Side by Side Comparison of: Amcrest vs D-Link

The picture quality is decent for the live view. If you access the "Playback" feature (where you can see video from hours or days ago) the video quality gets clearer.
It was very simple to set up and all of the items needed were shipped with good packaging.
You get four cords for the four cameras to connect. Two of the cords are shorter (60') than the other two (100').
I saw a review about the DVR being loud, but I don't think it is. It's quiet enough for me. It sounds almost like the sound a computer CPU would make while it's on.
I did not receive any circular stickers showing where to drill the holes like the Amcrest video tutorial online shows. You might have to measure the holes yourself.

Since we moved into our home several years ago we always thought that having an alarm system (Vivint) was all we'd ever need to protect our home. We also put up several yard signs indicating that our home was indeed protected by an alarm system and that would be burglars should find another home to plunder.

Nevertheless, our home was burglarized and when the police arrived the very first thing they asked us was if we had a video camera that possibly got a picture of the bad guys or their vehicle. That's when it hit me, if you don't have a camera system keeping an eye on your home when you are away then you are blind to anything that happens at your home when you're away.

The next day I ordered the Amcrest 720P HD 4CH system.

The most difficult part of the installation by FAR having to run the cabling through my attic. Dripping in sweat, covered in insulation, and working in very confined spaces almost got the best of me, but I knew that in the end that it would be worth it.

When the cabling was finished and I started up the system and saw the HD quality video feed I was immediately impressed. For a little background on myself, I'm a network engineer and I'm used to working with Cisco routers, switches, etc that cost tens of thousands of dollars. The thought of purchasing a complete home video surveillance system (minus monitor) for $325 had me initially thinking that this wasn't going to be a quality product and I must say that I was wrong. What an excellent product this is and a great investment for only several hundred bucks!

Take it from me and buy an Amcrest system to supplement your existing home security system. You will be glad that you did!

Why I bought it:
My wife wanted to purchase a security monitoring service and after doing some research I was unimpressed with reviews and the cost for the services from many companies in my area, so I decided to buy and install my own. The quality of this product is great for what I was needing and I now have my own personal monitoring system around my home.

I have absolutely no experience with video security systems and this was incredibly easy to install. I honestly did not even read the instructions because it seemed pretty straight forward, and it was. The hardest part of the install was moving around my attic with the wiring, but that had nothing to with the product. It took about six hours to install all 4 cameras with most of that time being spent crawling through tight spaces in my attic to connect the wires into the video cameras. The time spent setting up the equipment was maybe 30 minutes. I was also very happy to see that I could hook this up to my television and now with the push of a button I can see all four cameras on my television screen. This is great for checking the front door when there is an unexpected visitor, or to see what the noise was in my backyard.

There is also an app for this video security system that works perfectly. From anywhere I can instantly check on my home. I have used the app every day since I installed the system and I have never had any problems with it.

I honestly do not have any complaints with this product and my wife is satisfied with these security system in place of a pricey monitoring system. This has saved me a lot of money and I am completely satisfied (I really wasn't expecting something this great considering how affordable it was). I would recommend this product to anyone in search of a home video security system. Feel free to ask me any questions you have.

Amcrest 720P:
1) Cameras are heavy-duty metal, not plastic.
2) Set-up was pretty easy. I learn more from visual examples instead of a manual, so if you are like me I suggest you review the various Youtube video's instead of the manual. Most folks don't read instructions, but at least check out the video's first.
3) Iphone app was fairly easy, but had to make adjustments in the phone settings for it to work. Problem is, I have too many internet users at home, so my supply of internet won't support all of the users and the HDCVI. Not a big deal because when you're away you can simply connect it up to the router then.
4) Had a small technical issue five days after installation, but Amcrest made it right and very fast.
5) I purchased the 4 camera system, but I highly suggest you buy the 8 camera system because once you see the cameras in person, you will want more viewing angles. Since you can't add cameras to a 4 camera system, you are better served getting the 8 system and only use the number of cameras you want/need. I now wish I had the capability to add 2 more cameras. The system works just fine with 1 hooked up or all connected. So it's better to have the ability to add more if needed.
6) The most impressive thing is one of the cameras aided the Police to identify burglars in the neighborhood only 12 hours after initial installation! When the Police came to review the footage, I had to "learn up" quick on how to review the recorded footage.

Bottom line is most electronics are made in China, but I believe there are certain grades of products made there. The Amcrest 720P is not the cheapest grade and probably a higher grade than you would find at your local box store retailer or home supply warehouse. I like the 720P over the 960H because it's much clearer and has a wider viewing angle.

I will be referring this product to my friends.

My first outdoor security camera system and straight up this is what sold me on this one over any others on Amazon.... 1. Picture quality is great 2. Night vision is amazing. 3. I have an app on my iPhone and works great every time. Last thing that really sold me was I called a couple of customer service companies phone numbers to ask questions about the product and amcrest was the ONLY one who answered the phone EVERY TIME and answered all my questions. GREAT PRODUCT very cool to see on my phone all the cameras from work.

For months, after two attempts and returning orders from other wireless survellance camera manufacturer, I finally ordered the RIGHT one!... I depend so much in the volume of honest reviews and it pays off... The instruction manual that comes with it exactly described the procedure for setting up this camera... And yes, it is wireless and can be accessed in iphone, ipad, android, desktop computer and laptop... I did not tried in the KindleFire yet but the capabilities outweighs the availability. Its not HD but the video capture is acceptable enough to its purpose... I hope that the power cord that comes with it is longer. I strongly recommend this to anyone...

Tremendous value for a cloud based cam. I set this up in under 10 minutes on my home network and use their app on my iPhone. I love the app because you can access all your D Link cams via your D Link account which you set up during install. Adding additional cameras is very easy, I have 3 (front door, rear door and garage door).

*** Tip: run the correct install wizard or it won't see your camera. *** Check your box label for the correct version and then download and run that one.

I set up overlooking my front door which is on a semi busy street and sidewalk. In advanced settings from the website I activated motion detection and have it email me 6 pics in 1 second increments. In addition I set up a geo zone so it only targets anyone on my front steps to my door. It does not alert me or send me pics for anyone walking on sidewalk or driving by.

** Tip: from website in the Advanced settings go to video and set to the highest resolution so it's 480p or it will default to 240p, it's a pretty big difference. **

If you need help to set up your email for receiving pics, with the SMTP settings, google "SMTP Yahoo" (or your email provider).

For $35 this is a tremendous value. Take some time to learn the interface and adjust the settings and you will love this product. Kudos to D Link for a quality value product.

I agree with other reviews that say it is extremely easy to set up and that the FREE smartphone app makes this product a great choice for remote viewing of whatever.

As noted in other reviews the microphone is not very sensitive. I have found that the you can easily listen to the sound if you either use earphones or an powered amplifier. You will not be able to hear the sound through a passive system or a system that uses low amplification (like a standard PC, an iPad or an iPhone).

