Dropcam Pro Wi-Fi Wireless Video Monitoring Security Camera

Just installed my first dropcam and have ordered some more, having tried all sorts of other options. Always nice to have a product that actually does what it says on the tin. Easy to install. Superb picture quality. Audio (two-way if you want). Cloud storage of recordings. Marking of motion or sound-activation points. You can even label different standard motions it detects (e.g. door opens) which are then marked in different colours; all makes traceback very easy. Shame there is no outdoor version. Would also be nice if it came completely in white (few people decorate in black). N.B., as this is wifi / internet based, you need a good connection and there is of course a slight time-lag (which my son likes to use to pull faces at the camera and then run to see whether he can catch it on my computer or iPad). Easily viewable on an iPad and IPhone (works on 3G). Love it.

I've now purchased two Dropcam cameras and I'm very happy with the cameras and the online recording. Very simple to setup and works well. Very reliable as long as you have a decent wi-fi signal. If you don't, buy a wi-fi range extender.

I have had 4 of these cameras, so feel well experienced to write a review. The first has now been working for about 3 weeks and it is excellent. Easy to set up and despite not being on a great WiFi connection it works very well. The second, third and now fourth have been returned to amazon as they do not work despite over an hour on the support line to the US. Two of the cameras had clearly been previously used with the boxes tampered with and seals broken. GIVEN THE HIGH PRICE TAG YOU EXPECT A BETTER RELIABILITY RATE THAN 1 IN 4 !!

I bought this camera based on all the positive reviews. It is unobtrusive, looks good and from what I have seen from the reviews, generally easy to setup. The instructions are very clear, easy and quick.I find it important however, to warn BT Home Hub customers, that this camera is not compatible with the BT router. There may be a way to configure the BT router to make it compatible, but if I cannot do it, most potential customers won't be able to either, as I have an extensive computer and network experience. I could not find any solutions on the Dropcam site, nor on the rest of the internet. And one of the main strengths of this camera is the easy and quick setup.Also it came with an American charging plug, so not compatible with the UK wall outlets. You would have to use a US-UK converter or an alternative USB charger to power the Dropcam.I'm sure it is due to BT and not Dropcam, but a warning before buying would have been nice. So my 4 stars are based only on the looks and packaging of the device, as well as all the reviews I've read.Unfortunately, I have to return my Dropcam.

Solved a lot of indoor CCTV problems for me. Very easy to hook up and get going. Have 3 in total now and planing on purchasing a Dropcase to give some outdoor surveillance a go. Dropcase is an entirely different company making housing solutions for Dropcam. The ease with which you can check live footage and past recordings is superb. However to check past recordings you will have to purchase a cloud recording contract for either 7 or 30 days.

Very nice looking camera - though the Phillips InSight are prettier and easier to mount and swivel.Good Points:1. Good customer service (USA time).2. Good looking and in-obtrusive. Well made.3. Very quick and easy to set up.4. Good user interface when viewing live or recorded images. Many good features.5. Free viewing of live images.6. The option of recording isn't too expensive at $99 per year and every subsequent camera subscription half price7. Nice wide angle lens8. Good night vision9. Nice speaker to camera10. Sensitive MicBad:1. Biggest negative issue - The only option to record is a constant 24/7 upload from your router to DropCams servers - that's a lot of bandwidth and a lot of usage - this is just nuts! Come on DropCam - listen to your customers!!!! So many mention this problem on DropCam forums. The far better option is a motion or sound activated recording which is what the Philips InSight uses.2. Too expensive to buy these in the UK. Much cheaper in the USA3. The whole system seems USA heavy with no option to buy the subscription from outside of the USA .Also you cannot set your region to UK - so the time is wrong - not much help if you need to provide reliable evidence to a law courtSuggestions To DropCam1. Please sort the bad points2. Please allow a remote viewer the ability to send a siren or alarm to the camera to alert people in the camera area or deter intrudersI do feel that eventually DropCam will get there and become more "global" and not so USA centric. Also finally see sense and do Motion and Sound recording only and have 24/7 recording as an option - until then, DropCam will have to accept that many potential customers will stay away until this is sorted.This is a good product but needs a bit of smoothing out.

