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.