My experience with it in an outdoor environment disagrees somewhat with other reviews. I placed one under an eve that keeps any possible rain or snow away from the unit and it has functioned flawlessly even when the temperature outside was -15 degrees Farenheit. The problem may be that snow whipped up by high wind may get to the unit. I have covered exposed areas with additional protective material (duct tape mostly) in order to head off problems caused by blowing snow. I suppose that blowing snow will eventually find a way into the unit but until then the value of being able to view areas outside my house has greater value than replacing the unit every few years.

They are so light that I use velcro to position some.

Finally, I find that these units are very sensitive to having other units also using wireless broadcasting, such that I have to terminate one connection before I bring up another. For simultaneous viewing you should use wired connections so that wireless broadcasting interference does not get in the way. I suppose that if you separate units with enough physical distance between them that they will not interfere with each other but beware that atmospheric conditions (humidity, temperature, ... ) will make what works at one time quit working when conditions change. There are apps from Dlink that allow you to view multiple video cameras simultaneously but only 1 at a time can be "real-time", the others are "snapshots" that are refreshed periodically or you can manually refresh by selecting that camera to be real time.

I never rate a product as 5 stars unless it is superb.

UPDATE
Have found out why it can be difficult to set up. For the process to work the camera needs to involve Dlink servers in California. Completing the process involves how fast the servers respond (sometimes they are off-line) and the speed of the Internet connection (which is a function of your ISP and the condition of your connection wiring) - users tend to be impatient during the setup process and need to wait 2 or 3 minutes before expecting a response from the dlink server (during the discovery process). In my setups (i have multiple units) the unit was often not discovered on the first attempt so i would do something else for a while and then rescan (discover) for the unit to compete the setup process. So far 16 units have eventually successfully completed setup.

I purchased this camera after a string of home invasions on our street. I placed it near our back door and configured it to email images when it detected motion. After a week or so I awoke to several high quality images of an uninvited person at our back door at 3:30am. The police were impressed with the images. They used identifying features such as tattoos and facial images to identify and arrest the person.

I have been very impressed with the camera and have recommended it to several others.

i got this to keep an eye on my two year old twins as they jump in their beds when they should be asleep.

Pros: good night vision. good quality video. IPHONE APP!!!! Setup took about 5 min and was super easy.

CONS: So far, not many. the Audio has a lot of static but volume is fine. I just need it to hear them cry.

UPDATE: after a >1 yr of use, I still like this camera and bought a second one. That said, don't expect high quality images or sound. I just use this to see what the kids are doing without sticking my head in the room, which can distract them from falling asleep. Access to the camera via computer, ipad, iphone, is great.

Amcrest HD 720P 4CH Video Security System - Four 1280TVL 1.0-Megapixel Weatherproof IP66 Bullet Cameras, 65ft IR LED Night Vision, 1TB HDD, HD Over Analog/BNC, Smartphone View (Black)This is a great DVR. You get "HD" quality video from four included cameras. Don't jump right away for this system. Do your research! Find out if this is what you want or (My advice) splurge for 1080p or above or even make the ultimate investment and go with IP cameras/ NVR (network video recorder.) You may ask "Why?" Well there's a few reasons: One, HDCVI. (this camera type, [uses coax type lines] ) only allows up to 1080p. Now you may think this is okay, but with IP (internet wired) cameras you can get a much higer resolution/ pixel count and that's going to mean a better image altogether than what is even imaginable with that of HDCVI cameras such as these. Second, these cameras require an additional power block with four pigtails (one for each channel); whereas IP (internet) cameras can use Poe ( power over ethernet) to use one cable for data and power with no separate adapters or wires. Finally, the maximum megapixels (resolutions) HDCVI can get is a little over 2 megapixel. Here on amazon there are dome and bullet IP cameras found that are 3,4, and 5 megapixels. Search for these TRULY high def. cameras and you can read the reviews and find that they have stunning quality that will blow these particular cameras out of the water.SO! Why would I recommend these cameras then if you can find better? (much better DOES exist) It boils down thing one thing and one thing only: Cost. I could have gotten a set JUST like this with a hard drive same size and and four cameras but instead they be 1080p with 2.1 megapixel cameras but the price jumps to $400. The product set I am referring to is here: Amcrest Full-HD 1080P 4CH Video Security System - Four 1920TVL 2.1-Megapixel Weatherproof IP66 Bullet Cameras, 65ft IR LED Night Vision, 2TB HDD, HD Over Analog/BNC, Smartphone View (Black)So if you are tight on a budget, as my family was, these cameras are great, but do come with the price of pulling your wires to the cameras from the dvr. This is by far the most difficult and time consuming part. Be sure you have a fish tape to help you pull the wires. This will help you greatly. Just an FYI, this system is listed as a "DIY" system, but can be a little daunting for those without a technical background, so find a friend/ relative to help you with initial set up. If you are technically skilled and/ or a die hard DIY'er have at it!! I loved installing it and this is not my first amcrest system I have installed.I did NOT have to port forward my DVR/ to my router, but I did set it up as a back door to my DVR in the event I need it, I can just use a browser to access the remote graphic user interface (GUI). One quirky thing about the web browser, be it on the local network (LAN) or remotely (WAN) your browser has to have a plug-in installed. This could be inconvenient if you're using a public PC or a friend's computer; just a tid-bid of info.I read so many reviews on this product before I bought it, thinking remote viewing was going to be a nightmare, but I felt good when I was able to get it up with motion alerts without the help of Amcrest support. For most people you SHOULD be able to go into main menu> network settings> all the way to bottom of left column to "P2P" option> and finally check "Enable." From here you should be able to scan the QR code it generates in your app and make a "peer to Peer (P2P)" connection without having to port forward in most cases.This is not a fancy system. You CAN find better and you can spend boat loads more of money but I chose this economical system and I am very happy with it based on what I spent. The next system that I invest in will be an IP based camera system with a built in power supply for the cameras in the NVR, but that's down the road when I can burn through more money lol. Comment or message me with questions. I hope I am able to help. Thanks!