Excellent camera, easy to install and really beautifully designed app/website. Would highly recommend to anyone. Currently used as a security camera within our home, and motion alerts work well / can be customised carefully to avoid false alerts (i.e. with the sun coming through the window etc). Excellent HD video quality.

Very happy with this product. Excellent video quality! Only one negative is that it can only be used wirelessly, there is no ethernet connection, hence it cannot be positioned to far from your router. Otherwise brilliant.

I have been running webcams around my house for years. As a network engineer, the do-it-yourself webcams are easy to setup. I've been running 5 Panasonic series webcams looking out on my front and back yards. Each camera needs programming to allowing viewing and receiving alerts. I decided to take a chance on buying a dropcam and letting them do the networking for me. Here is my first impression:The Good: The camera took all of a minute to get online. I plugged it in, the app found it, and it was ready. The image was the best I have seen in a consumer grade webcam. The dropcam pro with it's wide angel lens covered so much area in HD, it takes the place of two of my Panasonic Cams for the same field of view. This Dropcam was installed in my Mancave. I was most impressed with the night vision. Once the lights went out, you can see absolutely everything in night vision. I have three cats in the house, so it made for some interesting late night clips!The Good: Dropcam's website and apps are decent. The delay to the video is less then a half second, so it's as realtime as it gets when watching your home from afar. The alerts seem to be working well. After the first 24 hours of learning the alerts, I should be able to label the different activities the camera detects. Should be interesting to see if the alerts can actually distinguish between the cats running around from people entering the room.The Good: The DVR feature they provide is working terrific for the 14 day trial. I love being able to instantly look back and see older activity I missed. I will probably subscribe to it.The Good: This camera has a two-way talk feature. So far the only thing I have used it for was to talk to my cats while I was at work. They heard me because they look up at the camera when I am saying hello! I am sure there are plenty of better reasons to use it.The Good: Mounting options are decent. You can pretty much mount this thing anywhere. Using the mounting bracket, you can actually angel the camera if you need to, even though the hinge allows for one movement.The Bad: The camera has a nice indicator light, but you can only know if the camera is online and streaming, offline, or other problem. I would like to be able to set an indicator light that shows someone is logged in and actually viewing the camera. When they logout, the light should go out. That way you know someone is accessing the camera. Perhaps Dropcam will add that feature in a future firmware upgrade.The Bad: To watch your home cameras, you are at the mercy of Dropcam's network. If their site goes down, so does your access. Also, you can only use their service for cloud storage of your videos (DVR). It's a great business for them, but makes the endeavor expensive for us working class!Overall: A decent camera upgrade for home. There is enough capability to call this a viable security system. As long as your in your wifi coverage at home, you can drop one of these anywhere, as long as their is a power outlet. After buying the first Dropcam and testing it, I went and bought 3 more. Amazon limits a purchase of 2 from their prime buying option, so I had to buy a third from a different vendor. The quality is great.

These camera's have a very high quality. The installation was indeed within the 60 seconds and we just needed an iPhone (or any other device would have been sufficient)

