Pros: 1.) It's night vision is a good medium level (not blindingly bright).
2.) Fairly easy setup.

Cons: 1.) Doesn't maintain a connection to the included app. Had to buy a 3rd party app just to keep it connected.
2.) The wifi doesn't work after only 6 months of use. Factory reset doesn't do anything to fix the problem.
3.) DLink support is as bad as you've heard.

Other Thoughts: Why is it so hard for companies to make quality networking gear? I knew DLink was at the bottom of the barrel, but this is more than scraping... it's tearing through the boards to bury itself.

Manufacturer Response:

We appreciate the feedback as greatly value the input and we are sorry to hear that you are encountering issues with the DCS-825L. D-Link suggests that you perform a factory reset on the camera and then download and install the latest firmware from www.support.dlink.com. If that does not resolve your problem please give our a technical support team a call at 1-877-453-5465 so they may assist you. Thank you for choosing D-Link.

Pros: The camera sports a number of great features that can be found in more expensive cameras. The concept is fantastic, a baby cam designed specifically for geek parents.

The setup is as easy as everyone else states, probably not easy enough for the very tech-illiterate.

Unfortunately the features and the ease of setup mean nothing towards overall sustained functionality of the device.

Cons: I've updated firmware, reset the camera, tried working on it through the telnet interface, and nothing gets me past the simple fact that something is wrong with the camera.

If you look at the other forums, or negative reviews, you will see that I'm not alone.

After you have read all the 4 or 5 star reviews, I highly suggest you look for people that have had bad times with the camera.

The list of problems between the camera and the app continues to grow over the several months I have owned and tried to use this.

1. The app just freezes up. Or is it the camera itself? I have the problem on a cleanly factory-reset Android tablet, and a heavily-used phone. The only notification that the video stream has failed is the time counter stops. Audio continues to work.

2. The time doesn't stay updated. I can Sync the date using the app, but when I view from another device the time and date are reset back to 2014/01/01 12:00:00.

3. The video constantly needs reconnecting. This isn't as simple as pressing the reconnect button. Some combination of pressing the button, rescanning for devices, and restarting the app seem to do it. Unable to consistently reconnect to the camera.

4. The temperate indicator doesn't stay on Fahrenheit. Sometimes the temperature indicator just shows an underscore character. Once I went into the settings and the temp showed between 1 degree and 1 degree.

5. No official D-Link supported way to access the device through a web console. The console is there (look at D-link forums) but not having this work feels like D-Link purposefully wants to reduce functionality.

6. Infrequent updates to app and firmware. For a device (or app?)that is so buggy it seems D-Link would be putting updates out more often than every 5 weeks.

7. Has to be restarted. Occasionally I've given up on trying to reconnect the device, and just have to restart the thing.

Other Thoughts: It's highly likely that all of the troubles I've had are software related and will be fixed at some point in the future.

I've had a lot of fun tinkering with this thing before my kid was born, but now that I have a kid, I need a baby monitor that actually works that I can depend on.

The hardware features of the camera itself make this a very attractive camera for the price, maybe by the time you actually need it they will have fixed the problems people are having.

Manufacturer Response:

We want to thank you for the feedback as we deeply value the comments and concerns and we are sorry to hear that you are experiencing issues with the product. D-Link advises that you visit the provided link below and fill out the form accordingly within the next 10 days. By completing the detailed form, one of our technical support specialists will be able to contact you directly and assist you in resolving your problems.

http://supportrequest.dlink.com?id=e6dd024372e544e49b7495bdb82a7b91&token=1fee41d6b412434f9e9b207bae43cc07

We thank you for choosing D-Link and look forward to hearing from you soon.

Pros: Night vision is so clear, app is easy to use, set up is quick and intuitive, lullabies, motion and noise sensor are great.

Cons: none, great unit

Other Thoughts: We got the camera to keep an eye on our 2 kids while they sleep, and so I can see them when I am travelling by using the App. The price compared to other camera's is amazing, and the other units don't have the same features.

Lullabies, temperature setting, night vision, 2 way audio so we can talk to and hear our kids without going into there room all work great.

We recommend this camera to everyone!