I purchased the system on Prime day. The mailbox was demolished with fireworks over the 4th so I now needed surveillance to keep and record video of the vandals. I read the instructions and was a bit overwhelmed but in actuality it was very easy. You need a monitor for the setup, and I didn't want to run Ethernet cable, so I took a recommendation and purchased a TP-Link extender, I have only hooked up 2 cameras off the garage but they work great. I had initially set them on all the time, but have since changed them to motion. The last 2 cameras will require me to attach them to the soffets and drop the lines from the attic to the basement where the recorder is located. I can check everything from my smart phone from the Amcrest link app. So far, so good - day time recording is great, night time is OK but can give you some strange sights, I get some reflected glare from a spider web on a illuminated driveway. Overall, it came together A+ and the price couldn't be beat. Update 9/23/16, I'm reducing my stars to 4, the reason being is that while the app works, and the software works on my Mac Pro notebook, there is no way to review a recording using a 'fast forward ' option because it doesn't exist in the software. To review using 'fast forward ' you have to be in front of the HDD unit and then use the supplied remote, max is 16x and using a remote monitor plugged into the HDD. Amcrest told me that they are aware of the issue and working on it - bummer. Update 10/15/16, finished hooking up the last 2 cameras, front door and rear deck, every thing went smoothly, had to run the wires down from the attic to the basement through a wall, cut the sheet rock top and bottom, drilled hole through header and base boards, ran the wires, then put back the sheet rock and retaped. Attached the cameras, set up the motion area that I wanted covered, had the wife and dog go out the back door and then went back to the main unit and did a review playback, everything worked just fine. Installation book could use some clarity on the instructions. Bottom line, correct install with hidden wires takes some thought time and some physical work, items work as stated, overall clarity is really decent, daytime better than total darkness, but the night is decent. I know I made the right choice with the wired cameras, because the wifi cameras require a 115 outlet for the power transformer. The front and rear cameras are mounted on my soffets and we have a raised ranch, not something I want to have to climb a ladder to do very often. Just leave slack in all of the wires, attic in case you need to replace a non-working camera, at the HDD unit in case you need to change the camera power supply. Bottom line, think things out, draw up a plan, have the necessary tools, drill bits, stud finder, tape compound, etc. I would give it 5 stars if the instructions were better and you could do a review from my iPhone/smartphone with a fast forward. Latest 7/17 upgraded to 3TB HD - wired is way to go, wireless cameras can be hacked.

Gave this 4 because it does work and the menus are good english language sensible menus. I have bought so many of these from over seas vendors that cannot even structure menus and buttons with the english language. I will caution you that it has a fan inside and the fan is way too high RPM (my opinion). I ended up snipping the red wire and putting a resistor inline to slow it to 50%. still can hear it but its much less noisy. Otherwise the software is ...average compared to other products like this.

I ordered this 8CH surveillance system and I received it within three days. I took it out of the box and hook it up for a test run and it worked great. One of the 100 ft. cords was faulty and I did not receive the remote control with it. I contacted Amcrest through there website explained the matter and within three day I had the remote and a replacement cord. So far it has been work very well and it is as clear as your own eyesight. I'm happy I went with the eight camera instead of the four. Again no complaints here so far.

Oct 14, 2015 This is my second write up on this system. The system is working fine and every once in awhile around two am the system seems to reboot itself and wake me up to a alarming noise. One of my cameras will flicker and blink and also goes out for a few seconds and then comes back on. I have a feeling I will need to purchase another camera in the future. Other then that it is still a nice working system.

Jan 31, 2016 I've had this system for a little over five months now and a few things I do not like. First; I have one camera that goes out when the temperature goes below 35 degrees, and a second one flickers in cold weather also. Second; In the morning around seven o'clock the system will try to reboot itself to locate the camera that it has lost its signal in the cold weather. Sometime I will turn the DVR off until it warms up outside for the camera so I will not here the beeping every 5 minutes. Third; You can hear the hard drive while it is running with a humming sound. Overall it is a good system so far, and very clear during the day and night.

Here are a few helpful tips to save you time and money:-Buy longer cables -- it's easy to underestimate the length you'll need, and these VideoSecu 4 Pack 150 Feet Pre-made All-in-One Video Power CCTV Security Camera Cables with BNC to RCA Adapter Connector 1OA were affordable and work well-Unless you're putting the DVR unit right next to your modem or router, then I highly recommend buying a Wifi bridge (TP-LINK TL-WA801ND Wireless N300 2T2R Access Point, 2.4Ghz 300Mbps, 802.11b/g/n, AP/Client/Bridge/Repeater, 2x 4dBi, Passive POE). This will transform the system into a wireless system. It's very easy to configure and basically acts as a wireless adapter for the DVR unit-If using an iPhone/iPad to remotely view the feed, DO NOT BUY THE "PRO" VERSION app - it does not support this unit. However, the free version does, and works very wellMy only gripe is that one of the cameras is not working. Amcrest says they'll send me a new one when I send it back. Depending on how that turns out, I may be adjusting the rating.See the pic for the view from the iPhone app:

This is a great system. I purchased the 1TB / 4 bullet cameras / 720p / 1280TVL system for $379. I had a security specialist install the wiring, which is no small job! The resolution is amazing (see my attached pictures; one is daytime, one is night time)! It was rather a nightmare to get the system's software set up correctly, to get it online, and to get customer service. If you call their customer service line - you will likely always be about the 14th caller - and you wait and wait and wait...only to get to someone in India who doesn't understand how to help you, AT ALL. They'll then perhaps take your name and number and tell you someone will call you back - this never actually happens. The user manual, btw, is absolutely horrible and will get you nowhere! I can't even explain just how bad it is. I finally emailed the company and asked for some human help so I could get set up; by the next day I had an email with a direct phone number to the most helpful man EVER! He was located in TX, btw, not overseas. He got me online first, and then he was able to remote-in to my PC and get my system all set-up the way I wanted it set up. He was utterly amazing, and I never would've figured out on my own what he did to get the system up and running. So, I knocked off a star for not having immediate customer service available, and for the system not being user-friendly or intuitive. Once you do get it hooked up though, it's quite an amazing little system. You can also access your system via your phone using the Amcrest View app....which does, btw, seem to crash at times.

This is the cheapest wi-fi camera you can get that actually works and isn't overly vulnerable to security exploits. (Perhaps I'm paranoid, but there's good reason to believe that the Chinese brands of electronics have privacy compromising backdoor exploits. For about $10 extra, it's worth the peace of mind.)

GOOD:
1. Fantastic price. Under $35 for a fully functioning wireless surveillance camera is insane. You could pay 5x that!
2. 100% uptime. Once setup, this camera performs reliably. Seamlessly reconnects to your network as needed. This is a zero intervention device.
3. Local and remote viewing. The software for your phone is pretty good (once you get it setup), and you can view your camera from anywhere.
4. You wont be asked (or tricked) into subscribing to a service to view or store your videos. I don't think D-Link even offers one.

BAD:
1. D-Link devices are notoriously difficult to setup, and this camera is no exception. Many of the bad reviews of D-Link devices are from purchasers who give up in frustration, and frankly I can't blame them. Unless you have patience and at least a little bit of home technology experience, beware. (The typical consumer will be happier paying the extra $$$ for the Nest camera.)
2. Motion detection and sound pickup are primitive. Lots of experimentation may be needed to get the settings just the way you want them. Don't expect professional results.

Took me over an hour to setup my camera, and I admit I came close to throwing up my hands. The solution was to choose a different model of camera from the setup menu than the model that I purchased, and that seemed to do the trick. Other users have reported other issues and fixes. But what those of us who eventually got this working have in common was patience and some free time. If you have these traits, and want to save a buck on video security, the D-Link camera may be for you.

