Customer Reviews

D-Link DCS-1130 mydlink enabled Wireless N Fixed IP Network Camera with Built-In Microphone

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

We have 4 Linksys IP Cameras setup at a vacation home for viewing the outdoor scenery and wanted to add or upgrade to cameras with better image quality. The DCS-1130 has good image quality and good low light capability, but it is limited in its usage scenarios.

Pros: Video Quality . . . After you figure out it has a manual focus by turning the physical lens on the camera the video quality is very good. Not Fuzzy around a wide perimeter margin like the fixed focus Linksys cameras. There is no remote, motorized or automatic focus.

Cons:

Two deal breakers for me. Things you can do with Linksys Wireless cameras and not with the D-Link DCS-1130.

1. This camera cannot be used to view normal daylight scenes out of doors. If you aim this unit out a window or even temporarily place it outside, the image is completely washed out...almost a blank white screen. The cameras automatic exposure control is calibrated entirely for interior use only. There are no settings that fix this issue. You would normally figure you received a "defective unit" except an On-Line magazine staff writer reported the same problem.

Quote from wi-fiplanet.com review of DCS-1130
"When we pointed the camera out the window on a sunny day, we got a totally white, blown-out image. The camera only creates a decent image in moderate light."

D-Link Tech Support (by email) Says" "The camera is meant to be used for Indoor and indoor viewing."

2. There is no option or method to view the streaming video without logging in with a user account. This may be fine if its strictly a private security camera but useless as an all-purpose "web cam". We currently have 4 cameras with exterior scenes and we can simply click on Internet Shortcuts to page through the 4 camera videos from any computer with a browser. I can email these links to my sister and she can also flip from camera to camera easily. These cameras are not likely to be found by strangers because the cameras are configured with very high port numbers (above 40,000) and the web address is complex. If you don't have the full address syntax including the random port number you get nothing.

Other less critical issues with the DCS-1130.

1. The D-View Cam software will not run in a Windows 7 64-bit computer. It will install but it will not run. Tech support said the camera's sofware was not tested on Windows 7 and you install it at your own risk. (hmmm . . . why do they still sell this camera without upgrading the software ?)

2. Tech support by phone is in a far-away-land, with a very high latency, scratchy connection on the 3 calls I made. The tech support people have no knowledge of the product. If the answer to your question is not in the user manual, phone support will do no better. This was the case on 3 of 3 calls.

There are two ways to connect to this camera;
Direct or using the MyDlink.com web site. These usage comments are based on direct network access where you connect to the camera with a computer across your internal network or across the internet. If you use the MyDlink.com service you do not have to configure port forwarding on your router/firewall because your camera initiates and maintains a persistent bi-directional connection to D-Link through your router (like GoToMyPC).

When using the MyDlink service, the interface is better than going direct to the camera, but not everyone is a fan of having systems on their home or business network that maintain 24/7 connections to external 3rd party systems. With multiple cameras the constant outbound traffic where your camera registers with DLink every second or two uses bandwidth. These arrangements also have security considerations . . Dlink has an open path into your internal network 24/7.

Thankfully, using MyDlink.com is an option and the channel to-from DLink is not turned on by default.

To be fair, this camera is significant Image-Quality upgrade from the latest Linksys Wireless web cams. However, the camera cannot be used if you want the option of anonymous access or want to monitor an outdoor scene.

I bought this camera along with the Panasonic wireless to test out.
I was able to set up the dlink wireless camera in just a few minutes and view on the internet. (Panasonic took a lot longer but instructions on the review were great help!)

At first I thought this camera was horrible because the picture was so blurry.
I figured out that I had to turn the front lens to get it clear and was impressed with the picture. :)
I have not had to mess with it since then and the camera works well.
I have motion detection setup and every time someone comes up to my front door or walks in my front yard I receive a picture in my email. I think it is very cool and the picture is pretty nice.
One thing you cannot do with this camera that you can do with the Panasonic is control movement from the internet but I am ok with that. Also, I sometimes try to connect to my camera via mydlink and the connection is broken.
I haven't had time to figure that out yet but I suspect it has something to do with comcast.
I do still receive the motion detection emails even when I cannot connect to the camera over the internet from work so I know its setup issue.
Sound is also quite clear!

I do not think it is fair for the other reviewer to give this 1 star because it doesn't work on their iphone so I am giving it 5 stars :D
I can understand the frustration they may have. Maybe you can ask dlink support for assistance?
P.S. dlink support was supportive when I had a question about ports to set up with motion detection.
They did only have to direct me to comcast support which took multiple calls and finally on third call I got a port that worked and emails from motion detection are now sent out using comcast email.
Port is 587 for comcast smtp setup.