Let's get the cons out of the way first, shall we?This camera is fairly expensive, it costs money to use the recording service (*if* you use it - you don't have to), it eats a lot of bandwidth when it's running, and you can't use local storage (except if you pay for the recording service and then download clips). If you're technically savvy and invest the time, you can do basically what this does for a lot less money.However, I *am* technically savvy and have set up streaming cameras before, and yet I am very happy to be using the Dropcam Pro. Why? Let me tell you by moving onto the pros:First, setup could hardly be easier. You plug it into a computer (Windows or OS X, possibly Linux but I'm not sure) when you first get it in order to configure the WiFi password (yes, you'll need WiFi) and to set up a Dropcam account (or link it to one if you already have one). That takes all of a minute or two (literally). Then, you plug it into the wall adapter (or any other USB power supply). If you'd like, you can wall-mount it. That's it. You're done with setup. You can use any micro USB cable and any USB power source to power it, so you're not stuck with the included ones if you don't want to be. You can paint the cables and the camera mount if you want to help it blend in, but I'd not recommend painting the camera (it can be removed from the mount).Second, yes, the monthly/annual fee for recording and associated inability to stream to local storage is a pain, but (a) it's core to the company's business model and so isn't likely to change, and, more importantly, (b) *it is worth it* - you don't need to set up streaming, you don't need to make sure you have sufficient disk storage, you don't need to worry that someone will break in and steal the camera *and* the device the footage is stored on, you don't need to worry about setting up a way to view the footage remotely, and you don't need to worry that a power outage will remove your ability to at least see what was recorded earlier when you're remote. Having set up my own monitoring system, I know how great it is that they do the heavy lifting for you, and, to me, it justifies the price of the camera as well as the annual fee (which, again, you don't need to pay if you only want to view the streaming video).Third, while the bandwidth usage can be extreme, you can schedule when the camera is on, and you can remotely turn it on and off, so you can control how much you use. I would hope that Dropcam will soon make it possible to stream lower-resolution video until motion or audio is detected (that would significantly reduce bandwidth needs), but that hasn't yet happened.Once you set it up, you can view the footage (live and recorded) as well as change settings from any modern browser and any reasonably up-to-date iOS or Android device. You get a two-week free subscription (note that the trial subscription only records 7 days at a time, so by the second week, you'll have lost part of the first) to see if you like the recording capability. I do. However, you could easily just use it to monitor without recording if you do desire, and that's free once you've bought the camera.Video quality is quite good (see other reviews). The sensor on the camera is much higher resolution than the streamed video, so if you tell it to focus on an area and record/stream just that area, it's better than just expanding the footage - it actually streams from a smaller section of the sensor but at the same resolution, meaning that there actually *is* more detail in the zoomed section than if you'd just enlarged the video of the entire area. You can't zoom in to read a newspaper from 30' away, but you can definitely zoom in a fair bit.The microphone is exceptional - I can hear at least as well as if I were standing by the camera, which means you can hear other rooms even if you can't see them.Night vision is good, but limited by the IR LEDs. If you bought a separate IR bulb, you could probably illuminate a much larger area, but I've not tried that as I don't need that functionality.The speaker (used if you talk to people/pets by the camera) is decent. There's a fair bit of lag, and because there is also lag when streaming, conversations are sort of like talking to astronauts on the moon - there's a delay each way. Still, it's mostly usable, but it's no speakerphone.The light that indicates the camera is on can be turned off even while the camera is recording... this is a feature some will love and others will dislike.The settings of the camera are easily accessible from both browsers and mobile devices.You could buy this and set it up for less technically-savvy relatives if you (a) know their wifi name and password and so could temporarily set yours up the same way during the setup phase, or (b) buy a wifi router, set it up for them, and ship it with the camera.I've not yet found a better camera/microphone combo for this price, and the additional functionality makes it a win in my book.