I plan to expand my system with additional cameras, as well as D-Link's also notorious video security server. God help me.

When I got this camera, I could not get it to work using the software provided my D-Link. The camera would not configure using the wizard for Mac and also the D-Link app for the iPhone. I decided I had a bad camera and so Amazon sent me another one with the intent of me sending this one back to them. So, when I got the replacement, I had the same issues with the install. I was just about to give up but then decided to use the WPS button on the router and the camera. The install instructions are a little vague and I was under the assumption that you needed another piece of hardware called the registered Cloud Router to do this. But, I winged it and voila, camera hooked up and I was able to ip address into it with the web browser to finish the configuration process. As I still had the first camera, I followed the same steps and got it up and running. After both cameras were hooked up to my router, I tried to use the D-Link software and it still could not find either camera. But, I did find a couple of third party apps, IP Camera Viewer 2 for the Mac, and OWLR in the iTunes store for the iPhone that allows me to see the cameras. At that point, it was just a matter of signing into each camera using my browser, setting up FTP, and then send images from both cameras to my Weather Underground page (KCAMARKL9). You can go to it, click on the webcam box under the map and then click on my image. There are two cameras there and what you see is probably taken a minute or so ago from cameras. Enjoy!! BTW, I would recommend these cameras even though I have them indoors looking out. They're cheap enough and actually have a pretty good picture. Just throw away the crappy install instructions and supporting software and go with a third party app. As an aside, I decided to keep both cameras.

Camera won't link up. Have changed upnp settings, security settings and was on the phone with tech support for atleast 3 hours. I am a very tech savvy person. I think I just may have received a defective product. I will be contacting the seller to get another, to see if that is the issue. I really hate to leave 1 star reviews but when a product doesn't work/do what it's supposed to, that's what it deserves. So much for security.

UPDATE: After speaking with customer service they have fixed the issue and helped me very quickly to resolve the issue. Thankyou

Gave this a four only because instructions are not very clear on how to install wirelessly....I finally called tech support ( found phone number on website) and they walked me through the install.... The other thing is the cord isn't very long so might not be able to put it where you want/ need it and still be able to reach the electric outlet.....I just ordered my third one bd would recommend these for the price the picture is great and in color...

I purchased a pair of these D-Link DCS-932Ls along with a D-Link DIR-605L Wireless N router,D-Link DNR-202L Network Video Recorder and a Seagate 1TB external drive in order to build a (relatively) simple and (comparatively) inexpensive home surveillance "nanny cam" system that allowed remote viewing, continuous recording and motion detection without having to purchase a subscription or eat up tons of bandwidth uploading the video to someone else's cloud service.For the Novice user with one or two of these cameras who just wants live viewing, it should be a pretty simple proposition.The Push-Button WPS worked with minimal fiddling (had to try a couple of times) to connect the camera to the router, the software registered the cameras to D-Link's free "cloud" service (that serves to direct app requests to your cameras), and the free Android app does just what it says on the tin.If you're looking to set up a system like mine, it'll probably take a moderate level of technical know-how and a not-insignificant investment of time getting everything configured. I didn't find the D-Link community forums until after I got everything set up, but a few of the threads there might have saved me some grief.Features verified to work:- Wireless N connection to the router, configured using push-button WPS- Video at 640x480 at 12-15fps. (Daytime color and Night-time black-and white, but more on that under Issues below)- Night vision with IR LEDs. (When Night-mode is on, the front of the camera sports four red LEDs, but the illumination is otherwise undetectable to the naked eye)- Remote live view through mydlink.com, Android app, direct IP interface (though this one can be a little tricky to set up to work correctly from outside your network), Live View pane of the DNR-202L- Motion detection with ability to specify sensitivity and zones to ignore (I'm still tweaking this.)- Audio (but with some drawbacks detailed below)- Recording\Playback through D-Link DNR-202L Network Video Recorder. Continuous recording of Audio and Video with highlighting of Motion Detection events.Features I haven't tried:- iPhone app.- E-mail alerts on motion detection- FTP uploads - scheduled, on motion detection, or continuous- Dynamic DNS - D-Link offers a free DynDNS account, I guess? You can also sync the camera to a DDNS service.- User Accounts - you can set up sub accounts that do not have access to camera settings, but can still see the Live View- Recording using 3rd-party software. Other reviews report this is possible. I didn't want to tie up a home computer's CPU cycles, bandwidth, or storage with the recording responsibilities.Complaints\Issues:- Cameras are not HD. Max resolution is 640x480. That's sufficient for my purposes and cuts down on the amount of storage taken up. I've got the DNR-202L recording the two cameras at the max framerate the wireless bandwidth will allow, which is around 12-15fps, using "medium" quality MJPEG and it looks like I'll be getting around 8 days of continuous recording on a 1TB drive.- Restricted Field of View. 45 deg horizontal captures only a portion of the room, where some more expensive cameras will have a fov of 90 or even 120 degrees, which will capture an entire room if placed in a corner. Again, I've been able to place the cameras to capture what I need, and for the price you can probably purchase two of these for the price of one of the others. (See 3/20/2014 update at the end of this review.)- Day\Night automatic mode is ALMOST ALWAYS in black-and-white Night mode. Many times under normal room lighting you can switch to color Day mode and everything looks just fine, but the automatic Day\Night practically needs a supernova in your room to consider it bright enough to switch the IR off. Unfortunately, there's no adjustment for the sensitivity in the settings. You can set a schedule for Day-Night or set it to Always Day, Always Night or Manual, but none of those really seem like a proper solution. Supposedly, the firmware for the 942L (the next version up with the microSD card) has implemented a smarter algorithm for Day\Night detection, but there's no telling if that same fix will ever find its way to the 932L.- Only offers MJPEG encoding for video. The 942L also offers h.264 which offers considerable reduction in file size for recorded video (only matters if you're recording, which I am).- Audio isn't great. There's a constant background static and sound pickup can be faint. You can usually make out conversations that occurred within 7-10 feet of the camera if you turn up the volume and wear headphones, but be careful that the Day\Night mode doesn't switch while you're doing it because that can be DEAFENING.- AC adapter cable is SHORT. It's MAYBE 5 feet long. Considering most AC outlets are about a foot off the floor, and most cameras will be mounted in a corner near the ceiling, this probably won't be enough by itself. Both of my preferred locations required the use of an extension cord which just doesn't look nice. (See update 4/15/2014 below.)- Java security weirdness. If you view the Live View through the camera's direct IP interface (as opposed to the mydlink.com web interface or Android\iPhone app), recent Java security changes require you to add an exception for the camera's IP address to the Site List in the Java Security settings.- Documentation isn't fantastic. It's not awful, but there are certainly some gaps explaining esoteric settings. (Light frequency?) You have to find the documentation first, though.- Push notifications for disconnections. It's a minor thing, but you can turn on push notifications on your Android device for camera events, but you can't specify which events you want to hear about or ignore (e.g.: only motion). As it is, any time the wireless connection drops, even for a moment or two, I get a notification on my phone that the camera disconnected.Why This Particular Setup:- DCS-932L - The cameras offered Audio and nightvision at a decent quality much less expensively than other alternatives I've seen, as well as remote live viewing without the use of a subscription service- DIR-605L - I'd read you need to dedicate a router to your cameras to avoid bogging down other services on your network (e.g.: Netflix). In the end, I'm actually using it as a switch plus wireless access point (with LAN port to Lan port connection to the "parent" router and DHCP disabled on the 605L) so that the NVR and camera traffic is sequestered to the 605L, but the NVR and cameras are still on the same subnet as the rest of my computers, facilitating access.- DNR-202L - Local recording of (and remote access to) continuous Audio and Video without the use of a subscription service- Seagate 1TB portable external drive - the DNR-202L does not have its own storage, and requires an external USB hard drive. 1TB provides about 8 days of continuously-recorded 12-15fps "medium quality" MJPEG audio\video from two DCS-932Ls.The Other Alternatives I Considered:- Logitech Alert Indoor Master - My runner-up selection. Uses networking-over-power by communicating through special power adapters to avoid tying up your home network , has HD cameras with 130 degree fov, is probably easy to configure, and allows remote live viewing. Does not require a subscription for recording video, but my understanding is that local video recording is done by designating a home computer to do so using Logitech's included software or a 3rd party solution, although the camera's built-in microSD cards hold a certain amount of video until it's ready to be downloaded. This was roughly the same price as my setup, but only came with one camera, and additional cameras are nearly twice the price. There is some subscription service offered by Logitech, but I didn't see that it offered any meaningful benefits over the free service.- Netgear VueZone - Cameras are truly wireless, being battery operated, but they don't record audio. Requires a subscription or 3rd party software (on a home PC) for continuous recording and playback. The full-featured 110 degree fov camera with nightvision is twice as expensive as the 932L.- Foscam - No subscriptions, comparatively inexpensive, pan-tilt with two-way audio, but again - need to dedicate a PC with Foscam or 3rd-party sofware to recording and playback.- Lorex Wireless (and similar) - A true "surveillance system" with a dedicated DVR-type unit. Most require physical installation of BNC cables from the cameras to the DVR unit, although I did see a Lorex system with two wireless cameras at a big-box retailer for about the price I paid for my setup. The reviews were poor, so I dropped it from consideration.Two things that keep coming up in this review:- Subscriptions. It's a matter of principle for me, so it's a personal preference thing. I prefer to buy products rather than services. I get what I paid for and then I'm done putting money into it. Plus, I'm not at the mercy of a company who may discontinue the service before I'm done using it. I am using D-Link's mydlink cloud...thingy, but it's free, and it's not essential.- Use of a home PC for recording\playback purposes. I don't like the idea of using up CPU cycles, bandwidth, and storage space on my main computer for recording, plus I don't have to worry about the recording service starting back up automatically if there's a brief outage. With the NVR, you can access the recorded video for playback from any of the computers in the house (or remotely), and I've unhooked the power to the cameras and the NVR more than once to move them and had recording start back up very quickly without any intervention on my part.There you have it! I've had the system running for about a week now, so if I experience any issues with reliability down the road, I'll update my review.Update 03/20/2014: I installed one of those $6 add-on wide angle lenses (intended for iPhones and tablets) on each of my cameras, which provides a substantial increase to the limited field of view with the tradeoff of a slight decrease in image clarity. If you're considering something similar, I recommend a clip-style version of the 0.67x wide angle lens, since the magnetic versions can interfere with the IR filter operation. Because of the shape of the camera, you won't be able to use the clip itself (I've got mine attached with a dab of superglue), but you won't have to figure out how to remove the magnet.Update 04/15/2014: I purchased a pair of 12' 2.1mm x 5.5mm Male to Female DC Power Extension Cables to add extra length to the power cable (without running an AC extension cord halfway up the wall). So far, the cameras appear to function just fine with the extensions. The original DCS-932L plugs are angled, where these are straight, so the cord sticks out a bit farther from the back of the unit, but it's not a problem where I've got my cameras placed.

