Best Wired Surveillance Systems

Unsurpassed build quality, completely German made – Price: Compared to some of the Chinese made CCTV systems on the bay, it is difficult for most people to justify the cost of Mobotix products (given… Read more

that Mobotix is from first inspection, 3+ times the cost). There are varying versions of the same products, with varying amount of features and capabilities.The Allround is probably one of the more basic cameras from Mobotix, with only a single removable lens system. In Australia, as always Mobotix suffers from the usual Australian mark-up. At the time of writing, this model is $1,469.00, compared ~300-400 for a no name Chinese CCTV camera.

Build:

Everything is made in Germany. Mobotix refuse to compromise quality. Each camera is provided a unique serial number, and similar to Apple's warranty service, each warranty is linked directly to the serial, rather than the customer. All cameras sold by Mobotix are at least made out of a Poly- butyleneterephtalate with 30% fiberglass, and it is extremely strong, light and durable - you will definitely not find anything else like this. The camera, once setup, contains no moving parts. By default, this camera is vandal proof. The lens is also made in Germany, but the aperture of all their lenses are limited to F2.0, which is reasonable for night imagery.

Features:

Pretty much any feature available in the CCTv market, is available from MObotix. There are no features, which I have found are not available. Mobotix doesn't only match the market, but is the (if not, a) market leader in CCTV feature set. Mobotix cameras work on Power Over Ethernet (PoE) and consume no more than your usual CFL bulb.

Software:

All software packages are freely available via Mobotix's website. Their camera's standalone, and do not require any additional PCs to be online during its daily operation.

Last comments:

I could go on and on about these cameras, but the price is a difficult to justify for the home user. Though, the nature and design and implementation of Mobotix CCTV systems ensure their systems are relatively future proof, and comply to technological standards. Mobotix have also been installed in federal government CCTV. Reliable, energy efficient Expensive, all after sales service is provided by/via distributors.

Security camera alarm system still going strong 2016 to Dec 2023 – Bought this system in December 2016 from my local authorized Jaycar stockist to replace a disgusting failing Swann system. This system is an Analogue… Read more

HD system which is far superior to the 960H Technology system I was using. You can actually see things clearly. The next step up would be Full HD. Get online and see the difference in clarity between the three systems I have mentioned. So far I am Happy with the product. Does what I wanted and more. I also incorporated Techview beam sensors which work fine as long as you include a timer of some sort in the trigger circuit to hold the trigger signal for at least 1 second otherwise as in my case a quick pass through the beam was not allowing enough time to trigger the alarm circuit in the camera DVR. The instruction manual is very poor in detail with diagrams you can't see as they are too dark and its translation into English is not good. To get technical info from the Australian Distributor is another matter though. I am still waiting to get a reply on a technical issue. The request was placed 3 weeks back. I have not even heard back from them to acknowledge my request. Very poor. I solved the tech issue by surfing the net and by finding a Security Company (Unifore) who had the details on their site. I have given 4 stars only due to the negatives I encountered as listed. I will update this review as time passes. See my other reviews of the Techview products I have used with this camera system. 12-01-17 Update. The Alarm sensor units are too good now. I was getting false alarms from birds and moths breaking the beams. Problem solved though. It has cost me more units but worth it. The beam units are mounted about 300 mm apart, vertically and are wired in series as I am operating a normally open alarm trigger on these sensors. What this does is, both beams must now be broken together before an alarm will trigger. This allows a bird or moth etc to pass through one beam without triggering an alarm. The units also have an inbuilt tamper switch which operates on a normally closed circuit. This Circuit allows you to connect to a normally closed configuration on the camera and alarm system (QV-3156) so even if the sensor cover is removed or the wires to the sensor are cut an alarm is triggered. If you don't have a battery backup and or want more safe guards for the system you can purchase what is known as a utilities lock for you power box, as long as it is an enclosed type, that is. 04-03-2017 Update System still working OK. I recently added another beam sensor from the ABT series of Dual Photoelectric Detectors. I purchased this unit from Asia as I could not find a local supply. No timer was required with this unit as the trigger on time is sufficient and it has a response time from 50 to 700 MS which is quick enough to read a breach and activate the alarm and camera circuits. The ABT Detector was cost effective. Read my review on this item ABT-80 18-03-17 Update. In late 2016 I added the Jaycar QC3654 Infrared booster lamp to my camera system which makes a vast improvement on night vision. Read my review on this item. All still working OK. 05-05-2017 All systems are working fine to date. 28-05-17 All systems working ok. Added more sensors and remote control. November 11, 2017 All systems working OK 05-09-18 All still working OK Did have some trouble with email notification but on research found the problem to be Google email security settings on my account not letting some devices of lower security gaining access. Turning that setting off on the account allows the email system of the security DVR to communicate with the email account. October 2018, added another camera to the system and using a jumper lead to activate more than one camera on email alarms to ensure all angles are covered when beams are broken. Works fine and review the system remotely using the phone app, RXCam View.. January 2020 Update One of the original cameras failed last month. Other than that all is working OK. February 2021 update. Added a Techview 1080P AHD starlight bullet camera to the system in september 2020. See review for this QC 8678 kit. New camera and the whole system still working ok. To focus on a few points as set out in review guides lines. 1. Night vision is ok but much better with IR booster lamp/s 2. I found rain and fog would trigger the cameras if the sensitivity was not adjusted appropriately. 3. The system is on 24/7 365. Reliable energy supply so battery life is still a test situation. December 2021 All working OK. december 2023 All working OK December 2025. Part of the unit got taken out by a lightning strike. Found a used unit on eBay. . It's going ok, the system keeps me informed of what's going on..

