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[KARNAG3]

Hello everyone,

I bought 3 days ago the DCS-5020L.
I already had the DCS-5222L and wanted to had another similar device.
The problem is for the same task at the same exact spot in the house, my new device triggers false alarms frequently even at level 1/100 on the motion sensitivity level. I even limited a lot the area that the camera is monitoring for motions. I also put a schedule on the camera to turn on night mode, to make sure the trigger didn't created those frequent false alarms. 

Am I the only one with this problem?
I called D-LINK technical support and they are clueless.
Currently waiting on the technical support level 2 to call me back. 

P.s.: The device itself is AWESOME if it wasnt for this issue. Much MUCH better video quality then the DCS-5222L!

[TonY111]

I'm in the exact same boat, and considering returning both 5020Ls that I purchased. I've spent hours trying to set them up correctly, and the motion sensitivity (set at 1%) makes it a poor purchase if it will not work properly.

[TonY111]

If anyone can offer any suggestions, it would be greatly appreciated.

What I've gathered from searching online isn't very helpful. I've tinkered with the sensitivity setting, including setting it to 1%, with no luck. I get constant email alerts every minute or two. I've reduced the motion detection area to just a few squares. Still no luck. I've read that changes in ambient light (ie. sunlight off a wall, correct?), can throw off the sensors ... but I have not read any good suggestions on how to alleviate this problem. (If I can't point the camera at a door to monitor access, then what good is it?)

So I'm at the end of my patience here. I'd like to keep the camera, but if it won't work as advertised, then I see no other option than to return it. Anyone's help would be greatly appreciated! 

[KARNAG3]

TonY111: I'm glad you telling me this because I thought for sure the device was defective.
Now I have hope that it is a firmware issue! I called a few times and finally got to speak with a Level 2 technician (engineer). He said he will ask for a device like ours to be tested and if it is a firmware issue, they will let me know and fix it. I'll let you know when I get a feedback. I suggest you call D-LINK to report this issue and they might take a little bit more seriously our problem. The phone number is 1-800-361-5265.

[RoughRiver]

I have not seen this issue with my camera (just recently purchased). In fact, I have to crank the sensitivity up past 90 to detect movement such as a person walking up the driveway (when viewing through a window from approximately 35 feet away).

Just curious, are you also using sound detection? I do get false alarms that I believe to be sound triggered because the camera produces an internal click/pop sound. In my case, it's roughly every 5 minutes.

FYI, I do not use the email notification - just the FTP file upload.

[KARNAG3]

I bought a new one yesterday, same model, same revision number, SAME PROBLEM. I'm getting false alarms at level 1 of Motion Sensitivity. 

[Westridge]

Same issue here. I have video emailed upon detection of motion. What I've noticed from the recorded videos is that the picture drops out (turns black) for a very brief period and this is what triggers the motion detection. Went with the sound as an alternative, but the clicks/pops that are generated internally are even worse for false alarms.

[RoughRiver]

I have now seen this same thing. Either the video winks out entirely, or there is a noticeable change in exposure setting, and that seems to trigger the motion detection. I'm seeing this when the camera is viewing the inside (not looking through a window) and motion detection sensitivity is set at 50.

Here is a frame grab of the video glitch that caused a false detection:

[Westridge]

After changing the setting to send a single snapshot by email (in addition to a video), I see the frame that sets off the motion detection. It's not a partially darkened frame like you see in the video, but has a garbled look to it with a bunch of horizontal features. Try it and see if you get the same thing. It happens every time, seemingly in a random fashion. The D-link tech that I called told me to take the day/night setting off of auto mode. Did that and saw no improvement.

I have two 942L's, three 932L's, and a 5222L and none of them exhibited this behaviour. I wonder if there's a power surge affecting it.

[KARNAG3]

I bought a THIRD DCS-5020L and I still get the same kind of false alarms. The network engineers at D-LINK Canada are looking into it. So far they havent found any problems like ours on their test device. I went ahead with giving my ddns address with login and password just so they can experience it first hand. Hope it will help. Have you guys tried calling them and ask them to do test on their side also? If not, it might help if someone else reported this issue.

[Westridge]

I called and they indicated that they'd have to put me in contact with their second level technicians, or something to that effect. I'm waiting for a call back from them to troubleshoot. I've been dealing with D'Link Canada, as I'm in Toronto, although my camera was purchased and is located in Florida.

[KARNAG3]

I got kinda o***ood news!
They sent me this message: "We can see the problem in our environment and we reported  it to our PM to check. I'll wait for their update for this problem and give you an update."
Hopefully it is a firmware issue and not a hardware issue on all the DCS-5020L camera's.

[RoughRiver]

It's not a partially darkened frame like you see in the video, but has a garbled look to it with a bunch of horizontal features.

I tried this, but did not see the garbled image. What I got was still frames of the darkening and lightening effect that I've seen on the video clips. I had the still images emailed and uploaded to my FTP server - neither was garbled. Now that I think about it, I believe that I've seen this garbled effect when looking at specific video frames. I've only noticed it once, and I think it only lasted for 1 or 2 frames. I no longer have that example, but will start looking for it again in the various false alarms that I frequently get.

[pish180]

I just bought this camera as well and I am having the same issues!  False alarms.  I have been fiddling around with the settings for the past week, and 1% still comes back with garbage.   Additionally I get garbled images, some images will have random lines and other will be half black.  There is obviously something wrong with the firmware, I'm quite disappointed that I have spend this much money on this and the sensitivity was not properly tested before the product shipped. I would also like to add... When I listen to the camera live, it shudders and skips and I'm 100% sure it's not my internal network or the internet connection. My cam is on a wired connection so you can't blame wireless interference.

DLINK please release a new BIOS that fixes this ASAP!

[Westridge]

I called D-Link today, since they never called back within 24 hours as they had promised. In any case, they can't help because they want me in front of the camera while troubleshooting. Kind of hard to do that when it's 1500 miles away!

I'll just replace it with a 5222L unit the next time I'm in Florida.