Swann - Fourtify 4 Wireless Security Camera System 64GB Micro SD Card 4 Cameras1080p NVR System 2-Way Audio Indoor/Outdoor - White

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• Rated 4 out of 5 stars

  Easy system to set up!

  • Tech Insider Network Member

  I’m writing this review after having a few days to play with these cameras and app. Setup is super easy, just download the Swann Security app to your mobile device and create a login, tap the “pair device” button in the app and power up the main camera. The app and the camera then walk you through the rest of the setup. I had my wifi router already configured to use both the 2.4 and 5 GHz frequencies, the main camera only connects at 2.4 GHz which it did automatically after I selected my wifi network and entered the wifi password in the app. It did take a minute after setup finished before the live view appeared in the app. You can connect just the main camera at first if you want, then add the other three cameras later on when you have time which is what I did, the app added in the additional cameras seamlessly. Only the main camera has a microphone and speaker, the other three are just cameras so take that into account for your installation. The app has a push-to-talk button when you tap the mic icon in the live view of the main camera and you get live audio on that camera as well. There’s also a siren that you can activate yourself or automatically in the settings to scare off intruders when they get too close. One nice feature is that the notifications that come to my phone indicate either “motion detected” or “person detected” so I have some idea immediately if it’s a small animal or a person in range. The manual said to take your smartphone to the location you’d like to mount the main camera and make sure you have at least two full bars of wifi showing to be sure you’ll have a good connection. That’s a neat thing about these cameras, after you pair it but before you mount the main camera and run any cables, you can just plug the power supply in and hold the camera where you think you want it, check the view you’ll get in the app and check the wifi reception in device settings also so you’ll know if you’re good before you drill any holes. The main camera just needs a 120v outlet to plug in the power supply, then there are 60ft camera extension cables and a 40ft power extension cable to make up the connections. Picture quality- these are 1080p cameras so you’ll get good video of people closer to your house but may not be able to capture something small like vehicle license plate numbers out in the street unless they’re facing the camera nearly head on. Night vision on these is great, the infrared illumination is actually fairly even without hot spots. If you need greater detail farther away, you might need to look into a 4k or better camera system. The app allows you to take photos from the live view or a recorded clip and puts them straight into the camera roll on your mobile device. Super easy. For videos, you can tap the video cam button in the app but my experience with that gave me a grainy, choppy video. What worked for me was to save a recorded clip into my Onedrive folder and transfer it out from there to share. I thought I would have to remove the microSD card from the camera to move video clips to my PC but, happily, that is not the case. The app does it all. Note that you don’t have to sign up for a Secure+ plan, but you do get additional cloud storage if you do. There’s a motion detection mask that you can paint in through the app to help with false alerts. For instance, we have a potted plant on our porch that moves with the wind. I painted a mask over the plant so the moving leaves don’t trigger a motion alert every time the wind blows. Another nice feature about the app is it allows you to configure three modes: home, night, and away. This allows you to set different sensitivities for whether you’re in the house and active, in bed, or out of the house. You can build a schedule and it will switch modes following your schedule.

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  Stephen H Posted 3 years ago

• Rated 5 out of 5 stars

  Affordable 4 camera security system!

  • Top 500 Contributor
  • Tech Insider Network Member

  One of the issues that stop many people to install wireless security cameras is the battery, because they are wireless devices, they have batteries that periodically have to be recharged. With this four camera system the battery problem is solved, since it has a main camera from which the remaining cameras get power and also connect wired to send the video signal, then the main camera is the one that sends the signal via wifi. In the box come two boxes one where come the 3 regular cameras, with cables and accessories, in the second box comes the main camera with a cable extension for connection to the power supply and accessories for installation. In the box includes an installation guide that at first seems a little confusing the diagram that comes printed, however once you start connecting the first cables is becoming simpler installation, it takes a little time and patience. Once you have chosen the right place to install the cameras and installed everything correctly you will need to download the Swann Sevurity app to configure the cameras. The configuration is not complicated but I consider that the app needs some improvements because when synchronizing the cameras the app indicates that everything is configured correctly but when reviewing the recordings of the detected events, it was not possible to view them, I had to turn off the cameras, remove and insert again the 64gb micro sd that comes previously installed in the main camera, after turning on the cameras again it began to record the movement or people detected. Regarding the detection I think it has very good sensors even in medium sensitivity as it can be increased if necessary. The app sends notifications almost immediately after having detected movement or a person, what I don't like is that if I click on the notification, it takes me to the live view of the camera in question instead of showing me the recording of what it detected. Despite this, the recordings are saved by date and time, and can be exported if necessary. You can program zones where you do not want the cameras to detect motion. The main camera is the only one that has speaker and microphone which fulfill their function, they are not of great quality but they are of great help. It is possible to connect the cameras via ethernet which makes the connection of the cameras to the home internet network even more stable. The video quality is very good in color and in night mode, however it is not possible to modify anything in terms of video capture in the settins inside the app. In summary it seems to me that it is a very affordable security system considering that there are four wireless cameras, the app fulfills its function satisfactorily keeping you informed of what happens around your home, although it does not record continuously, quickly detects movement or unwanted guests. Honestly for that price I think you get more than you pay for, definitely recommended.