Great camera for Apple HomeKit users – If you are an existing user of Apple HomeKit compatible smart products I strongly recommend this option for security cameras. If you are not I… Read more

suggest you scroll on as you need the following for this camera: - iCloud storage - Apple Hub (Apple TV or iPad) - Apple HomeKit set up

Our home is set up with Smart HomeKit compatible products so it was a breeze to set up. If you are still reading- this is an excellent product. The camera quality is high both day and night (black&white@ night). Sensors are excellent and hardware is high quality. Annoyingly has a white cable with a black camera? Honestly that is my only gripe.

All our cameras are outdoors - I have four other security cameras compatible with Foscam or Cammy software. The Circle View is far superior in view & build quality and general ease of use. It is a fish bowl style lense (see pic) and the tilt function makes it easy to mount. Sound quality is excellent.

It’s early days, I have had running for 3 weeks. We live in the tropics and have found our security cameras fail after about 2 years. The ongoing heat seems to impact them. Will advise if the CV needs replacing. Only time will tell.

Highly recommend for existing HomeKit peeps. Bought mine online through the Apple store.

I’m back. Two Logitech Circles are brilliant. It’s been a few months now. We went away and it worked perfectly watching from afar. We even had a criminal apprehended based on footage! Sound is amazing. We can hear conversations. Picks up packages, people and vehicles if you choose. So happy with this purchase. Thanks Logitech and Apple!

Anni CCTV Home security system – This is my second time purchasing this security system. Both systems work well. This is a very good product. I am planning to buy another set soon. I used an old PC's hard drive, it works fine with it.

Starlight Security Camera Techview QC-8678 – Purchased in September 2020 to add to my security system as per my other reviews. Easy to install and set up with an established system which is done… Read more

using an ipad or phone from the camera position, so NO climbing up and down ladders to view the settings. The starlight technology is good. You can google this and read up on it yourself. (Techview 1080P starlight Bullet Camera)

I wanted a surveillance system that didn't require a cloud subscription nor any intricate setup. This NVR was extremely easy to set up, I got two… Read more

outdoor cameras, a smart doorbell and a wifi chime with it, and my 1TB hard drive can store up to 6 days of footage. You can also set it up to record only events detected by the cameras. It archives videos to my Google Drive account automatically. I can access my system from anywhere (phone or computer) and this is all included without any monthly fees.

The whole set up is done using PoE cables which handles both power and data.

From the moment someone presses the button on my doorbell to me getting a notification on my phone it takes less than 2 seconds, it's incredible. Pretty smooth audio and video.

It's also very straightforward to invite people to your system and manage permissions.

The NVR itself was 350AUD and the whole system 1100AUD (bought from the EU store).

Now we can watch cats and dogs passing by *-*

Super quality product, cant fault it – Cant say enough about the quality of every component in the box, even the packaging is incredible and worth praising. I was a bit hesitant about the… Read more

purchase after reading many negative reviews for Swann but its easy to see that they have invested very heavily in every aspect of this product, you can feel the quality just unpacking each piece. Had no problems installing the system because of the fully detailed tutorials provided on line, set up tutorial is also easy to follow even for us oldies, nailed it first time, all cameras are working beautifully and the flexibility of the adjustments are endless, every element can be refined to your liking. Love the police flashing lights and combined with the spot light are a super deterrent, all fully adjustable. Cant believe I can get all this for what really is a very affordable price, worth every cent.

Great camera, excellent features and worth the price – This is the 4th Reolink camera I have invested in. They aren't cheap, but really good quality and excellent features. I run this as a solo, not… Read more

attached to a centralising system of record.

