Hi everyone, I'm seeking feedback to hopefully determine whether there is a wider market for a system I've developed for my own use. Do you agree that there is a problem? Do you think my solution is something you (or your clients) would pay for? Thanks for your help.
Problem: I design/sell/install CCTV systems for small/medium businesses (and I also teach IT networking). I needed remote access to my DVR/NVR but the client didn't want me to be able to see the rest of their internal network. They didn't have a network admin to set up VLANs etc. (My market is limited to small/medium enterprise, I don't think this problem would be relevant in larger organisations where they have a network administrator).
Solution: I installed a router between the DVR/NVR and the client's network and configured the firewall to only allow access to the client's default gateway. Firewall administration from NVR/DVR side of the network has been disabled (so rules can't be changed). This alone lets me use logmein.com without having any access to the client's internal network.
I also set up a VPN client on the router that connects to a remote VPN server. Now I can connect through the VPN server directly to my NVR/DVR via open ports for direct access to the streaming server, internal web server etc.
Other benefits: If I happen to get a virus on my system it won't infect the client's network. If my DVR/NVR is hacked the hacker won't have access to the rest of the client's network.
Opportunity? This was a reasonably large pain to set up, but I can easily repeat the process now I know how to do it. Is this a problem other people are facing? Would you spend ~$200 on a hardware device to fix it. Would you (or your client) pay a monthly/yearly subscription charge to use the hosted VPN server? How much? What would help motivate you to set up your clients behind one of these devices? Margin on the initial sale of the device? Ongoing commissions on monthly subscription?
While my main motivation here was better security for my customers I can also see some benefits from an ease of install/management point of view - primarily in not having to go near client's routers to set up port forwarding. If I was going to take a service like this to market I'd set up a web interface that would allow consolidated mangement of your devices such as easily opening/closing ports. This would mean the install process for this device could be as easy as:
1) plug DVR/NVR into port 1 of device
2) plug client network into port 2 of device
You can now use logmein.com / gotomypc etc + your client's network is isolated from your network
3) if you also need open ports, log into www.danswebsite.com and set which ports need to be opened on your device
You can now remotely access your device directly from yourdevice.danswebsite.com:portnumber
Before I go to the effort of building a web site, thinking of an awesome name or leasing a yacht I thought it would be sensible to determine whether there was any market for this kind of product. I'd appreciate any feedback or suggestions for improvements. I know this isn't the next Facebook, and it's probably way to specialised for kickstarter, but if there are enough people in this community who like the idea that would be enough proof for me to have a go at launching this idea as a side project.
Additionally, if this has already been done (I couldn't find it but the web's a big place) or if you think the idea won't work for any reason please let me know so I can stop wasting my time and move on to a different project! Thanks again.
Dan