D-Link Camera Video Recorder mydlink-Enabled (DNR-202L)

Purchased this on a lightning deal for $70. Already have 4 of the DCS-932L indoor cams hanging under eves successfully for the last year and also have 2 of the DCS-2330L's which are an outdoor camera. Before buying this I had all of my cameras sending on motion detection to and FTP server I set up on my laptop. Also have them sending a text with imaging to my Android phone. My cameras still do this but 4 of them also record continuously to the DNR-202L.Hooked this up to my router and hung a WD Elements 2TB USB 3.0 drive on it. Everything fired up as it was supposed to. Downloaded the setup wizard and ran it. It ask to format the drive which was already NTFS. I allowed it to reformat and it defaulted to FAT32 but you could skip this step if you have a new disk formatted to NTFS or FAT32. You can also reformat either NTFS of FAT32 later from the unit's web page settings. The setup wizard crashed under Windows 10 at the last step but I reran it and it was fine. It set this up in my MyDlink account but you really want to access the DNR-202L's web page directly from your network with it's IP address. Ex: http://192.168.2.55/dlink/live.htmlThe nice thing about the DNR-202L is that it allows you to configure each camera's video feed without having to set up each camera from it's web page. I cut down the frame rate for less wifi bandwidth usage. It takes a little experimenting to learn all of the features of the interface but I was able to find my way around in about an hour. It seems that it will lose the real time displays of one or more cameras sometimes but it still seems to be recording. When that happens I close the web page and reopen it and usually I have all 4 feeds again.**** None of the D-Link cameras or the DNR-202L currently work with the Windows 10 Edge browser. You have to use the IE browser ********* Also I think there is an Android app out there that supports the DNR-202L but it may not be released in the USA as of this date *****

First off let me get this out of the way. This Network Video Recorder or NVR, as D-Link prefers to put it, isn't as plug and play as they advertise. Will it work? Yes. Is it easy to setup? kind of, if you are technically inclined, your PC isn't on windows 10 and you have copy's of old browser download zips / Java installers on hand.See the real problem is that D-link inadvertently leaked their private key's for this unit in a driver file and some tech sites picked up on it and published it. Basically any version of Java after version 7 will SERIOUSLY HINDER your efforts to install and register the software for this unit on your PC. Which you have to do in order to register & use it with the My D-link apps on your android phone. Also if your PC runs windows 10, 8, 8.1 & possibly 7 the OS itself will block the executable as well as the HDD Viewer apps from installing let alone running without disabling the UAC system COMPLETELY.On windows 7 this is more of an annoyance than anything else but on windows 8 / 8.1 it gets a bit more complex to do & on windows 10 its a complete and utter Pain In The Ass to do. Essentially because of how windows 10 handles disabling UAC and how its tied into the hidden administrator account. Yup that's right windows 10 has a hidden administrator account & so do windows 7, 8 and 8.1.The process on windows 10 ( yes its different on the older versions of windows because screw you that's why... thanks Microsoft ) is as follows, for me to install or even access the NVR, which is important because when you add a camera... you have to... you guessed it.... access the NVR. Also sometimes ( perhaps monthly if your particularly unlucky ) the NVR will FORGET some or all of your cameras requiring them to be re-added.1. Boot up Windows2. Type UAC into the search the web & windows section on the toolbar and select the first response.3. Drag the slider to the bottom or select NEVER NOTIFY & reset the PC4. Boot up again5. Now Open an elevated command prompt and enter net user administrator /active:yes.6. Restart windows.7. Finally you can install the software & follow the prompts or access the NVR if, like me, you've done this NUMEROUS TIMES by the way use IE11 not edge or chrome or Firefox to access the internet for My-DLink's website & you must have java installed & the antivirus / firewall disabled or better yet switched off entirely.8. When you are done open another elevated command prompt and type in net user administrator /active:no9. Restart windows10.Type UAC into the search the web &windows section on the toolbar and select the first response.11. Drag the slider to at least the third tier select ALWAYS NOTIFY & reset the PC AGAIN.12. Re-enable the antivirus / firewall and be happy.For what its worth half of this is the security in Windows 10 itself, as well as the inherently unsecured nature of Java and the other half is D-Link themselves. Maybe they could fix this with a firmware update but I honestly think they cant which is why they HAVEN'T FOR THE PAST YEAR.Is the system bad for the price? Not really. Is it secure? No, it is hack-able because of the aforementioned private key leak. But for less than $300 for 4 camera WIRELESS recording with a bring your own USB HDD approach its not horrible. However do you need to be tech savvy ? Yes especially if you are using Windows 10.Also I had to actually research all of this with some help from D-Links forum and numerous other Google searches to figure this out. So if you get it for your aunt Mable and don't want to provide tech support DEFINITELY look elsewhere. However if you know your stuff you CAN do it yourself.As an aside this system will EAT wireless bandwidth if you have everything set up to record HD & Audio. However D-Link cameras can be set to record on motion or audio input and the system does provide for automatic overwrite of stored files. So it is plug and play to an extent. You should also check your states Audio / wiretap recording laws. For instance its ILLEGAL in Pennsylvania to record audio & in some cases Video anywhere where there is an expectation of privacy like through a window, in a bathroom / bedroom or in a shared entryway. Luckily D-Link cameras can mute the microphone through the settings.In closing I would definitely suggest you research this unit before deciding to buy it.EDIT.I decided to leave the above review intact without edits but I changed the review to 1 star the only addendum to the review is the title and the edit at the end.As of November 2016 I purchased an ASUSTOR NAS. The main reason I went with ASUSTOR was the fact that their NAS had 4 free camera licenses for their builtin surveillance station software. After purchasing this NAS and setting up static IP's using the mac addresses of the cameras in my router I have been able to make my d'link cameras just work. No monitoring of anything, no fixing and rebooting of anything & no messing with anything. If I couldn't make this any more clear to you I will now THIS NVR IS WORTHLESS THE SECURITY IS ATROCIOUS AT BEST AND UTTERLY HEINOUS AT WORST.I got the cameras running with the NAS within half an hour of completed setup of the NAS. I waited until last week ( 4/3/17 ) to update the firmware of the d'link NVR and try to use it with an external hard drive. The results are bleak at best. First the device still loses connections with the cameras even though the IP's are STATIC, meaning THEY CAN'T CHANGE. The system should know where to look since the cameras ARE ALWAYS IN THE SAME NETWORK LOCATION. Second its not any easier to set up the NVR despite firmware upgrades to my cameras and the NVR itself. The cameras are easier to set up but still use the same outdated insecure keys since that's an issue that cant be resolved without changing the MAC address that THEY CANT CHANGE. Once private keys are given out they cant be changed without changing the hardware.Why do you think there is different hardware versions of the NVR A0 to A1 etc. The best solution I have is update your firmware and hope for the best, provided d'link has released an update that is. I still have to use Internet explorer I still cant use Firefox or Edge I still have to fiddle with the security in windows 10 ( for the NVR at least )Its flat out SHAMEFUL that an outside company can make the cameras work better with their storage solution than the company that DESIGNED them. I'm changing my review from 3 stars to 1 star. I gave d'link the better part of a year to smear lipstick all over the whole damned pig and they couldn't even get that right. The only reason the cameras are worth a damn is because a third party vendor has a better implantation of d'links own back end software. Think about that for a minute. Not very secure is it?The designers of this should be fired, the person that left the private keys UNENCRYPTED IN PLAINTEXT in the driver file should not only be fired but should be ASHAMED and if anyone got robbed because of this terrible NVR system the people involved in development, cryptography and d'link themselves should be held criminally responsible. The bottom line is stay away from this NVR. Its heinously, atrociously, terribly and unforgivably bad. If d'link were responsible for network security I WOULD DEVELOP MY OWN NETWORKING AND SECURITY SOLUTION that's how bad this is.P.S. I'll be replacing the cameras soon....