All in all it is a pretty decent camera.

I have had this for only 2 days so I will try to remember to update for any longevity issues. But as these thing go, it was easy to setup. The wireless setup using WPS did not work but I have never had a product install using it. Has anyone? So the wizard took me through an Ethernet setup, then to wireless which worked smoothly. I have since tried it in several different locations in the house and each time after I plugged it back in it quickly reestablished network connection. The free D-viewcam software for your computer is nice. I also found the Mydlink remote connection to be just fine, and free. The routine of establishing the mydlink account from the desktop wizard was a bit odd but it worked. The picture is not great, but perfectly adequate for my modest petcam purposes. As I said. It works as advertised so I give it 5 stars.

Two notes:

-- In other dlink camera reviews here I read that the mydlink does not work with Firefox. It works just fine for me. Firefox invokes java and includes the modest zoom the camera is capable of.
-- I have an HP Windows Home Server (WHS) and the D-viewcam Beta software 1.00 is not working with the WHS. WHS was just upgraded to Power Pack 3 and I wonder if that is the issue. The Addin installs but has no connection to the camera. I am engaged now with Dlink email support. We will see how that goes.

UPDATE 08/03/10.
Dlink released ver 1.1 of its Windows Home Server (WHS) add-in. And it works. Although the specs for the add-in say it is for WHS power pack 2 it seems to do fine on my HP Mediasmart WHS with Power Pack 3. I did not find the use of it intuitive and I am still playing with various settings but it does work. When you install the add-in it creates a series of folders on the D:\Share drive on the WHS. Then there is nothing much to see until you start recording something. The WHS interface is merely where you see the files you have recorded. You can double click a recording to see it play in a VERY small window but no controls like pause or fast forward. You can also delete any recordings from this interface.

To administer and view the camera in real time you launch a browser (both Explorer and Chrome worked for me). The address you use is your WHS internet IP address followed by /dvc. The first time you do this a program is downloaded from the WHS it appears. You install that. After that it goes more quickly. The program you are launching is the D-View Cam for Windows Home Server. There you have numerous settings, FPS, Events, Schedules to play with. Most of which I have not tried so cannot attest that they work. I just put mine to record 24/7 to see what happened. It recorded as advertised, breaking the recording up into 1 hour files (which then appear in your WHS interface, but also in the D-View).

When I connect via the browser at home it is very snappy. However, I had someone else test it from 100 miles away and it was very slow to download the initial software and viewing the live feed was very sluggish. HOWEVER, you should know that my ISP is Hughes satellite, a notoriously slow provider. So the uploads of the camera feeds to my remote viewer were coming off the WHS server through my slow internet connection. I also wonder, since I had it recording, if there was some sluggishness caused by the bandwidth being used in the recording process.

So there it is. I found the users manual from Dlink to be useful but could have been much, much more useful and better written. There are a couple of Chinese screen shots so maybe we have a language issue as well. Mostly though it just did not seem like a real technical writer was doing the job. For example, while it explains how to install the WHS add-in (which most of us know how to do anyway) it does not tell you anything about how it is structured or how it works. Good luck.

BTW, a few weeks back Dlink upgraded its MyDlink website and the firmware for the DCS-1130. I successfully updated the firmware following Dlink instructions. I cannot tell what exactly it all did but using Mydlink to view the camera live has seemed more stable than before. Purely anecdotal though.

