Tapo C217 2K Indoor/Outdoor Pan/Tilt Wired Security Camera (Black)

Tyross

Jul 8, 2026 9:09 PM

3.2K Comments

Joined Nov 2004

TyrossJul 8, 2026 9:09 PM

3.2K Comments

Quote from bluecarkiller

:

These look really nice. I tried to convince my wife to switch from wyze to these, but wyze is familiar and we are already invested in their ecosystem. (Though tapo and kasa are what we use for plugs).

I was in that same boat, but dropped wyze and now have one of these tapo cameras.

1

teenbean

Jul 8, 2026 9:21 PM

2K Comments

Joined Jun 2008

teenbeanJul 8, 2026 9:21 PM

2K Comments

Quote from Tyross

:

Privacy mode, does not mean off. Look at any cell phone.

You could plug it into a smart plug and then turn that off.

BrettL5675

Jul 9, 2026 12:57 PM

565 Comments

Joined Aug 2013

BrettL5675Jul 9, 2026 12:57 PM

565 Comments

Quote from Tyross

:

Privacy mode, does not mean off. Look at any cell phone.

Is this a cell phone lol?

99% of the cameras don't support off because you can't power them back on remotely. Get a $10 smart switch if you really need it

mac4lyfe

Jul 9, 2026 11:19 PM

768 Comments

Joined Jul 2011

mac4lyfeJul 9, 2026 11:19 PM

768 Comments

Quote from bluecarkiller

:

These look really nice. I tried to convince my wife to switch from wyze to these, but wyze is familiar and we are already invested in their ecosystem. (Though tapo and kasa are what we use for plugs).

I ditched all my Wyze cameras for Tapos. Monitoring, notifications,no monthly subscriptions are huge pluses.

1

mac4lyfe

Jul 9, 2026 11:26 PM

768 Comments

Joined Jul 2011

mac4lyfeJul 9, 2026 11:26 PM

768 Comments

Quote from Tyross

:

Agreed, I like the app. I have a bunch of Kaza stuff.This is my camera from them. In home applications, I want to be able to turn it off so it's not watching me, even though it says "private" everyone knows that means nothing. Also good to have it off to save energy versus always on but in "private mode".

The newer Tapo Cameras will move below eye level in privacy mode, so that the camera is blocked. You could easily move this camera up in the sky or face a wall, if you're worried. But just unplug or use a switch if you're trying to save energy. I have a bunch of other camera brands and I don't think they cut off either??

Tyross

Jul 9, 2026 11:29 PM

3.2K Comments

Joined Nov 2004

TyrossJul 9, 2026 11:29 PM

3.2K Comments

Quote from mac4lyfe

:

The newer Tapo Cameras will move below eye level in privacy mode, so that the camera is blocked. You could easily move this camera up in the sky or face a wall, if you're worried. But just unplug or use a switch if you're trying to save energy. I have a bunch of other camera brands and I don't think they cut off either??

Thanks

Relik

Jul 10, 2026 12:42 AM

370 Comments

Joined Jul 2017

RelikJul 10, 2026 12:42 AM

370 Comments

Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank Relik

Here's some things I haven't seen mentioned.. These support RTSP streaming and ONVIF. That's important. With ONVIF supported applications like Frigate NVR (or other NVR's), you can also take advantage of the 2-way audio and Pan & Tilt features which can be used outside the Tapo app. Very cool!

These have great nighttime sensitivity. If I could post an image, I'd show that I could see over a hundred stars while it looked up. I could only see maybe 10 of the brightest stars on my older camera. (Tapo specs: 1/2.8" Progressive Scan CMOS Starlight Sensor)

Another extra feature is that it can take a panoramic photo on demand - 180, 270, or 360 degrees. Pretty cool by itself, but it can also save that image and you can use that to navigate the pan & tilt visually. Meaning you go to pan & tilt and tap on the area you want the camera to jump to and it goes there. Like a map.

These are USB, which is convenient and allows running temporarily off a power bank. I tested the C216 (same just white) and it ran 30 hours on a 20,000 mah power bank with a 30 ft USB extension cord. (through all night with IR light on) It is also low wattage. During the day, I measured about 1.9 watts and at night with IR (B&W) it was about 2.2 watts and 2.5 watts with the white light (color nightvision) on at level 3.

The final advantage I will mention compared to other pan & tilt cameras is that these are discrete positioning pan & tilt. You can save 10 positions and even after reboot or any other movements, when you jump to that location it will go to the same exact spot. On reboot it resumes at the same spot. These cams support patrols where it will move through multiple views in a loop. Contrast this with cheap pan & tilt cams on Amazon that can move but they have no saved positions or idea of where they are. Those are movable in that you can look around, but they don't track motion or support saved views.

Bonus! With a little paint and doodads, you can turn it into a cute little robot. I saw this from an Amazon review. https://youtu.be/iCupZf_Z8_I

Last edited by Relik July 9, 2026 at 06:50 PM.

