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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


Introduction

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).


Step 1: Connect camera to the network and find its IP address

1.1 Connect camera to the network

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.

1.2 Find the Camera’s IP Address

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:


Step 2: Configure the Camera Using the Web-based Configuration Tool

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.)


Step 3. Configure Video/Audio or Image Profile Settings

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.


Step 4. Configure Motion Detection Settings

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.


Step 5. Configure the Events (i.e. FTP Server, Media Type and Event)

5.1 Configure the FTP Server Info

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.


5.2 Configure the Media Type (Image snapshots or video clips)

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.


  • Media name: Enter "imageSnapshot" or any other name.
  • Source:
    Select Profile1. The image's resolution will be set to the video profile 1's frame size; other video parameters will not be used.
  • File Name Prefix:
    Enter "A" or any other prefix.
    Also check the checkbox "Add date and time suffix to file name", and set it to send in 3 pre-event images and 7 post-event images.

Click Save Settings.

If you ordered a video plan, you can check the radio button of "Video Clip", see the screenshot below:

  • Media Name: Enter "VideoClip1" (or any name)
  • Source: select Profile1;
  • File Name prefix: "B" or any other prefix.
  • Maximum file size: 3000 kbytes

Click Save Settings.


5.3 Configure an Event

In the Event Setup screen, click the Add button in the Event Section below the Media section. You will see the Add-Event page as shown below:


  • Event name: Enter any event name, such as EventName1.
  • Enable this event: Check the checkbox

Delay for 1 or 2 seconds before detecting next event.


If you ordered a plan with motion detection enabled, then you must check the checkbox of "Video motion detection".

If you ordered a continuous recording plan, you can check the checkbox of "Periodic"
Note: this camera can only trigger periodic events every 1 minute, thus it is not truly continuous recording. It can record a 1-minute video clip every 2 minutes, or 10 images/minute.

In the Event Schedule section, please select "Always" unless you want to exclude certain days or time periods.

If you ordered an image plan, then check the radio button "CameraFTP" (which is configured when you added the FTP server), and select the Attached Media "ImageSnapshot". The camera will upload image snapshots to cameraftp.

Please note this camera does not support "upload frequency". It will always upload at 1 image/s. The image resolution is defined in the video profile 1.

If you ordered a video plan, you just need to select the VideoClip1 as the attached media.

Click Save Settings.

That's all. You don't need to configure the Recording section (which is for local recording only).


6. CameraFTP Viewer

You can disconnect the Ethernet cable if you want to use Wi-Fi. If you need to make changes, you can run the setup program again to find the camera’s IP address (as it may change with DHCP), and then access the camera’s Setup pages.

After your camera is setup, You can visit www.cameraftp.com to live monitor or play back your recorded footage from anywhere. You can also download CameraFTP Viewer App for iOS, Android and Windows Phone.