INTRODUCTION

   It's been roughly 6 years since i started messing around with surveillance and alarm systems not only because i wanted to feel safer in my own home but also because the same was also true for many people i know so when they started asking about what to do i took it upon myself to find the answer. Fast forward almost 6 years later and the result is that not only i but also many of the people i know have placed IP cameras and alarm systems to safeguard their properties. However most people have yet to take such measures for their safety and more often than less the main two reasons behind that is the overall cost which can be really high for a complete security system and the entire procedure to install it. Well if there's something we all know is that technology changes all the time and Devolo with their latest dLAN LiveCam Starter Kit offers what just might be the easiest to install and operate surveillance camera in the market today.

   devolo AG is the leading European company on the market in Powerline communication solutions. The company's core product is dLAN®, a technology that allows flexible networks via existing wiring like electrical and coaxial lines. Powerline solutions are employed in private households as well as commercial environments and they lead the way in future-oriented energy data distribution and home automation. devolo invests its development resources into improving dLAN® technology through its own patented solutions. The globally operating company has been the world market leader in the Powerline segment since 2009. Numerous top-product test reviews and distinctions, not to mention over 16 million shipped adapters, substantiate devolo's success. Through sustainable market practices, devolo upholds its responsibility to customers, employees and the environment.

   The entire concept the dLAN LiveCam is based on is not really new since devolo basically implemented their powerline adapter technology to transfer the signal from the camera directly to your router by using the existing electrical grid of the building. Because of that the installation is hassle-free since you just have to plug the camera into a wall electrical socket, plug the dLAN 200 AVduo powerline adapter into a wall electrical socket near your router and connect both via an Ethernet LAN cable. So as you can all understand this feature alone can save potential buyers a whole lot of trouble in terms of installation and of course cost. Specs-wise the dLAN LiveCam offers a maximum resolution of 640x480, intelligent infra-red function (effective up to 5m), 128Bit AES Encryption, a camera angle of 130 degrees and manual pan/tilt functionality. Right from the get go i can't say that we were really impressed when reading the specifications sheet of the dLAN LiveCam still we do like the quality of devolo products so we were all quite curious to see what this starter kit has to offer and we ended up using it for slightly over a week with mixed feelings at the end.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

The front of the box is quite crowded with a large product image, a picture of a very attractive girl, the devolo logo and much more.

A picture of the camera over a wall electrical socket is placed on the left side.

On the right side of the box we see some of the units "green" features.

At the top of the box we see a drawing of the bundle contents, a list with all the compatible powerline adapters by devolo and a picture of the camera used to showcase its features.

The main features are also listed at the rear in 10 languages right next to a large topology drawing (usage example).

At the bottom of the box devolo showcases the main tab of their Cockpit app for android and iOS compatible devices.

Devolo packs the entire bundle inside a cardboard box with several cardboard spacers for maximum protection.

The box contains the dLAN LiveCam camera, dLAN 200 AVduo powerline adapter, Ethernet LAN cable, power cable, installation manual, software CD and a paper with all the necessary warranty and contact information.

THE DLAN LIVECAM STARTER KIT

Even for an interior camera the glossy white dLAN LiveCam is quite small and measures just 85mm in width, 85mm in depth and 107mm in height with a weight of 280g.

All four sides have perforated sections and at the front we see the devolo logo.

The lens of the dLAN LiveCam can be focused manually (left/right rotation) and have a NV range of 5m via 12 IR (infra-red) LEDs that turn on/off with the help of a sensor placed above.

The camera can be rotated up to 90% vertically (tilt) and 270 degrees horizontally (pan) but the problem is that you can't do so through the control software which means you have to do so manually with your hands.

Moving on the right side we see the reset and encryption buttons right next to the activity LED.

The power plug is placed at left side of the chassis.

Wall mounting holes are placed at the rear of the camera.

Four rubber feet, wall mounting holes, tripod mounting hole and a sticker containing the ID and password are placed at the bottom.

The dLAN 200 AVduo powerline adapter has an activity LED at the front, 2 RJ45 Ethernet LAN ports and a sticker at the rear with the units MAC address and its electrical specifications.

DLAN LIVECAM SOFTWARE

Although devolo ships the unit with a software CD i strongly recommend heading over to their official support page to download the latest version of their dLAN LiveCam software.

Once you launch the software it will ask you to enter the ID and Password for your LiveCam which can be found at the bottom sticker.

From the main menu there are 4 options available so you can check the live feed from the camera, enter the settings menu, reduce the screen width of the software and add more dLAN LiveCam models (if you have more installed).

The settings menu allows you to take a snapshot and use it as the main menu picture, change the ID and password of the unit (since the default ones are way too long), set the camera orientation (although this is clearly an indoor model), set the IR LEDs manually or leave it to the sensor to decide, improve the contrast when NV mode is on, rotate the image input and finally you can also reset the settings to the factory ones.

Since this is an indoor camera model i decided to use my living room as an example (the distance between the dLAN LiveCam and the window is 4.6 meters) and so we took three snapshots, one with all the lights on, one with just some light coming from the outside and one without a single ray of light in the room. As you can see although the NV mode is quite good i can't say the same for the normal mode since color reproduction was far off. Also the 640x480 resolution prevents this camera from being used by professionals although i really doubt devolo had them in mind when designing the dLAN LiveCam.

DLAN COCKPIT ANDROID/IOS APP

Devolo also allows the consumer to use their Cockpit application from android/iOS compatible devices to check the camera feed using WiFi/Internet connectivity. The Cockpit app is as easy to use as the LiveCam software and compared to some other IP camera apps it's actually quite more responsive.

CONCLUSION

   Looking back a few years we see that the dLAN LiveCam is actually not an entirely new concept since Logitech launched their very own surveillance camera kit based on the same powerline technology called the Indoor Camera Master System. That solution however had three downsides, one it lacked an NV mode so you could only use it at places with a good amount of light, second it was fixed so you could not pan/tilt the lens and third it lacked a built-in microphone. So yes i was somewhat impressed to see that devolo improved on that concept however it almost feels as if their goal was not to design and manufacture something unique. What i mean is that aside the low resolution of the lens (640x480) and the inaccurate color reproduction the dLAN LiveCam lacks an microphone (just like the Logitech solution) so you can't listen to what's going on in that area while the inability to use the pan/tilt feature from the control panel (no internal motor present) is not something i expected although i have to say that it's better to have it than not.

   Price is what really steals the show since currently you can get the dLAN LiveCam Starter Kit by devolo for just 109.99Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de) and that is more than enough to counter most of the problems we noticed. Of course as we mentioned earlier the dLAN LiveCam Starter Kit is certainly not targeted towards professionals and demanding people who are looking to purchase a surveillance camera with very good image quality and sound but for people on a very tight budget who are basically looking for a plug and play solution this is ideal. Overall i think that devolo has the ability to manufacture a high-end surveillance camera but until that day comes (if it comes) the dLAN LiveCam Starter Kit gets our Golden Award because of its ease of use coupled with a very good price tag and a good range of features.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Size
- Installation Ease
- No Cables
- Pan/Tilt Functionality
- NV Mode
- AES 128 Bit Encryption
- Wall And Tripod Mounts
- Cockpit Android/iOS App
- Dual RJ45 Ethernet Output
- 3 Years Warranty
- Price (For Some) 

CONS

- Resolution (640x480)
- Color Reproduction
- No Audio
- Manual Pan/Tilt Rotation