Good cameras but software and tech support is a problem. Picture is clear. Hardware setup was simple (plug and play) but setting up remote viewing was another story. The included instructions don't help. Actually tells you to go to YouTube to get more info. After about an hour I was able to review remotely on my phone and tablet. Everything was fine but after 4 weeks, I couldn't view remotely. It then took about 4 weeks of phone calls and emails to tech support before I finally got someone I could understand and who could make sense of what was happening. The final explanation was that the problem was that I was using a WiFi extender and that sometimes causes a problem even though he didn't know why. We then set up port forwarding and I can now view through the IP address.

I have to say it does its job but needs a few improvements.
Good: cameras are easy to install(if you consider camera installs easy in the first place), wire length included should work with most household installation(I have a two story 2200sqft house), 720p is quite clear on close range objects, DIY cameras, very extensive book included, online support (if you get on google or youtube), playback wonderful, phone app is free
Bad: wire quality poor or camera (some of my cameras flicker on and off randomly then reset themselves so I suspect its wiring), system randomly resets itself( I still have not found a consistent pattern to the shutdowns), no expandability unless you order another, booklet should be model specific not all inclusive, ptp setup is best left to the pros, phone app could use some improvement for the more savvy user(I only use for checking in)
Ugly: as I stated random resets of main unit, unit blows ports on my internet router every time there is a rainstorm( its up to 3 now), for the price this thing really should be able to add some extra wireless cameras, cords require power for every camera so prepare to get a 8-16 port power strip, and the motion sensitivity is waaaaaayyyyyyyyy to sensitive outside (example: wind blows it goes off, spider drops it goes off, leaves fall.... you guessed it, it goes off)

Overall this is a quality unit which despite the kickbacks keeps itself running!

A couple of things: The reviews are for all the Amcrest products not just the one I purchased, the 960H. So if you get excited about 1000 + reviews, look closer. I bought it because of the reviews and the pictures of the night vision. Found out that was taken from the 1280p model. Set the system up and make sure you get the software to work before you install it. I almost had to put mine back in the box and return it. The first problem I had was during the initial set up. I cant get the security settings to allow this device to send emails from my Gmail or Yahoo accounts. I had to lower my security settings in my email and still having problems with that. Next was the Mobil app. I loaded the pro version and could not get it to link up. If this happens don't spend to much time messing around with the network settings on the DVR. I loaded the basic app and was able to get it to work but wasted several hours watching videos to only uninstall the one I installed on my phone and reinstall the Amcrest link basic. The pro version sets up exactly the same way, not sure why it didn't work. Thankfully the image quality is very good both at day and night. I love the system. I would recommend taking all the video wire off the spool before you run it through rafters or where ever you are going to put them and run your hand over the cords to erase the cord memory. This is done by lightly pulling the cord through your hand. Because it is tightly wound on a small spool the cord memory causes the cord to pinched if you are running it any distance you will have knots or even damage the wire. I bought another 120' and it was pretty hard to run with all the twists in it. the 60' were worse. If I had taken them off the spool first It would have been much easier.