We recognize that our camera "might" have been defective, but after considerable research, we found a lot of discussions on the DropCam blog and across the web, consisting of unanswered complaints, concerns and unsatisfied customers. Given the acknowledgement that we "possibly" may have received a "dud," we would like to offer our honest observations.This camera is best used for live-streaming and, even then, the video image quality does not provide anywhere near the level of quality you would expect for the price. Although advertised as 720P, we found, even in brightly lit areas, the streaming image was grainy and pixelated with noticeable lag of 2-4+ seconds even with ultra high speed internet. The low-light/IR stream is considerably worse, although you can discern shapes of objects and forms, any real level of detail is absent.After we had already purchased, we decided to see if other customers were having the problems we were experiencing. We read several testimonials of user's having their homes burglarized, but the quality of the recording ended up being so poor as to be unusable for the police investigations. After consideration, we decided that the use of this product for any kind of home security or recording would be pointless for our needs as to the low quality of the captured video playback.Advertised with 8x zoom, we found the zoomed image to be distorted and massively "blocky" from pixelation. Standing in a bright lit area, at just 2-3x zoom, we were barely able to make out individual faces and at 8x zoom, we were unable to see anything except blobs of flesh colored blocks. The image quality at anything higher than 1x (standard out of the box image) is a massive disappointment. We were also unable to find any way to record a zoomed image. From our understanding, the camera only records at 1x zoom even if zoomed at the moment of recording. The reason for this, from our understanding after speaking with a DropCam support representative, is that the "zoom" feature is actually just the up-scaling from 720P to the camera's 1080P-capable resolution. If this turns out to be true, then we have serious concerns over the quality of the 1080P camera.We did like the ability to add multiple motion-sensing "zones" but the motion alerts are sporadic, inconsistent and without paying for the recording service, we could see that the alert would tell us "something" happened and leave us with no idea as to what. Our alerts, when they did activate, were sometimes instantaneous and sometimes were up to 5-10 minutes after the motion was detected by the camera. Great concept, poor execution.The ONLY way you will be able to record and play back any video is to subscribe to the cloud recording service. Without this monthly service, and ongoing fee, you need to understand that you will be buying a live-streaming camera ONLY, even though we are certain that DropCam is still recording everything to their servers. Couple a 7-day backwards recording plan at $10/month and this device and the recording service would cost us $320 for the first year and $120 every year after. At the time of this review, the 30-day plan is $30/month or $360/year. Given some of the CCTV and/or home monitoring services out there, this is actually a fairly reasonable price until you realize the recorded video is of such poor quality as to be nearly worthless in our opinion, especially in low-light situations or when using zoom. If the quality of the video were substantially better, we might consider paying the extra fee for the service but given the camera was already, what we considered, "pricey", we just couldn't justify the added expense for marginal/mediocre quality.We found that the two-way speaker was also problematic. Using the website, or any mobile device, we found we had the same problem. In order to converse, the user would have to push the apps/website mic button, speak and then un-click the mic button (it says on for 2 minutes by default), and the other person would have to wait 2-4+ seconds before responding. It was like having a long-distance phone call where there is a substantial delay and, if you forgot to un-click the mic button, you would have to do the whole process all over again to have any form of communication. Definitely not duplex or VOX capable. Once we figured out the "trick" to using the two-way speaker, we found the quality of the sound disappointing and were faced with the inability to bring the speaker volume to a level where speech was discernible, unless the room was mostly quiet.On the plus side, if video image quality, recording quality and price are not concerns, the camera is ultra-easy to setup to start using right away. It took all of 1 minute to create an account, connect the camera and begin using it. The overall design of the stand and camera is nice and appears well constructed, is unobtrusive, and actually rather elegant in a room's decor. We didn't quite understand the black camera and bright white power cord. The ability to remove the camera from the stand is a nice feature.We purchased and tested the Samsung SmartCam HD SNH-E6411BN WiFi Camera (not the one that looks like a smoke detector) and it was returned the very same day. The quality and design of the Dropcam is higher than the Samsung, but not not by much in terms of image clarity or quality and definitely not enough to justify the expense.Finally, there was a "creepy" factor in the idea of having to pay "extra" just to see what had "just happened" inside or around our own home and thinking that, even if we didn't want the DropCam "service," they were still recording us.Our overall experience was that, at best, a prospective buyer should expect a marginal image live-streaming camera. We realize that everyone has different needs and this just didn't fit ours.UPDATE: Prior to returning the DropCam, we decided to see how the quality was upon expiration of the "trial service." Although we are not sure if the experience is the same for every user, we actually compared the quality of the video stream both with and without the service. It appears that without paying for the service, the quality is even worse than when you are paying for the service. Perhaps DropCam decided that if you aren't paying for their monthly service, then there is no sense wasting bandwidth on you. Perhaps that is just speculation. However, once the service is discontinued, it has become strikingly apparent that even running the live stream at 1x (standard un-zoomed) the quality is considerably worse than it was with the service. Given our above review and the awful quality of this video image with the service, we will leave it to the reader to interpret for themselves how that translates without the service. Also, we spoke with the DropCam Support who ensured us that motion and sound alerts were "completely separate from the monthly service and would continue to work even without the monthly service." We have found this to be a blatant fabrication. Immediately upon expiration of the trial service, we found that we lost all notifications from the alert feature.Use your best judgement on spending the asking price for this camera... maybe it will fit your needs... maybe it will not... We have already located at least 5 other IP Cameras that are of MUCH HIGHER quality, have the ability to record locally via either MicroSD or directly to a computer, have demonstrably improved video quality and are actually cheaper than the DropCam. In this case, you do not get what you pay for.