Pros: -Setup through iPhone. Step by step instructions. No issues with camera monitor finding and connecting to wifi network.
-Clear picture quality. Night vision camera is very clear and not grainy.
-Temp, Motion, and Sound features.
-Camera easily matches with our babys room.

Cons: -about a second delay in live stream feed but nothing I am concerned about.

Other Thoughts: We looked at other camera monitors but the ease of installation, picture quality, and features justified the cost of purchase. We are happy with our purchase and additional peace of mind to monitor our little one.

Pros: simple and smooth set-up was done through Android platform. convenient night visions auto censor transitions smoothly and provides clear feeds with manual focus. 2-way radio audio feed is clear.
feed coverage provides broad scope and clarity

Cons: Currently lacks video playback via Android

Other Thoughts: Live A/V Feed has about a 2sec delay but probably due to my linkspeed (up to 15mbps) and router (netgear) connection, none the less still acceptable.
Firmware update was a little tricky but once you figured it out it was simple and quick with less than a minute upload.

the kid and parents are at peace

Pros: - Great night vision (not creepy, horror movie style)
- Image quality is good
- Relatively quick, basic set-up (with some caveats). If you are just setting up the camera (and don't need to upgrade the firmware), it is honestly a VERY quick process... but if you need to update the firmware... I'll talk more about that in the "cons" section.
- Customize-able ring color (pink/blue) in case you like to fit your nursery's color palette.
- Decent length power cord, which is useful as you can't put it in most locations without needing an extension cord.
- Set-up done through iPhone, so no computer is necessary at all for set up.
- Different mounting options included with the camera.

Cons: - Have to do everything via phone... which can be tricky if you have long network names/passwords, or you are trying to access website
- A comprehensive manual (in addition to the quick guide) is available, but only via the app. My husband could not find it online or anywhere else, which was crucial when my husband was trying to upgrade the firmware. Contrary to what the first reviewer said, it IS included with the device/software... it's just not easy to find.
- Couple steps of the software set up process was a little off... it skipped over the "change network" prompt which caused some confusion, and some extra steps came up that weren't mentioned in the paper manual that was crucial in installing the device/upgrading the firmware.
- My husband also had some confusion with the language in the manual... the manual referred to "Camera Name", "Wifi Name", and "User Name"... even after installing, he still isn't sure if they are all referring to the same thing or not.
- I do agree that the software aspect of the camera was a bit underwhelming... but the camera itself is of good quality.
- Software could use some further improvements (e.g., menu, responsive, prompts).

Other Thoughts: While I am not the most technically savvy person, I work in the tech industry/ecosystem so I do have some insights into hardware vs. software companies. I definitely think D Link's strength is in hardware. My husband has bought and used several D Link products in the past, which is why we gave this camera a shot. Now that the camera is up and running, I have nothing to complain about it. But, I think if you ask my husband how he feels, he might have some more critical things to say... all of which reside on the software side.

We do plan on keeping this camera, because it looks great and I can check on our baby whenever we need. Depending on how the next few months with the camera goes, maybe I'll try to add some additional insights into my review of the product.

Pros: Excellent night vision.
lullaby system works well.
Image quality for day and night vision is good.

Cons: Huge issue 1 - Updating firmware is a nightmare. Camera does NOT have a standard web interface. Firmware can ONLY be update from this page: https://<insertWebcamIP>/eng/admin/tools_firmware.cgi Took two days and two D-Link customer service reps to even find that page (they had to contact their engineers directly to find out. Once you find that page, then you download firmware from D-Link's support page and manually upload. EVERY attempt to update firmware from the MyDlink.com website failed (Firefox, Internet Explorer). EVERY attempt to update firmware from Android "mydlink Baby Camera" app failed.

Huge Issue 2 - mydlink.com REQUIRES Java to use. As Java currently has MASSIVE security issues that have been one of primary sources for computer infections, requiring Java is placing customers at risk. Yes, knowledge is power, but most consumers don't pay attention to half the stuff they click on.