This should be a 5 star product. The instructions do not help if something isn't right. The videos are basic and helpful if there is a problem. It has taken me 8 hours to relocate my internet modem, run the wires into the ceiling and out to the ends of the house through the attic. I expected this would be a permanent install and be usable for quite some time. Its a great value, I don't see the need to have higher resolution. Its very nice at night, just what I wanted. A lot of work with the cords to do it right.

Really like the quality of the camera resolution and the actual hardware has been great. I have two 8 camera systems in my retail store and I wish that both of them were these Amcrest systems based on the image quality. My other unit is a Swann

While the Swann unit has had it's fair share of issues, we've had to get two replacements...setting up the software and getting it enabled for remote viewing has been fairly easy and it's supported on my phone, tablet and over the network. It's a great feature and I love having the access.

The amcrest unit I purchased I have never been able to get the remote viewing to work. I've tried several times to enable and set it up. I've made several calls to tech support and have never been able to get it resolved. Every time we've dealt with Amcrest support too, it's honestly been big disappointment and not very helpful. We've had them hang up on us. We've had them tell us they would schedule a callback the following day and never do so. We've left messages with no callback. And then when we have had them on the phone they were not very helpful or had any ideas on how to work through the network issues.

I'd give this product a SOLID 5 stars if I could just get the remote viewing to work. I've essentially given up on the idea since installing it month ago and am just living without it.

Happy with purchase although I wish I had bought the higher resolution and more channels. We bought the 720P 8 channel model. There was an unknown vehicle in our driveway about 20 feet away from the camera and the license plate was not clear. Be aware that a monitor is required and not included. It was easy to install but the program could be more intuitive. Setting changes such as the date after daylight savings have to be changed on the unit itself rather than on the website or they will not take. The website says that changes are saved but they are not. We bought a second unit with 4 channels for a rental property and our tenant has not been able to get the app to work on his Android phone. We had no problem with our IPhones.

No instructions, no setup program. Fortunately those are available online from D-Link, do a Google search. The bad news is you can't access all the internal camera setup features with any browser that does not support Java (yes Java not JavaScript) That is pretty much all browsers these days with the exception of Internet Explorer 10 which is optionally available in Windows 10. Chrome won't even show you the "home" page in the camera. Firefox will show you all the internal pages but won't show any video. It took several hours to figure all this out and find a solution on the web. After all that it seems to be working well. My application needs the FTP and Email motion detection reporting features.
Edit: In Google Play Store there is an app OWLR D-Link for viewing the video on your smartphone.

Initially it worked fine but then when I needed to move it I did a factory reset (as advised) and that's when the trouble started - the wizard couldn't locate the camera, even though it was visible on my local network. After consulting the online help (very little help), I trawled the web instead and learnt a valuable lesson: "Make sure you select the correct wizard". If you get the wrong wizard, like I did from the wizard support page, it may run and search (and run and run and run) but won't state if its potentially incompatible with your specific camera or provide any other messages such as 'compatible with camera's XYZ only'. So you need to go to the specific product support page and download from there. After several days of hunting for a solution, I located the correct wizard and the camera is up and running again. I chose it for its 'low light' claims and indeed it works albeit quality is video pretty low. One annoyance is that it always starts streaming with the microphone on, which leads to a lot of background white-noise. So my advice is to take care when selecting your installation wizard from the DLink website.

I had high hopes for this camera however I was left seeing that this product is now showing it's age.
The setup of the camera was simple enough via Ethernet cable however I was never able to get it to connect to my router. Odd enough my router did notice the camera and the camera would notice the router but they just wouldn't talk through WiFi.

Once things were finally connected I was able to go through the various settings such as audio notifications, motion, email and ftp upload.

I tried out the android app which worked well but left you with little to no options for the camera. You could only turn the audio on and off, take a snapshot and change the day/night mode. Careful though, when it switches to night mode it's so loud it will trigger a audio alert.

The video quality is the real disappointment. At a distance of 18 feet the clock on the wall was blurry. This was a concern because if there was a break in and I just had a blurry face then what is the point? (Images looking at a door that is 18 feet away)
The video was also not smooth, there was a noticeable stutter in the video like which is a result of the slow frame rate of the camera.
The narrow viewing angle also raised concerns for this camera. At 18 feet you're only able to capture a small part of the room.

Pro's
Fairly easy to setup
FREE Online viewing of camera
Ability to set the camera to send you email image alerts and ftp uploads of images
You can connect to the camera with 3rd party software, I tested with iSPY
Decent night viewing

Cons
Poor video quality
Narrow viewing angel
Low frame rate
Switching from day/night mode triggers an alert

Square away some of the software problems and you could easily get another star or maybe even two.

The short version

The hardware is quite capable however it is limited by a vast array of uncoordinated applications. Android, iPhones and Windows appear to be well supported while the iMac and iPad can have problems with Java. Software necessary (mydlinkhome) to operate the remote outlet is available for iPhone and Android phones but not for iPads and iMacs.

Installation is never as easy as they say, however if you have a recent dLink router you may have better luck. The good news here is that they have a toll free support line, available 24/7, however you will encounter varying levels of proficiency.

Probably the best app that I have encountered is Mydlink lite. It will recognize the switch module however it will not control it but it is great for monitoring and changing settings on the camera.

A bit longer version

Dec of 2014

Thought I should begin with a date since this will not be one of those slam dunk installations they keep raving about.

It began when my sister installed a dLink camera so the that family and friends could monitor their new puppies. It worked great and the software installed easily on my Android Phone and our iPad devices. After reviewing the hardware I thought that dLink had a good selection of hardware in a reasonable price range.

The master plan was to get one of their remote switch modules and use it to turn on and off the camera with the IPad or Smart Phone.

I purchased the DSP-W215 module and began the task of trying to make it work. The first glitch I ran into was that none of their software is made to operate on an IMac. That is correct none, nada and zip !!!

If you get nothing else from this review you need to know this important fact. They have knowledgeable tech support available 24/7 at the following number 877 453-5465.

Maybe if I had a dLink Router I might have had the simple installation they keep bragging about however that was not the case. After two trouble calls (I ran out of time midway threw the first one) I was finally able to get the Network to recognize the wireless switch module. I had to install MyDlink Home on my Android Phone and on my Wife’s iPhone. This works very well and allow us to have control of the switch from almost anywhere. Unfortunately that software is not available for the iPad or iMac! However once the camera is turned on you can monitor the camera from the mydlink Lite app which is available for Android, iPhone and iPad.