2

6

mac4lyfe

Jul 10, 2026 6:07 AM

768 Comments

Joined Jul 2011

mac4lyfeJul 10, 2026 6:07 AM

768 Comments

Quote from Relik

:

Here's some things I haven't seen mentioned.. These support RTSP streaming and ONVIF. That's important. With ONVIF supported applications like Frigate NVR (or other NVR's), you can also take advantage of the 2-way audio and Pan & Tilt features which can be used outside the Tapo app. Very cool!These have great nighttime sensitivity. If I could post an image, I'd show that I could see over a hundred stars while it looked up. I could only see maybe 10 of the brightest stars on my older camera. (Tapo specs: 1/2.8" Progressive Scan CMOS Starlight Sensor) Another extra feature is that it can take a panoramic photo on demand - 180, 270, or 360 degrees. Pretty cool by itself, but it can also save that image and you can use that to navigate the pan & tilt visually. Meaning you go to pan & tilt and tap on the area you want the camera to jump to and it goes there. Like a map.These are USB, which is convenient and allows running temporarily off a power bank. I tested the C216 (same just white) and it ran 30 hours on a 20,000 mah power bank with a 30 ft USB extension cord. (through all night with IR light on) It is also low wattage. During the day, I measured about 1.9 watts and at night with IR (B&W) it was about 2.2 watts and 2.5 watts with the white light (color nightvision) on at level 3. The final advantage I will mention compared to other pan & tilt cameras is that these are discrete positioning pan & tilt. You can save 10 positions and even after reboot or any other movements, when you jump to that location it will go to the same exact spot. On reboot it resumes at the same spot. These cams support patrols where it will move through multiple views in a loop. Contrast this with cheap pan & tilt cams on Amazon that can move but they have no saved positions or idea of where they are. Those are movable in that you can look around, but they don't track motion or support saved views.Bonus! With a little paint and doodads, you can turn it into a cute little robot. I saw this from an Amazon review. https://youtu.be/iCupZf_Z8_I

I'm not sure the wireless Tapo cameras support RTSP streaming. I think only the ones with Ethernet wired connections. I could be wrong. Those are the only cameras I have connected to a BlueIris server.

1

mac4lyfe

Jul 10, 2026 6:13 AM

768 Comments

Joined Jul 2011

mac4lyfeJul 10, 2026 6:13 AM

768 Comments

Quote from Relik

:

Here's some things I haven't seen mentioned.. These support RTSP streaming and ONVIF. That's important. With ONVIF supported applications like Frigate NVR (or other NVR's), you can also take advantage of the 2-way audio and Pan & Tilt features which can be used outside the Tapo app. Very cool!These have great nighttime sensitivity. If I could post an image, I'd show that I could see over a hundred stars while it looked up. I could only see maybe 10 of the brightest stars on my older camera. (Tapo specs: 1/2.8" Progressive Scan CMOS Starlight Sensor) Another extra feature is that it can take a panoramic photo on demand - 180, 270, or 360 degrees. Pretty cool by itself, but it can also save that image and you can use that to navigate the pan & tilt visually. Meaning you go to pan & tilt and tap on the area you want the camera to jump to and it goes there. Like a map.These are USB, which is convenient and allows running temporarily off a power bank. I tested the C216 (same just white) and it ran 30 hours on a 20,000 mah power bank with a 30 ft USB extension cord. (through all night with IR light on) It is also low wattage. During the day, I measured about 1.9 watts and at night with IR (B&W) it was about 2.2 watts and 2.5 watts with the white light (color nightvision) on at level 3. The final advantage I will mention compared to other pan & tilt cameras is that these are discrete positioning pan & tilt. You can save 10 positions and even after reboot or any other movements, when you jump to that location it will go to the same exact spot. On reboot it resumes at the same spot. These cams support patrols where it will move through multiple views in a loop. Contrast this with cheap pan & tilt cams on Amazon that can move but they have no saved positions or idea of where they are. Those are movable in that you can look around, but they don't track motion or support saved views.Bonus! With a little paint and doodads, you can turn it into a cute little robot. I saw this from an Amazon review. https://youtu.be/iCupZf_Z8_I

I use one of these cameras to view the night sky, so I can tell when to take out my telescopes when it's clear. This camera is fantastic at seeing stars. I also use a Tapo doorbell camera as an all sky camera to view the night sky. These cameras are must haves for any astrophotographers.

1

Relik

Jul 10, 2026 7:15 AM

370 Comments

Joined Jul 2017

RelikJul 10, 2026 7:15 AM

370 Comments

Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank Relik

Quote from mac4lyfe

:

I'm not sure the wireless Tapo cameras support RTSP streaming. I think only the ones with Ethernet wired connections. I could be wrong. Those are the only cameras I have connected to a BlueIris server.

