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Ask HN: What's the best way to setup an always on video conference?
My parents are overseas, and my son is growing way too fast. I want to setup a dedicated, always-on video portal between their living room, and my son's play room.
What's the best way to do this?
Bandwidth is a constraint (ADSL connection for them). Cost isn't (willing to spend up to $5k)
Thanks for your help!
- deleted 17y ago[deleted]
- dotBen 17y agoSkype is probably your best bet here. Install skype on a computer in the play room, create a new account, and add your parent's skype account as the only contact on this fresh account. Set skype to auto-login, auto-answer but reject calls from non-contacts - thus only your parents can call but when you they do the cam/mic will immediately turn on. You could install a big monitor, better speakers, etc if you think that would help your son interact better with them. I would consider the privacy issues, however, of having a dedicated always-on setup (rather than 'call in when you like'). Even from your parents, it would be like they are always listening in to what is going on in the house. I considered setting this up for a similar project but I was concerned about doing 'always on'. The best thing about this set up is that it probably will come in well below $5k if you already have a spare computer, etc.
- ews 17y agoI am in your exact same situations (me living in the US, parents in Europe). I wanted to create a window to each other living rooms when I noticed one of the things I missed most is was seeing them on their daily routine. I have got my best results on vlc both sides (stream from one machine to the other), videoconference is not 100% realtime (there is a slight delay of about 1 second) but the image quality beats skype on linux. I use different processes for sending and display video. I use a couple of cheap low power computers and microsoft 720p usb webcams. It is not perfect, the image quality could be improved, but it is filling an emational void.
- ippisl 17y agoWhat's the upload/download speed of your parents connection?
- kabuks 17y ago4000 kbps download, 1000 upload
- samratjp 17y agoWhy not use www.Justin.tv (A YC company)? It will cost you an always on internet connection, a web browser and a webcam (video subjects nor included :-)