TP-Link home security review: Devices compared

There is no one-size-fits-all solution for home security systems, but they should increase protection and offer peace of mind for homeowners. TP-Link, a Singaporean-owned company, TP-Link offers a range of home security solutions under its brand Tapo, including security cameras, motion sensors and smart light bulbs and switches.

While TP-Link does not offer curated home security systems, its wide product range allows users to customise the system to their needs. Unlike TP-Link’s competitors, key features such as professional monitoring are unavailable, but the company’s relatively affordable equipment means there’s a low bar of entry.

Our experts have thoroughly researched and reviewed each TP-Link home security device to help you decide if this provider is right for you.

Our Independent Advisor experts have researched and tested several home security systems in order to provide fair, unbiased and accurate recommendations. We compare products, features, quality and prices as well as what others in the industry say and customers’ reviews of providers.

Our reviews are determined by the following categories:

• Reputation and credibility
• Security and performance
• Features
• Plans and pricing value
• Customer experience

We examine 35 elements within these categories, including:

• Monitoring services and contract types
• Data backup and storage
• Warranties
• Flexibility/customisation of bundles
• Quality (image, sound, product)
• Installation

All of our home security articles are fact-checked by our in-house team, to give consumers the knowledge they need to make an informed, up-to-date and confident decision. 

For more information, read our article on how we review home security systems.

Unlike many of its competitors, TP-Link does not offer ready-made home security systems or professional monitoring.

Its available equipment also differs from that of other providers. TP-Link offers many outdoor and indoor cameras; however, brands such as SimpliSafe, ADT and Verisure have more variety, offering keypads, key fobs and panic buttons.

TP-Link is, however, one of the more affordable brands, rivalling even Ring and Abode, but the cost will depend on how many pieces of equipment you need for your system.

TP-Link does not offer any ready-made packages. Instead, it has a wide range of equipment for customers to choose from but mostly specialises in indoor and outdoor cameras.

Due to TP-Link’s vast range of cameras, our experts have hand-picked a small number of devices that will suit a variety of home sizes.

Most, if not all, of TP-Link’s equipment is reasonably priced. However, it would be difficult to suggest a package price, as that would depend on the pieces of equipment a particular household requires.

Monthly costs

TP-Link offers a range of subscription plans largely based on the number of cameras in your system. But unlike many other providers, TP-Link does not offer professional monitoring, although you can choose to self-monitor your system for increased security.

All TP-Link plans can be paid on a monthly or yearly basis, with the latter offering an overall saving on your subscription.

Smart Hub

The Smart Hub allows you to connect up to four pieces of equipment, including cameras and doorbells. The hub’s ultra-low-power wireless protocol ensures that connected devices last up to 10 times longer than non-connected devices.

Its smart alarm and chime function works with smart cameras, video doorbells and sensors and comes with 19 ringtone options. You can also save recorded videos from your smart cameras onto the hub’s local micro SD storage and view them at a time that is convenient for you.

The hub is voice control integrated and works with Amazon Alexa and Google Home. To create a smart home ecosystem, the hub also allows you to connect up to 64 smart devices, including switches, sensors and buttons.

Smart Motion Sensor 

The Smart Motion Sensor is battery-powered and easy to install. It can be mounted using 3M adhesive or attached using built-in magnets.

Its wide-range detection captures motion up to 7m away and has a 120-degree field of view. It can also control smart lights based on movement and schedule its energy-saving capabilities to turn on connected smart devices as you come and go. You can even receive instant alerts on your smartphone via the app when in away mode.

Smart Contact Sensor

The Smart Contact Sensor monitors the opening and closing of doors and sends alerts to your app in real time. You can also set your contact sensor to turn on the lights automatically when you open the door, provided you have a smart light bulb.

Smart Temperature and Humidity Monitor 

With this monitor, you can detect humidity and temperature with high accuracy and receive instant app alerts whenever levels fall outside of preset ranges. Data is collected every two seconds, and relevant home electronics, such as fans, heaters and humidifiers, that are connected to Tapo devices can be turned on or off by the monitor.