I use this inside rather than outside and I love how feature rich these things are. This particular camera has a zoomed IN image AND a wide angle image. That way, whatever I focus on, it has two (non digital) streams I can look at before I zoom even further. This is a really cool feature of these dual lens systems. Auto detection and notification, joystick control movement, lights, microphone, speaker, all excellent. I've never had a problem with these camera once I get them onto the network. Network stability has been an issue where I am, but the cameras survive and have no problems keeping on track. I bought SanDisk micro SD's for the camera which are fast enough to record the video constantly. Playback is a breeze as the mobile app is excellent to select this camera, look for the person/pet/vehicle marked video and watch only what's needed.

I will keep buying Reolink cameras of different sorts.

If you're in the Ring "ecosystem", these are a nice option for an indoor camera. The field of view is 115 degrees horizontal, then you can move it to… Read more

cover the full 360 degrees. You can set it up so the "home" position covers the main area you want to see, than you can rotate to see other things "behind" it. Note that it's powered (a wall plug and a 3m USB-C cord.) It can mount on the wall, ceiling, or a flat surface. Couple points:

- The movement is not completely smooth, it goes in small steps.

- The wall mount is not well designed, because it tilts the camera down. I suppose the reasoning is that you usually want to point the camera down, but this is dumb because the camera tilts anyway! The *problem* is that when you rotate a wall-mounted camera, the vertical angle of view changes. [Update: over time, I've come to dislike this a lot so deducted a star.]

Obviously there are privacy issues to consider with indoor cameras. I don't think I'd put one in my own actual living area but for a workshop, office, vacant rental etc., brilliant for keeping an eye on things.

Like everything from Ring, they go on sale periodically, I paid $69 at Bunnings.

One will TRY and keep this review as short as possible, so bear with me. ....H I S T O R Y .... My 5 year old 5mp SWANN DVR8-4980 (see my review… Read more

in here) bit the dust 4 days ago, the system did not pick up the Toshiba hard drive! Not that Toshiba hard drives have a good name anyways! A sad loss, had great features, and will be sadly missed, GIVEN IT'S REPLACEMENT described in some detail below.

In keeping with being a loyal Swann customer, within the hour, I purchased a Swann 8 Camera 16 Channel SWANN AdvancedX Model NVR-16ADVANX system online on Saturday, Jaycar delivered it the next day, they set it all up, and one learned this SWANN AdvancedX Model NVR-16ADVANX system relies on its in built LED spotlights, It has NO "PIR" function. One must rely on either "human and vehicle detection" mode or "Motion" mode. They are your two BASIC choices.

WHAT HAPPENED TO SWANNs "PIR AND MOTION" MODE USED IN YOUR OTHER SYSTEMS SWANN!?

Nothing "ADVANCED" here, more like a manafacturing penny pinching cost cutting CUTBACK! This is a very BASIC system with skeleton features NOTHING "advanced" about it.

Here comes the fun part!

The spotlights on the Swann AdvancedX Model NVR-16ADVANX only work in the "Human and Vehicle detection" mode, meaning in "Detection" mode, the best mode for detecting and recording PEOPLE, hence, PROWLERS and perps, the built in spotlights WILL NOT WORK, will not light them up. May make sense within the Swann executiv branch, but makes no sense to those of us living in the real world outside SWANN developers in their "la-la land"! See pic below.

SWANNs AdvancedX Model NVR-16ADVANX Spotlights work in the "HUMAN AND VEHICLE DETECTION" mode, which human motion detection range does not pick up humans nearly as well as it does having it set in the "MOTION" mode, and in "motion" mode with sensitivity set on 8 (the highest setting), the cameras pick up people as soon as they enter the cameras coverage area. NO PROBLEMS in the "motion" mode, cameras work extremely well, picking up PEOPLE with ease.

Problem being the Swann AdvancedX Model NVR-16ADVANX having no PIR like their other products, higher settings in the "MOTION" mode picks up insects flying around and raindrops too, especially at night.

And why have this "HUMAN AND VEHICLE DETECTION" mode? People buy these systems to protect their homes mainly, and burglers dont park their cars in peoples driveways!

And, even with a 6k 12mp system if they are st^pid enough to park on the road close by, your cameras wont properly read numberplates at that distance anyway, and without clarity, without being able to read the numberplate, that footage cannot be used as evidence in court.

Cameras work fine for motionless cars parked close to the cameras in the driveway, but not in the street, and definately not while they are in motion. If the car is MOVING going by on the street you have BUCKLEYS getting the rego. So what is the use of having this "HUMAN AND VEHICLE DETECTION" Swann?

WHAT IS THE POINT?

Perpetrator vehicles are not driving around people's yards!!

