D-Link HD 180 Wi-Fi Camera Review (960L)
Summary: D-Link HD 180 Wi-Fi Camera (960L) produces a great wide-eyed option for security in your home and office with excellent images, audio and remote capabilities!
4.8
Wide eyed security!
The D-Link 960L is a HD ultra-wide view Wi-Fi camera that boasts a resolution of 720p, night vision capabilities, audio, motion detection, local recording (Micro SD slow) and some very useful remote access capabilities. More importantly installation is non-existent if you use the WPS feature of both your modem router and the 960L. Furthermore the D-Link 960L reduces fisheye thanks to its 180 degrees wide eye technology and features good video quality due to its 1/2.7″ 1-megapixel sensor and 2 infrared LED’s to assist with its clarity for both day and night.
The design of the camera is also quite sleek and unassuming and I like its jet black colouring and needless to say, the unit would not look out of place in any home or office. Installation of the D-Link 960L was a very quick and flawless process. The first step was to push the WPS button on the back of the camera for 3 seconds which started the LED flashing. The next step was to push the WPS button on our modem router which automatically detected the camera on our network and the LED on the 960L then went green as a connection was established.
The last part of the puzzle was to run the Mydlink Lite app from our phone which then allowed us to complete the installation. This entire process took just a few minutes and our camera was ready to go. Although you can access the 960L directly from the app, if you connect directly to its IP address it allows for a whole wealth of advanced features which is ideal for those more advanced users. However for those that don’t have the computer skill, the Mydlink Lite app is more than adequate. As the camera comes with a stand, it can be easily positioned anywhere or you can mount the 960L anywhere you want as it comes with mounting screws to attach it to a wall or some other place.
Given than we’re holidaying in Cairns, this was the perfect opportunity to review the unit remotely. I also positioned the camera in our kitchen and thanks to the HD ultra-wide view of the camera, it not only captured the entire kitchen but also the hallway in absolute clarity. The night vision of the camera goes up to 16 feet or 4.8 metres which does capture quite a long area. Another interesting feature is that it supports digital zoom and the ability to punch zoom on your smartphone which is another handy option.
Let’s talk about security. This security camera monitors both motion and sound so if anything sets it off, you can set the camera to send you not only images and video but also push notifications to your smartphone. A push notification basically alerts you that the camera has detected something so you can load the Mydlink Lite app to access live view. I also set the camera to email me videos but save snapshots (e.g. still photos) to our FTP site on Impulse Gamer which worked flawlessly. Lastly, you can even install a MicroSD card into the camera to capture video and images locally if your network does go down.
In terms of video quality the D-Link 960L produces high quality video and photo caption, including audio. Even in bright light, the 960L does an excellent job. Night vision is quite good and you can still see the person clearly when they are captured. The only slightly strange aspect about the camera is its lens because as it’s widescreen, it does distort the image slightly but that’s to be expected of any wide screen lens and besides, it does allow you to capture more area for your security needs. Given that, the technology used by D-Link does reduce fisheye tremendously.
Final Thoughts?
The D-Link HD 180 Wi-Fi Camera provides the user with a product that’s not only great value but has a wealth of useful features to give you some peace of mind. Installation is easy and navigating the camera is a very easy process and even if you do get stuck, you’ve always got support with D-Link and after our tests, we could not fault this product. I also loved the remote capabilities of this camera, especially the push notifications if the camera’s lens or audio picked anything up. If you’re looking for an easy to use WiFi Camera, check out the D-Link 960L.
Technical Specifications
Camera Hardware Profile
- 1/2.7″ 1-megapixel progressive CMOS sensor
- 16 ft night vision with infrared LEDs
- Minimum illumination: 0 lux with IR LEDs on
- Built-in microphone
- 8x digital zoom
- Focal length: 1.72 mm
- Aperture: F2.0
- Angle of view:
- (H) 180°
- (V) 120°
- (D) 180°
External Device Interfaces
- Power LED
- Reset button
- WPS button
- microUSB power connector
- microSD/SDXC card slot
Image Features
- Adjustable image size, quality, frame rate and bit rate
- Adjustable brightness, saturation, contrast, sharpness and hue
- Configurable motion and sound detection
- Time stamp and text overlays
Video Compression
- Simultaneous H.264/MJPEG format video compression
- JPEG for still images
Video Resolution
- 1280 x 720 at up to 30 fps
- 800 x 600 at up to 30 fps
- 720 x 480 at up to 30 fps
- 640 x 480 up to 30 fps
- 320 x 240 up to 30 fps
Audio Support
- AAC
- G.711
Mobile Support
- mydlink Lite app available for iOS, Android devices and Windows Phones
- mydlink + app available for iOS and Android devices
Network
Network Protocols
- IPv4, ARP, TCP, UDP, ICMP
- DHCP Client
- NTP Client (D-Link)
- DNS Client
- DDNS Client (D-Link)
- SMTP Client
- FTP Client
- HTTP Server
- PPPoE
- UPnP, UPnP port forwarding
- RTP, RTSP, RTCP
- HTTPs for configuration
- Bonjour
Security
- Administrator and user group protection
- Password authentication
- HTTP and RTSP digest encryption
Physical
Dimensions (H x W x D)
- 3.78 x 3.78 x 5.43 inches
Weight
- 0.31 lbs (camera only)
Power Input
- 5 V DC / 1.2 A, 50/60 Hz through power adapter
Temperature
- Operating: 0 to 40 °C (32 to 104 °F)
- Storage: -20 to 70 °C (-4 to 158 °F)
Humidity
- Operating: 20% to 80% non-condensing
- Storage: 5% to 95% non-condensing
Certifications
- CE
- CE LVD
- FCC Class B
- ICES
About the Author
Andrew Bistak When he's not trying to save the world, Andrew enjoys travel (although loathes turbulence), going to the movies, reading and being a dad to his two dogs (and now twins) with his wife.
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