They do. I own 2 x Tapo C216's (same as this but the white model), 2 x Tapo C510W's, and a C520WS with ethernet. All support RTSP streaming - I save their feeds 24x7 to a NVR - Blueiris, Frigate, or a simple bash script on a OpenWRT wireless router which I'm using. https://github.com/filippofinke/BashNVR Yes, a wifi router can record 5 full-res (main) streams to an attached USB disk and it only uses about 10% CPU. A Raspberry Pi 3 or better could do the same thing with similar load. That streaming has no effect on the use of the app, motion detection, or anything else."

What won't support RTSP streaming with Tapo are the solar+battery models that are fully wireless - no power cord. They are not designed for constant streaming.

3

2

Relik

Jul 10, 2026 7:30 AM

370 Comments

Joined Jul 2017

RelikJul 10, 2026 7:30 AM

370 Comments

Quote from mac4lyfe

:

I use one of these cameras to view the night sky, so I can tell when to take out my telescopes when it's clear. This camera is fantastic at seeing stars. I also use a Tapo doorbell camera as an all sky camera to view the night sky. These cameras are must haves for any astrophotographers.

Great to hear. I was watching planes go by as well. With the bashNVR script I mentioned above, I can make a time-lapse of the planes & stars using ffmpeg.

People should use this low price as an opportunity to at least try the Tapo cameras and ecosystem.

2

Devedander

Jul 10, 2026 7:59 PM

9.4K Comments

Joined Aug 2003

DevedanderJul 10, 2026 7:59 PM

9.4K Comments

Got this and it works well but there's a few caveats around motion tracking.

I have trees and bushes and when the wind blows it triggers motion tracking. So I had hoped that by having people detected it would only track people.

Nope.

It detects people but in order to track them and turn the camera motion tracking has to be on.

This means when it's windy it follows someone until a waving tree comes into view and then locks on to the tree into the wind stops (usually all day).

I've gotten it to work oh with a combination of settings but it's still wrong sometimes.

2

techie333

Jul 10, 2026 8:12 PM

2.1K Comments

Joined Feb 2007

techie333Jul 10, 2026 8:12 PM

2.1K Comments

Quote from Devedander

:

Got this and it works well but there's a few caveats around motion tracking. I have trees and bushes and when the wind blows it triggers motion tracking. So I had hoped that by having people detected it would only track people. Nope. It detects people but in order to track them and turn the camera motion tracking has to be on. This means when it's windy it follows someone until a waving tree comes into view and then locks on to the tree into the wind stops (usually all day). I've gotten it to work oh with a combination of settings but it's still wrong sometimes.

I have similar issue with one of their doorbell cameras. Surprised with AI and all these days it's still setting off notifications for tree and bush branches next to my door

anonimis06

Jul 10, 2026 9:11 PM

895 Comments

Joined Jan 2009

anonimis06Jul 10, 2026 9:11 PM

895 Comments

Quote from Devedander

:

Got this and it works well but there's a few caveats around motion tracking.

I have trees and bushes and when the wind blows it triggers motion tracking. So I had hoped that by having people detected it would only track people.

Nope.

It detects people but in order to track them and turn the camera motion tracking has to be on.

This means when it's windy it follows someone until a waving tree comes into view and then locks on to the tree into the wind stops (usually all day).

I've gotten it to work oh with a combination of settings but it's still wrong sometimes.

You probably already tried this and depends on the location of the trees but any luck adding custom detection zones? For example, I use that to detect at my mailbox and sidewalk but ignore the main road.

Unfortunately that's just the nature of optical motion tracking. Strategic placement of the camera and angle is probably your best bet if the settings don't help.

anonimis06

Jul 10, 2026 9:17 PM

895 Comments

Joined Jan 2009

anonimis06Jul 10, 2026 9:17 PM

895 Comments

Quote from Relik

:

They do. I own 2 x Tapo C216's (same as this but the white model), 2 x Tapo C510W's, and a C520WS with ethernet. All support RTSP streaming - I save their feeds 24x7 to a NVR - Blueiris, Frigate, or a simple bash script on a OpenWRT wireless router which I'm using. https://github.com/filippofinke/BashNVR Yes, a wifi router can record 5 full-res (main) streams to an attached USB disk and it only uses about 10% CPU. A Raspberry Pi 3 or better could do the same thing with similar load. That streaming has no effect on the use of the app, motion detection, or anything else."

What won't support RTSP streaming with Tapo are the solar+battery models that are fully wireless - no power cord. They are not designed for constant streaming.

Another option is something like a Synology NAS. I already had one with plenty of storage. The Synology Surveillance Station makes it easy to set it and forget it for 24/7 recording via RTSP. Easy to set HDD space limits too.

Tapo C217 2K Indoor/Outdoor Pan/Tilt Wired Security Camera (Black)

$25

$36

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