|
Have had this camera for over two years and it has functioned rock solid. I have the camera set up to cover my cars in my driveway at night and the low lux ability allows for really good viewing with only a street light as illumination. I have no problems with it dropping the connection and the setup only took about 15 minutes. I have the camera sitting in a window and I am able to read a license plate a block away. Price is a little steep but the lower priced D-link units are a big drop in quality and features. Not sure if the problems were with early units but I have no issues with this camera (other than Price).
So far there are no lock up problems and I'm pleased with it; using last firmware in 2008. Camera is now in operation for two months. Web interface only works with Internet Explorer 6/7 (don't know if it works with IE8) but you need to disable Microsoft's Silverlight otherwise the video will not display. Setup was easy (wireless), up and running under 15 min; then port forwarded in router. I hesitated buying this product because of the numerous negative feedback but I had to try it because of the 0.05 lux feature. Browsers not supported: Firefox, Safari, Opera and Chrome because the camera's ActiveX component won't install. The ActiveX component is responsible for displaying the video.
I started out with 4 cameras.It was amazing. They are quick to say that a product is defective even if it isnt. They wanted us to watch or catch possible cheaters or disprove a cheater. They needed security cameras for a national card game held 3x a year in different places all the time. I own my own business and got hired by a client who needed people who knew how to work security cameras. Also, make sure the computer you use is a 32-bit operating system because this is NOT compatible with 64 bit. When you first call, you will be helped by a novice and if they cant help you, will transfer you to a higher level tech support, and if they cant help you wil transfer you to another higher level tech. Their tech support will take you hours.
I know more about these cameras than I want to know. I could read people's suits in their cards from 100 feet away. I didnt think it would be that hard. So you want to be sure you did everything you can. Loved how it could really zoom from far away and the picture quality. But when I upgraded to 8 cameras,it started to become a problem.Using the DVIEW CAM program,8 cameras started to freeze or cut out.I was also using a dlink DIR 450 router and had a sprint air card attached to it(since it is what they recommended to use with these cameras)but what they failed to mention is that the more cameras you have,the more problems you will have too.The sprint air card(and any other aircard you buy)only provides a limited bandwidth.And to divide that to 8 cameras will really decrease it a lot which will then give you an unstable connection.The only way for me to solve this is to have a solid internet connection like comcast internet.But since I am always mobile with this system,I cant do that.I wish I knew that before I spent 4 additional cameras.Now I have to buy another router and air card and laptop to split 8 cameras into 2. I had to change settings for the cameras, the router, ports, static IP's and everything technical. Anything more than 3GB RAM will be 64 bit.
I was even able to create different user accounts so that my son's not-as-tech-savvy grand parents and uncles/aunts can view him live from Taiwan and West Coast. The installation was very easy -- took me only 10 minutes. I have installed this camera in order to monitor my newborn in his crib mainly so that I can hear him when I'm not in the bedroom and he needs my help. It's been up and running for several weeks and no previously reported bugs have been found. The web-based interface is not as decked out, but very easy-to-use. After installing a small ActiveX Control, it immediately works with my Internet Explorer 6.5. I guess they updated the firmware/software.My overall feedback:Pros:- Very easy to setup- Support of two-way audio communication -- I can hear my son and talk to him- Camera rotation, zoom, white-balance (iris) even the LED lights can be controlled easily through web-based interface- Ability to create multiple user accounts with diff. privileges- Built-in web-based streaming server -- very easy to set up a web-cast- Has auto-focus and auto-white-balanceCons:- Doesn't support Firefox (reason for a 4-star)- Auto-focus sometimes doesn't focus perfectly
When it worked, it worked very well and I was happy. So, it was great while it lasted. Resolution was excellent, low light excellent, really all was perfect (I did not use it wireless, mine was wired into my network and used outdoors with the D-Link outdoor heated housing). About 1 year later it stopped taking any commands and then stopped working. I replaced it with the lower level D-Link DCS-5300. You can read my review on that one if you like.
|