Even in my weakened state, desperate to get the systems up and running to protect the property in case I end up in hospital (again) and with flooding rain expected in Townsville over the coming days, I have been "friggin in the riggin" something chronic trying to get the best settings for the "HUMAN AND VEHICLE DETECTION" mode before the rains come, or the HDD will fill up picking up thr rain if one was to keep it in the "ALARM" "DETECTION SETTINGS".

Please see the photo below depicting the best settings I have found for the Swann AdvancedX Model NVR-16ADVANX so far for maximum HUMAN pick up. I hope this helps SOMEONE out there that chooses to use the "HUMAN AND VEHICLE DETECTION" mode rather than the "MOTION" mode. Depends on how much HDD space you are willing to use.

Even with these settings, cameras will pick up cars and people sometimes, and NOT other times, especially at night or when it's raining. "HUMAN AND VEHICLE DETECTION" Settings too high, rain sets cameras off, settings too low adjusting for rain, cameras don't pick up people. An awkward balance!

After 3 weeks (as at 8/01 /2026), one is still grappling with these detection settings trying to get them right!

Lets simplify what these pixel "MINIMUM" and "MAXIMUM" settings mean, to save YOU the time and frustration I went through with these.

For the Swann AdvancedX Model NVR-16ADVANX the settings for "Min Pixel" and "Max Pixel" in Swann systems relate to motion detection sensitivity based on the object SIZE, not the overall camera resolution. These settings help reduce false alarms by defining the acceptable on-screen image size for an object to trigger a recording event.

Understanding Min Pixel and Max Pixel for the Swann AdvancedX Model NVR-16ADVANX

MINIMUM PIXEL: This is the smallest on-screen image size an object must appear to be in order to trigger motion detection. Objects smaller than this threshold (e.g., a huge truck far away, a distant tree swaying) will not trigger a recording.

MAXIMUM PIXEL: This is the largest on-screen image size an object can be and still trigger motion detection. This is designed to prevent false triggers from very large, close objects that might be irrelevant, such as a tiny bug flying right in front of the lens appearing as a massive shape on screen. The pixel values you set are relative to the camera's view, not the real-life size of the object.

One also found out these SWANN NVR-16ADVANX camera spotlights are WORKING DURING THE DAY! This is because this very basic system does not have the capability to distinguish between DAY and NIGHT!

And whilst one is on the subject of the spotlight on these cameras, it is soooo annoying, infuriating, that one must continually go back into the "RECORD" - "DETECTION" - "DETERENT" settings to keep turning on these spotlights!!!! It's like the sub-standard gizzards in the console keeps losing its memory with these settings or something! The spotlight on camera facing the back door has NEVER worked! See pic below of settings screen.

Every time I change settings within the "Alarm", "DETERENT", "SETUP" section, the light settings which boxes I have ticked, UNTICK, and the duration one had set on 30 seconds revert back to 60 seconds, REALLY "TICKS" ME OFF SWANN!

This model SWANN AdvancedX NVR-16ADVANX is fairly BASIC and it looks like SWANN is not really interested in updating the AdvancedX Model NVR-16ADVANX firmware too soon, judging by the comments of Technical Support this morning, even knowing it has forgotten to add features found in their older systems. I told the lady, that it needs to include the spotlight function in the "motion" mode because CARS do not zoom around people's back yards or gardens, the spotlights are needed to detect PEOPLE and PEOPLE ONLY, people are prosecuted for trespass NOT CARS! COMMON SENSE.

The SWANN AdvancedX NVR-16ADVANX refresh rate needs to be increased as well. This has not been addressed by Swann since Methuselah was in diapers. With all due respect Swann, get with the times. I feel this is because of what appears to be a sub-standard procesor, which I will explain further down.

The Swann AdvancedX Model NVR-16ADVANX has very basic camera screen viewing layout as well, (Bottom left hand corner) no custom layout with this model, unlike the 5 year old 5mp SWANN DVR8-4980 where you had the feature in the live camera viewing layout, having smaller camera viewing visuals around a large camera visual for viewing emphasizing the main area of interest, the main area you want to focus on and keep an eye on. See photo below showing exactly what I mean.

Also unlike my 5 year old 5mp SWANN DVR8-4980, you cannot hold left button down to move left and right or up and down when in full screen zooms? You now have a zoom square in which to control the zoom function using the mouse wheel whilst specifically in the area you want to zoom in on, you can no longer follow like with older models.

The zoom function in the recording playback on the Swann AdvancedX Model NVR-16ADVANX is nowhere as large in maximum zoom as it is in live view? Whilst on recording, in the "SEARCH" mode, once you have found what you need to transfer to a USB in other Swann systems you pause the play at the beginning and hit the SCISSORS icon then the file, but on this crazy Swann AdvancedX Model NVR-16ADVANX system, you pause the play and the scissors FADE OUT! You cannot hit the dim icon, IT WONT WORK!