Now it is time for a camera so I chose the DCS-932L. I chose it primarily because of it’s low cost. It dose not have the resolution I wanted however if we can get this to work we will simply add a high resolution camera at a later date.

After downloading the setup wizard (they do have one that works with the iMac) I began to configure the device. I was able to recognize the camera however I was not able to get it to connect wirelessly. Another call to the tech center and after wandering through router settings and other mysterious incantations we finally got it to work.

Currently I have full control of the camera from my Android phone and our iPhone. I can view the camera on our iPads however I cannot control the switch from there. I do not have any viewing capabilities on my iMac. There may be some other software from a different vendor that might allow me to do that (dLink software has problems working with the Java that the used on Apple OS ).

I have not yet been able to generate eMail alerts so that will be our next trouble call.

I must say that I am impressed with the capabilities of this camera. It will sense motion and sound, it does send alerts to my Android Phone (however I do not know how it does it) and it does a pretty good job in the dark (the black and white night video is not nearly as clear as the daylight video).

Once you get it set up it is easy to use and appears to be pretty reliable. You can monitor the camera over a wifi connection or anywhere you have a good strong cell phone signal.

Note - the camera works in the 2.4 Ghz range. If you have a cordless phone or other wifi hardware operating in close proximity you could have some interference problems.

Let me start out by saying that I have worked in IT for 25 years and am very familiar with bringing up IP devices.

With that said, it took me 3 hours to get this thing working. I was able to get a wired connection going in 10 minutes.
I was able to get it connected via WPS WiFi in about a half hour.
The problem was getting it to talk to D-Link’s servers for remote use while on WiFi. I’m not sure what solved the problem but at one point I made 2 changes to the configuration that got it to work.

1) When using DHCP, the DNS server spaces in the camera configuration are blank. I entered Comcast’s east coast primary and secondary DNS IPs
2) After reading in the reviews section here that having a dash in the SSID was a problem, I removed the dash from my SSID.

After making these two changes I successfully connected to “the internet”. I’m not sure which one did the trick.

With that said, I’d bet that my second camera would take 30 min to set up.

Oh yeah, I also reflashed the firmware on the camera. It was at 1.6 and the latest was 1.9. I’m not sure if that was necessary.

Video quality is acceptable. Its field of view is fairly narrow. Not nearly as wide as a DropCam. But then again, for the price of a Dropcam Pro, I can buy 4 of these things. So keep that in mind.

In summary, it works, install is a hassle and there is little to know product support. It’s the ANTI-Apple product experience. Its more like buying a Chinese item on ebay. You work at it and eventually, you (hopefully) figure it out. The up side to buying from Amazon is that if it doesn’t work, you can send it back.

I've had the cameras watching my house for about a year. They're ok. They're not very clear. You can't make out tag numbers or faces. If I get robbed, about all I could tell is the color of the person's skin and the color of the vehicle they drove. The images won't be convicting anyone. The plus is that I can watch from my phone or computer thanks to Cliff Hoyer helping me in setting up the DVR in application. He's fromCustomer service. I'll be doing hd cameras if I move.

this system does record , it does have infra red , it does have a good sharp picture . but i have had it for a couple years now and have not been able to get it to pair with my phone and the Amcrest app ! i have spent endless time on the phone with there techs and still does not work ! and that was key for me when buying this , so i would be alerted ! ! not so happy !

😭 , no help on putting it together.Every one, does not have a computerGuess that's how you read the direction. Calling doesn't work. Still no sound 🤔Get past that and still not sure what else it does but got the camera to work 😁

A year after install, one of the cameras doesn't work - I've replaced 2 times. The night vision is spotty on the others, the cameras seem to need to be reset for night vision every once and while. The customer service is just ok. The app kind of sucks, hard to export videos, not intuitive. Overall, I wouldn't recommend this if you actually need cameras for security. We'll probably be replacing with a 1080 system.

the operating system sucks the way you search is annoying and thers no fan to keep it cool
i wish it had better functions better searching
my free camera software on my pc is way more intuitive
i would get something else
the cameras are great night vision is really nice too but the dvr sucks

Bought to keep an eye on some things while I was out of town but it didn't play well with ATT U-verse equipment so I didn't get to use it. Doesnt have option for adding onboard memory like I thought either. Too much comparison shopping and I confused myself. That's on me but how can that not be a standard feature? That would cost very little and make an infinitely more capable product. Used an old phone and an app I found in the play store instead. The app for the phone made it perfectly capable for video, has option for extra storage, easy access to remote viewing, and had no problems hooking up to wireless network so next time I need to keep an eye on something when I'm away I'll use one of those. Used smartphones are cheap.

Great camera \ Crap application.

You get what you pay.

Had quite a bit of trouble setting up this camera. Not with the Camera itself, but it's integration with the DLINK my home platform. The DLink application would not discover the camera on my network. However, I was able to easily login to the camera's web interface from the same device that was running the dlink application, and view the camera there. Additionally, I installed a third party program (OWLR) and it pulled it up without an issue. I've tried constant resetting and re-installation of the DLINK my home software, still the same issue. It will NOT find this camera. I've tried from two iphones and one ipad. All devices can pull up the cameras web interface (IP address in the browswer) but their App is just complete garbage.

DO not buy unless you want a headache. It isn't worth the money. I'm keeping the camera because I was able to (outside of dlink) use a third party program to view this camera. This was my only way of getting it to work.

This camera is probably adequate IF you have a D-Link Cloud router. I do not. Sadly I did not real all the reviews before I ordered this device, but it cannot be configured with the high-end Linksys router that I use. There is no capability to "find" the network to connect to, unless you have a D-Link Cloud router; what you are instructed to do is connect the device to the router. I did this, and was hopeful that we were getting somewhere. There were encouraging clicks and blinks in the device, and it showed up as a busy port on the router. But then an error message appeared. I could not find any error messages on the D-Link website to check it against. So I tried the process again with the same result, trying various options such as resets, changing cables, using a different port on the router, etc. After the third try with identical error message I remembered that the definition of insanity is trying a solution that fails identically over and over, and expecting a different outcome. So I decided to write this one off as a learning experience. I probably need to spend a bit more to get a device that will work.

OK, it was 2 years ago when I bought the 932L, setup was a little confusing but got it on the second try. The camera worked as needed forva few weeks so I bought a pan and tilt version for my patio. Setup was easier this time and it worked excatly as it was intended. After a week it had the dreaded "red X" on the app. I had to reset the camera. Again it worked for a few days and then needed a reset. This continued as was a real pain as when I was away and wanted to view my patio area it couldn't connect. It also seemed that the 932L would also go offline only when I was away from home???? By the end of the first year they were both needing resets every few days and then the 932L did not reset and got very hot.
So at present I have one that has ceased operation and one that can only be used when I am here to reset it!! Not going to use these products again.

