Configure DLink DCS-2132L Wireless IP Camera for Cloud Recording, Remote Monitoring and Playback
Contents
Introduction
Step 1: Connect camera to the network and find IP address
1.1 Connect camera to the network
1.2 Find Camera’s IP Address
Step 2: Configure the Camera Using the Web-based Configuration Tool
Step 3. Configure Video/Audio or Image Profile Settings
Step 4. Configure Motion Detection Settings
Step 5. Configure the Events (i.e. FTP Server, Media Type and Event)
5.1 Configure the FTP Server Info
5.2 Configure the Media Type (Image snapshots or video clips)
5.3 Configure an Event
6. CameraFTP Viewer
D-Link DCS 2132L is a very popular 1 MP (1280x800 Pixel) H.264 Wireless IP Camera with night-vision of up to 15 feet and excellent video / image quality. It supports both image snapshot and video/audio recording. You can use H.264 encoded MP4 video format for best compatibility with video viewers. WPS is available for easy connecting to Wi-Fi.
Basic camera information
| Video / image resolution |
1280x800, 1280x720, 800x600, 800x450, 640x480, 640x360, 320x240, 320x180 |
| Audio recording |
Supported (2-way) |
| Image upload frequency |
1 image/s |
| Video frame rate |
1, 4, 7, 15, 30 fps |
| Night-vision |
Up to 15 feet |
| Image snapshot recording |
Supported, but only supports 1 image/s. (Continuous recording is not fully supported.) |
| Video clip recording |
Supported. (Continuous recording is not fully supported) |
| Motion detection |
Supported for both image and video recording |
| Continuous recording |
Continuous recording is not fully supported. It can record 1 minute video/2 minutes, or 10 images/minute. |
| Supported video format |
.MP4 |
| Connection type |
Wi-Fi and Ethernet cable; supports WPS |
| PoE (Power on Ethernet) |
No |
| Indoor / outdoor |
Indoor |
| Lowest pricing (as of 6/24/2016) |
$89.99 |
Note: This document is not designed to replace the manufacturers’ product manual. The information provided is based on our knowledge of the model D-Link DCS 2132L. It may not be accurate or completely up-to-date. Users shall contact the manufacturer for all camera-related issues and contact us only for CameraFTP-related (i.e. Cloud Service / FTP) issues. Most of the setup steps below are camera related and are very trivial. If you have finished these basic steps before, then you can skip Steps 1 and 2. CameraFTP’s service can be configured in just 3 steps (i.e. Steps 3, 4 and 5).
There are two ways to connect the IP camera to the Wi-Fi network.
(1) If your Wi-Fi
router does not support WPS, then you need to connect the camera using an
Ethernet cable first. You can configure the Wi-Fi settings in the camera's
configuration pages later.
(2) If your Wi-Fi
access point/router supports WPS, then it is very easy to connect your device
to the network:
Turn on the
camera, then press the WPS button on your Wi-Fi access point for 3 seconds; the
WPS button will usually start flashing. Quickly press the WPS button on the
back side of your camera and hold for a few seconds until the light changes. In
about 1 minute, you will see the status light (below the camera lens) changes
to solid green, indicating it is connected to the wireless router.
Please refer to the manufacturer’s manual for more detailed information.
If your camera
is connected to the Wi-Fi router, or if you have connected the camera with an
Ethernet cable, then you can run the manufacturer’s setup program to find the
camera’s IP address. From a PC in the same network,
insert the camera’s software CD and run the auto-run program - it will open the
following window:
Click
"Setup Your Camera" and follow the instructions. Select Next until
it starts searching the network for the camera. After it finishes, you will see this screen:
Note the default password is blank. After you selected the camera, it will ask you
to create and confirm a password. After you entered the password, clicking Next
will bring you to setup your network connection:
Follow the wizard to connect the camera to your network, and click Next. You
will be offered to sign up for mydlink service. Mydlink service is useful for
live view and accessing your cameras remotely. You can sign up for an account,
or select "I don't want to sign up now".