Will only work whilst the recorded footage is playing, and by the time you go through the procedure, up to 5 seconds of evidence is LOST. And if you need that 5 seconds for evidence, well......

In the zoom mode, you zoom in on an object in LIVE VIEW (not playback) the whole scene veers to the right, on all cameras! See the video here on YouTube.

https://youtu.be/Xe6M4kwRNIM

*** Now I'll get into the "SEARCH" function. This is the function that lets you see what the console recorded, and what you NEED to transfer evidence footage from the console to a USB Why, WHY have Swann removed a function it has had on its other models for YEARS?!

One refers to the amount of cameras (preview boxes) you can tick to add to main timeline onscreen at one time. Please see photo below.

In the older set top consoles, namely my SWANN DVR8-4980 that just met it's maker, you could click several boxes at once, even have all 8 camera preview boxes up on the screen with the timeline below so you can watch the trespasser go from one camera small preview screen to the other, EASY, easy for recording, easy for double clicking and watching in full screen view!

NOW, you can only click ONE box at a time for full screen view of ONE CAMERA, on a big screen, rather than seeing all ticked box screens at once.and have to go through the annoying time consuming rig-ma-roll of going back unclicking the previous square, so you can click the new square to watch the trespasser enter next camera, and so on.

Now one will explain my comment above relating to the consoles processor.

In My 5 year old 5mp SWANN DVR8-4980 one replaced with this Swann AdvancedX Model NVR-16ADVANCEDX, whilst in the "SEARCH" function, one could click on the the area of the timeline one wanted to view, the response was INSTANT and with only ONE CLICK of the mouse. Now with this newer Swann AdvancedX Model NVR-16ADVANCEDX not only do you have to click several times to get to where you need going forward, its even WORSE when you have to go back in the timeline!! I thought it was the mouse, but after trying SEVERAL mice, gound IT WAS NOT. Its the processing power.

A REAL PAIN SWANN!

WHY DO THI$?

Something else YouTube professional review influencers neglect to tell you!

Swann needs to rename this from SWANN AdvancedX NVR-16ADVANX to BASICX.

As usual, In keeping this review of the Swann AdvancedX Model NVR-16ADVANX fair and balanced, one must add that the crisp picture quality is true to a hard wired 4k CCTV system one expects, and with the recording "MAINSTREAM" bitrate set to 8192 in the "RECORD" settings, the playback quality is clear and crisp, perfect for submitting as evidence which at the end of the day is the whole reason of having a security system!

One will explain the benefits of using the highest bitrate for recording on this this Swann AdvancedX Model NVR-16ADVANX, especially in 4K.

In camera settings "RECORD" settings "MAINSTREAM" and SUBSTREAM" bitrate controls the video quality vs. the file size/bandwidth, acting as the data flow rate (bits per second) for video; a HIGHER bitrate means more data, resulting in clearer, more detailed CLEARER footage but uses more storage/bandwidth, while a LOWER bitrate saves space but can lead to pixelation or blurriness, requiring you to balance quality with recording time and network usage for main/sub-streams.

IN A NUTHELL, for Best Quality: Set a high bitrate (default is usually good) for mainstream recording. Higher bitrate setting is best for presenting in Court.

Mine is set at 8192 bitrate and 3840 x 2160 Resolution in "MAINSTREAM" and 4096 bitrate and 1280 x 720 Resolution in "SUBSTREAM". THEY WORK REALLY WELL! I use SONY 4k 86' and 75' HDR BRAVIAs as monitors for both my Swann AdvancedX Model NVR-16ADVANX and Swann MaxRanger systems. The resolution in the live view is beyond GREAT!

In the "MAINSTREAM" SETTINGS IN THE "RECORD" MENU, I have set "CBR" in stead of ""VBR".

This is why...

CBR (Constant Bitrate) uses a fixed data rate, good for predictable bandwidth but can waste data or pixelate in complex scenes; VBR (Variable Bitrate) intelligently adjusts data flow, using more for detailed/moving scenes and less for static ones, resulting in better quality/smaller files but less predictable bandwidth. VBR is usually better for storage and quality, while CBR offers consistent bandwidth, ideal for live streaming.

Also, even with the highest detection settings in the "HUMAN AND VEHICLE DETECTION" mode, this system filters out light and moderate rain, something the "MOTION" mode does not do especially lacking the PIR feature.. This is a good thing too! Could be better with a PIR function though.

The console is very solid in construction and has some weight to it, very well made, and NOT plastic, a rarity for what comes out of China, and being of metal construction has its benefits too! One was surprised.

