Alright, let me tell you about setting up my new Tapo camera today. It was actually simpler than I thought it might be.
First thing, I got the camera out of its box. Pretty standard stuff inside. Then I grabbed my phone because you need their app. I went to the app store, searched for ‘Tapo’, and downloaded the TP-Link Tapo app. That was easy enough.
Next up, the app wanted me to log in or sign up. Since it was my first Tapo device, I had to create a new account. Just needed an email and had to set a password. Did that, got logged in. The main screen looked pretty empty, obviously.
Time to power up the camera. I found a good spot for it and plugged the power adapter into the wall and the other end into the camera. The little LED light on the front started blinking, I think it was red and green, just like the instructions in the app said it would. That means it was ready to be set up.
Back in the app, there was a big ‘+’ sign, usually in the top corner. I tapped that. It asked what kind of device I wanted to add. I found my camera model in the list, it was the C120 I think, and selected it.
Following the App Steps
From here, the app basically walked me through everything. It told me to check the blinking light, which I already saw.
- Then it asked for my Wi-Fi network name and password. Typed those in carefully. Make sure you pick the right home Wi-Fi, the 2.4 GHz one usually works best for these things.
- The app then did its thing, trying to connect the camera to my Wi-Fi. It took maybe a minute or two. I just left my phone near the camera like it suggested.
- There was a moment where it seemed like it was stuck, but then it confirmed the connection was successful. Phew.
After it connected to the Wi-Fi, the app finished the setup. I gave the camera a name, like ‘Living Room Cam’, so I know which one it is. Then it popped up right there on the app’s main screen.
And that was pretty much it. I tapped on the camera in the app and could see the live video feed straight away. The picture quality looked decent. So yeah, setup complete. Didn’t run into any major problems, just followed the steps in the app. Pretty straightforward process overall.