Here's the good/bad about this camera:
GOOD:
Adjustable focus ring to manually finetune display for maximum sharpness. Many IP cams don't have adjustable focus.
Camera has setup wizard to supposedly setup & view your cam from the internet using the mydlink web site without having to manually configure your router. (I am an advanced user and setup everything manually so I didn't test this)
Camera has a low light mode, where it can slow down the shutter speed in low light to obtain a brighter display. If you have fast motion during low light mode it may blur but generally this is preferable to the grainer/noisy/dimmer display without low light enabled. (The Linksys WVC80N camera that I am comparing this to does not have this low light/slow shutter feature)
Bracket is less annoying than the one on the WVC80N
Works fine with Blue Iris software, which is what I recommend instead of whatever software manufacturers include with cams.
BAD:
*Must use IE* to configure if configuring manually by logging into camera. Interface does NOT work properly with Firefox (for configuring, not viewing). This is even with latest firmware on mydlink-com/download (replace the dash with a dot)
Most changes to camera settings require a reboot (such as changing video settings). This is annoying as reboot requires 45 seconds or so. However since setup is usually a one-time thing it's bearable.
Firmware is NOT on D-Link's support site where it should be (or where you are likely to look). There are NO release notes for the firmware so I don't know what's changed between the v1.00 that my cam shipped with and the current v1.03
The on/off setting for date/time onscreen display is hidden where you'd never find it - not under "Audio & Video" nor "Time & Date" but under Admin/Device setting! It took me forever to find this!
Unlike other IP cams you cannot set frame rate (FPS) to any #, you must select one of predefined settings (1/2/3/5/10/15/30)
OTHER:
Another reviewer says that the camera is not good for "outdoor" use, giving a washed out picture. He/she must have missed the option to set indoor OR outdoor setting. If set to indoor (the default) a bright outdoor display WILL be washed out.
Also, the same reviewer mentioned that there is no way to view the camera without logging in. This is incorrect, there IS a way to do so using VLC to view the camera's RTSP feed (which does NOT require logging into the camera). In VLC select File/Open Network Stream and enter rtsp://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx/play2.sdp to view the camera's streaming video (naturally xxx represents the IP address). You can adjust different profiles in Audio/Video setup to configure RTSP resolution, quality, frame rate, etc as needed. (VLC is free software)
CONCLUSION:
Unless you need either the potential simplicity of the mydlink solution to view remotely using the internet (which does not require configuring port forwarding on your router) OR the adjustable focus lens OR the low light feature I would recommend the cheaper Linksys WVC80N over this camera. Note that neither the DCS-1130 or the WVC80N are true day/night cameras - there are no infrared LEDs on either cam so you WILL need a light source at all times to see anything.
You may want to also take a look at the TRENDnet TV-IP602WN ProView Wireless Pan/Tilt/Zoom Internet Surveillance Camera as well. This is basically the same camera in a Pan/Tilt version.
I hope you find this review useful!

I originally bought this camera to use as a baby monitor. I figured this would be better than a typical baby monitor because I could view it using the iPhone app remotely, or view it on any laptop in my house. Video quality is also WAY better than most baby monitors I've seen and this camera is also cheaper. I also like the idea of expandability that an IP camera offers.

One of main reasons for buying this IP camera was it advertised that it could be viewed remotely without having to open up ports on your router by using the mydlink.com website. Viewing mydlink from my home, seemed to work, but as soon as I tried viewing it from outside, it was hit or miss. When I was able to connect, I would only get a 30 second view before having to reconnect again. I was also hoping that I could view the camera from my work, but it seems my work blocks mydlink from working. I had access to the site, but no camera view. Depending on your company's firewall policy, they may block viewing. I ended up opening a port on my router to view the camera which turned out to be much more reliable that using mydlink. Plus no problems viewing from work.

Initial setup was pretty easy as long as you use IE. If you use firefox, I don't think you can get the camera fully setup. There are a lot of features missing if you login into the camera using firefox. I also have a Mac and using Safari seems to be even worse. After trying to open the camera's webpage, I get a popup asking if I want to run sound. It seems I only have a few seconds to either hit run or cancel before Safari locks up (spinning beach ball). I would only buy this camera if you have a PC running IE (at least for setup). Although once you have it setup, I didn't have any problems viewing it using firefox or on my iPad using the webpage or the free iPhone app (from my own network).

Would I buy another Dlink camera? Probably not. After talking with a friend, I discovered the Foscam IP cameras which are cheaper (available from Amazon, too), and have IR for night vision which makes it viewable in light or dark.

At first I was delighted to be able to observe (and listen to) my animals (dogs, goats, llamas, etc) from anywhere via the web, in spite of the hit-or-miss installation software. So I bought two more. The last refused to install until many attempts and repeated reboots. Then I turned to more permanently install the first camera. During the fine adjustment of the camera position it rebooted back to square one --- there is a button on the side of the camera that speeds setup with certain routers. What sort of a designer places a reboot on exactly the surface most touched when handling the camera?

Colors are washed out by normal sunlight. The audio is inferior. On the other hand a web camera is a wonderful thing.

I bought one of these cameras with the intention of testing before I purchased a few more. My wife and I had been broken into and this was our plan to secure our home. Our alarm system was put in place a few weeks prior.

The idea was to use IP cameras and record at the home. I am a programmer with a fair amount of Technical experience so I thought that all would go well. It did not!

I had no problem setting up the camera at home and getting to work at mydLink.com. Little did I know it was not working from outside my Network. I went to work and the camera was not showing up. I had my sister try the thing and it was a no go.

I called DLink's Technical support on numerours occasions. Their support was from India or Pakistan so communication was terrible. One guy was rude and he put be on hold and never came back. They did not try to help me. They pointed to my A T & T router / firewall and said that I need to make sure port 80 was open. It was open.