Another plus is the Swann AdvancedX Model NVR-16ADVANX cameras. They are solid and seemingly well-constructed, appear to keep out unwanted rainwater, a big thing locals consider when purchasing ANYTHING outdoor in Townsville.

The ethernet cables are the bees' knees too, making installation so easy I was told. They have waterproofing connectors for where they connect to the cameras too, I am told. Best thing, they are readily available in several lengths, and I will be replacing them every 6 months as 4 of mine are OUTSIDE on the roof which made it easier CHEAPER and quicker for them to install the system.

And something else Swann could look at as an accessory, selling HEAVY DUTY weather resistant ethernet cables starting at 20 meters.

Not only would you have SWANN customers buying them, but others too! A durable cable people can just throw on a tinned or tiled roof to connect console to camera for quick easy installation.

Great for people who want temporary (or permanent) camera installation without having to drill holes or climb in a ceiling etc.

That is what one would call CONVENIENCE and add a degree of simplicity to installation hassels for many, THINK ABOUT IT.

And,

WHEN THEY WORK and the system does not FORGET the settings to KEEP THEM ON, the spotlights are certainly bright enough to do the job too, it is a much-needed feature! THEY ARE GREAT! A feature that UNFORTUNATELY only works in the "HUMAN AND VEHICLE DETECTION" mode.

My God Swann, this could be a great system if you guys implemented common sense in a future firmware/software upgrade, if they ever do one. Time will tell... Also, if Swann introduced WIRELESS mouses/mice as part of their systems it would leave competitors for dead! Fancy including a mouse with a very short tail... They are so cheap these days too. Something for Swann to think about.

=====UPDATE===== One has just purchased an OPTUS modem and to my surprise, when I plugged in the ethernet LAN cable from console to modem, the Swann AdvancedX Model NVR-16ADVANX picked up the the network IP, Subnet mask and Gateway without me having to sweat over it! One simply downloaded the app and am using the FREE VERSION to access cameras on mobile and tablet, tablet being preferred choice for larger viewing screen. Still trying to work out how to add the Swann MaxRanger...

Don't forget to add your Email details in "EMAIL CONFIGURATION" and VERIFY, very important step!

Anyways, with all the above being said,

What has happened to SWANN? It saddens me greatly, a once trusted reliable quality brand producing a product like THIS, cutting back on features to maximize profits, yet producing a fantastic, and I mean FANTASTIC product like their MaxRanger?

I bought my first swann "do it yourself" system just after the Sydney Olympics, and now, sadly I announce that this may be the last Swan system I will ever waste my time on. I'm not a spring chicken any more, I dont have the time or energy to waste.

By skimping on quality and features, features Swann have had for many years, the company has literally "lost the plot", with a Corporate American styled emphasis based mainly on cutting back on quality and features to increase their bottom line, sorry, but that's the TRUTH from someone who has stuck with swann for all this time.

THIS IS HOW I SEE IT.

You wanna compare "beauty and the beast", see my review in here for Swann MaxRanger, an EXCELLENT product, makes you wanna cry!

++UPDATE 31 JANUARY 2026++

Incredible!

If you have the Swann AdvancedX detection settings on "HUMAN AND VEHICLE DETECTION" you cannot disable (untick) "PICTURE TO CLOUD" "or "VIDEO TO CLOUD" settings! They are preset, and all your footage is being uploaded to SWANN cloud, nothing we can do to stop it unless we set detection settings to "MOTION".

The ticked boxes in "DETECTION" "ACTIONS" are in grey, and boxes cannot be unticked, yet in "motion" mode, the four squares below (depicted in photos in ones review on Swann) ARE unticked because those four cameras are in "MOTION" mode. YOU CAN UNTICK THEM!

Even in "DEVICE" "CLOUD STORAGE" settings, there is no way of stopping my images or videos being sent to Swann cloud! One spent ages trying to communicate with a Swann tech support (expert) lady yesterday evening, and we went through "processes" trying to disable to UNTICK these pre set settings stealing my data, at a rate of, so far, 400 gig a week!

SHE COULD NOT HELP ME....

In fact, the other "expert" she had online never even got back to her in the 15 minutes we were on the phone!

These people should know everything about the products they sell, THEY DON'T!

And one is using MOBILE DATA! THIS IS A DISGRACE!

I will keep you updated a I learn more,

THERE IS MORE TO COME!

