Cautionary Tale - TP-Link Vigi 540 camera

[Scott35]

I thought I would post this as a potential warning to anyone interested in the Vigi 540 camera (may apply to other TP-Link Vigi products) - I purchased 4 of these as they met a specific requirement and a good price point (we are very limited to choice and cost here in N.Z).
I installed them and added a 256Gb micro sd card to each one (genuine Samsung off of TP-Link's tested list), they worked really well initially , then a firmware upgrade was available and applied - afterwards the micro sd card was no longer recognised and could not be formatted. I logged a support ticket with TP-Link and they did some initial investigation and after a bit of to and fro they applied a custom firmware upgrade that allowed the micro sd card to be formatted and generally be available, unfortunatley you now can not playback the recorded events as you get at least 3 or 4 error messages. I am still waiting on TP-Link support to get back to me but do not hold out any hopes.

So just be very careful applying updates - you may introduce unwanted or unexpected operational issues.

 

[TonyR]

So just be very careful applying updates - you may introduce unwanted or unexpected operational issues.

THIS! ^^^

Rule of thumb for IP cameras, NVR's, routers and more which is observed by most people on this forum and is highly recommended.....unless a f/w update addresses a serious security issue that you will likely face in your application OR it provides a specific operational feature you absolutely must have AND the device is working well.....do not upgrade the device for fear of rendering it useless except perhaps as a paperweight or doorstop.