D-Link DCS-950 10/100TX Internet Camera, Built-in Microphone

I got this camera 3 months back and had it running continuously. I was very pleased with the product TILL several days back. The video screen just went black. Rebooting the camera only got me the "Camera Server Error!" and a black screen at where the video screen is supposed to be.

After googling for help, I found out that this is very common for DCS 950. It's a hardware failure... ...
So much for a security camera....

I've tried everything to salvage the camera. These are the stuff you should try before calling the D-Link technical support. The support is poor btw.
1 ) Power cycle your camera
2 ) Upgrade the firmware to the latest ( 1.08 at the time of this post )
3 ) Delete the activeX in I.E and reinstall it
4 ) Reset the camera using the reset button
5 ) Reinstall everything

After that, call the tech support and tell them you've done all the above. Most probably you will get a replacement set.

So much hassle for an unreliable security camera... ...not worth the trouble.

I have 4 of these cameras and they are all running under IP View SE. They run for weeks until they need to be resetted (one of them is a wireless and that one crashes way too often). For the price, these cameras get the job done. Now for the internet viewing....

I am fairly knowledgeable with computers and networking, but something is awfully wrong here. I have 12 D-Link internet cameras. Some of them can be viewed online, some cannot. Same with these 4. Some works, some do not. It is such a hassle to get some of these to work. I had to set up virtual servers/IP forwarding on the router for each of the cameras. Seriously, sometimes works, sometimes do not. I've called the TS so many times and have not gotten all the cameras to work. So, I decided to use Ultra VNC and view what's on the computer....so far that is the easiest and best way if you have a computer where the cameras are. Networking issues are just way to complicated for most of us and DLink should not have made it SO HARD. But, these are probably the cheapest cameras you could get. Compare to older models, these have MIC and sharp pictures which exceeds my expectation for a security camera. Also it's nice to see that DLink have come up with IP View SE and better programs...couple years ago these programs were terrible..
With these cameras and a 500gb HD for recording, they do their job well. I have already caught some trouble makers at the work place...

For the price, it is a bargain.

I purchased this camera in order to download/record video for viewing later. The camera is great however I have had a lot of difficulty getting the audio and video in-synch. Still not sure what the problem is.

I have another Dlink camera without voice and this one. DCS-950 is better. It works a bit slower at the beginning but I like both cameras and I have been using them as security cameras. I really recommend. I have bought used one but it works fine.

The software is a bit buggy and dealing with d-link support is something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. The motion detection alarm does not work in the ipview se program, and dlink support was WAY less than helpful. I think they know it is a bug but refuse to admit it.

That said, the camera works mostly as advertised (except the software bugs). If you buy this, pray you don't end up having to call dlink for help -- you won't get any.

EDIT and update: the video constantly drops out and goes black. Support replaced mine with a refurbished older model (I am still very upset about this). This one also exhibits the same dropout problem. After further research, it seems that these cameras have an overheating problem which causes these dropouts. It's a defective design and i would avoid at all costs. Amazon won't let you change the star rating, but know I CHANGE MY RATING TO ZERO STARS.