Poor features – I purchased this camera with the hope it would pass the poor night time vision of other cameras I have tried in the past. While the 5mp vision is… Read more

very good in daylight the night time vision is poor. Anything further away than 6 meters the figure is not identifiable. The sensitivity is annoying as the slightest movement even when the sensitivity is set to below half it picks up the slightest movement from a leaf on a shrub. Regardless of what I do the unit will not send email alerts to my email address. There is no fine tuning this camera unlike some of the cheaper models of different brands such as Human shape detection, and of course remote rotation of the view. Overall I'm most disappointed in this model considering it is twice the price of another brand I have but no where twice the quality. I am convinced that if you want a security camera to operate well during the night you are better of purchasing a stand alone infared light to compliment the security camera regardless of what brand you buy, the cameras infared is no where good enough.

[Edit: failed completely after five months] Good hardware let down by awful, fragmented and outdated software – We recently had the misfortune to be visited early one morning by a low IQ moron in a car, who decided it was ok to reverse up our drive and use it… Read more

as a burnout launch ramp, leaving us a delightful strip of rubber as a souvenir. Fortunately the ground was slightly damp and the tire tracks weren't too strong and should be easy to clean away - apparently oven cleaner is good.

Despite this sort of behaviour being unusual in our area, I decided to make things a little more awkward for the moron and his friends, should he be stupid enough to return for an encore, by installing a CCTV system at home.

After some research I decided on the Concord CNK8845P-A system from Jaycar at $999. Four cameras (expandable to eight) with infrared, a two terabyte hard drive, network capabilities and (most importantly) hard wired, not Wi-Fi - too easy to hack. Apparently the Concord range of hardware is essentially the same as Swann, but branded for Jaycar and the like.

The box contains the main unit, four cameras with fixings, four 18m IP cables, one HDMI lead, one network lead, a usb mouse, the power supply and two useless user guides.

The Installation Guide is frankly a joke. While it did give the theoretical basics of installing the system, it was disturbingly light on actual detail, essentially saying "connect the bits together, turn it on, configure it". The cameras each come with 18m four core IP leads with RJ45 plugs on the end and what turned out to be waterproof connector covers (four pieces each) for the terminals. I worked these out because I work with computers all the time, the rest of the family didn't have a clue - a simple line drawing showing them assembled was all that was needed but none could be found. The Setup Guide was of equally little use.

Once I had the system up and running I discovered the next delight - an on-screen keyboard. The unit comes supplied with a mouse but I discovered that it will not recognise a usb keyboard or mouse/keyboard combo, thus requiring all typing to be performed on a pathetic on-screen keyboard using the mouse. Why, for God's sake, why?!? Even if it has to be configured after system startup, is keyboard support so hard to do?

When the unit is started, it displays a setup wizard. I dismissed this as I just wanted to confirm the cameras/cables were all good before installing them. Unfortunately I could not find how to re-display wizard anywhere in the menu system later on, only a full restart will display the option and that only if you haven't told it not to display it again - otherwise you're probably stuffed!

Having setup and connected the installed cameras, connected it to my network and completed the wizard, I decided to try to complete the configuration of the system over my network.

Oh dear...! Entering the IP address of my system into my laptop browser (Chrome) brought up a disturbing message, requesting that I use either IE8 or later, Firefox 51 or earlier, or Chrome 44 or earlier. For those who don't know, those versions of Chrome and Firefox are about FIVE years old (and IE8 is TEN years old!) with all their inherent security issues and, since I use Linux not Windows, I can't use IE anyway.

From what I've read elsewhere, the web interface still uses Flash and/or OCX, a vulnerable and dying technology that is no longer supported by Chrome or Windows 10, and only just on Firefox with effort. I find it disturbing that a security company should still have such arcane technology in their hardware - I'll be disabling that interface asap and Concord/Swann should do the same or replace it with a proper web app.

Next, I visited the Concord website and downloaded the huge manual for the system and the Windows software package. After setting up a Windows virtual machine, I installed the software but soon discovered that, while fairly comprehensive from a usage point of view - watching the camera views, saving/viewing videos and the like - it is pretty useless for properly configuring the system.

The next option to try was the (Android) mobile app. Finally, here seemed to be something other than the device console, with its awful on-screen keyboard, that could configure the system to a reasonable level. The app is linked to the system by simply scanning a QR code from the console screen, at least there is no requirement to create yet another website account.

While the mobile app (Android only tested) is comprehensive and enables the system to be quite well configured (though not completely by any means) it should be pointed out that the interface leaves much to be desired. I write software for a living, including mobile apps, and the interface can be quite muddled and unintuitive. I won't go into all the aspects of the app but will say that it can perform quite a significant amount of the day to day configuration of the system, all remotely. Additionally, if suitably set up, the app is able to view the live cameras video feed, view recordings, take photos, control recordings and configure emails and push notifications.

