D-Link Pan & Tilt Wi-Fi Camera (DCS-5020L),White, 480p

Great wide angle and clear picture on this camera! Controls are easy to use and are available on the web and on my iPhone app. I'm buying a 2nd one!Tip #1RECOGNIZING THE CAMERABe sure you click on the correct camera model before you download the installation program. If you don't select the right model, it will not find your camera and you'll be stuck. This is easy to overlook.Tip #2WIRELESS SETUPDon't use the automatic wireless recognition step if you use a password on your wireless system. It might connect initially, but once you unplug the camera and move it, it won't ever connect again (because it needs the password). Be sure you use the appropriate "CHOOSE my wireless network" option so you can enter the password, so it will store it. I think this is where most people get tripped up and think it won't connect to their wireless.Tip #3PHONE APP (DO NOT bother loading mydlink view-nvr, it doesn't work). Use mydlink Lite!If you have ever installed the MyDlinkLite app previously, uninstall it and reload it from the app store (AFTER you've set up your new camera). Once I did that, it recognized both my old and new cameras and worked beautifully. You can even use the pan/tilt option from your phone (though you might not notice the arrows if your not looking for them). You have to lightly touch the screen and they will show up all around the perimeter of the image (they are not below the picture in a control panel like they are on the full client web browser version).My previously installed mydlink lite app did not recognize the new camera at all at first. It showed up in the list with a big "?". So I tried loading the more robust mydlink view-nvr. Which I could not load at all until I updated the OS on my iphone. Updated the OS, loaded mydlink view-nvr which does NOT WORK AT ALL. Total waste of time. When that failed I deleted and reinstalled mydlink lite and that worked great.

First off I think rating the camera a 4 Star is being a bit generous. I would have liked to rate it a 3 1/2 star. But oh well..Somethings about the camera:- Easy Setup. Granted I have a bit of Tech Knowledge but overall I found the product to be easy to set up and pretty easy to navigate the menus.- The wireless distance is pretty good, and that is without the Extender feature enabled. I have 1 camera in my garage and my router is in the basement. This is probably a distance of 30 feet with a floor separation. I did purchase a "No-Name" Chinese brand and found the wireless to be horrible on it! So I was happy that I was able to get a good signal.- DAY VISION - Inside during the day I get a good picture. I also get a good picture when pointing the camera outside during the day, going through 2 windows. Granted the image distance isn't the greatest. But you are able to make out a car model and description if need be.- NIGHT VISION - Inside with the night vision set the image is decent. With tweaking you can get a good image up to 10 feet. The Night vision going through a window is useless! The IFR lights reflect back from the glass and produce a total useless image. But that is to be expected. I have found that when going through the glass at night (depending on how much outside light there is) if set to Day Vision the camera can produce an ok picture.- I have not done much with the dLink Software. Most of the reviews kind of pan it so I have yet to try it. From my Android Apps I have been pretty lucky using IP Cam. There is a freeware and paid version that works pretty well with the dLink camera. I am also using it on my DCS-930L Camera.- My biggest gripes are the optics. The optics on the camera are a bit to be desired. You can manually focus the lense on the camera. But I have found that to be a real pain in the butt! Just the slightest touch throws the camera out of focus. Changes to either video or image quality also seem to be a bit tempermental. Most image changes will cause the camera to go out of focus (or in focus) and then after 30 seconds the lens will reset itself again. This is going on a wireless connection. I will have to try it on a wired network to see if the camera replicates the problem. Beyond 5 feet the image will start to lose some of its clarity.- While using compression h.264 and switching back to mjpeg my browser will crash on me. I am using IE 10 on Windows 7.- I have not used Sound detection yet. The motion detection seems to be ok. But it will cause a flood of images to my FTP server when it does detect something.I am hoping that some of the bugs dLink will fix with their next firmware upgrade (I hope) And maybe add some additional changes, such as -Being able to change the default admin account. Knowing the login name is half the battle in cracking a system. A camera uptime status would be nice. As well as log features. Logins, Logouts, Auduting changes, device changes, etc.Overall its a nice little camera that has some pretty decent features for the price. Some of the things that I want out of a camera this just won't meet the need. But for a inside security camera it works. After I play around some more and get it permanently fixed I will update my review.

Very easy to install. It provides good coverage (video and audio), it has a control panel that you can zoom, adjust light, tilt and pan. Very user friendly. The only problem with the camera is that the website at DLink to control the camera is very slow to load. You do need a record system with it. Please read my review of the DLink NVR 202L before investing. The slowness of the website and the recording device that goes with the camera is the reason for four stars instead of 5. The camera is great.UPDATE: I was able to speed my system back up by adding a router to my modem/router. However,I have spent hours trying to get this system to work. To include six hours on the phone with Tech Support, they will get it working and then within two days the whole system doesn't work. I sent three e-mails and have never received any answers. Gave up.