Huge Issue 3 - This camera is designed to save video to a microSD card when it detects motion and/or sound.
1) Sound detection almost never happens.
2) Motion detection only seems to work when your child is wearing dark colored clothes. Got your kid in light grey sweats? Tough luck. Better hope he/she has dark hair.
3) While reviewing recordings on the microSD card through the Android app, ALL of the recordings WIPED THEMSELVES OFF the card! It even still claims there are entries for the day, but when selecting that day, nothing is there. Yes, I DID test the MicroSD card. It is perfectly fine.

Moderate Issue 1 - Loading times for webcam.
1) connecting from the Android app takes about 10 seconds - this is acceptable.
2) connecting from a computer using mydlink.com can take anywhere from 30 seconds (rare) to 5 minutes, with average times around 2 minutes.

Moderate Issue 2 - Lag - Sound and video lag enough to say a full sentence before it comes out on viewing device. While this is not a "problem", I do find it to be a design issue. There shouldn't be any reason for this level of latency when going from device to device on a wireless network. This even occurs in the webcam's Ad-Hoc mode.

Minor Issue 1 - Built-in thermometer is off by at least 5 degrees Fahrenheit . I attribute this to it's proximity to the device.

Minor Issue 2 - Infrared LEDs can be too bright. No way to adjust them. It's nothing major, but I can see it being a problem for children that scare easily at night.

Other Thoughts: I was looking for a good consumer-grade night vision webcam to keep an eye on my son. First I came across the bottom level D-Link webcams. The mixed reviews were poor enough for me to avoid them. I had hoped that a more expensive, and new-to-market, device would have been better designed. Shame on me for giving D-Link the benefit of the doubt.

While on the phone with D-Link's technical support, I expressed my concern that the firmware update issue could be attributable to a hardware issue. They, of course, advised me that my hardware was perfectly fine, and they have a network engineer looking into the matter. After pressing for more information, the rep conceded that the issue is with the mydlink service.

So tech support admitted their cloud service is broken.
The device has several severe, moderate, and minor issues.
You can't trust that any recorded video will actually stay on the device and be usable as a monitoring and/or surveillance tool.
Audio detection is only half working. I suppose if the camera is right next to a screaming baby it *might* detect it and start recording.

I didn't purchase this from Newegg due to price, but I wanted to come here and review this camera as I always check with Newegg regardless of where I make a purchase. Hopefully this review saves someone some time, trouble, cash, and headache.

I knew I was taking a risk when I bought a device that had no reviews anywhere on the internet (aside from a single youtube video that isn't in english), but I wasn't too concerned as there is always the standard return period.

I've usually avoided D-Link as I've always seen them as an inferior brand. In my 10 years as a computer technician I've always seen more issues with D-Link than I should, in comparison to other brands. However, I am always willing to give a brand a chance. I've been surprised before by some brands. This situation, though, has put the final nail in the coffin for D-Link in my book.

To D-Link:
If you're reading this, DON'T BOTHER TRYING TO RESPOND unless you are just going to apologize for a terrible implementation of a good idea. I will NOT be keeping the device. I will NOT contact your customer service (been there, done that). Your company REALLY needs to spend some more money on Research and Development. Perhaps you need to pay your software and hardware engineers better? Maybe your project deadlines are unreasonable? Maybe you need to hire better employees for your management team, development team, TESTING team? Are you even testing the equipment you send out? Do you even test your equipment in focus groups comprised of ACTUAL consumers in the target market?

Normally "you get what you pay for" would be mentioned in a post like this. But the price tag for this device SHOULD indicate that the hardware is worthy of that price.

Farewell, and best of luck to all Neweggers!

Manufacturer Response:

We want to thank you for the feedback as we do value the input greatly. We apologize for the experience you had with the DCS-825L and will pass on the information you provided to our Product Management team. We strive to ensure customer satisfaction and we would appreciate further feedback so we can get a more in depth understanding of the issues. By clicking on the below link and filling out the detailed form, our Technical Support team will be able to contact you directly.

http://supportrequest.dlink.com?id=8df8223718a14d11a158766d41d685d6&token=ab238f5405824c9eb7bc66ad3f32f19c

We thank you for choosing D-Link and we look forward to hearing from you soon.