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  Serv Posted 3 years ago

• Rated 5 out of 5 stars

  Easy to setup and install

  • Tech Insider Network Member

  This Swann camera set is a pretty good value for what it offers. I’ve had experience with the “older” camera setups that used an NVR and BNC cables, and the newer camera setups that are more wireless and higher tech with apps, and this Swann package offers the best of both worlds. I’ve never been a big fan of wireless devices as they are not nearly as reliable or fast as a hard-wired cables, but when it comes to camera’s the wireless option can be a big relief. To recap this setup, you will still have to run these BNC cables throughout your house, but instead of having to connect to one NVR or central source that sits in a single room, your central source is the primary camera which is less in-wall wiring and running of cables. You only need a single power source to run all these cameras, so if you have a power outlet in your attic your job is already super easy. I personally am running a network cable to the main camera (optional), and the other camera’s feed into the main camera. Do keep in mind that you will need wifi to setup your camera’s even if you do have a hard cable. Setup was straightforward and all done from your phone. The App has a solid rating of 4.7 in the iOS app store which is pretty rock solid, and I believe works with most of Swann’s newer camera systems, so you can mix and add different Swann cameras and manage all from one interface. There is one SD card in the main camera for all the cameras, 64GB which is included but can expand to 256GB to hold additional recordings. I am impressed with the quality of the live view when set to High and night vision works quite well. Each camera (channel) can be defined with its own detection settings which I like, so some area’s can be more motion-sensitive than others. The main camera has additional features that the other cameras don’t, such as triggering an alarm manually or by motion, and a microphone/speaker combo to listen in and/or talk with people. Unfortunately, you do not have these options with the other cameras, but the options you do have with all cameras is to take a snapshot photo and manually record videos. You can also pinch-to-zoom with live view and during playback to get a closer view. One thing to note is that these camera’s only record motion events and do not record 24x7. If you have detection settings set to off, you will have no recordings. I prefer 24x7 recordings personally in case things don’t get picked up, but I understand that most newer camera systems that don’t have a large physical hard drive will not support this. TLDR; Pros - Easy setup overall, with wiring and the initial app setup - Good streaming quality, see daytime and nighttime image attached - I like the alarm, it is reasonably loud but not excessive. - Simple interface to manage the cameras - Memory card included and upgradeable - Ethernet cable optional for better quality or as a backup if wifi fails - Picks up motion well and sends alerts to your phone - Premium subscription option for cloud storage and other perks at a reasonable cost - Nice option esthetically to keep camera’s indoors/outdoors/mixed. The secondary camera’s are smaller and lightweight, less obvious than a bulky camera Not so Pros: - Microphone could be improved, quality is mediocre - Limited options for camera management settings. Would like to see additional settings for recordings - Camera’s 2-4 do not have a microphone or speaker, they are basically 3 extra sets of eyes for the main camera - No option to record motion without notifications enabled (can be annoying during high traffic moments) Overall I think this is a great value. 4 Camera’s with 1080p full HD that is hardwired and never have to worry about battery life and easy management from a phone. I also plug my camera’s and network devices into a battery backup (similar to whats used for computers) to keep the camera’s active even if there is a power outage. While I’m fairly new to the Swann brand and this is my second product, they are starting to become one of my favorites.

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  Jp223 Posted 3 years ago