Smart Battery Video Doorbell

This video doorbell allows you to view anything that happens in front of your door via the Tapo app. Its 2K 5MP resolution works even in low-light conditions, and the colour night vision displays clear and detailed colour at night.

The camera’s ultra-wide view (160-degree diagonal) allows users to get a head-to-toe view of visitors as close as 1m. Its smart AI detection can establish whether what’s in front of the door is a person or vehicle and notify users via the app. The doorbell also has two-way audio, allowing quick and convenient communication.

Indoor Pan/Tilt Wifi Camera

This indoor camera records in ultra-high definition with a 360-degree pan and tilt ability, allowing for an absolute field of view. Its night vision captures footage up to 9m away, and the camera has two-way audio communication via a built-in speaker and microphone. The camera can also be controlled via Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa.

Outdoor Pan/Tilt security Wifi Camera

This outdoor pan/tilt camera provides 360-degree horizontal and 130-degree vertical coverage and has built-in spotlights for full-colour night vision. The camera’s high-speed rotation tracks movement with 2K resolution, and it has a customisable audio alarm that is triggered in the event of an intruder.

Unfortunately, looking at customer reviews for TP-Link is a little tricky. The TP-Link Trustpilot page has a high rating of 4.5 stars out of five; however, most reviews are centred around the company’s routers and not its home security solutions.

Conversely, the Tapo Trustpilot page (where many TP-Link home security system products can be bought) has a low rating of just 1.9 stars out of five. There are only 144 reviews for the company, but all of them concern home security system equipment.

Many of the negative reviews mention issues with the equipment and problems contacting customer service to resolve current issues. 

The Tapo app is available to download through Apple’s App Store and the Google Play Store. Once downloaded, users can add each home security device and other Tapo smart devices to their app.

If your TP-Link system includes a camera, you can view live and recorded footage and receive instant alerts. The app will also send notifications when any of your installed motion sensors detect movement.

TP-Link has two subscription plans, Basic and Premium, with each giving users more monitoring features. It’s important to note that this provider does not offer professional monitoring with or without Tapo Care.

With Tapo Care, you can:

• Turn smart home devices on and off
• Preset away mode
• Set timers to turn devices on and off
• Schedule when devices should turn on and off
• Monitor cameras
• Use voice control

TP-Link does not offer any ready-made packages, unlike most of its competitors. However, it does have a good range of equipment types, with various indoor and outdoor cameras and sensors available.

All of TP-Link’s equipment is connected via the Tapo Smart Hub, which is connected to your home network. This setup allows users to monitor their smart home security system via Tapo’s app.

Since TP-Link doesn’t provide home security packages, we’ve curated three different use-case packages for small, medium and large homes that should help you decide which pieces of equipment would be best suited to your home’s design and size.

Suggested package: Best for small homes

Small homes can usually be protected with fewer pieces of equipment than large homes, though it is important that those pieces cover the main areas that could be under threat from any type of intruder.

TP-Link’s outdoor camera provides great protection and can reveal bright colour images, even in low-light conditions. This wireless camera has a 2K QHD live view, comes with cloud storage and has a 127-degree field of view.

In addition to the outdoor camera, the smart video doorbell not only gives you a clear view of who’s outside your door but also has two-way audio for added convenience and safety.

TP-Link’s smart contact sensor sends real-time alerts via the Tapo app when a door is opened or closed and can turn lights on when you open a door, so long as you have smart light bulbs installed.

Just remember that every TP-Link home security system will need the Tapo Smart Hub. This will connect all of your devices via your home network and allow for monitoring via the Tapo app.

Suggested package: Best for medium homes

When our researchers considered what pieces of equipment would be required for a medium-sized home, they emphasised protecting both the outside and inside.

