Customer Reviews

D-Link 10/100 Fast Ethernet Internet Camera

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

 

 

I bought DCS910 in Nov.2008 and DCS920 one month later. I am quite satisfied with both of them and I did not meet any problem till now, or say I could solve the problems that I have found.

The network attached camera supports up to 640x480 in resolution. It is higher then lots of other network attached camera which has only 320x240. So the image quality is quite good. It has good vision in dim light. you could see image or video on your web browser. It supports both MS ActiveX and Sun Java for live video monitoring but it does NOT support sound :(
You may need to install ActiveX control plug-in and Sun Java plug-in for your browser to support live video.

The supplied DViewCam software also supports monitoring up to 32 cameras and you could record videos into computer hard disk. I have not used video record feture till now because it requires turning on computer and consumes too much router/switch band width. I think check from web from time to time is good enough for my needs.

It support user account management, NTP time sync, DDNS name service, FTP and email deliver of photos at the frequency you defined.

The device does not support SSL protocol, so your password could not be encrypted for delivery. So you could not use https or ftps for secured communication. But this is understandable because encryption cost too much resources for the embeded system. You could not expect too much from tiny embeded device. Anyway, normal web access and FTP upload are good enough if you do not have too much security concern.

It is quite simple to access the device from within the internal/home network because you PC and the camera are in the same network segment. But if you want to access the device from external/Internet, there are some other things to take care. You need to have some basic networking concept for the setup.

I have seen one user complain the tech support and blame the device to be not usable. I could understand the mensioned situation. It is not the user's fault nor the product's fault. Tech support is not wrong on what they said but they should explain clearly on the technical background and guide the user for a smooth set up. User is not network expert so it will be a little difficult for them to understand and follow the network rules.

Normally, ISP will only give one dynamic IP address to a user. The IP address will change when you turn on the router or after a certain period of time. So you need to keep track to your current IP address on the WAN port of your router. This is usually done by register a DDNS service(free or paid service). Most router support DDNS auto update service and this camera also supports it but you need to set it up in your device. All the devices in your home network will share this single IP address. Network applications will monitor communication port for TCP/IP communication. Different devices in your network have different unique IP address. The IP address for a specific device is unique in the network. So if you want to access your camera through the internet in a remote location, you need to have DDNS service set; set up a internal static IP address to your camera; setup your router port forward to your camera IP address. For example, use http://dcs910.mydomainname.com:9011/ to access your camera, you need to buy(or register a free child domain name from some website) your domain name 'mydomainname.com'; register your domain name to a DDNS server(paid or free service); setup your router to auto update DDNS for your current IP address; set router to forward 9011 port request to the 80 port of the static internal IP address that you have assigned to your camera(such as 192.168.0.3 depends on the settings on your router and camera). You may need an experienced friend to help you for the setting.

Even if you have set everything correctly, it not necessarily means you could watch live video in your office. You should be able to access static current image from web browser in your office but live video is another story. Normally office network is protected by firewall on gateway. Most office firewall uses proxy and only open ports for web requests and some predefined application ports and bann all other communications. The ActiveX and Java live video of this device may need dedicated port connection to open communication session but this will not be allowed by default on the proxy. So unless you know your network administrator and could ask them open the port for you, you will not able to access live video in office. This is not the problem of the device, it is the rule of the network security. But anyway, you could see still image of your home which is good enough.

I have used my DCS910 and DCS920 for 3 months and I am quite satisfied with the device. I would like to highly recommand this device to you for its clear image, easy setup(if you understand networking in and out), and resonable price.

Thae camera works fine. the picture is decent and its ability to upload to an FTP site is excellent for keeping security pictures off site. The setup software, while nothing to brag about, does what it is supposed to.

Now, for the "gotcha". D-Link fails to mention that its D-ViewCam administrator software which is needed to store the live output to a hard drive, will not work on either XP or Vista 64 bit operating systems. It weill only work on 32 bit operating systems. I'd have given this product 5 stars if it hadn't been for their failure to provide that piece of necessary information.

The camera works okay. But is getting obsolete compared to current technology and current models. The user interface is lacking. You can view a current screen snapshot on an iPhone. But streaming doesn't work unless you watch it through a PC Computer with Windows or Java. Gets the job done, but kind of lame compared to today's technology. Price was dirt-cheap, so in that respect it was a good deal.

I am only using the DCS910 to upload stills to a web site for monitoring our dogs while at work. Does the job very well with no issues. Using Dynamic DNS I can log in and see real time video which is a bonus. Have never used the software so I can't speak to that but the camera is solid. Adding this review after I came back and ordered a second DCS910.

I spent hours trying to get this camera to work reliably with the included software, and it is simply too buggy. This is beta-grade software. I installed it on a dell pc with a fresh install of XP Pro. The computer is well above the minimum standards required. There is not one bit of other software installed on this PC, including antivirus. I can get to the camera through a web browser just fine, and the picture is pretty good for this price point. However, when trying to add the camera to the Dlink viewer application (where you can supposedly manage up to 32 cameras), I give this software an epic FAIL. At first, it would not discover the camera at all, even though the other software setup wizard that came with it found it just fine. I found out through digging through the forums that you cannot set a password on the camera, even though the instructions say you can. I then got the viewer software to pick up the camera, but not reliably. It frequently "lost video". All in all, it was a giant waste of time. The hardware is pretty good for the price point, but the software ruins it completely. My advice is to look elsewhere, unless you just want to view live video in a web browser, which works fine. I am returning the 3 I bought.

It took over 5 hours with "tech support" to get it working on my LAN. Many more hours and still cannot access it from a remote site.
Biggest problem is that the "techs" all have English as a 2nd language. I thought I was talking to someone in a 3rd world country until
I was told they were in Fountain Valley, CA.
I am very dissatisfied but ya know you get what ya pay for. I'm now shopping for one that will not be such a pain.

I got this camera. It does not have the clearest picture.

The camera looks like it is about to tilt over because of the design. Especially when you have two cables on the back.

It work for me. Never a disconnect. Maybe its because I have a router with 3rd party software.

first, D-link customer service did (is doing) a BAD job!!

i called for tech support/help with this camera (and other dlink cameras as well, yes, i like to try diff models); asking "why there is no video; and i see blank screen only"

1) always find excuse, such as "you didnt buy it through dlink store", "your internet service provider block it", "your pc has firewall", "you are using your WORK MACHINE", etc.

2) no straight answer given, "can you try another network?", "can you turn off, and on your internet, pc, etc"

after hours, the solution is, "i will give you a case number, for REPLACEMENT."

I DONT NEED REPLACEMENT !! even if i need replacement, can i get replacement on customer service/tech support?!?!?!

will never buy d-link product again !