So I called my A T & T technical support. I had to upscale the issue to A T & T's premier support to find a person that could even spell Firewall. This was okay but would cost me $53 but I finally found a guy that knew something. He took over my computer and we stepped through almost every Firewall setting available. I would assist him as needed and I learned a little about Firewalls along the way. We started by disabling the firewall completely to see if this would work. It did not work.. In fact after 3 hours of this he gave up and so did I. I sent the thing back the next day.

I also had concerns about their client based software (not myDLink) that would allow the cameras to record and had various other functions. I installed the software from the included CD and it did not work.

I found an update on their web site and installed it. It seemed to work. I could see my camera. What concerned me was how horrible it was! It looked like it was written 10+ years ago and maybe out-sourced to a foreign company. It looked to be DOS based. I do have a lot of experience with this...India, china, etc... I am an IT manager. There was no help file and all was a crap-shoot to figure out all the various functions. It was bad!

Their web site and forum was weak too. Oh well, maybe I am too critical and just pissed off. <grin> I think I will spend some money and find one at a store that I can take back!!!!

I bought this camera because there has been some vandalism on my street. This camera was relatively easy to set-up. It took about twenty minutes for the initial set-up of the camera and registering for my d-link. It took a little longer because there was a little trouble communicating with the camera via my computer using the cable modem. Expect to spend some time to configuring all the settings to what you want. The learning curve for me was about thirty minutes. You might have to play with the motion detection settings to get it just right. The software allows you to select what part of the camera's view (image) you want the motion detection to trigger. In my case, my camera points at my driveway. I turned off any motion from the road in front of my driveway.

Pros:
Wireless- so you only need to hook up power..
Live Video-Can watch live and/or record it.
Can record audio.
Can turn off indicator light on camera.
Software allows you customize almost every aspect of the camera.
Can have the camera send you an email and photo when motion detection is triggered.
Image and Video is timestamped.

Cons:
Must have a PC to access software or viewing of live video (no mac support).
Camera requires some time and patience to get all the settings to your liking.
Have to update time and date yourself. I had trouble setting up the automatic method.

We have two of the model 930L cameras and they work fine from a PC laptop but do not work from an iPhone. One of the two will work, meaning it can be viewed. The second reports a network error. The network is fine as it works flawlessly from the laptop. I have tried rebooting the router, uninstalling & reinstalling the Mydlink Lite app and get the same results. I tried for weeks to obtain technical assistance from Mydlink and they had nothing to offer. It's not just my phone - we have 6 other smart phones, from Connecticut to California and all report the same problem. The cameras, router, modem and computer are located in a small condo, so there is no signal problem.

1. I've got 5 dlink 1130's at our cottage. All but one is pointed outdoors. the gentleman who said they don't work outdoors needs to look at the image configuration settings -- there is a specific setting where you tell the cameras whether the light source is INDOORS or OUTDOORS.

Once you configure it to OUTDOORS they work fine.

2. While these cameras have 10x digital zoom, you can no longer use that in the mydlink web application. Somebody at Dlink decided to dumb it down to what the 93x's can handle (4x), and thus those of us with the more expensive 1130's now can't use the digital pan / zoom like we used to. The mydlink zoom only enlarges the centre portion of the picture, so make sure you point the camera where you need it, if you're using the mydlink application.

If you log directly into the camera you can still use the digital pan and zoom which is fantastic. Please Dlink -- bring it back to mydlink!!!!

3. The cameras are decent for the price. If you are looking for a camera that can show you 150 feet away, then stick with the 1130's as you can manually change the focus spot, and they've got a wide field of view. The 930's are for short range only.

4. The more complex functions for port functions aren't well explained in the manuals. You may have to go to the on-line forums for help, but for the most part things work well.

5. Light: These work well anything there is a fair amount of light (basically twilight to sunset).

6. Motion sensing: Is typical of other cameras at this level. When looking outdoors it gets tricked by changes in sunlight and clouds as the imager is comparing past images with current images. If there is enough of a change, it triggers the motion detection. You'll see most camera manufacturers say not to use motion detection outside -- but this is just a cover-your-bottom explanation so that they don't take complaints from customers. If you understand what you're getting, then it's not a big deal. When it triggers and email, just filter your emails into separate folders to minimize the clogging up of your inbox.

The one thing I don't like about the motion detection is it seems to take a while for the camera to "reset" itself. So, while I had someone walk across the 80 feet of my property while we were away, the camera only picked up the first image. It never sent additional images. You can play with sensititivity, but that didn't seem to be the issue.

I recently bought a cisco wvc210 low-end PTZ camera to augment our cottage cameras. While I can't get access via mydlink, I can get to it from the web and use it's pan function to view our entire waterfront.

So, all in all, the 1130's are decent low-end cameras that you can access over the web with mydlink (extremely simple) or other handheld applications for android, etc.