a static IP for any non-commercial connection. If you were advanced enough to know what DynDNS is, it may have been a solution but it all depends if the hotspot supports it or if you had a router connected to it that did.

[NFtoBC]

In addition to the information provided by @Nighthawk the problem is more likely blocked ports, in addition to the lack of a static IP which would cause problems for you. Hotspots have problems with certain VPN as well. Finally, depending on the data sent, security video might get very expensive if sent via wireless.

BTW, many folks have problems setting up such security devices with a DSL internet connection as well, so it is not just the hotspot which is blocked.

[xray]

Before I bought my DVR security camera system I did a ton of research to make sure I could get it to work. None of the systems are plug-n-play for external access. I do not have a static IP address and it works just fine for me after understanding how it needs to be set up.

I suggest you do some research on your specific system based on the info @Nighthawk and @NFtoBC provided. Most of better known security camera vendors have good support and enough users on forums to get you set up.

Bottom line is that the problem is not with your hotspot. The fact that you are assigned a dynamic IP is just a consideration for your setup, it's not a show stopper.

[darrterr]

Thanks for all your feedback. I did explain to the sales folks what I was purchasing the hotspot for unfortunalely they seemed as ignorant as I was. Yes it was my own fault. I did speak with tech support from my device sales (icontrol) and they indicated that there are currently no work arounds but are working on a firmware that they suggest will allow it in a few months. Sorry if I sounded like I'm cranky with telus (albeit the fact they wont take it back made me a little) I am generally very pleased with my telus relationship and believe I will continue to. I just put it out there so that others considering the same option can do a little research to ensure their product can be configured to work properly.

[nasty]

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@darrterr wrote:
 I did speak with tech support from my device sales (icontrol) and they indicated that there are currently no work arounds but are working on a firmware that they suggest will allow it in a few months.

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Generally, 3 types of public IP address. Plus any inbound ports that are blocked for ISP network control.

1: Static is easy

2: Random is easy by using a 'dynamic dns service'

3: Carrier grade NAT(shared with others), which is a pain to access easy

Remotely accessing by number 3 is harder and requires your remote setup to call you in order to connect by VPN, providing that the inbound access is not blocked by the NAT.

The other way for number 3 is to have a small server that just uploads the data you want to a web/home storage server or attach data to an email(pictures, temperatures, motion alarms).  

 A possible work-around is if the Telus Mobility system has IPv6 working. Find that IP and try that. But thats a long shot and tunnel brokers needed.