If you’re looking to install wireless security cameras, the D-Link Omna Wire Free Indoor/Outdoor Surveillance Kit is a great place to start.
The kit has a hub and two wireless cameras included and the good news is there are no cables and wires to run.
You can be up and running within minutes.
Everything you need is in the box including the internet cable, the power supply for the hub and the charger for the two full high definition cameras.
Each of the cameras are small enough to fit in the palm of your hand and they’re weatherproof which means they’re equally at home inside or out.
Also included are the magnetic mounts for the cameras and a single mounting arm plus all the screws you need as well.
For our review we placed one camera outdoors and another indoors and placed the hub in a central part of our home – our office – where the modem/router is located.
Set up is very straightforward – you basically have to connect the hub, download the mydlink app from the App Store or the Google Play Store and just follow the step by step instructions.
What helps make it easier are the QR codes on the hub and the cameras.
We connected the D-Link hub to power and connected the Ethernet cable to our router.
With the app, all we had to do was scan the QR code on the back of the hub to add the device.
The next step was to connect the cameras, also by scanning a QR code on the back which immediately identified them before we hit the sync button on the left side to link them to the hub.
The first camera was connected in minutes, the second camera needed about four or five attempts to connect it through the app and pressing the sync button.
When you’re done you can name the camera based on its location either using the suggested room names or by giving it your own name.
This is to make it easier to identify each camera and so you know exactly where it is and what you’re looking at.
The video stream looked sharp on our smartphone. To view the camera feed full screen all you need to do is turn your phone sideways.
It’s easy to capture pictures or record video from the control screen and you can even talk to whoever is in front of the camera thanks to the onboard two-way audio.
If it’s located near your front door, that conversation might be with a courier or delivery driver.
Users also have control on where they can store recorded video – on a microSD card, on a USB drive connected to the hub or the mydlink cloud.
The D-Link system also supports Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant so they can be included in your smart home automation.
There’s also a mydlink skill for Alexa which means if you have an Amazon Echo with a display you can see the live feeds from the cameras on the screen.
The D-Link Omna Wire-Free Indoor/Outdoor Surveillance Kit has excellent hardware but it is let down by the companion app. For our review we used the mydlink app on an iPhone.
Our biggest issue was its lack of responsiveness navigating between screens.
The arrow back button from the camera video feed screen just would not work after numerus attempts.
Eventually we’d hit it in the right spot to go back to the home screen.
Another issue was that the top back arrow was also on top of the last command of the iPhone.
For example, we did a search for the mydlink app on the iPhone and the word “search” and an arrow back to that menu is located in the top left corner which overlaps the app’s back arrow.
It was the same deal when trying to access the settings through the cog symbol on the right side. It was equally non-responsive.
This needs immediate attention with an update – it is really frustrating.
The D-Link Omna Wire-Free Indoor/Outdoor Surveillance Kit makes it easy to check in on your home, holiday home or office.
It’s really easy to watch live video or stored video and users can also set the cameras to send a notification when it detects movement.
D-Link Omna Wire-Free Indoor/Outdoor Surveillance Kit
Price: $799.99
VERDICT
The D-Link Wire-Free Indoor/Outdoor Surveillance Kit provides an instant solution for anyone who want to install a wireless camera system to increase the security of their property.