I bought this for surveillance in our yard. I want to be able to save the video on a continuing basis.
I set it up fairly easily. I got a good view and set up the app on my phone.
That part works ok if you have a bit of computer knowledge.
From there, it gets pretty bad.
It took me 5 hrs to set up the online system for it and then it still wouldn't send me emails for motion detection.
Ignoring that for the time being I tried to set it up to save video.
I had to call support. After finally setting up an acct to talk to them, the very patient support person walked me through downloading, extracting, and setting up the D-View system.
Here is where it gets weird and where I'm sorry I bought this....
When you set up the video capture system you must disable your user acct on your pc. Essentially this program takes over the pc. It comes up with a screen you literally cannot get out of. You can't escape, you can't control-alt-delete because, get this, it disables it! I had to do a hard restart and be sure to not start the d-link software.
The support person did mention it would be best to buy other storage but I didn't know it was because it would render my pc essentially useless.
I am deciding what to do. Buying storage will cost me more than the unit did and I'm not convinced that will change what is happening to my pc, so it's likely I'll just send this back.
I gave it two stars because if you only want it for a monitor it would be fine but for any other surveillance it's not what you want.
I won't buy another d-link device because I think they are being unclear at the very least. They make it sound like it's so easy to use and it's just so not.

This worked great the first 10 months. But then I started experiencing signal loss on all the cameras just out of the blue. My husband contacted the company only to get nowhere. When they finally had him try some troubleshooting none of it worked so the representative puts him on hold for fifteen minutes then comes back on and says try this list of troubleshooting and says call back if it doesn't work, then hangs up. Just recently contacted the seller and they are claiming they cannot find my order number. I wish I'd had a better experience. Haven't even had the unit a year. Will be purchasing our next unit locally.

Ordered this camera set up worked great for about a week, then one camera started acting up after going back and fourth with the company over replacing the messed up camera they tell me i have to pay $15 to get a new one the new one is only $25 dont waste your time go with a company that backs there products

Cameras have never worked spent so much time with their useless tech people I can no longer have them replaced even though they never worked. Would not recommend TS&CS will waste your time

CAUTION!!! DO NOT BUY!!! I purchased this system in December of 2016 for my father as a Christmas gift. He paid $300 to have it professionally installed because he wanted a clean and finished look to everything in his home. It worked for a few months before failing. After numerous phone calls to the company's Technical Department that left him with a bad taste in his mouth for Amcrest, the company passed him off onto the RA department. It was exchanged for a "new" unit under RA5007747944*. The "new" unit took almost a month to arrive and he was almost ready to down a bottle of Advil and call Amcrest again to find out what had happened to the replacement when It finally showed up. My father plugged in the "new" unit and was pleased with himself when he was able to get it set up. This feeling lasted for all of 30 minutes before the "new" unit failed. During this time we had a death in the family. Coupled with that and the headache known as Amcrest, the whole problem was shelved until just recently when I prodded him to call Amcrest again to try to and get this resolved. A few more bouts with the Technical Department and was told to email the RA department again. This is where we now are.... Waiting for the RA department again, who will probably send us another poorly refurbished unit in about a month. Don't waste your time with Amcrest unless you're a glutton for punishment. I'd give this zero stars if I could. Garbage from product to support.

Wow. What a terrible system. God help you if you forget your password. You actually have to email tech support and give them more info than you need to log onto your bank site.And then they don't call you back.Terrible.

It quit working when I needed it. When I went to check for video it was no longer recording and I had something stolen.I would not buy this product.

After 3 years of living with this camera my thoughts are:
01) OVERPRICED at current price, as of 2017-09-07
02) SLOW, the images are SLOW TO LOAD for viewing whether you are on a home network or viewing over cellular. Images are also CHOPPY.
03) LOW resolution, at 240 or 480 you won't be able to properly ID intruders. That is you can't make out faces until they are pretty much up close to the camera. BUT it'll be good enough for you to know there IS an intruder.
04) DIFFICULT to set-up
05) MOTION TRACKING ALERT is slow and spotty.

What did I use it for?: It sat in my garage so I can use it to tell if the garage door was closed or open.
* However, for more than 7 months I could only access the camera via a wifi network. When I called customer service they told me viewing over T-Mobile's network was broken. Today Sept.07.2017 I got an update that allows again viewing via a cellular network. But, after +7 months I'm pretty upset at DLink and am no longer interested in their product.

Bottom line: You can NOT use this as a security camera NOR can you use it as a baby/toddler camera even if all you care to know is whether the toddler is awake or not. THERE ARE BETTER options for this purpose that includes 2-way voice. This unit has no 2-way voice. IF you want to use it to tell if your garage door is closed or open it's okay. But at the asking price of $77.50 as of Sept-07-2017? Buy the 960L instead which is far more capable and costs $64, assuming D-Link is what you want.

CHECK OUT LOGITECH. Their cameras aren't cheap but look good performance wise.

I configured the camera as per instructions and was able to access the video feed from my iPad and iPhone. Next day, it refused to connect. I had to reset the camera. Same deal the following day. The device needs to be hands-off and reliable in order to be worth anything. I wish I could return it for a refund.

i set up smart homes and i am a computer engineer. this thing does not work. I hard wired it connected it to the wifi but the app would not work on either windows, android, or ios.. i have three phones i tried them all.. i also tried the desktop app it doesn't work either. Do not buy this as if it doesn't work now it for sure wont work a year from now when you have to move it or get a new a phone.

I tried everything but was not able to set this up with my Mac at all. I downloaded the setup wizard and the app on my phone and followed the instructions for both, multiple times and according to the camera, it was ready to be setup, the led was green, but neither one of my devices was able to locate the camera. I have the latest Airport router and used the LAN connection as instructed and it just did not work at all. I am very disappointed with this product but not surprised as I have had an issue in the past with another D-Link product. I figured that since this camera was the best seller on Amazon then it must be good and I'd give D-Link another try, but I got had by them again and I will never buy another product from D-Link.
That is just my personal feeling about the company, but this camera, just did not work with a Mac, and its supposed to. I returned it.

Honestly just don't buy this product if you have a Mac. The whole reason I bought this was because they said it was Mac compatible. Nope. Wasted hours of my time, still doesn't work and I can't get support.

So ... the instructions for setup don't work. I need a router with an ethernet connection, which I don't have. I have an Apple Airport Express like most Mac users. Doesn't work.

Ok, no problem. Let's try plan B: download the iPhone setup app. No problem, right? Nope. There's no QR code on the device for automatic setup and manual setup doesn't support this device (DCS-932L).

Frustrating, but ok, let's try plan C: download the desktop setup program. Nope. Doesn't work without an Windows-type ethernet port, which of course my Macbook doesn't have.

Plan D: call technical support. So let's see if I understand this correctly: to make this product work I need to pay for support ($40, $60 or $100 options) to speak with a human. I have to pay first before they will speak with me. So I have to pay more than the price of the product to get the basic support I need to make it work?

Seriously? Insane. Why is D-Link still in business?