D-Link DCS-2332L review

The DCS-2332L is designed for outdoor use, and like D-Link's other IP cameras, integrates with the mydlink platform. It’s surprisingly small for an outdoor camera, and its vertical design makes it look like an indoor model - most outdoor cameras are tubular designs. The DCS-2332L is weatherproof so it can handle being left out in the rain, and is dust resistant.

Rather than using Power-over-Ethernet (PoE), as is sometimes the case with outdoor cameras, the DCS-2332L is powered from the mains and the cable itself is sealed into the camera. It’s not particularly long so you might need to factor in an extension lead when mounting the camera.

You can either plug the camera into your router with an Ethernet cable or use push-button WPS to connect to a wireless network. The latter method worked for us without a hitch. If you do use a wired connection, an Ethernet cable is included and with a weatherproof seal on the camera end's plug to keep the elements out.

If you’re using certain D-Link routers that support zero configuration and mydlink, the camera will automatically be added to your mydlink account when you connect it via Ethernet. It will also be automatically configured with your router’s Wi-Fi details, so you’re then free to disconnect the Ethernet cable and move the camera. We tried this with a D-Link DIR-868L router and it worked without a problem, simplifying the installation process considerably.

You can configure the DCS-2332L with the free iOS or Android apps or the desktop application, although you will first need to sign up to a mydlink account if you haven’t already got one. This is a universal account that can be used for managing other D-Link products, including any other IP cameras you install.

The mobile app lets you do most of the basic tasks you’d expect. The interface is simple and clear, and is broken down into Local and Remote sections. The first lets you easily see and add new cameras on your local network, while the latter will let you access the cameras' feeds when outside your home network. You can also use the app to receive push notifications from the cameras, so giving you useful information such as when motion detection has been triggered or if a camera goes offline.

Unfortunately, you can't use the app to configure the motion detection zones, and so will need to use the browser-based configuration. Thankfully, this is straightforward. To set a detection zone you simply need to draw a box over a live view from the camera. This is especially helpful in ruling out areas that will have regular movement outdoors, such as trees, pavements and roads, so helping to cut down on false detections. Motion-detection triggers can send a still image from the video feed, or save footage to local storage.

Although the camera is fixed, so lacks pan-tilt-zoom movement, it does have electronic pan-tilt-zoom. While watching the live feed on a smartphone you can use intuitive pinch and zoom motions to get a closer look, while swiping across the screen will allow you to then pan across the frame. As with any digital video manipulation, this will result in a loss of image quality so is not a replacement for a proper mechanical pan and tilt or optical zoom, but it is a useful option to have nevertheless.

The DCS-2332L has a microSD slot to let you save images and video locally. You can also save snapshots taken using the mydlink app for iOS and Android to your mobile device. As with D-Link’s other IP cameras, the DCS-2332L can also integrate with D-Link’s free D-ViewCam software for desktops.

This application allows you to manage and control up to 32 IP cameras, as well as turn your system into a Network Video Recorder (NVR) in order to record footage automatically. It also allows more advanced functions beyond what are offered in the smartphone apps or browser configuration, such as Smart Events and scheduling. Smart Events are where the camera will play a warning sound, begin recording or send an email notification on recognising movement.

Using an NVR isn’t as convenient or simple as the cloud storage options offered by other IP cameras, and you'll need to leave a computer on all the time to run it, but has the advantage of not needing a monthly subscription. If you only need basic monitoring functions, however, the mydlink app and browser control will be more than sufficient. The camera can also save video footage to a network device or an offsite FTP server.

We found the camera's daytime footage suffered from a lot of compression, with noticeable artefacts and pixilation. This meant it was difficult to pick out detail. This camera's footage might make it a struggle to easily identify people. Similarly, night-time footage suffered from compression artefacts, and the distance covered by the infrared night vision LEDs was disappointing. The camera’s coverage ability dropped off after only around 3m distance, beyond which it was too dark to see anything.

Overall the DCS-2332L is a decent network camera. It’s simple to set up and easy to use. However, its image quality left us a little disappointed, especially compared to the indoor D-Link DCS-5222L'S-video. Unless you absolutely have to mount your camera outdoors, instead of, for example, pointing it through a window, we would recommend the D-Link DCS-5222L or the Y-Cam HomeMonitor HD. Both offer better image quality and are cheaper.