The system can be set to notify users via email and push notification to the app when the cameras are set to automatically record if they detect motion and etc. In addition, the recordings can be automatically ftp'ed to a remote server and/or to the Cloud but only to DropBox or Google Drive, not MS One Drive. The main problem I had was that the push notifications are very unreliable - it took almost 18 hours for these to start working and even then they were not particularly reliable, the emails turned up with great regularity but the notifications didn't - very disappointing. In addition, trying to configure the emails to send via my own email server failed completely and I had to use gmail - the system's error messages were utterly useless.

In the end, the final configuration of the system simply had to be completed on the console, with that awful on-screen keyboard, there was simply no other option. It is disappointing that, with all these different interfaces, the entire user experience was appallingly fragmented and inconsistent.

So, after all this effort, how do I find the system?

It must be said on first impressions, that it is very fit for purpose in most aspects. The camera images and recordings, both day and night (IR), are of excellent quality. In daylight the images are clear and bright, to be expected being 5MP, easy to view either on the console, via the Windows software or the mobile app. At night the infrared LEDs on the cameras illuminate well and the resulting images are equally clear, albeit in IR monochrome.

The movement and heat detection sensors on the cameras seem to work well, almost too well, requiring considerable tweaking of various zones and image masks to fully configure to reduce false positives. There are a whole swathe of settings I have yet to sit down and configure - the downloaded manual is 135 pages and appears very comprehensive. It is a shame that the four page NVR Installation Guide and eight page NVR Setup Guide weren't more comprehensive - they were almost a waste of paper, even the downloaded manual wasn't any help with the installation and the Setup guide barely offered more than a reprint of the Wizard screens.

Sadly some of the more advanced feature of the system in the "Intelligence" section - Perimeter Intrusion / Line Crossing / Stationary object detection are only available if you use 4K cameras. While I can understand that Face Recognition and perhaps Pedestrian detection might require the higher resolution images, I think it a bit rich to require 4K cameras for all the other "inteligent" features which should be easily dealth with using 5MP cameras.

The cameras included in the system (5MP) have no microphone but the system is apparently capable of recording audio too. I would like to change the front door camera to one with a microphone so I can record the conversations of visitors such as delivery drivers and the like, I can then put the spare camera to cover the street. Unfortunately the only Concord camera with a microphone is almost $300 and has extra unwanted functions like 4K, floodlights and a speaker - theoretically permitting two way communication, though I don't know if the system supports that. Swann do sell a similar camera to the provided ones with just a microphone but Jaycar have it listed as discontinued.

[Edit: I have since been informed by Concord Customer support that the camera will work on the system and would permit two-way communication via the mobile app. However, my own testing found that the audio volume of the in-built speaker is pathetic, barely audible indoors and utterly useless for outdoor use.]

The firmware update process of the system seems a little confused with some updates apparently being automatically downloaded and applied and some requiring an intermediate USB Key step.

To conclude, therefore, this is undoubtedly an advanced CCTV system. To suggest that this is just a simple consumer product, that anyone can easily install, is a little disingenuous. It's true that some of today's more technically aware kids might be able to configure this system but they probably wouldn't be able to do the cabling, so many families would likely struggle. The truth is that it took me about six to eight hours to do the installation of the cameras and the cabling properly, then at least another hour to perform the initial system configuration. Bearing in mind that I write software for a living, can install home networks and build PCs, I also completely rewired my home in the UK (legally), I think that I'm far more capable of this sort of thing than Joe Public and I found it hard - the average consumer is, I believe, going to struggle to do a good job of this. A UPS (uninteruptable power supply) is an additional piece of necessary hardware if you want the system to continue recording if the power goes out.

I would love to rate this product higher but the fragmented interfaces for configuring and using the system, the woeful installation documentation and the, frankly dangerously, out-of-date web interfaces mean I have to penalise it. I'll be more than happy to increase the rating if a firmware update kills or replaces the web interface with a real one.

I cannot in good conscience give it more than two stars, primarily due to the poor security issues and awful use interfaces, and that is being generous. It deserves more but that requires effort on the manufacturer's part.

[Edit: after just five months of use one of the cameras repeatedly showed "Signal Lost". After replacing the cable and the camera it started faulting again and, this morning, showed the same message on ALL cameras - I have returned the unit to JayCar and upgraded to a Swann system]

We bought this system with 8 cameras from Costco. Initially they were good. Vision was clear. However, soon after installation one by one they… Read more

started to fail. Just went dead (model P334).

Reolink were very good to replace each camera, one by one, with a different model, RLC-810A.

Before they all failed we returned the whole system back to Costco and bought a Swann, which we previously had. Im sure there are still better brands to choose, but we were more comfortable with Swann as we had no problems with them before. We were only upgrading to 4K.

Family members also bought the same Reolink system we that we did and they too failed.