CameraFTP’s service is different from mydlink service. We offer cloud-based storage for your camera, which is much more secure than local storage or no storage. Also, we support cloud-based live view and playback, so mydlink service is not necessary.
Click Next.
Finally, you will find a page that displays the camera's IP address:
Once you have found the camera's IP address, launch a web browser and enter the address of your camera.
http://IP_ADDRESS/
It will pop up a logon dialog as follows:
Use the username: admin and the password you created in the Installation
Wizard. If you did not create a password, the default password is blank (It is
recommended that you change the password). After Logging In, you will see
the Live Video screen.
Once you are in your configuration pages, click Setup, and you will see the
Setup Main screen:
With CameraFTP’s service, most regular setup steps are not required. (You can feel
free to check these steps, e.g. click "Time and Date" to set the camera time.)
Click Setup à Audio and Video as shown below. You can configure the video and image
resolution; in the case of video, you can also configure the video frame rate
and bit rate. You only need to configure the Video Profile 1.
If you ordered an image plan, then all it matters is the frame size.
This model camera cannot specify upload frequency for image-based recording. It
will always use 1 image/s, so make sure this is what you ordered on CameraFTP.
If you ordered a video plan, please configure it as follows:
- Mode: H.264;
- Frame size: Based on your CameraFTP subscription level;
- View Window Area: Same as Frame Size;
- Max frame rate: Based on your subscription level. Set to 4 if subscription fps is 5.
- Video quality: Set to constant bit rate. The number should be calculated as follows:
The Bit Rate is a little tricky. Setting it too high will use too much upload bandwidth,
causing failed uploads; setting it too
low will affect the video quality. You can use our bandwidth calculator to
estimate the bandwidth. Visit www.cameraftp.com,
click Pricing, and then customize a service plan. See the screenshot below. (Note
for estimating the bandwidth, Number of Cameras should be set to 1.)
For the video plan of 1280x720, 5 frames/s, the estimated bandwidth is 486Kbps. So
you can set it to 512Kbps.
Click Save Settings (not to be confused with another Save button) to save the video profile.
If you ordered a plan with Motion Detection enabled, then you must configure
Motion Detection. Click
Motion Detection as shown below. Check the "Enable Video Motion"
checkbox. You can draw a motion detection area and click Save Settings.
Motion detection is strongly recommended as it can lower your cost and dramatically reduce
bandwidth/storage usage. Moreover, motion detection makes it easier to play
back stored footage.
NOTE:
- This camera does not fully support continuous recording. It can only record a 1-minute video clip every 2 minutes, or 10 images per minute.
- If you use your camera to monitor a busy scene such that the camera will be uploading for longer than 10 hours/day, you should order the continuous recording plan even if you will turn on motion detection. Otherwise, your camera may exceed the usage limit and be blocked.
If you don’t have an account on CameraFTP, please visit www.cameraftp.com and
sign up for a free trial account. CameraFTP offers a 3-day free trial, after
which time you will need to order a subscription.
Assuming you have an account on CameraFTP, click Event Setup, then click the Add button
in the Server section as shown below.
You can then add the FTP server info as follows:
Check the "FTP" checkbox, and enter the FTP info as follows:
- FTP server: ftp.cameraftp.com (or IP: 66.220.9.45)
- Port: 21
- Username / Password: FTP username is your CameraFTP username, FTP password is available in
Configure IP Cameras page. (Your CameraFTP password may also work).
- Remote folder name:
Same as the camera name you added on
www.cameraftp.com. If you have not created the camera name, please log on to
www.cameraftp.com, then click Add in the My Cameras page.
- Passive Mode: Enabled (This is very important!)
Click Test to test the FTP settings. If successful, click Save Settings.
In this step, we will configure what type of media to be recorded when an event is triggered.
Click Event Setup, then click the Add button in the Media section as shown below:
You can then configure a media type in the following screen.
If you ordered an image plan, don't configure the video clip
section. Check the "Snapshot" radio button.