I have to admit that I am quite surprised and I have only had the camera for a couple of days. I did a ton of research and originally purchased the Dropcam Pro because of the reviews and the recommendation of a coworker. I read lots of reviews and watched YouTube video reviews before springing for the camera. I figured I would try it out and if it didn't work out, I would return it. However, the camera works well and was as easy to setup as advertised with an iPhone. The quality of the stream and the sound are better than I expected. I am using the camera through a window to monitor the outside of my walkway. The image quality is superb for both day and night views. I had to adjust the camera once it got dark, by turning off night vision, the interior lighting of my home, and turning on the outside porch light in order to get the best outside picture at night. I learned through trial and error that night vision should only be used for total darkness. So I turned it off but it a completely dark room, you should turn it on. Turning off the interior hallway lighting in my home near the camera, reduceded the glare and reflection of the camera on the glass. Another pro tip, under Camera Settings on the app, you can also turn off the status indicator on the camera so that it doesn't indicate that it's on. I played around with the sound by turning on and off the settings and using the speaker on my iPhone to communicate through the camera, and it is really good. You can talk to a burglar, your children, an elderly parent, or your pets and it sound as if you're in the same room with them. You can hear them and they can hear you.Depending upon where you locate the camera, you may need to purchase an extended male female usb cable. I have seen them from 3-15 feet and they're not more than $5 on Amazon. The cable that comes with the camera simply may not be long enough. I read about wifi issues but the only time I had the wifi disconnect is when I was moving the camera quickly. It seems to disconnect when it needs to refocus and process new images. It reconnected right away so it hasn't been that big of a problem. Also, when I initially setup the camera, when I went into the app, it would say that the camera was not connected. My fix was to select the location in the app where my camera was previously, and it would load the image without a huge hassle. I'm not sure what the wifi problem is but I think it occurs mostly when moving the camera. Now I will discuss the deal killer for most buyers. I too am struggling with eventually having to pay for recording and knowing that adding new cameras is an additional cost, even though the price is 50% off for each new camera. I would prefer a flat rate after the 2nd camera purchased, but that's not an option, so that will be a deal killer for me to purchase beyond two cameras. I will say this however, if you have the time to play around with the recorded images, you're going to have a difficult time not purchasing the cloud storage. It is beautiful. When I'm in my house, I have the camera set for no alerting outside, however, the camera still records motion events to the CVR. I can view thumbnail movies of each time frame when there was movement outside my home. I can then scroll to the thumbnail that I would like to view, click it, and see all the events in that timeframe. I like that feature and I like the fact that if someone turns my camera around, unplugs it or destroys it, the video would still be stored in the cloud. I like that as well, yet I haven't sprung for the cloud recording beyond the 15 day trail. I may end up buying the cloud storage because it is cheaper than the alarm service I am currently using, so it may be a cost benefit factor when I finally make the decision. I don't begrudge people if they chose to purchase cameras with onboard and local recording because that's a smart deal as well. All in all, buy the camera if your on the fence. Try it for a couple of days, and return it if you don't like it.