4 Big Issues With TP-Link Cameras According To Home Security Enthusiasts

An FCC ban on TP-Link, perhaps one of the biggest router manufacturers in the world, may have shaken confidence in the brand. Yet, undeniably, its products are top-notch according to many, with TP-Link's stuff still topping the lists of the best router brands. Does that same level of quality extend to its other offerings, like Tapo cameras?

Though some models, such as the TP-Link Tapo C200, are well-reviewed and rank among the finest security cams that don't require a subscription, that doesn't mean that everything is flawless. According to security enthusiasts online, TP-Link cameras may suffer from battery issues (made worse by the fact they're not replaceable on some models), unexplained timeline scrubbing, and occasional firmware issues. Some of these experiences can be explained by the fact that unhappy customers are much more likely to vent their frustrations on the internet, as there are plenty of Redditors who attest that they've never had a Tapo camera fail on them.

At the same time, there's a subset of users who generally don't trust TP-Link. They point to controversies surrounding the brand, such as known vulnerabilities with some routers. Some go as far as to claim that buying from the manufacturer is inherently unsafe because it's under investigation by the U.S. government. That didn't stop others from praising the devices and pushing back on the idea that TP-Link's devices are a security risk by design. Regardless of where you stand on the issue, the overall distrust of the brand is arguably the biggest problem with TP-Link cameras. After all, many users won't touch them with a ten-foot pole for this exact reason, so it's only fair to highlight it as the heftiest of drawbacks.

Starting with the battery issues, one person reports that internal batteries in their six Tapo TC85 cameras started failing after two years. The reason why it's such a problem, according to the users, is that the batteries can't be replaced without damaging the units. Sadly, there are numerous Reddit threads outlining the same issue. One is dedicated to battery draining rapidly in C410 cameras after two months of use, while another specifically focuses on multiple Tapo cameras losing charge after being integrated with Home Assistant.

Apart from that, there are a few complaints about cameras going offline. In one thread, a user said that their TP-Link Tapo camera started randomly disconnecting from the app, which, according to the comments, can occur due to a failed firmware update. For one Redditor, multiple cameras exhibited a similar issue. In some cases, video recordings may disappear randomly, as happened to a Tapo C246D user, with one commenter explaining that this is a known problem with that particular model. Again, the issue isn't a one-off occurrence, it seems, as there are other threads complaining about the same thing.

It's worth stressing that you can likely find related complaints about other manufacturers. Whether TP-Link being in the hot seat is destroying Tapo's reputation is impossible to ascertain. A Reddit user going by Big-Sweet-2179 said it best: Tapo is decent, but the problem is there are better cameras like those from Reolink that offer a higher level of quality for the same price. They also pitched in about the TP-Link controversy, saying that it's not a huge factor in Tapo cams' reputation, adding that both Hikvision and Dahua had to deal with worse allegations than TP-Link did and security enthusiasts still recommend them. In the end, you'll have to make your own call.