For a medium home, they chose an outdoor pan/tilt security wifi camera, which allows for a higher level of protection than the outdoor camera we chose for small homes. It provides 360-degree horizontal and 130-degree vertical coverage and has built-in spotlights for full-colour night vision. It also tracks motion with its high-speed rotation and 2K resolution.

Much like for small homes, a smart motion sensor will give users the ability to monitor when doors are opened or closed via the Tapo app. This sensor is usually placed inside the home and can capture motion up to 7m away. When in away mode, the motion sensor will alert you via the app if it detects movement. It can also control smart lights based on your schedule and movement and turn connected smart devices on and off as you come and go – as long as you have set this up in the Tapo app.

TP-Link’s smart video doorbell not only captures live footage in low-light conditions but also has two-way audio that allows users to communicate with the person outside while remaining safe in their homes. The video doorbell can also detect whether what’s outside your door is a person or a vehicle and send an alert via the Tapo app if you’re away from home.

As with the setup for small homes, all of the above equipment pieces will need to be connected to the Tapo Smart Hub, which connects to your home network. 

Suggested package: Best for large homes

Unsurprisingly, large homes usually require more pieces of equipment to best protect them. With more entry points, it’s best to install more cameras and motion sensors to ensure a good level of security.

TP-Link offers a camera bundle that is ideal for large homes. The smart wire-free security camera system includes two cameras that can be installed outside – either both in the front of your home to cover a large area or one outside the front door and the other at the rear of the property.

This smart camera has a 180-day battery life, and its battery is rechargeable and has a low-power protocol that extends usage. Since the cameras are wire-free, they can be installed wherever suits your home. Much like other TP-Link cameras, you can view a live feed via the Tapo app, but the smart wire-free security camera also has an in-built alarm that can notify you of an intruder. This added layer of protection is triggered when motion is detected, sounding an alarm that aims to deter unwanted visitors.

For large homes, it’s beneficial to have sensors mounted on the walls as well as doors. Protecting entry points is important, and TP-Link’s smart contact sensor does so by sending alerts via the Tapo app when a door is opened or closed. You can place a sensor on your front or back door or both if you purchase more than one. 

The smart motion sensor is battery-powered and can be mounted on a wall in a place that suits your home. It connects to the smart hub and can detect motion up to 7m away with a 120-degree field of view. Large homes might benefit from purchasing two of these, placing one upstairs and one downstairs to ensure comprehensive protection.

Both the humidity and temperature sensor and the indoor pan/tilt home security wifi camera are well-suited to large homes, particularly for homeowners who may be away from home for long periods of time.

The humidity and temperature sensor sends alerts to the Tapo app whenever levels fall outside of preset ranges, which is customisable through the app. This highly accurate sensor collects data every two seconds and can be integrated into your smart home ecosystem by pairing it with smart fans, heaters and humidifiers.

Installing TP-Link’s indoor home security camera comes with a plethora of benefits. The camera works with Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa and has two-way audio for convenient communication. It records in ultra-high definition day and night and has 360-degree pan and tilt ability. Since the camera comes with advanced night vision that can record images up to 9m away, it’s a great way to guard your home at night. In the event of an intruder, its alarm will trigger sound and light effects to deter unwanted visitors. In addition, you can receive notifications via the Tapo app when motion is detected. 

Independent Advisor’s verdict

TP-Link is a relatively affordable home security solution that can be created from scratch. Due to its limited range of devices, it’s not the most comprehensive system on the market, but it will work effectively for households interested in indoor and outdoor cameras.

 

The lack of professional monitoring also makes it unsuitable for homeowners looking for the highest level of security. However, you can sign up for Tapo Care to self-monitor your system.

 

Overall, TP-Link falls short in many areas when compared to other providers, which is reflected in the low Trustpilot rating of its Tapo brand. We recommend looking instead towards providers such as SimpliSafe, Verisure and ADT – our current top three picks for the best home security system – if you want a more complete system with better security features.

Rating: ★★